Teenage Dirtbag

While Alex and Haley were talking to every random stranger they ran into I had been rather quietl all night. I remembered why I didn't like going to parties. Alex and Haley seemed to be having the time of their lives. At the beginning of the night they had tried to include me in the conversations they were having, but after a while they gave up when they realized I wouldn't say anything anyway. They had always found it hard to understand why it was so hard for me to talk to stranger. They were both so spontaneous and easy-going that they'd just talk to anyone. While I was preoccupied with my own thoughts, Haley and Alex were talking to a girl who introduced herself as Emma. They were talking about music for as far as I could tell.

"Emma, have you talked to our friend Jack yet?" Haley suddenly said, interrupting my thoughts. "Jack, this is Emma"
"Yeah I heard that" I muttered.
"Really? You've been so preoccupied all night" Alex said. "You're not thinking about Aimee are you?"
I shot him an angry look. Who does he think he is to tell me I shouldn't be thinking about Aimee while he's just been pretending all night he's not madly in love with the girl standing next to him.
"Who's Aimee?" Emma asked.
"Oh no one" Haley said quickly. "Just some girl who goes to our school"
I furrowed my eyebrows. Why wouldn't Haley tell her who Aimee was?
"Actually, I'm in love with her" I said, ignoring Alex's and Haley's faces.
"Speaking of the devil..." Alex said, nodding to my left. Haley and I turned around, to find Aimee standing a few metres away from us. I figured she wouldn't have overheard our conversation, and even if she did, she probably wouldn't think we were talking about her.
"What is she even doing here?" Haley asked us.
Zack then came walking up to her from the opposite direction.
"Aimee!" he exclaimed pulling her in for a hug. "It's good to see you!"
We all looked at each other, confused.
"Zack!" Alex yelled, when Aimee walked away. Zack looked up, and came up to us.
"Yeah what's up?" he asked.
"How do you know Aimee?" Haley asked curiously.
"She's my niece, why?" Zack answered.

His niece? Well wasn't that coincidential? Aimee just so happened to be the niece of my potential fellow band member. I decided that I had to be in this band, no matter what it took. This was the perfect way to get to know Aimee. I just hoped they wouldn't tell Zack I had had a crush on his niece for years.

"Oh nothing, we were just wondering since you don't go to our school" Alex said quickly.
"Hmm.. Okay then" Zack replied, not entirely convinced. "Was that all?"
Haley nodded and Zack walked away again.
"Dude!" Alex exclaimed. "This is your chance!"
"Yeah I know, I have to get in their band" I said resolutely.
"And you're gonna be, I'm sure of it" Haley said.
"So, maybe we should get going" Alex said. "We don't want to be too tired for our try out".

Haley and I agreed, and we went to find Zack to tell him we were leaving. We found him in the kitchen with some of his friends, including Rian.

"Hey, we're gonna head home, what time do you expect us to be where tomorrow?" Alex asked Zack.
"Oh hey, we usually practice at Rian's house. I'll text you his adress right away" he said, while grabbing his phone from the kitchen table. "Let's meet there at 10 AM?"
"Okay" Alex said.
We waited for Zack to send Alex Rian's adress.
"Sent" Zack said, and Alex's phone beeped seconds later.
"Well, then we'll see you guyd tomorrow" I said.
"Yeah, see you!" Rian said.

We then walked towards the front door, left and got in Alex's car.
"You were awfully quiet tonight" Alex noticed.
"Jack is always quiet at parties" Haley said. "That's exactly why he never goes to them. I was rather surprised he was actually coming today"

I probably shouldn't say I only came for Alex, so that Haley would come with me. They had still hardly talked to each other, but things had gone uphill from the moment Haley had complimented Alex on his singing. I could tell Alex had felt more comfortable around her, now that she had actually been nice to him for a change, and Haley seemed to have realized Alex was actually pretty good company. I didn't often hang out with the both of them. It was usually just one or the other. They knew each other from occasions like birthday parties, but besides that they hardly knew each other. I felt like that had to change. Haley had to get to know Alex the way I knew him. I might not be able to get over Aimee or ask her out, but I just might be able to help Alex with Haley, so that's what I was going to do. My first goal was to get them to hang out more often.

"So, Hales, are you coming with us to the try outs tomorrow?" I asked her.
"Uhm yeah sure, I'd love to" she replied.
"I'll drive us there. Should I pick you guys up?" Alex asked.
"Yeah that'd be great" I replied.
"Okay, Haley, where do you live?" Alex asked her.
"Uhm, just pick me up at Jack's" she replied.

I saw a bit of disappointment in Alex's eyes. He was probably just hoping to find out where she lived. I couldn't blame Haley for not wanting to tell him though. I figured it had nothing to do with Alex, but with her home situation. Even I hardly went to Haley's house. We usually hang out at mine. Haley's dad still drank way too much, all day long. Being under influence, he tended to be unpredictable, and Haley just didn't want people to see her father intoxicated, or even being abusive. You just never knew with him. I hadn't told Alex the details about Haley's life because I didn't think that was my place, but I had told him what happened to her mother and that her father was an alcoholic, so that it'd be easier to understand for him why Haley wasn't always the nicest and why she always had her guard up. I should probably call Alex later to explain, so that he doesn't think Haley is creeped out by him or something, now that they seemed to be getting along well. I was so lost in my thoughts I hadn't even noticed we were at my house already.
"Earth to Jack" Haley exclaimed, while snapping her fingers in front of my face, waking me from my thoughts. "Thanks for dropping us off Alex"
Her and I got out of the car, and waved at Alex as he drove away.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow" Haley said. "I'll be here at 9:45"
"Okay, see you then" I agreed. She gave me one last hug, and turned to walk home.