The Rock Show

A few hours and sets later, it's five in the afternoon and Alex and Jess have managed to see Yellowcard, the last few minutes of Simple Plan's set (because lets be honest, Alex is more than a little gay for Pierre), The Used, a really kick-ass band called Dead Sara, and Bad Religion. During that time they've also managed to consume a ridiculous amount of water and run into several band members. Now Alex is pretty pissed he didn't push All Time Low into entering a contest to join Warped like Jess did, because seriously, he could have been spending the summer hanging out with Taking Back Sunday rather than acting stupid and getting drunk his best friends.

"You slob, hurry up." Jess mutters as they make their way out of Bad Religion's mosh pit. A few girls have taken their shirts off wearing nothing but short-shorts and skimpy triangle bikini tops; needless to say Alex and a few other guys were caught staring.

And okay, Jess still thinks he's a bit of a pretentious asshole, but no more than any of her bandmates are. He's actually pretty funny and helped protect her slight frame from angry scene kids and dozens of pushy, drunk bastards. So she's warming up to him, and might even miss him a little after they move onto Virginia. Maybe.

Alex shrugs sheepishly. At least he has some dignity left. "Sorry, tits are tits." Jess makes a face and Alex quickly changes the subject. "Hey, my friend Jack just texted me. He and my other friends just finished watching Senses Fail and they wanna meet up by the Vans table. Is that okay?"

Jess swallows nervously. She'd forgotten about Alex's friends after he stopped mentioning them and she's kind of nervous. She's never really been terribly good with people. But she doesn't have it in her to deny Alex; she's tired, after all, and he'd treated her really well. She hasn't forgotten that he probably has some sort of ulterior motive to being nice to her ("tits are tits") but she's trying to not let it bother her.

"Sure, I guess, but I reserve the right to kick them in the nuts if they're jackasses."

Alex laughs, throwing his sweaty head of hair back. Jess grins. "Fair enough. Oh shit, I should probably warn them."

But it's too late, they've already reached the Vans table. Now, so far Alex is pretty damn proud of himself. He had a lot of fun this afternoon and he's broken down her walls the slightest bit; it's obvious in the way they banter now. But still, he's slightly worried that one of his bandmates will say something stupid and they'll end up back to square one.

Hopefully not. He mentally smacks himself. He should have more faith in them.

Then again, he's allowed to be concerned over Jack's behavior. Rian and Zack can handle themselves fine.

Or...not. Because as soon as they approach the table a tiny girl (seriously. She's smaller than Jess and Jess comes up to Alex's neck) with dyed blonde hair runs and jumps onto Alex's front, hugging him and blubbering in a high-pitched squeal.

"Alex! Babe, I missed you, why didn't you answer any of my texts?! I didn't know you got tickets to Warped, holy shit." She detangles herself from him, looking up at him in an accusing manner. Now that Jess can properly see Alex's face he appears to be a mixture between confused and pissed off.

And really, Jess thinks to herself, who is this bitch? She's praying it isn't a groupie but her gut is telling her she's something much worse.

"L-Lisa? What the hell-" Alex looks to Jack, Rian, and Zack, who are all standing off to the side wearing varying expressions of guilt. Jack's twiddling his thumbs, big brown eyes staring at Alex in apology. Rian's nervously rubbing the back of his neck, facing the ground, mouth twisted in a frown. And Zack...Zack raises an eyebrow and gives Alex a 'curt It's not our fault, don't look at us' expression. Alex sighs and turns back to Lisa. Fuck, he has a lot of explaining to do if he wants to remain friends with Jess.

He doesn't want to tell Lisa that he deleted her number a few days after school ended, doesn't want to tell her that he just doesn't really care about her anymore. And he doesn't have to feel bad about that, right? They were never dating, just acquaintances who hooked up at parties regularly, but it's not like he wants Jess to figure that last part out.

Shit.

"I didn't get your texts." Alex lies smoothly. He did get them, in fact, from an unknown number, all of them saying 'Where are you?' so he figured it was either a stalker or a wrong number.

Lisa pouts, folding her bare arms. She's wearing a bikini top too; how convenient. Jess has officially decided she doesn't like Lisa. "Still," she whines, "we could have hung out. It's been ages since we've seen each other, babe."

"I told you to not call me that." Alex says sharply, eyeing Jess nervously. The younger girl seems to be picking at her fingernails uninterestedly but she's actually catching onto every word.

Alex really doesn't mean to sound like an asshole. Truly. But he only has so much patience for Lisa; the only time they ever really interacted was when he was drunk off his ass in some stranger's bedroom.

She steps back, her green eyes widening in realization before narrowing in disgust. "Have you been fucking ignoring me?"

Fuck it. "Yeah. And you're not my girlfriend so you don't get to act all defensive."

She purses her glossed lips then lets out a resentful sigh. "I might as well be."

"It's a title, Lisa."

"Like how 'manwhore extraordinare' is yours." Lisa smirks as Jack, Rian, and Zack quietly murmur oooh under their breaths. Jess looks up from her hands, holding back a laugh. She can't say she's surprised, really. Alex is in a band. She's probably one of the least sleaziest musicians out there, so who is she to judge him? It makes her uncomfortable in a weird way, yeah. But still.

Lisa cocks her head in Jess' direction. "Does your new friend know about that?"

Damn it, Alex was hoping she wouldn't drag Jess into it. He's super nervous as to what she'll say, if she'll laugh or treat him like he's scum. He'd probably deserve it but they had a good time and he'd hate for Warped Tour to end on a bad note.

To everyone's surprise, Jess claps a hand on Lisa's shoulder and looks her in the eyes, mischief lingering in her smile. "I do know about that, actually." Jess lowers her voice to a whisper. "I bet he's never made you come three times in a row, darling."

Lisa's eyes have grown to the size of saucers and her mouth drops open like a fish. Alex isn't sure if he wants to hug Jess or make out with her because did you hear that voice she just used?

The rest of the guys are exchanging curious glances, none of them hearing what Jess said. Lisa finally composes herself and glares down at Jess; she sort of looks like she's trying not to cry. "Are you serious? You whore."

Jess cackles maniacally which seems to throw Lisa off even more. "Fuck, no. Do you think I'd ever let Gaskank anywhere near this?" She gestures to her body, as Alex lets out a "Hey!" in protest. He's not bothered really; he's more relieved than anything, though he could do without hearing his best friends laugh at his expense after hearing Jess' words.

Before Lisa can respond Jess gives her a cheeky grin and walks over to where the guys are, Alex following her. The five of them continue walking as Lisa huffs, storming off angrily in the other direction.

"That was fucking sick!" Zack yells, high-fiving Jess. She laughs, making Alex crack a smile because it's possibly one of the cutest things in the whole damn world. The fact that she had been smiling more and more as they continued to hang out only widened the grin on his face.

Rian chuckled, pulling Jess in for a sweaty hug. "I don't really know you but I hate Lisa, which means you must be pretty damn cool."

Jack just eyes her up and down, making a duck face and putting his hands on his hips. "I think I love you." he declares eventually, giving her an equally sticky embrace. Jess doesn't mind; sure, between the arms of a sweaty teenage boy isn't her favorite place to be but hugs like these aren't exactly new to her.

"Now," Jack says very seriously, "you make sure you give Alex plenty of oral sex. Okay?"

"Fuck, Jack, don't scare her off." says Zack.

Alex watches her worriedly. He was sure Jess didn't really want to meet his friends but now she seems less reluctant about it and more carefree in general and just chuckles, ignoring Jack.

He clears his throat. "So, uh, Jess. This is the rest of All Time Low. Three-quarters of All Time Low, meet Jess."

"The better looking three-quarters." Jack interjects, waggling his eyebrows seductively.

Dammit, Jess noticed, this kid is more hyper than Demetri. "Definitely." She agrees, nudging Alex in the side, still trying to look nonchalant because this is All Time Low. Everyone's favorite band. It's only just dawned on her who she's speaking to; she first heard their demo when she was a sophomore and became a fan ever since. Don't get her wrong, she wasn't obsessed, but she knew these goofy and immature kids were hiding more talent than would ever meet the eye.

But then again, Alex said before that they all liked Aurora, which was flattering in its own right.

Jess bit her lip as the guys argued, looking down at the ground. She was turning into such a sap.

She sighs. "C'mon, guys, shut up. Wanna go grab dinner?"

"Hell yes!" "I thought you'd never ask." "About time!"

As they're making their way to a stand that sells fast food Alex approaches Jess, laughing lightly to himself. "They like you."

She rolls her eyes in response. "Oh really? I couldn't tell."

He gives her a look. "No need to be cocky. Anyway, uh, you know what Lisa said wasn't true, right?"

Jess arches an eyebrow, "Wasn't it? It's fine, Alex, I'm in a band too. I know how these things work."

"Yeah, I know," He still feels like he has to defend himself, though. "but I'm not like that anymore. Like, I haven't done any of that for a few weeks and I don't plan on it." He needs her to understand this for some reason. He doesn't know why, he just does. She's cool yet blunt, witty, tactful, occasionally funny and can stand her own in any situation. Basically put she's unlike any girl he's ever gotten to know.

Jess gives him a calculating look before nodding, stepping forward in line for food. "Yeah, yeah. The thing is, Alex, I really could care less about your sex life." But she winks at him, winks for Christ's sake. He's pretty sure he just blushed and it was totally obvious; not humiliating at all.

He doesn't really want to worry about having to say goodbye tonight; he'll think about it later. The only thing that matters is how she grabs his hand after they finish eating to pull him in the right direction ("Four Year Strong is this way, dumbass.") and doesn't let go until after they finish watching two more bands.