Teenage Dirtbag

Jack's POV
Laughing coming from upstairs woke me up. I sat up to see Zack and Tay were the only ones still asleep. I grabbed my phone to check the time. 10:30… Did I sleep that long? I figured it was time to get up. I saw everyone’s clothes still lying on the floor and figured they were all up there in their pajamas so I didn’t bother changing into my clothes either. I went upstairs and figured the noise was coming from the kitchen. I also noticed the delicious smell of pancakes. I walked into the kitchen to find Alex, Haley, Cassadee and Rian sitting at the kitchen island eating pancakes.
“Hey there sleepyhead” Haley said when she noticed me. “Did you sleep well?”
I rubbed my eyes and sat down on an empty stool while Alex shoved a plate over the island. Just in time, before it fell of the island, I grabbed the plate and put it in front of me, taking a pancake from the pile and putting it on my plate.
“Yeah” I finally answered Haley.
It was too early for social interaction. The rest of them seemed to be pretty much awake already.

“Are Tay and Zack still asleep?” Rian asked.
I nodded, while eating my pancake.
“Someone should probably go wake them up before all of the pancakes are gone” Haley said.
“Yeah, we should at least check if they’re still alive” Rian agreed.
“I’ll go check,” Haley offered.
She upped and went into the hallway to go to the basement.
“So…” I started. “You and Haley seem to be getting along pretty great huh?”
Alex started to blush slightly. “We’ve always been getting along fine.”
“No you haven’t, Haley thought you were a pain in the ass until a few weeks ago” I said.
“We were eavesdropping on you guys before we came in” Cassadee said. “She did basically call you cute.”
“Yeah well, she probably just wanted to be nice” Alex shrugged.
“He is beautiful though” I mentioned, causing them to look at me.
“Thanks Jack” Alex said laughing.
“But seriously, I do think Haley is starting to like you” I told Alex.
“Well, yesterday she made it pretty clear she didn’t” he disagreed.
“Oh please, I know Haley and she doesn’t look at a lot of guys like that” I argued.

That was actually true. The only one I’d seen Haley look at the way she looked at Alex was Jay, and although that ended pretty badly, she had been in love with him at first.
“C’mon guys, don’t get his hopes up,” Cassadee said. “The only one who knows how she feels is Haley herself.”
“Actually, I’m pretty sure even she doesn’t know how she feels about me” Alex said bitterly.
“If even Haley doesn’t know, then Jack sure as hell won’t either” Cassadee stated.
“We’ll see woman, we’ll see” I answered.
I was still pretty sure I was right and told myself to get some answers from Haley later. I felt it was my mission to get the two of them together. I didn’t expect it to be very hard though; Alex was already head over heels for Haley and I was pretty sure Haley was falling for him as well.

Haley then came into the kitchen and we all shut up quickly. Zack and Tay followed her.
“You’re alive!” Rian exclaimed.
“Will you stop yelling?” Zack groaned.
“Well, good morning to you too, mister sunshine” Cassadee said laughing.
“Pancake?” Alex asked, pointing at the pile of pancakes on the kitchen island.
The both of them nodded and sat down at the island. Alex gave them both a pancake and we were quiet for a while. I didn’t really know what to talk about. We obviously couldn’t continue the conversation we were just having.

It took a few minutes for Alex to break the silence.
“So, Haley, did you dye your hair yourself?” he asked.
Haley raised her eyebrows, clearly surprised by the question, coming from Alex. She brushed through her blue hair with her hand.
“Uh yeah, why?” she answered.
“Could you dye mine as well?” he asked.
We all looked at Alex confused.
“You want blue hair?” Haley asked surprised.
“No not blue, I was thinking of blonde” Alex replied.
“Uhm sure, why not?” Haley answered.
“Cool” Alex said smiling.
I was wondering if this was just a way for him to spend more time with Haley or if he really wanted blonde hair, but well, it was none of my business anyway and even if he just did it to hang out with Haley, I could only support that.

Alex’s cell then rang. He answered it, walking into the living room to get away from our noisiness.
“So Haley, you and Alex seem to be getting along pretty great huh?” I asked Haley.
Rian and Cassadee looked at me, shaking their heads. They probably figured out what I was trying to do.
“That, my friend, is none of your business” Haley replied, winking.
“He just asked Alex the same question” Rian mentioned.
“Why did you ask Alex if he was getting along great with himself?” Haley asked.
“Shut up you dork” I said smiling.
“What did he say though?” Haley asked, suddenly interested.
“That, my friend, is none of your business” I replied spry.
“You’re such a smart ass” she said, shaking her head.
“Correct” I agreed.

Alex then came walking back into the kitchen.
“Jack, you do know these walls aren’t soundproof right? I’d be a little more discrete next time” he pointed out.
I didn’t realize Alex could hear what we were saying. But well, Haley didn’t actually say anything, except for the fact that she was curious as to what Alex said about her.
“But in other news, we got our first festival booking!” Alex exclaimed.
“What?!” I exclaimed. “An actual festival?”
“Yeah, well, not a big one, but it’s just this small alternative music festival in Baltimore. Another band had to cancel last moment, so they called some bands and apparently we were the first to say yes. Or well, I said yes, I hope you don’t mind that.” Alex explained.
“Mind it? Of course not! When is it?” Rian asked.
“Next weekend” Alex replied.
“Damn, that’s quick” Zack replied.
“Yeah well, I told you, the other band dropped out last minute. But this is a really great opportunity though” Alex said.
We all nodded in agreement.

“So is it like a free festival or do we actually have to get tickets?” Haley asked.
“I think it’s free, but I fixed the three of you up with backstage passes anyway” Alex replied.
“You’re an angel” Haley replied.
“Or do you not want to come?” he asked Tay and Cassadee.
“Of course not” Cassadee answered with a serious face.
“But…” Rian said with a sad face.
“Of course I’ll be there” Cassadee said, looking at Tay.
“We’re actually playing it as well,” Tay answered. “At least, we’re playing a free festival in Baltimore next week and since it’s early festival season I assume it’s the same one.”
“Awesome!” I exclaimed.
“Then we have a spare backstage pass,” Alex said.
“Please give it to Aimee” I begged him.
Alex looked quizzically at Rian and Zack, who didn’t seem to have a problem with it.
“I’ll let her know” Zack said.
“Cool” I replied. “So, any plans for today?”
“Haley is gonna dye my hair” Alex replied.
“Oh okay, I didn’t know you meant today when you asked” Haley mentioned. “But I don’t have anything else to do anyway, so let’s do that.”
“I have band practice later” Tay said.
“Me too” Cassadee added.

“We really should practice more often, shouldn’t we?” Rian asked. “You’re all practicing so much!”
“We don’t, we didn’t practice at all last week, but we don’t have any gigs planned, unlike you” Cassadee answered.
“Let’s practice this afternoon” Alex suggested.
“I thought I was dying your hair” Haley said.
“Yeah, you’ll dye my hair and then we’ll practice while the dye dries” Alex said.
“Yeah I’m sure the guys will really appreciate being covered in hair dye because you won’t keep your head still” Haley replied. “Not happening. I’ll either dye it first and you’ll have band practice after that, or I’ll dye it afterwards. I’m assuming you didn’t buy hair dye already?”
“You assumed correctly” Alex said.
“Why don’t you go practice while I go buy hair dye? You probably don’t know which one to get anyway” Haley suggested.
“Yeah let’s do that” Alex nodded.
“I’ll just go get the dye and meet you guys at Rian’s then?” Haley suggested
“Sounds like a plan” Alex answered.
We all cleaned up the mess we made in the kitchen, got changed and then Zack and I went to get our guitars while Rian was going home to wait for us. Tay and Cassadee both went home and Haley went to the drugstore.