Where Have You Been?

Zack took Riley to the restaurant as they had their breakfast peacefully without getting disturbed by the crews or the band. As they finished, Riley was about to tell Zack about how Jack was acting really wrong but she had to postponed it because she saw Alex and Lindy was walking toward their table and joined them.

“Today’s going to be fun!” Lindy exclaimed.

“Such a shame Savannah and her little guy can’t join us…” Alex added as Lindy grabbed some breakfast for them and the rest of the band and crews joined their breakfast time.

As all of them finished their breakfast, everyone were preparing themselves to get to the orphanage. Carrying their acoustic guitar, Alex and Zack made their way to the bus meanwhile Jack was still standing in front of his room, not knowing what he wanted to do.

Jack had his phone on his hand but he was just starring at the blank screen in front of him. He wanted to call Savannah to ask how things were, but he couldn’t. He chickened out. He didn’t want to lose everything he had in his grip, fame by this case.

Jack took a very deep breath as he slide his phone back into his pocket as Vinny called him to join everyone inside their tour bus.

------

“Are you Jack from the band All Time Low?” A teenage girl from the orphanage said as the band walked out of their bus.

“My name is Jack, but I'm not sure about the band you were talking about…” Jack said, pretending like he wasn’t a part of the band.

The girl on front of Jack was about to cry when she hard Jack said what he said, so he quickly pulled the girl into his hug and told her that it really was them, it really was All Time Low that came visit the place she called home.

Still not believing she finally saw the band, the girl introduced herself as Shania. The orphanage wasn’t that really big but they had plenty of orphans to take care of, there were about 40 abandoned kids staying under their roof and found families of their own.

Just when the teenagers were welcoming the band’s arrival, Riley and Lindy blended with the kids and that’s when Riley realized she saw someone she knew. Leaving Lindy with the kids, Riley ran toward the blonde hair girl and jumped onto her.

“Did you arrange all of this?” Riley squealed. “Be honest, Tara!” she added as Riley let her go slowly.

“Fine, you caught me! I arranged all of this and yes I was the one who sent an email to Matt Flyzik.” Tara stopped as she looked around. “Where is Savannah?”

“She has to skip the trip. Today is Shane’s parents day at school…” Riley said. “And since Jack couldn’t be there she had to.” She lowered her voice.

Just before Riley could spill more beans, Zack walked toward their direction and lifted the blonde girl up that she squealed and begged him to put him down. Tara sensed something was wrong when Zack started to re-introduce her to the band as the girl who had taken the very good care of Savannah and Jack seemed like he was freaking out.

“Thank you for coming here!” Tara excitedly said. “So that girl who asked Jack if he really was Jack of All Time Low was the reason why I sent an email to you guys. It’s her sweet 16th birthday yesterday, and today would mark the 10th year anniversary of her parents’ death.” Tara added.

“And you thought that bringing us here would at least make her feel better?” Alex asked as Tara nodded. “Well then, can I just ask her to party with us?”

“She can’t party with you!” Tara said firmly.

Alex smirked at Tara as Riley smacked Alex’s head. They just got to know each other but they seemed to get along very quickly, meanwhile Jack, he was trying to avoid Tara by keeping himself busy playing with some kids.

At first, Jack just wanted to keep himself away from Tara and everyone else inside the room so he could have just avoid the questions from Tara or Riley, but the more he was drown with the kids, the more he realized someone home needed him more than anyone else ever be. Jack felt the guilt rushed back into his nerves but he chose to ignore it.

The band did a little of acoustic performance before ending up throwing Shania the best birthday party ever. It was actually Jack’s idea to throw her a birthday party like every other teenagers at her age has. Jack told Shania to texted all of her friends at school to come over the place she stayed, the orphanage. Alex also did the same, he tweeted the orphanage’s address and told people that was nearby to come over.

Riley was still playing with one little girl, probably around three years old, when Zack came up to her. Zack didn’t say or do anything. He just stared at the girl in front of him with a very big smile on his face.

“Do I look weird?” Riley asked as the little girl she held coughed. “Tara told me that her name is Sarah. But she’s a little sick now.” Riley pouted.

“You look cute holding her and all these stuff.” Zack giggled. “I’m glad I decided to date you.”

“I know, I'm one of a kind.” Riley joked as Zack kissed the top of her head.

Slowly, Zack pulled a little box out of his back pocket and gave it Riley. She was stunned, she couldn’t move or talk, not even breathing. Zack opened the velvet box and there was a ring inside and Zack slowly put that on her ring finger.

“I know this wont make things easier for me or the band, but well, I have made my decision, and we will tell everyone together, when you agree.” Zack said in a breath.

Riley felt horrible inside, there was something he kept from Zack. And as much as she loved Zack, she didn’t think that Zack would ask her this very soon. Quickly, she let Sarah go to Tara and asked Zack to talk in private. They walked toward the backyard of the building and Riley started to sob. At first, Zack thought it was tears of joy, but it wasn’t.

“There is one thing you don’t know about me, Zachary.” Riley sobbed.

“Are you scared of being in a committed relationship?” Zack asked with all the anxieties he had.

Riley shook her head, but she wouldn’t say a thing. Zack was confused, but Riley was even more confused. She didn’t know how to speak the words out loud, she didn’t know how to tell Zack about how she really was doing.

“What is it, Riles? If you’re not ready, I can wait.” Zack smiled as he hugged Riley tightly.

“But you can’t wait for something that will never be there. I cant have kids, Zack.” Riley mumbled clear enough to let Zack heard.

Zack wanted to ask for details, but he couldn’t. He didn’t want to make Riley gets more upset or anything, so he just hug her tightly. The answer was a little unexpected, but that was enough for Zack. Knowing Riley was telling him the truth made him feel a little relieved. At least he would know every single thing about his family’s existence, unlike Jack.

Riley begged Zack to keep it as low as possible, to never let anyone else know. She didn’t want to ruin everyone’s – Shania’s to be exact – day just because she decided to tell Zack the truth.

*****

“My name is Savannah Ash, I am Shane’s mother.” Savannah stuttered in front of the whole class. “I own a boutique and a fashion line…” She stopped when Shane’s classmate interrupted her.

“Why doesn’t Shane’s dad show up, Mrs. Ash?” The little boy asked.

“Sshh, baby. I told you, Shane doesn’t have a dad!” The boy’s mother whispered, but it was pretty loud so pretty much the whole room could hear that.

“I do have a dad!” Shane shouted. “My dad cant be here because he’s out of town!!” he added.

Savannah’s heart sunk the moment she heard some murmurs from the whole class as she picked Shane up and took him out of the class. Of course Shane didn’t understand the meaning of what they were saying, but Savannah does. She knew exactly the meaning of sluts, whore, and bitch. She didn’t like the sound of them all, she hated it even more when her son heard it.

“Mom, you know that Dad couldn’t be here because he’s on tour, right? When he’s home, we will take him here and show them my best dad, ever! Everything is going to be fine.” Shane said as he wiped away Savannah’s tears when he saw she was crying with his little fingers.

“Lets go home, okay baby?” Savannah faked a smile.

On the drive home, Savannah couldn’t think of anything but how in the world does Jack hadn’t even contact her in the past three weeks, she couldn’t bear the thoughts of what would happen to Shane if Jack bailed on them. She held her tears up so Shane didn’t have to spot them but the pain inside her chest was too painful.