Teenage Dirtbag

That night we would all meet up at Alex’s house for dinner and go to the bar they played at after. I was supposed to pick up Haley but she called earlier to tell me she was already at Alex’s. I didn’t mind it though; I wasn’t exactly feeling like being alone with her anyway. I figured she and Alex skipped school earlier since Alex didn’t show up at the biology test, probably causing him to fail it. I drove into Alex’s street and parked in front of his house. I didn’t see Zack’s father’s van yet, so Zack, Rian and Cassadee probably wouldn’t be here yet. I got out of my car locked it and headed for the front door. Before I could ring the bell, the door opened and an overjoyed Alex appeared. He must’ve had a fun day with Haley, I thought.

“Hey Jack!” he exclaimed.
“Hey” I replied, not nearly as enthusiastically, as Alex stepped out of the way to let me in.
I headed for their living room, with Alex right behind me. I noticed Haley sitting in a corner on the couch. We politely greeted each other; the tension was still very much present. Alex didn’t seem to notice it and went to get me a drink while I sat down on the couch, not too close to Haley. We sat there in silence for a few minutes until Alex returned. His gaze went from me to Haley and I was pretty sure he finally noticed the tension.
“Oh come on, are the two of you still mad at each other?” he asked.
“Who says we’re mad at each other?” Haley asked sharply.
“Well, this awkward silence pretty much does” Alex said. “We’re supposed to have fun tonight guys, please make this right while I go feed the dogs.”

Alex turned on his heels and left the room. Again, Haley and I sat there in silence. I wasn’t gonna be the one to speak first. She’s been a bitch to me all day, what, all week. After a few minutes she spoke and I looked up.
“I’m sorry okay,” she said. “I’m just not having the best day and I’ve been taking it out on you.”
“And instead of riding with me to explain or apologize you just skip school with Alex?” I asked, sounding more harshly than I had intended.
“I didn’t plan for that to happen” she replied calmly.
“It still did” I said.
“What exactly are you mad about? Me hanging out with Alex instead of you? Because if you wanna go there, I’ve got some for you too" she sneered.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked narrowing my eyes.

“Guys!” Alex came walking back in. “Make it up, I said, not make it worse.”
“Apparently the fact that I hang out with you this afternoon bothers Jack” Haley said.
Alex looked at me surprised.
“No, it doesn’t,” I sighed. “The fact that you’re a fucking bitch to me and then run off with Alex bothers me.”
“I apologized for that” Haley stated.
“Yeah well, it takes more than that” I said stubbornly.
“Oh please Jack, what do you want from me here?” she asked.
I was silent for a moment. What did I want from her? I honestly didn’t know. Was I being unfair? After all, I had been hoping for her and Alex to end up together. I just didn’t exactly expect Haley to give in so easily. Was I jealous because she let Alex in so easily while she hardly knew him? Haley’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
“Well?” she asked impatiently.
“I don’t know” I admitted. “I guess I’m overreacting…”
“Yeah, I guess you are” Haley agreed. “So can we just go back to being friends now? I don’t wanna fight with you.”
She tilted her head, waiting for me to answer.
“Fine” I mumbled.
“Group hug!” Alex exclaimed, pulling the both of us into a hug.

The doorbell then rang. That must be Zack, Rian and Cassadee. Alex let go of us to open the door. From the living room we heard him open the door and exclaim “group hug” again. Alex sure was very cuddly today.
“So, you had fun with Alex?” I asked, friendly this time.
Haley nodded smiling. “Yeah, we went to the park to get some ice cream.”
“You’re suddenly warming up to him quickly, huh?” I asked.
“Yeah I guess… I don’t know, I just feel like I’ve been really getting to know him these few weeks, he’s pretty great” she answered.
“I’m glad to hear that” I said smiling.

Zack, Rian and Cassadee then entered the living room, followed by a still overjoyed Alex.
“Is he on drugs?” Rian asked, pointing at Alex.
“I don’t know, but I do know how to get that creepy smile off his face” I said. “You failed your biology test man.”
He shrugged, still smiling. “Yeah I figured.”
“Mission failed dude” Zack said, talking about the smile that was still spread across Alex’s face.
Alex must have really had fun with Haley, I thought. It had been a long time since I saw him this excited.
“I ordered pizza by the way, it should be here any minute” Alex said, as he went to get Zack, Rian and Cassadee a drink.

We all sat down on the couch. Minutes later the doorbell did indeed ring.
“Will someone get that? It’s probably the pizza’s, I’ll be there with money in two seconds” Alex called from the kitchen.
I got up to open the door and took the pizzas from the delivery guy, when Alex showed up next to me to pay. I took the pizzas back into the living room, put the boxes on the table and the guys all started opening the boxes and grabbing pieces.
“Behave yourself, cavemen” Alex said with a posh accent as he entered the living room. “You look like you haven’t eaten for months.”
“I haven’t, Rian won’t let me” Cassadee answered with a sad face.
“Oh, now you make me sound like some douchebag boyfriend telling his girlfriend she’s fat” Rian exclaimed offended.
“You think I’m fat?” Cassadee fake cried.

About fifteen minutes later we had all finished eating and after cleaning up a bit, we went outside and got in the van to drive to the bar, which wasn’t far from here. When we arrived there, Zack parked the car and we got all of our gear out and went inside to set up. Haley and Cassadee sat down at a table. When we were done setting up, I noticed Tay had joined them. She couldn’t have dinner with us because she had band practice but she wouldn’t miss our show. Alex and I went over to say hi to her.
“Tay!” I exclaimed, when we got to their table.
She upped to hug Alex and me. After that, Rian and Zack called us over to the stage to sound check. When we were done sound checking the bar was pretty crowded already. 10 minutes later we were on. We gave it all we got and the crowd seemed to be enjoying it. 45 minutes later we were done. With a little help of the girls we quickly packed our gear, put it back in the van and we went back into the bar to celebrate the night. We were all staying at Alex’s whose parents weren’t home anyway, so we might as well make the most of it.