Our Wasted Youth

I was running. To what or what from, I don't know. All I knew was that the ground was flying past my feet and everything around me was a blur. The edge of my t-shirt got caught on a branch and I was yanked to the ground. My knee twisted the wrong way underneath me, I cried out to anyone for help. Begged, pleaded into the empty air for a friend. My only answer was the wind whipping through the empty trees. "Poor little Willow left all alone…"Came a voice from behind me. Tears began to stream down my face as I realized how true it was.

I woke up with a start and rubbed my throbbing knee, I cleared away the tears that had actually fallen. My heart felt as though it was trying to escape my chest. The quickened lub-dub pulsed in my ears, drowning out the sound of heavy breathing. Great, going to work my self into a frenzy over this one, I thought. Nightmares are a common occurrence for me, but this one really bothered me. It wasn't exactly scary, it was just the pure loneliness that resounded through it. I had friends who cared about me, why was this happening? There honestly was no rhyme or reason for this! The past few months had been amazing! The guys' had a steady gig, Jamie and I had been hanging out. It was nearly the end of Apri, and we all had plans to keep this up in the summer.

"Wow universe, could we quit it with the freaky nightmares? No? Yeah, I didn't think so…"" I sighed and tried to figure out what to do. Usually, I would call Blythe and talk it out with her, considering our current friendship standing, I don't see that being a possibility. She would always answer, regardless of the time, and listen as I told her about it. She betrayed that trust, there's no way I could call her now, I thought sadly.

I plucked my cell from the nightstand and scrolled through the numbers. The only one that a female, my age, and actually associated herself with me was Jamie. I guess it was worth a shot. I sent her a text message to see if she was up.
She replied with, "I'm always up, certified creature of the night here :)" I asked her if I could call her, she responded with an of course. I quickly dialed her number and tried to collect my thoughts.

"WILLOW! What's up, bitch?"

"Jamie, you’re not my pimp."

"Girl, please. If I was a pimp, I’d be dressing a hell of a lot better than I am now.. So, what has you up in the wee hours of the morning? Writing about the adventures of the fabulous All Time Low?"

"What?"

"Zack may have given me some papers to give to you, and I may or may not have read them. And by read them, I meant devour them. They were deliciously written."

"Really? You liked them?"

"I loved them! I don't mean to assume, but is that one chick based off of me? Jade something or another? She's an artist and the one guy's cousin."

"Jade Collinsworth you mean? Yeah, that's based on you. I guess it's obvious who is featured in the story?"

"Oh no! Not really, I mean Zack couldn't figure it out, and he's one of the main characters! He liked it a lot though, said you were a great writer."

"Oh wow, he said that?" I felt a blush slowly creep its way up my neck.

"All joking matter aside, why are you calling?"

"You're going to think it's weird."

"Willow Whatever-your-middle-name-is Cooper, have you seen the people I hang out with? I have a cousin who looks like my creepy goth older sister and a neighbor who is basically a hyperactive two year old in a seventeen year olds body. I could never think of you as weird, not in a bad way anyway."

I could hear the smile in her voice. I decided then that I trusted Jamie, I knew she wasn't going to tell other people about this.

"Well, this is going to sound silly, but I had a nightmare. They happen a lot and all, but this one really got to me." I explained the dream to her.

"Well, that just sounds lovely. Add some rotting corpses hands popping through the ground and you've one hell of a horror movie. Hang on, that's going in my sketchbook. I see where you're coming from though, you don't feel alone around us, do you? I know the guys adore you and I thought we were cool."

"No, this definitely has nothing to do with you guys. It's just sometimes, I don't know, I feel really alone. Like even when I'm around everyone else, I feel isolated. My head puts me in this little glass box where I have a front row seat to everyone else's good time. It just feels so off. And I know I shouldn't be like that, because I do have friends. Friends I care about so much."

"And we care about you. Look, Wils, I don't know how to fix this thing you are feeling. It's a battle with your own head, but these past few months with you around have been awesome. I've got someone to hang with, and the guys have been a lot more friendly towards me. It's like when you came along it completed our little group. I can't fix what you've got going on, but I can be around as you try and fix it yourself. You've got me, girl."

My eyes started to burn and I rubbed at my face trying to ward off what I knew was coming. "Thanks, Jay. I kind of needed that."

"Anytime, babe. Well I'm going to get down this sketch before I lose the idea, you relax and take it easy. I'm even going to email you my playlist for when I'm having a bad night, okay? I think I have your e-mail somewhere, hang on….HERE IT IS! Night Willow dear!"

"Good night, Jamie. Thank you again."

I felt better after talking to Jamie, it was nice to have someone so genuine in my life. I slid my laptop out from under my bed and set about checking my emails. I got her playlist and was surprised to see some the guys' stuff on there. Not their covers, their original stuff. I stuck in my headphones and leaned back against the pillows as Alex's voice filled my ears.

***
"Hey Willow?" I glanced up from my writing to see Zack standing over me. I was sitting in the library after school with an half an hour to kill before I had to head to Jack's house for rehearsals. "Mind if I take a seat." Zack pointed to the empty chair across from me. "Go ahead." I said, picking up my pencil and continuing the paragraph I was writing. I felt his eyes boring into the top of my head as I wrote, I sighed and put the pencil down.

"What's up?" I asked with a smile.

"Well, I've been trying to ask you something for what feels forever but has only been a few weeks. " He explained, pushing his bangs out of his eyes. I went to say something, but he stopped me. "Hang on, if I don't do this now, I'm never going to get it done. I was wondering… if well, you might want to go to prom with me?"

My mind went blank for a second, and I felt like someone had pulled a plug on my basic understanding operator. There's no way in hell I had just heard him right.

"Um, sorry what was that?" I asked.

A worried look crossed his face, "Well, I get to go to prom this year and I was uh.. wondering if you maybe wanted to go with me? As my date?"

I felt a blush creep into my face as he said that last word. Me? As a date? Zack was a good-looking guy, why the hell did he want to take me? Oh, save that for later, a boy just asked you to PROM! Say yes, bitch!, for some reason, I imagined Jamie giving me this inner pep talk. Look, he's cute, sweet, and have you seen him shirtless, no you haven't but you might! Go for it kid, get that ass! I giggled at the last bit, blushing even deeper when I realized Zack heard it.

"Look it was stupid of me to ask, I know. Just please, don't laugh at me! I thought it would be cool for the two of us to go together is all." Zack started picking his stuff up and turned to go when I grabbed his wrist.

"Don't you want my answer?"

"You were just laughing at me, I think that's answer enough."

He tried to pull away, but I was able to keep my grip. "Zachary Merrick, will you wait a minute, please?"

He sighed and sat back down. "Well?"

"I would love to go to prom with you."

A grin burst across his face, giving me a glimpse of Zack I had never seen before. His hazel eyes lit up, a kaleidoscope of blues, greens, and greys. I was taken back for a second. "Awesome! We'll work out the details later. We're going to be late for band practice, here I'll carry your bag." He grabbed my backpack and my hand and out the door we went.