Mistakes We Wouldn't Learn From

[Zack]

“Hey, do you guys have anything planned for tonight?” Gabe asked, walking up to us. We had finished playing our show in Charlotte, North Carolina a little while ago, and we were washing up in a small bathroom. The show had been outside in the heavy blanket of humidity, leaving us sticky and sweaty. There was only a small building at the outdoor venue, so our band was stuck in a pretty small bathroom/dressing room. It just had two sinks, a mirror, a toilet, and a counter.

“I don’t think so,” Rian said, shaking his head. He reached out to stop Matt as he was walking past the doorway, “Do we have anything planned tonight, Matt?”

Matt shook his head, “No, we were just going to go out to eat and then hang out in the van for the night.”

“Well, I have something more interesting for you guys to do, if you’d like,” Gabe said with a small smirk.

“And what would that be?” Alex questioned. I saw Jack wipe the sweat from his armpits with a towel and I wrinkled my nose, making a mental note to not use that towel.

“My friend Adam invited my band and I to a party that he’s having at his house tonight. He said that he would be more than welcome to let your band and Mayday Parade come to the party too, and we can all crash there for the night,” Gabe explained.

My eyes widened at the word ‘party’ and I looked at the others uncertainly. A party meant alcohol. And we all knew what happened when Alex had alcohol. None of the others seemed concerned at all, though. They actually seemed thrilled about it.

“Sounds fun!” Jack said, nodding quickly. “I’d much rather go to a party than be stuck in the hot van all night.”

“I wouldn’t,” I grumbled, but no one acknowledged me.

“I’m definitely in,” Rian said, and Alex nodded in agreement.

“How many people are going to be there?” Matt asked.

Gabe shrugged, “Our three bands, Adam, and some of his friends. Probably 75 people at most, and that’s kind of pushing it. It should be fun. He’s not totally wild with his parties, but it’s a lot of fun.”

“That’s good; it’s probably best if it isn’t totally wild. I don’t think he wants to get caught with underage drinking,” Matt chuckled, gesturing at our band.

“Yeah, you guys should be fine. He’ll let you drink if you want, because it’s highly unlikely that anyone will get caught,” Gabe said with a laugh. “I’ll text you the address to put in your GPS, Matt, and we can all head over there.”

“Cool. See you there,” Alex said. Gabe walked away and Alex turned to us, “Is all of the equipment in the trailer?”

“Evan and Grieco are putting the last of it in there right now. Finish washing up and head over to the van. I’m going to go put the address into the GPS,” Matt replied, pulling out his phone as he got a text from Gabe.

Everyone began to walk out to the van but I stayed behind to finish washing up. I didn’t want to go to the party, but I didn’t want to be a total social recluse either. I sighed, pulling my sweaty shirt over my head. I paused, looking into the mirror at myself before I turned the sink on. My muscles were a lot more defined now. I had been working out before most of our shows, whenever my friends were hanging out with the other bands. Working out gave me something to do besides socialize. It looked like I probably lost a few pounds, too. I still hated how I looked though. My little bit of stomach pudge needed to turn into muscle.

After a few minutes, I saw Alex come to the doorway through the reflection in the mirror. He must have finally realized that I wasn't with them. "You done washing up yet?" he asked. I blushed slightly because I had just been standing there, looking into the mirror.

"I'm almost done," I mumbled, turning on the sink and splashing my face with water

"Something wrong, Zack?" Alex asked, coming up beside me. He knew my tone too well.

“I don’t want to go to the party,” I admitted, blinking a few times and turning to look for a towel as water got into my eyes. Alex handed me a dry towel and I dried my face off before wiping down my sweaty chest and back.

“Don’t worry about it – it’ll be fun. And we don’t have to sleep in the van!” Alex told me.

I chuckled, “I guess that’s a good reason to want to go. It’s probably so much cooler in the house...”

"Exactly. And when we manage to escape the others, you and I will have some alone time. We can have a little fun," he suggested with a grin, reaching out to poke the zipper of my jeans.

"When we manage to escape the others? So you're already planning it out?" I teased.

He shrugged shamelessly, "Yup."

"You seem eager," I laughed, shaking my head at him before pulling my shirt over my head. Alex let out a whine of protest and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"You can blame my eagerness on the fact that you had your shirt off, showing me your abs," he grumbled, pouting at me. “Take the shirt back off.”

I rolled my eyes at him, pushing him toward the door, "Quit your pouting and get in the van."

••••••••••

“I’m pretty sure that we’re the only two people who aren’t drinking here,” I mused, looking up at Grieco. We had all been at Gabe’s friend Adam’s house for a while now. I had to admit, I was having more fun that I had expected. Adam was nice, and no one I didn't know bothered me by trying to start a conversation. Alex, Evan, Grieco, Matt, Jake Bundrick, and I were all sitting together in the living room right now. There was a lot of dancing and talking going on around us, and a whole lot of drinking.

"Yeah. For the amount of underage people here, there's a ton of drinking going on," Grieco laughed, eyeing the others.

"You shouldn't be drinking anyway, Grieco. You're only sixteen," Matt pointed out with a chuckle.

"That and I really don't feel like drinking in the first place," Grieco said with a shrug. "Unlike some people..."

I looked at Alex beside me, knowing that Grieco's comment was directed at him. Alex just flipped him off, "Quiet, Grieco. How much I drink is none of your business."

"Mhm," Grieco nodded, unconvinced. None of us wanted to bring up the topic of Alex and alcohol. Alex actually wasn't drinking much though. He hadn’t gone past one drink. He had probably learned from our last experience that it was a bad idea.

Jake spoke up, changing the subject, "What song is playing right now?"

"I think it's Fall Out Boy," I said, my head cocked slightly as I tried to listen to the song.

"I know that. I just can't think of the name of the song," Jake chuckled.

"Oh. I don't know, I can't hear all of the lyrics."

"Sounds like 'Sugar, We're Going Down,'" Evan piped up, taking a sip of his drink.

Matt shook his head, "It's definitely 'Dance, Dance.'"

"No, that song doesn't even have the same beat!" Evan protested.

They began to bicker and I rolled my eyes, looking over at Alex. He was finishing off his drink. "Where did Jack and Rian go?" I asked.

"Who cares?" Alex shrugged. I raised an eyebrow at him and he chuckled, "Jack is dancing over there, and Rian is somewhere with Gabe."

"That would explain why it's so loud where everyone is dancing," I said, and he nodded.

"You and I should get our 'alone time' soon," Alex told me with a small smirk, his hand moving from my knee to my thigh.

"We should," I agreed, blushing slightly as I leaned over to kiss him. Just as I pulled away from him, someone walked up to us.

"Hey, Alex. Are you busy?" Derek asked. Before giving him a chance to answer, he continued, "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with some of my bandmates and I for a little while."

Alex looked at me before shrugging, "I should probably go socialize a little. I've been sitting here for most of the hour we've been here."

"Cool. C'mon," Derek smiled.

"I'll be back over here later," Alex promised, kissing me before standing up and following Derek out of the room. I could've sworn that I saw Derek shoot a smirk at me before he left the room. I sighed, crossing my arms and leaning back into the couch. I had a feeling that Alex being with Derek wasn't going to end well on my end.