Long Live the Kids

Zack’s POV
Today we were in Anaheim, where we would play a show tomorrow at the House Of Blues. We had just arrived there and were still on our bus, watching some zombie movie Jack wanted to see. Thankfully the movie was coming close to an end as I didn’t exactly find it interesting but I didn’t have anything else to do so I just watched it with them.

Suddenly the bus door opened, during a scary moment in the movie, causing Jack to scream. Alex, Rian and I gave him a look.

​​​“The zombies are coming to get us!” Jack exclaimed.
“Why, thank you very much” Jenna, who appeared in the hallway, said. “I know I look tired but I didn’t think it was that bad”
“It’s nothing personal” Jack shrugged.
“Yeah I’m sure” Jenna replied, winking.
​​“This movie is just really scary” Jack defended himself.
“No it isn’t” Rian disagreed.

​​​“Right. Anyway” Jenna started, turning to me. “I was wondering if you wanted to, I don’t know, grab a drink in town or something?”
The guys all gave me a meaningful look, which I ignored.
“Uhm yeah sure” I replied smiling.
“Can I come too?” Jack asked, causing Alex to punch his shoulder. “Ouch! I was just kidding.”

​​​“Shall we go then?” Jenna asked, ignoring Jack.
I nodded and got up, following her out of the bus.
“Have fun!” Alex yelled after us before we got off.

“I’m sorry about them” I told her while we were heading for the exit of the parking lot.
“Oh don’t be, I’m in a band with four guys, I know what it’s like” she winked.
“Really? Do they try to hook you up with any guy you talk to?” I joked.
“Pretty much” she replied nodding. “And every girl. It’s pretty annoying.”

​​​“Yeah I feel you. Ever since Megan and I broke up Jack has been trying to set me up but no luck so far” I replied.
Jenna laughed. “Well, I’m sure they mean well.”
“Yeah they do, but I can find myself a girlfriend if I want one, you know?” I said.
She nodded understanding.

​​​“So, where did you want to go?” I asked her.
“I don’t know, never been here” she replied.
“I have, but I don’t know my way around here either” I answered.

​​​“Well, this’ll be interesting” she joked, halting at a crossroad. “Let’s go that way.”
I followed her to the left. “I do have to get back on time for van call” I joked.
“And when is that?” Jenna asked.
“3 AM” I replied.

​​​“Well, that means we have plenty of time to get lost” she said.
“That’s your idea of fun?” I joked.
“Anything can be fun if your company is good” she replied winking.
“And is it good?” I asked. ​​I didn’t really know how to reply. Was she flirting with me or was she just being her bubbly self? She couldn’t be flirting, right? She just wanted to be friends…
​
​​​​​I couldn’t help but be a little overwhelmed by Jenna. She was so spontaneous, enthusiastic, easy-going… She made me feel so lame. Why would she even want to hang out with me?

​​​“You tell me” she teased and I felt a blush creep onto my face, but Jenna didn’t notice.
“Uh well yeah I guess” I muttered, causing Jenna to look at me, raising an eyebrow.
“That doesn’t sound very convincing” she pouted.
“Uh yeah s-sorry, but yeah the company is good” I said a little unsure.

​​​Jenna smiled broadly. “You’re so easy to mess with” she said, punching my arm lightly.
“Sorry?” I muttered.
“Stop apologizing, you dork” she replied. “Left or right?”

​​​We had gotten to a crossroad again. I turned to look both right and left.
“Right” I decided.
“Good choice” Jenna nodded, pushing the button on the stoplight to cross the road.
“What makes you say that?” I asked.
“Intuition” she replied simply.

​​​When the light turned green, we crossed the street.
“Want some ice cream?” Jenna asked, pointing at the ice cream stand in front of us.
“Sure” I nodded.
“Okay, you order for me and I order for you” Jenna decided.

​​​“But how am I supposed to know what you want?” I asked.
“You’re gonna have to guess” she said, sticking out her tongue.
“But what if I choose something you don’t like?” I asked.

​​​“Zack!” she exclaimed. “Will you just stop overthinking everything? Just pick something, it's​​​​ not a matter of life and death, you know.”
“I know, but…” I started, but Jenna shut me up by pressing her finger on my lips, her touch causing an odd feeling in my stomach I hadn’t felt in a while.
​​​“No buts, Zack” she said firmly, before turning around and ordering ice cream.

​​​I decided to do the same and wanted to order two strawberry scoops but then I realized it was the kind of safe choice I would usually make, and hanging out with Jenna made me not want to make the safest choice. I decided to go with something else and chose​​​​ with Oreo and Cotton Candy. After I paid for the ice cream, I turned around and walked over to Jenna who was waiting for me on a bench.
​​​
“So what’d you pick?” she asked curiously as I handed her the ice cream cone and sat down next to her.
“Oreo and cotton candy” I answered.
Jenna nodded approvingly. “Interesting choice.”
“Yeah, I tried not to go with the safe choice” I replied, causing Jenna to smile.
“I’m proud of you!” she exclaimed.

​​​“So what did you get me?” I asked, while taking the other cone from her.
“I don’t know, I just pointed at two flavors without looking at the names” she replied.
“And here I thought I was being spontaneous” I sighed.
“You were” Jenna replied. “I know it’s not that easy for you.”
“Yeah well, I’m just not as brave as you are, I guess” I replied.

​​​“This has nothing to do with bravery Zack; it’s about not caring. Not caring about making mistakes, not caring about what people think of you” Jenna explained.
I shrugged. “You say that like caring is a bad thing…”

​​​“It’s not, as long as it’s about people and opinions that matter. Caring about the opinions of people you don’t give a shit about, and wanting their approval, that doesn’t get you anywhere” Jenna replied. “But hey, we should be having fun instead of loaded conversations.”

​​​“I’m having fun” I said quietly.
“Me too, but I don’t want this conversation to go to how I became so careless and how much my childhood sucked and all of that shit, so let’s keep on walking” Jenna said, sounding more serious than she had before.
“Oh okay” I muttered, following her lead as she got up and continued the road we had been following.

​​​We walked next to each other quietly for a few minutes and I was scared the conversation we just had had ruined the day, but then Jenna spoke again.
“Look, it’s nothing personal” she said, causing me to look up to her. “It’s just… Not caring is not that easy when I’m reminded of my youth. I won’t go further into detail but I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to have fun today, okay? With you.”

​​​I nodded, still a little confused. By the time we had both finished our ice cream I noticed a direction sign on the next crossroad that told us Seal Beach was on our right side and I decided to change the subject.
“Wanna go to the beach?” I asked Jenna.
“Hell yeah” she replied, sounding more like the Jenna I knew than she had before. “At home I hang out at the beach all the time, but mostly at night. I love how quiet and peaceful it is” she added.

​​​“You are quiet interesting you know…” I told her.
She looked at me raising an eyebrow. “Is that so?” I nodded. “How come?”
“You seem like this happy spontaneous easy-going girl that’s smiling all the time but I think there’s a lot more to you, isn’t there?” I explained, while the beach came into view.
​​Jenna shrugged. “Well, why don’t you find out for yourself?”
​
​​​​​A mischievous smile appeared on her face. “First one to reach the beach gets to throw the other one in the water!”
“As if you could throw…” I started, but Jenna had already started running.

​​​I shook my head laughing at the sight of her sprinting to the beach and decided to go after her and started running. Even though I was probably in better shape, Jenna’s head start was so big I couldn’t catch up with her, reaching the beach just after she did.

“HA! I won!” she exclaimed.
“Yeah, good luck throwing me into the water” I teased.
Jenna tilted her head. “Will you at least walk over to the water with me? I can’t carry you that far” she pouted, causing me to laugh.
“I’m pretty sure you can’t carry me at all” I said, sticking out my tongue.

​​​“You underestimate my power” she said.
“Is that so?” I asked her grinning and she nodded in reply, taking my hand and dragging me to the water. I couldn’t shake the feeling in my stomach caused by our hands touching.

​​​A couple of feet before we reached the water I halted, to Jenna’s surprise.
“What, did you think I was just going to walk into the water with you?” I asked laughing.
“Yes, that would’ve been nice” she nodded.
“Oh no, I want to see you suffer trying to throw me into the water” I said grinning.
“That’s not nice” Jenna pouted.
“Ah you poor thing” I replied.

For minutes I waited while Jenna did several attempts to lift me, push me or drag me into the water, none of which worked.
“Okay, you had your shot” I said and before Jenna realized what I meant, I lifted her up, threw her over my shoulder and ran into the water.

​​​Jenna kept screaming to put her down but I ignored it and walked further into the water. When I thought I was far enough, I moved her from my shoulder, so that she was now in my arms, just above the water.

​​​“Please don’t!” Jenna exclaimed laughing.
“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked her.
“Because you’re a nice guy?” she suggested.
“Yeah well, usually I would overthink this, but you know, you told me not to overthink things...” I said, just before I dropped her in the water.

The water wasn’t deep and Jenna stood straight quickly.
“You asshole!” she exclaimed, but since she was laughing I didn’t expect her to mean it. “Look at my clothes!”
“They’ll dry” I said, sticking out my tongue.

​​​Jenna gave me a look, and then started splashing me with water until I was soaking wet as well.
“Okay, I guess I deserved that” I nodded.
“Yes you did!” she exclaimed.

​​​“You were kind of asking for it though” I teased.
“Hmm I don’t recall me asking you to throw me into the water” Jenna said, raising her eyebrows.
“Oh well, then I must have misunderstood” I shrugged innocently. “Sorry”
“Yeah, bet your ass you’ll be sorry, mister!” she exclaimed.

​​​“Is that a threat?” I asked raising my eyebrows.
“Maybe” Jenna replied.
“I’ll just make sure you can’t do whatever you’re planning to” I said.
​​“Then you’re gonna have to catch me first” Jenna teased, and she walked past me and tried to run away as fast as the water enabled her.
​
​​​​​I quickly ran after her as I knew it wouldn’t be too much of a problem to catch up with her if I didn’t give her a head start. Once we reached the beach, I quickly caught up with her, wrapping my arms around her waist when I was close enough to do so.

​​​“Got you!” I exclaimed, while Jenna tried to escape from my grip. After struggling for about a minute she gave up.
​​“Fine, you got me” she said defeated. “Now what do you want?”

​​​“How about some dinner?” I suggested, putting her down again.
Jenna turned around. “Count me in. I’m just not sure my cards are very waterproof.”
“Shit” I muttered once I realized my wallet with my cards and money was still in my pocket as well. I quickly took it out of my pocket. The money was still pretty much in tact even though it was wet but I couldn’t tell if my cards would still be useable.

​​​“How are we gonna pay for dinner?” I asked Jenna.
“I’ll just use my charms” she said.
“Yeah right” I said laughing.

​​​Jenna raised her eyebrows. “What, you don’t think I’ve got charms?”
“Oh no, I think you're very charming, but people that make food want money, not your charms” I said quickly.

​​​“You’d be surprised how far my good looks have gotten me” she said with a fake arrogant voice.
“Well, show me” I dared her.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“Uhm, just some fries and a coke” I answered, not believing she could get us food.
“Coming right up” she winked.

Jenna walked over to the closest snack stand and talked to the girl behind the bar for a moment and to my surprise she returned with food a couple of minutes later.
“I’m impressed” I admitted as she handed me the fries and my drink.
“Told you” she replied as we sat down on a bench.

​​​For a few minutes we sat there, eating quietly. I then noticed the girl from the snack stand walking past.
“Wait a minute” I said, looking from Jenna to the girl. When Jenna noticed the girl a big smile spread on her face. “She’s wearing a Tonight Alive shirt…”
​​“Yeah I know. Why did you think I picked that place?” she said laughing.

​​​“You can’t use your fame to get free food Jen” I said sternly.
“Hey, she offered” Jenna said defensive.
“I was just kidding” I winked, causing her to give me a look.

After we both finished our dinner we decided to head back to the venue, which we found surprisingly easy. When we walked onto the parking lot my band mates and the Tonight Alive guys were all sitting outside on foldable chairs. They all looked up as we got closer to them.
“Whoa what did you guys do?” Alex asked curiously, looking at our wet clothes.
“We had fun” Jenna said enthusiastically. “And now I’m gonna take a shower.”

​​​She turned to me. “We should do that again sometime” she said softly.
I nodded in agreement, noticing how close she was to me. I felt my cheeks turn red and I could tell Jenna saw it too, but she didn’t say anything about it.
“But now, I desperately need a shower” she said, before kissing me on my cheek quickly, but not quickly enough. I heard all of the guys cheer behind us, causing my face to turn even redder.
“Just ignore them” Jenna said winking before she turned around and walked over to their van.