Even Though She Doesn't Believe In Love

“WAKE UP!” I heard shouting, and someone jump on the bed. I groaned and looked at the clock on the wall. 4:37 in the morning.

“What the fuck, Jack?! Do you not realize how early it is?” I rolled over and searched for Zack, but he wasn’t there.

“Yes, but it’s also CHRISTMAS MORNING!” He jumped off the bed and ran out of the room flailing his arms above his head. I laughed and put on my long pajama pants.

“Good morning,” Zack kissed my forehead and handed me a glass of Kool-Aid, since I don’t like coffee. I took a long drink before setting it on the counter.

“Merry Christmas,” I kissed him.

“Is there any mistletoe in this house? I think not! So stop fucking kissing, and come open the presents!” Jack shouted as he sat by the tree. I laughed and sat on the floor next to him.

Jack ended up with some Pokémon cards, the movie Home Alone since his is scratched up, and an iTunes card.

Zack had received a pack of condoms from Jack, and new Nikon camera from me.

“Babe, this is amazing,” he kissed me cheek while examining the camera.

“Looks like you’ve got some competition now,” Jack laughed.

“Oh, shut your mouth,” I stated, and laid my head on Zack’s shoulder.

“Okay, your turn, open your presents,” Jack said. I pulled a box towards me and carefully and slowly unwrapped it to piss off Jack. “Damnet!” He yelled before grabbing the
paper and ripping it.

I laughed and opened up the box, it was a black All Time Low hoodie with the band’s name written vertically in silver. “Aww, thank you Jack,” I smiled and hugged him.

“Okay, now open this one,” he handed me a smaller box. I took off the wrapping to reveal a velvet box. I popped open the lid to see a silver treble clef necklace.

“Do you like it?” Zack whispered in my ear.

“I love it,” I smiled and pulled him into a kiss. I heard Jack mumble an ‘eww’ before getting up and walking out of the room.

We ended up talking and sitting around. The boys called all their friends a relatives—something I wish I could’ve done. If I would’ve, then everyone would know my new number and get me hundreds of calls a day from my parents, and more than likely, Austin.

We were flying out to Maryland the next day to spend New Years with the guys at Alex’s house. The boys, aside from Zack and Jack, had no idea that I had been staying in California with my two best friends. Zack had told them he was bringing a friend, just not who.

“You ready for Maryland?” Zack asked as I put the last of my necessities in my suitcase. I nodded and zipped it close. “You’re lying.”

“I know,” I whispered and sat on the bed.

“What’s wrong?” He pulled me onto his lap.

“I’m just nervous I guess. I haven’t been there in three years.”

“Devon, can you take me to K-Mart? I need stuff,” Jack burst through the door. I nodded.

“I’ll be back later,” I kissed Zack before walking out the door with my best friend.

------------

“You listen to Underscore?” Jack asked from the passenger seat. He was looking through my CDs and stopped on ‘You’re No Angel’.

“Yeah dude, I saw them play live before I left. I met the singer; I think his name was Flyzik. He was cool as hell after he stopped hitting on me,” I laughed.

“That’s pretty cool,” Jack replied before putting in a Fall Out Boy CD. I nodded and drove him to the store and back, where I would go to bed early and get up a few hours later.

Waking up at four in the morning was different. And going through a crowded airport topped that. The three of us were sitting at the gate, waiting for the moment where they said we could board. “Have you ever been on a plane?” Zack asked. I gulped and shook my head. “It’ll be fine, I promise,” he kissed the top of my head.

Throughout the whole plane ride, I had my knees pulled up to my chest and holding hands with Zack. Jack gave me his hoodie in an attempt to calm me down, but it didn’t help that much.

“Please never send me on an airplane again,” I squeaked, still shaken from the ride. I grabbed my carry on and followed the boys off the plane. I looked around the terminal to see a black haired guy with a lip ring and green eyes. “Flyzik?”

“Holy shit, Devon!” He laughed and hugged me. We talked the whole way to baggage claim until his phone started ringing.

“I don’t see how I lived here, it’s so cold,” I stated and walked through the parking ramps.

“I know, it’s fucking freezing out here,” Zack replied and put our bags in the trunk of the black Kia Matt was driving. By the time we made it to Alex’s, Jack was already asleep.

“Just leave him out here, he’ll realize we left when he starts getting cold,” Matt said. We walked into the house to see Alex and Rian in the kitchen sipping coffee. Alex’s cup dropped to the floor, and he walked slowly towards me.

He poked my cheek as if to see if I were real, and then lifted up my left hand to examine the small scar I had on my palm. “No way,” he whispered before pulling me into a hug. When Rian finally realized what was going on, he joined us in our hugging match. “I can’t believe it’s you Devon, you look fucking amazing.” I smiled.

“Thank you,” I laughed. His eyes grew, which had me more than confused.

“What the hell happened to your voice? You sound like a redneck!” He joked.

“It get’s better! Wait till you get her pissed,” Jack smirked.

“Shut your mouth,” I punched him in the leg before he hit the floor in pain. Rian’s jaw dropped when he saw what I had just done.

“Jesus, no wonder Lisa caked on more make up than usual for weeks after you guys fought. That’s defiantly gonna leave a bruise,” Alex stated.

It felt good to hang out with the guys again, and it felt even better to know we could all get along without any problems.

It was just like old times, except even better.

“Guys, why’d you leave me out there? It’s cold!” Jack shrieked before sitting next to me on the couch, cuddling into my side.

“Get off my girl,” Zack joked.

“And you said I had competition,” I laughed.

“Shut up,” Jack tried to mimic my accent, but failed.

“Umm, Devon. Lisa wants to come over, are you guys gonna start anything?” Alex asked, looking at his phone.

“I’m not, but you should know me well enough that I won’t put up with her shit.”

“I don’t think she’s going to. Not after what happened junior year,” Alex laughed,
taking a long sip of his Red Bull.

I laughed and about twenty minutes later, the blonde girl I remembered fighting walked through the door. “Hey guys,” she smiled, refusing to make eye contact with me.

“Hey,” I said cheerily. We all sat around, talking and having a good time.

“Do you wanna come with me to see my mom and dad?” Zack whispered into my ear. I nodded.

“Hey, Lisa, do you wanna walk with me out to the car?” I asked nicely. She looked around with a scared look on her face before gulping and getting up. “I just wanted to say I was sorry or what happened eleventh grade. I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with people that day, and snapped on you,” I explained.

“It’s okay; I guess it was my fault for being a bitch. I just thought maybe you were over there to be around Alex, and I got really jealous.”

“Understandable, but like I said, I’m sorry.”

“So, are we good now?” She asked.

“Yeah,” I smiled and hugged her. I got into the Kia we arrived in to see a wide-eyed Zack.

“You did not just hug Lisa Ruocco,” he said in shock.

“But I did. I even apologized,” I said proudly. He started the car, still a little freaked out.

We pulled into the driveway I remembered from two and half years ago. “Zack!” Carla, his mom, came running outside, embracing her son into a hug. “Devon?!” She looked at me in awe before wrapping me into her arms.

“Hi Mrs. Merrick, it’s good to see you,” I smiled.

“Oh gosh, Sweetie, it’s good to see you too.” And then came the usual questions: How’ve you been, where’d you go, did you like it there, how’s your parents?

“ZACKY!” His sister, Sam, ran outside, jumping into his arms. Without knowing it, Zack had been standing on a patch of ice, which made him fall on his butt with Sam on top of him.

“Damn you,” he laughed and got up.

We ended up staying the night in his old room, talking about old memories. I honestly hadn’t realized how great life was here until we stayed up past 4:30 in the morning talking about it.

Four days had gone by, and it was New Year’s Eve. “Ten more minutes!” Matt shouted as I popped the tab on my beer open.

“Hey,” Lisa said happily.

“Hola,” I laughed and took a sip from my drink.

“Have you seen any of the boys?”

“Not since we got here, they totally disappeared on me.”

“Me too. I really wanted to do that thing where you kiss your boyfriend when the clock strikes twelve, but he’s no where around,” she frowned.

“I know what you mean. You wanna go find them?” She nodded and linked arms with me. “Matt!” I shouted over the music. His head snapped around to look at me. “Where’re Alex and Zack?” He shrugged his shoulders, before turning back around. I rolled my eyes and drug Lisa upstairs with me.

“Three minutes!” Someone downstairs yelled. Lisa mumbled a cuss word under her breath before jogging around Alex’s house with me.

“Where the hell are they?” I asked out loud to myself.

“I don’t know, but we need to find them quick. We have ninety seconds,” she looked at her watch.

“You know what? Screw them. If they want to be with us, let them find us.” She nodded her head in agreement and walked downstairs to where everybody was.

“Ten, nine, eight…” they started counting down. “Three, two, one. HAPPY NEW YEAR!” We all shouted. I was spun around and kissed softly on the lips. I pulled away and drew back my fist, until I saw Zack’s green eyes light up with fear.

“I am so sorry, I thought you were a stranger,” I laughed and hugged him.

“Happy New Years, Baby,” he pulled me into a simple kiss on the lips. I looked over at Lisa who was with Alex, a smile on her face from ear to ear.

“Happy New Years,” I smiled.

I hung around a little while longer, before kicking a couple out of the room Zack and I were staying in before they could start. I changed into my pajamas and crawled under the covers.

“Dev?” I heard Lisa ask. I rolled over to look at her as she shut the door behind her and sat on the bed with me. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just got bored down there, so I figured this was better than nothing.”

“Put your clothes back on and come back. Zack’s looking for you anyways. Besides, I think there’s a beer calling your name,” she smirked.

I groaned and got up, stripping off my pajamas and replacing them with the same jeans and shirt I had taken off minutes earlier.

“There you are,” Zack smiled at me as I walked downstairs. I laughed and grabbed a Coors Light out of the fridge. “Here,” he handed me my jacket while pulling on his.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“To watch the fireworks,” he smiled and pulled me out the door. We stood in the middle of the road where no trees were blocking our view, staring up at the night sky. One after one, fireworks shot off, leaving the colors illuminating the sky.

I wrapped my arms around him. “This is going to be an amazing new year.”

“I know it will be, I have you in my life again,” he kissed the top of my head and pulled me closer to him.

“Zack, this could not be anymore amazing.” We watched the last firework shoot off, and stood there for a while after they were done.

Zack ended up carrying me inside and putting me on the bed, where I crashed. Life was good.