Forget Last Summer

Brody woke up the next morning tangled in someone’s limbs. Her head pounded, her stomach flipped and flopped with bile rising up. She tried to free herself. With a lift of the person’s arms and a tuck of her leg, Brody was free to run to the bathroom. Kneeling next to the toilet she emptied her stomach into the porcelain bowl. After a few stomach lurches, more contents escaping, Brody finished throwing up and flushed the toilet. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She sat against the bathtub and closed her eyes.

“Here,” a deep voice made her open her eyes. Alex Gaskarth kneeled before her, in just boxers, holding out aspirin, water and mouthwash.

“Thanks.” Brody’s voice came out raspy and tired. She took the aspirin from Alex’s hand, dry swallowed before taking two sips of water. Then she took the mouthwash, stood up while swishing the harsh liquid in her mouth and walked to the sink. She spit it out and turned to Alex. “When did we get back here?”

Alex shrugged, his hand moving to rub the back of his neck as he pondered the same thought. He could barely remember the night before. He remembers his first couple of drinks, he remembers laughing at something stupid Jack was doing and screaming for Zack and Acey to get a room. The more he thought about it the more he questioned why is he barely clothed, why did he wake up in Brody’s bed and why is she just in a tank top and shorts? Pieces of the puzzle were still missing but he figured out the point.

“I don’t remember anything past the kiss,” he didn’t want to smirk but it just came to his lips. Brody raised an eyebrow before rolling her eyes.

“At least I hooked up with you and not some random,” Brody shot Alex a smile and a wink before shoving him out of the bathroom.

“What are you doing?” He asked her with amusement in his voice.

“I’m going to take a shower and no, you can’t join me.” She shut the door when Alex was fully out of the doorframe, stripped herself of all her clothes and then jumped into the shower. She showered away the smell of booze, vomit, sweat and things she couldn’t remember. Once Brody was finished showering, Alex has left her room and she dressed in peace. She walked back into the bathroom, finally really brushing her teeth and blow dried her hair. Feeling like swimming, she didn’t do her hair fancy but put it up in a ponytail.

She walked downstairs, where she could hear people talking, and tried to bypass the party in the living room for the kitchen. But as soon as her foot landed at the bottom of the stairs, Jack Barakat had noticed her and called her over. “Brody! Can you help us out?” Brody groaned and walked over to the three boys on the couch, the one girl on the floor and the two lovebirds on the recliner.

“What do you need tall one?”

“Which band is better? Fall Out Boy or Taking Back Sunday? They’re tied between us.” Dismissing the tall one joke, Jack asked the girl to break the tie between the two bands. Her jaw dropped. It was a hard decision. She loved Taking Back Sunday and Fall Out Boy but neither more than the other. Or, maybe Fall Out Boy just a bit more. She looked around to the rest of the group and they all watched her with expecting eyes.

“Uh, Fall Out Boy I guess. I’m a sucker for their lyrics.”

“Ha! We win!” Acey stood up and high-fived Roxie and Jack. The three other boys looked at each other and rolled their eyes. “So what are we doing today, Brody?” Acey smiled brightly at the girl, her multicolored hair thrown back into a rather messy bun. Brody shrugged, Acey tapped Roxie’s shoulder and the other girl stood up from her spot with her boyfriend. The three girls walked into the kitchen.

“I feel like swimming,” Brody announced as she got herself a bowl, Cocoa Puffs and milk from their normal places. She began making her cereal, Acey hopped up on the counter next to her and Roxie opted for a seat at the table.

“Swimming sounds great, its super hot out too.” Roxie piped up and Acey nodded her head.

“Yeah, I agree, and then what should we do after that? The boys have band practice sometime later, they say four-ish but we all know it won’t happen ‘til maybe after five.” The three girls giggled at Acey’s comment.

Brody ate her breakfast, the other girls changed into bathing suits they either left at the house or borrowed from Brody. Then they went swimming with four very curious boys following them. Jack jumped in, even in jeans and a t-shirt, making a huge splash all over the area around the pool. The three other boys opted for a better choice. Rian hopped in with his shorts on, Zack changed into his actual bathing suit and Alex went in with just his boxers on.

“That’s nice, the boys ruined our fun,” Acey spat in a joking manner before Zack engulfed her in a hug. She giggled until he dunked her under, she surfaced with her jaw locked. Zack gave her a sheepish smile before splashing her and swimming away. Acey went and followed him around the pool.

Meanwhile, Roxie and Rian cuddled in the shallow end, Jack was attempting to be a dolphin—or so he said—and failed. Alex swam over to Brody with a smirk on his face as Brody watched her cousin and his girlfriend chase each other around the pool. “Hey,” he said in a husky voice, Brody’s eyes scanned his face and noticed his smirk. Her lips mimicked his.

“Hey,” her voice came out low and slow, seductive, and Alex licked his lips. His eyes moved from her eyes to her lips and back up to her eyes. She tried hard not to giggle from his obvious gesture and she tucked her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Do you want to get out of here?” When Alex spoke these words, Brody instantly started cracking up and much to Alex’s bruised ego, she splashed him as a rejection.

“You’re weird, Gaskarth.” She said to him as she swam away, towards her cousin and jumped on Zack’s back so Acey could catch him. Alex watched her swim, jump and scream at the top of her lungs with a bruised ego but a sloppy smile on his face. Who is this girl and what is she doing to Alex Gaskarth?

After a few hours of swimming, the exhausted teens hung around the Merrick house either playing video games or, for the girls, hung out in Brody’s room talking and trying out clothes. It wasn’t until around 5:30 and after a lot of encouragement from his friends, Alex Gaskarth approached Brody when she walked into the kitchen to get some food. “Hey, uh, Brody?” His voice came out in a nervous mess, becoming just a bit higher than normal and he couldn’t place why.

“Yes, Alex?” Brody smiled to him as she got out a random assortment of food. Alex watched her a bit, nerves getting the best of him and he knew it. He hated it. Brody stopped making her sandwich to look at Alex and tilt her head.

“I was wondering, well the guys were too, but uh, would you go to our show on Thursday?” Alex’s stumble over his words caused Brody to smirk as she went back to her sandwich.

“Well, duh, Alex. What else would I do? Acey, Roxie and I were just discussing it. But thanks for asking.” Brody took all of her food with her as she left Alex staring at the counter, face growing red. He messed up. He was supposed to ask her out on a date after the show. But he chickened out, last minute, and he knew Acey or Roxie would of brought up the show to her. The guys were so going to make fun of him now.

Brody giggled as she told Acey and Roxie all about her encounter with Alex. Roxie giggled and Acey made a face. “He’s totally into you. Ew.”

“Oh hush, it’s kind of cute. What should I do? Should I go along with it? Because I’m not sure if he remembers last night.”

“What happened last night?” Roxie asked and Brody blushed.

“Please don’t think of me as a slut but Alex and I hooked up last night,” Acey made a gagging noise and Brody slapped playfully in the arm with a giggle.”Sh! But I don’t really remember last night, at all, and I’m wondering if he does and he thinks it means something.” Brody bit her lip as Roxie and Acey shared a look.

“Girl, you’re talking about the king of one night stands. Alex probably is trying to not look like an ass because he just met you.” With a shrug, Brody took in Roxie’s words feeling a bit better about feeling like she’s playing Alex like a fool.

“I just hope he knows I came here not looking for love.”

“I’m sure he knows,” Acey smiled reassuringly to Brody as did Roxie. Downstairs three boys laughed loudly at Alex’s embarrassment with Brody.

“Dude, she’s my cousin but she’s not that intimidating!”

“Also, you’ve talked to literally every girl at school. How is this one girl that difficult to ask ‘hey, want to go out on a date Friday night after I make you swoon with my singing?’” Rian earned a pillow to the face after that and Alex crossed his arms over his chest with a pout.

“Come on guys, could you just stop? I fucked up. I just really like her.”

“Again, she’s my cousin. Not a movie star.” Zack couldn’t understand why it was just so hard for Alex to ask Brody out. None of the boys could. But Alex just couldn’t. Brody seemed to not fall for any of his usual tricks, his usual game or swagger. It’s like she has this shield around her that protects her from his charm. Or she’s just smart.