Maybe I'm the One You Like

“GET UP, ALEX!”

I groaned and rolled over in my bed, pulling the blanket up over my head in an attempt to block out the light, as well as my mother’s screaming. I was determined to cling to the remnants of sleep that I still had. The sun shone through my already opened curtains and I opened my eyes a fraction of an inch to check the time. Six thirty. “Five more minutes,” I mumbled as I started to drift off again.

“Alexander Gaskarth, get your ass down here and get ready for school!”

“I’M UP,” I yelled back, groaning as I pulled myself out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. I immediately regretted staying up until an ungodly hour last night, but hell, video games are addictive.

I dragged myself over to my closet, where I pulled the first thing I saw. I didn’t care if it was the first day of my senior year either. I was excited to get OUT of this town, and I didn’t care about 98% of my school, or what they thought of me. I ran a brush through my hair and headed downstairs.

“Morning, sweetie,” my mom said pleasantly from her seat at the table. I grunted in return and grabbed a banana off the counter.

“Why don’t you start off your senior year with a good attitude?”

“Whatever mom,” I grumbled as I rolled my eyes.

“I’m serious, Alex, you are done goofing off this year. This is your last chance to make it count and I will not accept anything less than your best.” I sat down at the table across from her and put my head down in my hands. She wanted to talk, I better get comfortable. “I know that your friends and your band are your priorities but please, don’t slack off again? And who knows, maybe you’ll even meet a new girl!” she winked and I jumped up from the table. Conversation, over.

“MOM,” I exclaimed as I threw the banana peel away. “I’ll be good. I’m leaving before you can embarrass me more.”

“Bye, sweetie!” she called as I threw my backpack over my shoulder and headed out to my car.

I drove to my best friend Jack’s house to pick him up, since he lived a couple streets down and it wasn’t costing me any extra gas money. Besides, we had band practice after school and if I brought him, I could make sure he wouldn’t be late.

My band was what mattered most to me. Music was the most important thing in my life, and no matter what anyone did it would always stay that way. I was in a band with my three best friends, Jack, Rian, and Zack, and that was my main priority. Not school, not family, not even girls-well, girls are a close second. But still. I put my heart and soul into our lyrics. All Time Low was what mattered. All Time Low was my life.

Jack was waiting in his driveway when I pulled up, and he quickly got in and told me to drive before I could even say hello. “Rough morning?” I smirked, and he simply shook his head.
“Bro, she gave me a sex talk. ANOTHER sex talk. With EXAMPLES,” Jack grumbled. “I can’t believe that first of all, she thinks that I’m still oblivious to all this, and second, that I haven’t already nailed Megan multiple times…” I snorted.

“She honestly thinks that you and Megan are like, Amish?”

“Shut up, you’re no better,” Jack shot back, and I shrugged, because that was true. I wasn’t exactly the perfect little boy my mom thought I was either.

“True. But if we were in a contest to see how many we could get, I’ve got you beat by far.”

“Fuck you, at least I have a girlfriend,” was Jack’s response.

Jack and Megan had been together since last summer. They were literally the text book definition of a high school couple. They held hands in the hall, they fought, they made up, they made out, they went to parties together, they hooked up at parties, so on and so forth. That’s where Jack and I differed. He was the kind of guy that goes for that. Me, I don’t like relationships. Where’s the fun in sticking to one person? How much fun is a party if you’re not looking for someone to bring up stairs and then forget about it after? Sure, my friends and band mates think it’s ridiculous. But I’m not looking to get married. I just want t have fun.

I pulled into the parking lot and parked, then Jack and I got out and joined Rian, our drummer, and Zack, or bassist, at our usual spot in the courtyard. “Hey guys,” Rian said when he saw us.
“Senior year, huh.”

“Crazy shit, man,” Jack agreed. “Remember when we were that tall and looked like that?” he pointed to a couple of freshmen wearing giant backpacks, walking toward the school looking terrified. That was totally me when I was younger.
“
Yeah,” I sighed. “And now, I can’t wait to get out of here.”

Suddenly there was a crash, and we looked back toward where the buses were unloading to see a girl whom I didn’t know picking up her backpack and all its spilled contents. She was short, probably about 5’3”, with long, dark brown hair that fell into her face as she bent down to pick up her keys, which had also fallen on the ground. Her lips formed the word fuck and I watched as she picked up her backpack and started toward the school. “Hey,” I said, nudging Zack. “Who is that?”

Zack followed my gaze and shrugged. “I don’t know man, but she’s hot.”

“Dibs,” I said immediately as I watched her walk into school. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and I shook my head. “That is one hot new kid right there.”

“You disgust me,” Jack scoffed, leaning against the wall. “I’ll see you guys later, I’m going to meet Megan. You coming inside?”

I shrugged and followed my friends into the building, but I couldn’t shake the image of the mysterious girl out of my head. Who was she? Where did she come from? How the hell does something looking like that show up here?

Remember when I said music was my top priority? Yeah, I lied.