Teenage Dirtbag

Jack’s POV
Haley and Alex had just left for Haley’s house. So far my plan to get them together was going pretty well. Or well, my plan, it didn’t really take any effort from my side.
“I bet the two of them will be together within a month” Rian said.
“Hmm.. I don’t know” I said. “I’m not so sure Haley actually likes Alex.”
“Well, it sure does seem like it. Why else would they end up slow dancing?” Zack asked.
“Well, because Alex is in love with her and Haley likes to be spontaneous” I said.
“We’ll see” Rian said.

A girl I didn’t know then came walking up to us.
“Hey” she said shyly. “I just wanted to tell you I thought you were pretty great!”
“Ah thanks” I said with a big smile.
I looked at the girl. She seemed about our age, a bit younger maybe. I had never seen her at school though.
“Do you live in Baltimore?” I asked. I then realized it was kind of a strange question. “I mean, you seem about our age and I’ve never seen you at school.”
“Oh uh yeah I do, but I just moved here last week. What school do you go to?” she asked.
I told her what school Alex, Haley and I went to.
“Oh, I go there as well, but I’m starting there next Monday” she explained.
“Cool” I answered. “I’m Jack Barakat by the way”
“That’s an interesting name. You’re not American I suppose?” she asked.
“Well, I was born in Maryland but my father is indeed Lebanese” I explained.
“That’s pretty damn far away” she answered. “I’m Tay Jardine by the way.”
“That too is not a name you hear everyday” I said with a wink. “Oh, these are my friends Zack, Rian and Cassadee.”
Tay shook their hands. “But hey, I should probably go, my band is about to go on.”
We weren’t the only band playing tonight, it was some upcoming bands thing, but we did get to open.
“You’re in a band?” Rian asked. “Cool”
“But.. you just moved here? Did you form a band and create a setlist within a week?” I asked confused.
“No, I actually moved here with my bandmates. We all live together. We’re from Poughkeepsie, New York.” she explained.
“Why would you move to Maryland from New York?” I asked.
“Look, I really have to go. I don’t know if you’re gonna stay much longer?” she asked.
“Well, I know I am, I wanna see your band” I said, and the guys and Cass nodded.
“Awesome” she said with a big smile. “Then I’ll talk to you after the show?”
I nodded. “Yeah, we’ll be right here.”
Tay then walked away, heading for the stage.

“Well, look who’s suddenly in a good mood?” Cassadee asked teasingly.
“Huh what?” I asked. “I’m just making friends okay?”
“Sure you are” Zack said laughing.
“I must say I like her better than that Aimee girl” Rian admitted.
“Okay what? I can’t be nice to someone without you thinking I like them?” I asked irritated.
“Sure you can. But they’re a difference between being nice, and being interested” Rian said.
“Why would you wait till after their show, just to be nice?” Zack asked.
“Because I want to know why she moved from New York to Baltimore?” I said.
“Who are we talking about here?” Alex popped up next to Zack.
“Jack’s new love” Rian said.
Alex looked at me sadly. “I thought I was your love.”
“She’s not my new love!” I exclaimed.
Alex faked a relieved sigh. Our attention was then drawn to the stage, where the barkeeper announced a band called “The In Crowd” which was probably Tay’s band. Soon, Tay walked on stage, followed by four guys.
“That’s who we’re talking about” Cassadee told Alex. “Her name is Tay.”
“You should’ve seen the look on his face” Rian added.
“Will you just stop already? I like Aimee, not her” I said annoyed.
“Too bad” Cassadee said shrugging.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
We all looked at Cassadee.
“I just don’t understand why you would want to be with someone like her. Haley and I were standing right behind her during your performance and she just said… Well awful things about Haley. Do you really want to be with someone who looks at your best friend like she’s better than her?” Cassadee said.

I looked at the four of them, but didn’t really know what to say. Luckily, at that moment The In Crowd started playing, so I turned around to watch them, I didn’t have to defend my life choices in front of my friends. They had to accept whatever the fuck I did. Isn’t that what friends are for? Though, from the looks of my friends faces they had all been thinking the same. The In Crowd really wasn’t bad. Tay had a nice voice. Unlike us, they were playing mostly original songs, though of course, I didn’t know any of them. They seemed to have performed before. They weren’t as awkward as I bet we were. They were just enjoying their set, and it was showing. Their music was really catchy as well. After they played their last song, I still hadn’t faced my friends, but now I had to. I turned back around.
“They were pretty good” Alex said appreciatively.
The rest of them nodded, and started discussing the show, as if they were professional musicians. I didn’t get too involved in the conversation and was just scanning the room to find Tay. I really hoped she wouldn’t forget about hanging with us. I would really like to get to know her better, but well, she went to my school anyway so it wasn’t like I wouldn’t see her after tonight.

About ten minutes later Tay appeared next to me.
“Sorry it took so long, I had to change” she said. “And I brought the guys to introduce you.”
She pointed at the four guys standing behind her. “This is Mike, Cameron, Jordan and Rob”. We all shook their hands.
“Oh yeah, this is our singer Alex” I said, when I saw Tay looking at Alex.
They shook hands.
“So hey, we were about to get out of here to go grab a burger, but Tay wanted to ask if you guys wanted to come” the guy who Tay introduced as Jordan said.
I looked at my friends. I really wanted to go with them, but if my friends didn’t want to, I wouldn’t have a ride home.
“Yeah, sure” Alex exclaimed, and the rest nodded. “We have to go get our gear first though.”
“Yeah we do too, let’s go” Tay said.
We all went backstage to get our own gear and then exited the bar, packing our cars. While we were still packing Zack’s father’s van, Tay came walking over from their van which was a few parking spots away from ours.
“To be honest we don’t even know where the nearest McDonald’s is, so if you could just drive there, we’ll follow you” she told us.
“Oh yeah that’s fine” I said.
It was obvious they had done this more often, they packed their van a lot faster than we did, but after 20 minutes and with a little help from the The In Crowd guys we were done as well. We all got in the vans and Alex drove to the nearest McDonald’s and parked there. Seconds later, Cameron parked next to us and we all went inside.