Teenage Dirtbag

Jack’s POV
Zack, Alex, Rian and I were sitting in front of the van on some plastic chairs we had brought. It was Saturday, the day of our first ever festival. We had arrived early because we were nervous and we didn’t know what to expect so we had made sure we were on time. The weather was nice. So far, so good. Haley, Cassadee and Aimee hadn’t arrived yet and Tay was with her own band. We had all been very quiet which wasn’t like us at all, but we were all pretty nervous. This festival was a lot bigger than the bars we had played at.

A car then drove up to us. I didn’t recognize it, but Rian got up and walked over there so I assumed he did know whom it was. I then saw Cassadee and Haley in the car and got up as well. Cassadee parked the car next to our van. They both got out.
“How did you even get them to let you drive here? They even wanted us to park our van outside the grounds” I asked.
“Because… I got a little surprise for you” Haley said mysteriously.
Alex and Zack then joined us at the car. I figured Haley and Alex had talked after Monday because they seemed to be getting along just fine, though it also did seem like they had been taking things slow which I didn’t think was a bad thing.

Haley opened the trunk of the car and opened one of the boxes that were inside it. She pulled out a shirt and showed it to us. It had our band name on it.
“You made us merchandise?” Alex exclaimed.
“Yep” she replied. “I probably should’ve asked you but I wasn’t sure if I would be able to pull it off before today so I just kept it a secret. If you don’t like them that’s okay though.”
“I love them!” I exclaimed. “That’s awesome. You’re the best!”
I stood next to her and grabbed a shirt out of the already opened box.
“I had them made in four colors, black, white, red and green” Haley explained.
“If we had known this, we would’ve made sure we had a merch stand” Rian said.
“I already took care of that” Haley replied.
“Yeah, Haley and I will be your merchgirls for the day!” Cassadee exclaimed.
“She should be our manager instead of your guitar tech” Alex said.
“No, she’s my guitar tech” I stated, wrapping my arms around Haley. “Hands off!”
“Well Hales, just enjoy his attention while you can” Alex said.
“Why’s that?” she asked.
“Because the love of his life is approaching” Alex said grinning.
I turned around to see Tay and her band coming up to us.
“Tay? She’s not the love of my life” I said disappointed.
“No you idiot, look the other way” Alex said.
I did as I was told and saw Aimee walking up to us. I walked there to welcome her.

Haley’s POV
“Isn’t it weird that one of your best friends has a crush on your cousin?” I asked Zack.
“Yes it is” he stated.
Tay and her band mates had showed up next to us, greeting us. I noticed Tay looking at Jack and rolling her eyes. She had been doing quite a lot of that lately.
“What time are you on?” I asked Tay.
I hadn’t seem them perform the night Alex and Jack met her and I didn’t want to miss them today. Alex and Jack had really liked their music so I was curious.
“In about an hour” Tay answered.
“Cool” I replied. “I will be watching from their merch stand.”
“They have merch now?” Tay asked interested.
“Yeah, I had it made” I answered.
“Awesome, we should really get that done as well but we don’t even have a logo yet” Tay replied.
“Want me to design something for you guys?” I asked.
“That’d be great!” a tall brown haired guy replied. “I’m Jordan by the way.”
This was my first time meeting these guys. I probably should’ve introduced myself sooner.
“Haley” I replied, shaking the hand he held out.
“This is Mike, Cameron and Rob” Tay introduced the rest of the band. “But Jordan’s right, that would indeed be awesome!”
“I’ll give it a go” I answered smiling.
“Oh, you will have to use our new band name though. Had some legal issues with the previous one so we are now We Are The In Crowd” Mike explained.
“Okay” I replied. “I’ll get back to you about it. We should probably be heading to the merch stand to hopefully sell some stuff.”
They all nodded and I walked up to Cassadee and we went to find All Time Low’s merch stand and displayed the t-shirts.

About half an hour later Tay showed up, telling me they were about to go on.
“You go watch” Cassadee said. “I can do this on my own for an hour. We don’t have that many costumers anyway.”
“Oh I can just watch from here” I replied, though I hardly saw anything from here due to some sponsor boards.
“No, just go over to the stage, I’ll be fine” Cassadee replied.
“Okay, thanks” I replied and I followed Tay to the stage.
We hadn’t sold a lot of shirts yet, only to people who knew All Time Low from their bar performances or from MySpace. Well, they hadn’t played yet. I was expecting to sell more after their performance. I joined Alex, Jack, Zack and Rian in front of the stage. We could watch from the side of the stage, but I always thought that was kind of lame since you are just looking at their sides instead of their faces, so we chose to be in front of the stage.

We Are The In Crowd walked onto the stage and there was a modest applause. They started playing their first song, which was a fun upbeat song. It was actually pretty weird that I had known Tay for quite some weeks but had never heard her sing. She did great though. After a few songs Tay started talking about how she wrote a new song, called “Exits And Entrances” and that this was their first time performing it live.
Though it was always more difficult live, I tried to understand the lyrics. I believed lyrics were just as important for a great song as the melody and lyrics written by other people fascinated me. I could relate to this song very well. “It’s none of my business but I won’t be a witness” Tay sang. It reminded me of Jack for some reason. I felt the same way about him and Aimee. For some reason I just had a feeling him and Aimee were never going to work out, but I wouldn’t know how to tell him.

I was watching Tay when I noticed she kept looking at Jack while singing the song. Hold on… Was Tay in love with Jack? My eyes darted from Tay to Jack who didn’t seem to notice anything. He was just watching the performance, standing next to Aimee. If Tay really was in love with Jack, I felt bad for her. The guy hasn’t even looked at another girl in years because Aimee had been the only one. No wonder he didn’t notice her looking at him.

I really liked how it wasn’t just Tay singing, but Jordan as well. You didn’t see that a lot, especially not with both female and male vocals. After a few more songs their set was over and they walked off stage. I quickly walked up to them, as I wanted to ask Tay something before going back to Cassadee. I quickly caught up with them.
“Tay?” I asked, causing her to turn around and wait for me. “Can I talk to you?”
“Uhm sure” she replied.
We walked to a quiet place backstage.
“Okay, I’ll just get to the point” I started. “Are you in love with Jack?”
She didn’t reply immediately but I could tell her face was turning red.
“H-how do you know?” she asked.
“Well, your face kind of gave it away during that new song” I replied. “It’s about him and Aimee isn’t it?”
“Yes” she replied shortly. “Please don’t tell him. It will just make things awkward and I know nothing will ever happen between us because he’s in love with Aimee.”
“You don’t know that” I replied.
“That he’s in love with Aimee? I think I do” Tay replied.
“No, that nothing will happen between you. I hate to say it but you’re probably right, she will hurt Jack sooner or later” I said.
“Well, I’d rather be alone than be his rebound” Tay said.
“We’ll see” I said. “Just so you know, I’m rooting for you.”
I winked.
“Thanks” Tay replied.
“I should be getting back to Cass now” I replied.
“Okay, I’ll see you around, I’ll come by your stand later” Tay replied.
“Okay, see you then” I replied and walked away.
I soon got to the merch stand.
“Tay is in love with Jack!” I exclaimed when I was only a few feet away from Cassadee.
Instead of seeming happy, Cassadee seemed shocked. Just when I was about to ask her why, Jack appeared next to me. Fuck.
“What?” he asked, looking at me confused.
“Uhm… just kidding!” I exclaimed, turning around and running to the van, sort of forgetting I was supposed to help Cassadee.
“Whoa, why are you in such a rush?” Alex asked when I had reached the plastic chairs he, Zack, Aimee and Rian were sitting on. “Did you kill someone?”
“No, but Tay will probably murder me” I said, out of breath from running.
“What did you do?” Alex asked, more serious now.
I didn’t exactly want to explain this in front of Aimee.
“Can’t say” I answered.
“You’re freaking me out” Alex replied, sounding worried.
“Come” I said, grabbing his arm and leading him away from the guys and Aimee.
“What’s up?” Alex asked when I stood still.
“I told Jack Tay’s in love with him” I said quickly.
Alex looked at me confused. “Is she?”
“Oh right, yes she is. She just told me after I figured it out but I wasn’t supposed to tell Jack and then I yelled it at Cassadee and then Jack appeared behind me and…” I started.
Alex placed his finger on my lips. “Breathe” he said softly. “I’m sure Tay won’t kill you and if she tried I’m pretty sure you’d beat her in a fist fight.”
“Not the point Alex!” I exclaimed. “I don’t want her to be mad at me.”
“How about I talk to Jack? Ask him not to mention it to Tay?” Alex suggested. “What did you tell him anyway?”
“That I was kidding and then I ran away” I answered, causing Alex to laugh.
“You’re such a dork” he replied.
I faked a sad face. “Talk to him please?”
“I’m on it, don’t worry” Alex replied.
He pulled me in for a hug. I lay my head on his chest. It had been a while since we did this, but it still felt good. Alex and I had decided to take things a bit slower, as I realized I was pretty overwhelmed after I talked to Jack Monday. Alex respected that and told me to take all the time I needed. I wondered what I was even doing telling a boy as amazing as Alex to slow it down, but I knew it was the right thing to do for me right now.