Nothing Personal

“C’mon Zo! We’re going to be late!” Penny yelled for nearly the hundredth time.

Zo put the last of her clothes into the bag she was packing and gave a glare to her best friend. Penny was literally pacing back and forth urging her to hurry every few minutes and Zo was really wondering if it had been such a good idea to say yes to going with Penny to the concert. But the ticket was already paid for and it was nonrefundable. She was just going to have to suck it up and deal with it.

“Ok, I’m done. Let’s get the car packed up and then we can leave.” Zo replied as Penny cheered and grabbed her bag as they headed downstairs to where Zo’s car was parked outside.

Even if Zo didn’t want to go because Penny was going to be a pain in the ass the whole car ride, which was exactly 48 minutes, it was because of Do. He was still in the hospital undergoing treatments and she really hadn’t left his side in weeks. She had basically been living at the hospital and knew almost all of Do’s nurses by name.

But, Penny had told her, many times, that she ‘needed to do something for herself’ and ‘it’ll get your mind off of things’. But first of all, she was really only going because she hadn’t been to a concert in forever and needed to let herself relax a little.

Music always did that for her. She didn’t understand why but whenever the music was turned up to a deafening volume and it was just her alone in her car, it made her feel better. Maybe just because the music was so loud that she couldn’t even hear her own thoughts. But whatever it was, she didn’t care. She needed to get her mind off of things. And this was one way to do it.

By the time they finished packing the car, they were going to stay overnight in a cheep hotel sine the concert was going to be getting out late, they hugged their moms and then hit the road. As Zo pulled out of the driveway, she noticed that the bags and pillows and all the crap they had brought nearly were blocking her view in her rearview mirror. All thanks to Penny.

For some reason, every time they went on a trip, so be it a few hours to a few days, Penny always over packed. It was something that Zo dealt with so often that she usually didn’t even notice anymore. It was a scary thought.

“Ok, so for this lovely ride, I’ve decided to provide the music!” Penny said as Zo was about to pull onto the freeway. She glanced over to see her best friend sitting in the passenger’s seat with a large cd case in her lap. She was studying each cd like it was the most interesting thing in the world and after about three minutes she finally picked something.

Taking a cd out, Penny put it in the player not allowing Zo to get a look at the cd title and not bothering to announce it. But as soon as the first few notes on the guitar started, Zo instantly groaned.

”I let it ride on a bad bet, I doubled down on a sinking ship I, need a second to catch my breath, do you want me? Or do you want me dead?”

“Really Penny? We’re going to see them in less than four hours and you can’t listen to something other than them until then? You’ve got the next best thing coming. You’re going to see them live! That kicks listening to their cd in the ass every time.”

Penny just rolled her eyes as she stopped singing along with the lead singer and glared at her friend. “Just shut up and drive. Besides, you’re not going against our rule are you?” She asked referring to the stereo controller rule whenever they drove.

Zo just sighed and switched lanes as Penny went back to singing. Though, she had to admit, she didn’t know their new stuff all that well, and now was the best opportunity to know it before the concert that night. She always hated standing there and listening when she didn’t know a song. It was her own tradition to know at least a few songs of every band that they went to see, good or bad, so that she didn’t look like a total idiot in the crowd.

”Oh give it up for at least a second; I’m getting sick of your bullshit attitude and how you walk around like you shine brighter. It’s killing me, so what do you say? Do you want me? Or do you want me dead?”

Alright, so the song was a little catchy.

”I’ve got my hands up (yeah yeah), I’m staring down a battle of a lonely night (lonely night). I’ve got my hands up (yeah yeah) so do you want me? Or do you want me dead?”

Ok, a lot catchy.

Zo let the annoyance go away and began to sing along with Penny and the lead singer as loud as she could. She hadn’t even realized that she knew the song. But hey, it was catchy. Either she didn’t realize she had actually paid attention to it, or she was picking it up really quickly. At that point she really didn’t care. She just let herself forget everything that had been happening in her life and reach over to turn the volume up.

The next few songs Zo didn’t know but picked up on the choruses right away. But when the fifth track came on, somehow she felt like she knew it. Even if she didn’t know how. Something about it seemed familiar but she knew that she had never heard the song before in her life. It was really bugging her how she knew it. But at that point she let it go and paid attention to the words and let them sink in.

”It was like a time-bomb set into motion, we knew we were destine to explode. And if I had to pull you out of the wreckage, you know I’m never going to let you go. We’re like a time-bomb, going to lose it, let’s defuse it. Baby we’re like a time-bomb, but I need it, wouldn’t have it, any other way.”

Weird.

”Got my heart in your hands like a time-bomb ticking. It goes off, we start again, when it breaks we fix it. Got your heart in my hands like a time-bomb ticking. We should know better but we won’t let go…”

And for some reason as she listened to the words, thoughts of Alex flashed in her head.

She pushed the thoughts out of her head once more and turned up the music even louder to block out any thoughts of anything going around in her head. For the rest of the drive, she swore to herself she would think of nothing besides the lyrics and the beat of the music. Nothing was going to distract her. She needed this badly and couldn’t have any other thoughts in her head.

The drive took exactly 43 minutes instead of the 48 like the GPS had suggested, but Zo wasn’t complaining. Five less minutes of driving and being haunted by the songs on the cd. They arrived at the hotel that they were going to stay at that night and went to the main office to check in. Zo was thankful that it wasn’t as scary looking as she had originally thought it was going to be. It was just a normal hotel.

Once they got their room keys, they made their way thought the dinky hotel up to the second floor and began the search for the right room. When they found it, Zo unlocked the door as quickly as possible since her bags were heavy even though she had thought she packed light. As they walked in, she set her bags down on the first bed she came up to and sighed as she rubbed the handle marks out of her arm.

“Dude, I so don’t want to be next to the window.” Penny complained as she looked around the small room and saw the bed Zooey had claimed already. When she saw the look Zo gave her she rolled her eyes before continuing. “The street lights are going to come through the shades and I don’t want the sun in my eyes in the morning.”

“You sleep with an eye mask,”

“That’s not the point!” Penny snapped back as Zo raised her hands in surrender and grabbed her bags moving them to the other bed.

She really didn’t care where she slept, she was just thankful for the bed and the fact that the hotel was a three minute walk from the venue. She knew for a fact that when the concert was done, she was going to be dead tired after driving and would fall asleep as soon as they got back to the hotel that night.

”It was like a time-bomb set into motion, we knew that we were destine to explo-”

Zooey glanced up quickly from her bag as she searched for something as the eerily familiar song started to play. Then it was abruptly cut off and seconds later Penny was saying hello into her phone.

Her ringtone, really? Zooey just rolled her eyes as she let her attention go back to her bag as she tried to search for the shirt she was going to wear that night. Once she found it, she took that opportunity while Penny was still on the phone for her chance at the bathroom. She knew that once her crazy friend got off the phone that she would be in the bathroom the rest of the time until they had to leave.

When she was finished, she walked out she found that Penny was finished on the phone and was waiting for her to get out. She ignored the ‘finally’ her friend gave her as she quickly disappeared into the bathroom humming to herself. Zo knew that she was going to take forever so took that moment to relax and watch a little tv.

*Getting all dressed up for a night on the town?* Alex asked as she finally settled on a channel. All the channels there were total crap so it really didn’t matter what she was watching, she wouldn’t be interested in it anyway. Thank God Alex had decided to pop in at that exact moment.

*You could say that. How you doing stranger? I haven’t heard from you all day.* Zo replied as she heard a bang come from the bathroom followed by a string of profanities. “You ok in there princess?”

“Bite me!”

*Penny having a meltdown?*

Zo sighed, *when is she not?*

*Very true,* Alex muttered as he began to ramble about random things while she waited for Penny to finally be done getting ready.

It only took twenty more minutes for Penny to emerge from the bathroom looking almost the same as when she had first gone in there. But had changed her outfit and put her hair up. Zooey didn’t even bother commenting on the fact that it took her that long to do a few little things but instead grabbed her phone and money, and shoved it into her jean pockets before also grabbing her camera and following the now bouncing Penny out the door.

*So anyway, what have you been up to stranger? I feel like I haven’t talked to you in weeks.* Zo said as they began to walk toward the venue.

*It’s only been a few hours Zo,*

*Yeah well it feels longer. You try dealing with a very hyper Penny in a small car for a hour.*

*Oh yeah, that doesn’t sound very-* Alex started but suddenly stopped talking.

*Alex? Alex? Are you there? What the hell happened?* Zooey asked as she tried to figure out what was going on. But Alex didn’t reply. It was as if he was totally gone. What the hell?

*Alex, this isn’t funny. If this is some kind of stupid joke you’re pulling I’m going to kill you.* She continued. But she didn’t even get a snicker. Something was going on.

“Oh my God!” Penny squealed, pulling Zo from her desperate attempt at finding out what was going on. Penny was babbling about the concert as the venue’s building came into view. But Zooey could care less. All she wanted was to find out what was going on.

Why did that suddenly happen? It was as if Alex had never even been in her head. Like it had been four years ago just before Alex and she had found out they could talk telepathically. Was Alex gone forever? What would happen then? She didn’t want to lose him. He was her best friend. She couldn’t stand the thought of not having Alex in her head anymore.

Yes he was a pain in the ass sometimes. Keeping her up late while he got drunk or decided to try and write new lyrics. But he was still her best friend. She couldn’t stand the thought of him never being there again.

Penny was still going on about the venue as they walked up to the line and stood at the back of it. They still had about an hour to wait before the doors opened. As they waited, Zo continued to try and see if Alex was still there but nothing happened. He was simply gone.

When the doors opened, everyone rushed inside to find a good place to stand for the concert. Penny was freaking out even more, in a bad way though, when they ended up being in the back. The concert ended up starting late and when the first band came on, everyone was only cheering for what was coming at the end, and Zo sort of felt bad for the other bands. They only were getting a reaction because they were one band closer to All Time Low.

After the first two band finished, they only had one more band left before the band everyone was waiting for came on. Zo had to admit, the three first bands were good, but she didn’t pay as much attention to them as she would have liked since she was still freaking out about Alex. All she wanted to do at that point was get her best friend back.

Finally, the moment arrived and the lights dimmed as the drums started to pulse through the room and the crowd erupted into screams. Penny was even jumping up and down and screaming even though they couldn’t see anything and all that was playing were the drums. Then the guitars were added, and flashes of lights accompanied the drum beats and they could see the outlines of figures walking around on stage.

”Shorty says she wants to run away, says I look like a boy she used to date. Took me by the hand and pulled me to the stairs (I’m not interested girl).”

To say that the crowd was going nuts was a understatement. Everyone around Zo was screaming and yelling even more that before and singing along to the music louder than she thought was possible.

Zooey looked to the lead singer and sighed. He was cute. But what to you expect from a popular band that basically every girl loved? The members had to be cute. It was part of their image. The guy to the left of the lead singer had pitch black hair that was sticking in every direction and didn’t seem like he could stand still. He was jumping up and down and spinning everywhere. She was just surprised he hadn’t hurt himself yet.

As the first song finished, they gave a short introduction while the tall black haired boy and the lead singer teased and made fun of each other. Their set was double what the other sets where and by the time they finished with their last song, Zooey was tired. She was sweating and her legs ached and all she wanted to do was go back to the hotel and sleep.

But Penny had other ideas. She linked arms with her as they pushed their way through the crowd to the merch tables and stood at the back of the line. Penny was already talking about the concert and how ‘amazing and incredible’ it was, while also going on and on about how ‘hot Alex and Jack were’.

Zooey was getting a little annoyed but didn’t say anything. But it wasn’t so much the fact about Penny, it was more because she still couldn’t reach Alex. She kept trying but had gotten the same result. How the hell was she going to fix this now?”

“Oh my God,” Penny said as Zo gave her a confused look. “That’s Alex and Jack.” Another confused look followed by a eye roll from Penny. “Alex and Jack, the lead singer and guitarist from All Time Low? Seriously Zo, we just finished seeing them.”

“Oh right,”

“Go get a picture of them!”

“What? Why me?” Zooey asked instantly starting to panic. The last thing she wanted to do was go up to a bunch of guys looking gross and asking them for a picture. She may not be in love with them but she still thought it was sort of stalkerish.

“Because, we’ll lose our place in line if I go with you.” Penny hissed as Zo glanced to the front of the line which they were slowly getting closer to.

Zo rolled her eyes. “Fine but you owe me.”

Penny just smiled and nodded as Zo stepped out of line and headed for the two boys. It was strange that they weren’t bombarded by girls. They were popular after all. But they both seemed tired and the lead singer, Alex she thought, looked a little out of it as she walked closer.

“Um hi, I was wondering if I could take your guys picture for my friend over there.” Zooey said as she walked up to the boys and they glanced over to her…