Let Live Again

"Just take it, you butt!" I stood in front of the ginger boy that was much taller than me. I was holding out over two hundred dollars to him that I had made from working a job.

"I don't want your money. Spend it on yourself." he shook his head, pushing my wrist away.

"You've gave me a place to stay for almost two weeks and you funded me money for clothes, Alan. Please?"

"Nope!" he shook his head again, then fixed his ginger locks. "I refuse."

"Ugh, you're not being fair." I sighed, bringing my wrist back down to my side.

"You have done enough as it is. You clean and take care of the place when I'm gone through the day. Plus, you worked hard for that money. Your job isn't very easy. I'm sure as hell I couldn't do it."

He did have a point, I guess. I was working at a Subway down the street from his apartment. The co-workers were complete asses to me. Some customers could be complete dicks. Many of them older and have hit on my several times. I also had the evening shifts and I was in charge of making sure all the dishes were done. It was quite tiring. But for once, I had the next two nights off, so tonight I was accompanying Alan to a bonfire on the beach with his friends.

"I guess you're somewhat right. It isn't easy. It sucks and I hate it."

"Then quit." he raised his eyebrow a little, a smirk forming on his lips.

"I'm not going to quit. That's my own source of income and I'm not going to bum off of you, Alan." I rolled my eyes. "What am I supposed to wear to this bonfire, anyway?"

"Something that you're comfortable in. Might bring a hoodie because it's kind of cold at night on the ocean." he replied. "Speaking of which, I need to find some blankets to lay on. I'm gonna do that while you get ready." he walked away from me, going into another room.

I quietly sighed and went into a room that was now my bedroom. He had cleared out his second bedroom for me to stay in. I changed from my pajama pants into a pair of leggings and slipped on some boots, pulling an oversized sweatshirt on also. I walked over to the small mirror and pulled my hair up into a sock bun and put some make up on. I needed to make at least a decent impression on his friends for the hopes they'd want to befriend me too. I laced my lips with red lipstick and made a face before I left the room to go find where Alan had vanished off to.

I found him sitting on his sofa, tapping away on his iPhone. "Oh hey, are you ready?" he looked up from his phone to gaze at me before he looked down again.

"Yup." I nodded. "I'm kind of excited to meet new people."

"They're the chillest people ever, I promise." he smiles, getting up from the sofa and grabs the blankets he had brought out. "You look nice by the way."

"Oh thank you." I smiled softly at him. He handed me a blanket to carry and we walked to the door. He locked it up and we walked out his car, getting in. We tossed the blankets in the backseat and buckled our seatbelts, him leaving his parking space.

On the way there, the only noise between us was us singing along to an old Akon song that had came on the radio. He new every word by heart and I only knew the chorus. We both made a good duet out of the song, even though we were both terrible singers.

We pulled into a parking lot that was sandy. He parked and we got out, getting the blankets. We walked up a little slope that dipped down onto the beach. Just a little off the shoreline was a fire going and a group people sat around it talking. Alan patted my shoulder and nodded to me, giving me a confidence boost. "You got this, Jace." he smiled at me.

We walked down to the group of people, them turning to look at us. "Ginger kitten, who's your friend?" a tall boy with a lot of tattoos asked, staring me down.

"Austin, everyone, this is Jacey. Jacey, this is Austin, Phil, Tino, and Aaron" Alan said to me as he pointed at everyone as he said their names.

"Hello." I shyly said. Alan laid the blanket down, sitting down on it, patting the space next to him. I sat, listening to the conversation pick up.

"So Jacey, where are you from?" the boy named Tino asked me.

"I'm from Connecticut." I quietly said. "That's a far, far away land."

Him and the boy named Phil laughed. "We've been to Connecticut. We know."

"So I take it you're Alan's band members."

"Yup, we are." Phil nodded.

"That's cool. What's the whole band life like?" I asked, looking among them all.

"Crazy." Alan mumbled from beside me.

"Insane." Aaron added.

"Anything except synonyms of crazy?" I raised an eyebrow, earning laughs from everyone.

"This is basically how band life works, Jace." Alan sat up a little. "You're on the road a lot, you're barely home, and you're away from people you love. That part sucks." he paused to make a pout. "But other than that, the travel is great. It's awesome to see the world and meet new people."

"Especially when we have the best fans. They make us." Austin chimed from the corner, nodding in agreement to Alan's speech.

"And they break us." Alan laughed and shook his head.

A wave of 'yeses' came from all the guys. I laughed and nodded. "It sounds pretty good, I guess."

"Hey, you know what guys?"

"Oh god, he's got an idea." I said, looking over at Alan.

He rolled his eyes and pushed me over, sighing. "If we could put up with her the whole summer, she should come be our merch girl." he said, looking over at me as I sat back up.

"I think that's an excellent idea, Alan." Tino agreed. "What do you guys think?" he looked at the others.

"I'm cool with it. I like her." Phil nodded.

"I say yes, and Aaron doesn't even get a say because it's four to one but he's going to say yes anyway, and if he doesn't I'm going to smack him." Austin nodded, flashing a grin at his band mate.

"Austin just spoke for me so.." Aaron narrowed his eyes at Austin. "I was going to say yes."

"Wait, so what am I doing?" I looked at all of them.

"Warped tour!" Alan murmured. "Summer camp for bands."

"Ew"

"Oh come on Jace, please?" he gave me his big brown puppy dog eyes. "You'd make better pay as our merch girl than that retarded ass Subway."

"Maybe I like my job at the retarded ass Subway!"

"No you don't. Please? Don't make me beg."

"So what am I supposed to do?" I looked at him.

"Quit your job, pack your shit, and leave with us this weekend for the summer. It'll be a great experience, I promise. Plus you'll be with your favorite ginger all summer long."

"Ed Sheeran is my favorite ginger, fuck you." I retaliated.

"Ed Sheeran is my favorite ginger." he mocked me and laughed obnoxiously. "No, shut up. Please Jacey!"

"Ugh, fine!" I sighed.

"So it's settled, you're coming to warped tour." he smirked in satisfaction as the rest of his band cheered.