Best of Me

“Savvy, hurry up. Pete said that almost everyone’s there.” Logan told me as he walked into the bathroom, accidently bumping into my elbow.

“Careful! You’ll mess up my eyeliner.” I told him, giving him a playful shove.

“Will that make you get ready faster?” He asked, hopefully.

“No. Quite the opposite, actually.” I replied looking back into the mirror, and putting the finishing touches on my makeup. I grabbed my setting spray, and Logan cheered.

“I love it when you spray that shit on your face! It means you’re done!”
Logan ran out of the bathroom and I heard him telling the rest of the guys to get ready to go. I smiled as I looked in the mirror one last time.
Our set had been better than I could’ve hoped for, and the rest of the bands did a phenomenal job too. There was a party in Gabe Saporta’s hotel room tonight to celebrate, and I couldn’t wait to go.



The party so far had been amazing, full of greetings and catching up everyone. I hadn’t seen Cobra Starship in what seemed like forever, and Logan and I even beat Gabe and Nate in a game of beer pong.
I caught up with Pete and met Ashlee for the first time, but they left early as Ashlee had to catch an early plane back to LA.
I caught up with Cassadee and Victoria, and was stoked that there were 2 other girls on tour. I loved all the guys in my band, but sometimes having some girls around is nice.
Soon, I was feeling pretty tipsy, but Gabe suggested that we all take shots.
Everyone grabbed a glass and poured themselves a shot, and Gabe held up his cup.

“To Believers Never Dying!” He yelled.

We all cheered and drank, and soon, Lipshaw bet Jack that he wouldn’t be able to take three shots in a row without puking.
Jack did the 3 shots, then slammed the last cup on the table. “I’m gonna live forever!” He yelled as he pulled Cassadee into the living room to dance. Soon, others joined him, and Gabe and Mike moved some couches to make room for a dance floor. I grabbed Logan and Levi, and we were dancing when I saw a look of horror cross Jack’s face. He clapped a hand over his mouth, and ran to the bathroom.

“If you throw up you have to take your pants off for the rest of the party!” Lipshaw called after Jack, and Rian and Zack started laughing.

“He’d do that without losing a bet.” Rian said.

I smiled, and Logan grabbed my wrist to get my attention. “Gaskarth’s been staring at you. Like, all night.”

My instinct was to look over at Alex, but I kept my eyes down. I’d felt his eyes on me while I was playing beer pong, and while I was laughing with Cass and Victoria. I’d looked over at him a few times, and every time our eyes locked, my stomach felt like I was going down a drop on a roller coaster ride. I’d kept myself busy talking to anyone else, leaving him little opportunity to strike up a conversation.

I hated that I had to contemplate whether or not I had a crush on him. Mostly, I hated that I felt like a 15 year old, playing the ‘does he like me, or like me not?’ game. Though I was trying to stay away from him, I hated that I had to. All I wanted to do was get to know him better. My drunk brain was a bit foggy, so I tried not to think about it too hard.

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.” I said, trying to play dumb.

“Mhmm. So, what are you going to do?”

“Nothing.” I paused. “I ran into him earlier today. He told me that he really hopes we get to know each other better.”

“Oh hot damn!” Logan said, wiggling is eyebrows. “So are you going to go talk to him?”

“Of course not. He just wants to sleep with me. I’m not about to get in the middle of that mess.”

“Excellent point, Banana.” I rolled my eyes as he said that. My mother loves to call me ‘Vannah Banana’, and the guys were merciless about it, especially in middle school. Now, it’s just a nickname they call me when they get especially drunk, but I still hate it.
Soon, Jack was back on the dance floor, sans-pants, and dancing wildly.

“You recovered well.” I said to him as he started pelvic thrusting in me and Logan’s direction.

“He’s like a cockroach.” Rian told me, who was close to Logan and I, and dancing with Cassadee.
“He drinks and he drinks but you just can’t kill him.”

I laughed especially hard at that, and Jack pushed in between me and Logan. He started grinding on Logan, and in my tipsy state, I started to stumble backwards. I was caught by a mysterious pair of hands.

“Sorry about Jack. Zack’s trying to get Lipshaw to give him his pants back.” I turned around to see Alex smiling at me, and my heart started beating wildly.

“I have a feeling that he wouldn’t put them on, anyway.” I commented, looking at Jack as he ran to turn the volume of the music up.

“Yeah, probably not.” Alex agreed. “You guys killed it tonight.”

“Thank you. You weren’t so shabby, yourself.” I replied, trying to stop my hands from shaking.

“Thanks.” He said, flashing a smile at me.

I heard cheering on the other side of the room, and over Alex’s shoulder, I could see Levi and Logan each holding one of Lincoln’s legs, and Lincoln had an arm around each of their shoulders. Gabe was egging them on, and Cobra’s tour manager was filming.

“Don’t fucking break your wrist this time!” I called to Lincoln, and Logan yelled back, “We won’t! We’ve got it down this time!”

I shook my head and looked back at Alex. “Sorry about that. Last time they tried to do a backflip with Lincoln, he ended up breaking his arm. We were on tour, and he couldn’t play the rest of the dates.”

“What did you guys do? Could you find a replacement in time?”

“I played rhythm guitar instead.”

“Very nice.” Alex replied, and was about to speak again, but was cut off by Lincoln yelling at me from the other side of the room.

“Vannah! We did it! Did you see?”

“No. Can you do it again?”

My response earned groans from each of the guys, and Gabe cracked up.

“How long have you guys known each other?” Alex asked me.

“I’ve known Levi and Lincoln since elementary school. Our moms were all on the PTO together, so we saw each other a lot. Honestly, it kind of feels like they’re my brothers. Then, we met Leo in middle school when he moved from New Hampshire. Finally, Logan moved to Connecticut from London when we were freshman in high school, which was when we formed Acadia.” I told him, thinking about all my memories from Connecticut. “When did you meet Zack, Rian, and Jack?”

“I met Jack in middle school, and he asked me to join his Blink 182 cover band. I met Rian when I joined the band, and then Zack when he joined in high school.” Alex smiled, and as I looked up at him, I realized that his gaze was magnetic. I fought the onslaught of butterflies, and looked for something else to do.
I saw that Logan had resumed dancing, and Levi and Lincoln had gone to get drinks.

“Let’s dance.” Alex said, noticing where my gaze was, and grabbed my hand.
He was definitely bold, I’ll give him that.

“Wait. I need another drink.” I motioned to my cup that had mostly spilled during Jack’s no-pants dance. Alex led me over to the drink table.
“What are you drinking?”
“Jack and Coke.”

I took the drink he handed me, and winced. “God, you pour like Logan.”

As I grabbed the Diet Coke, he grinned at me. “Life is too short to have a weak pour. C’mon, Savannah. Live a little.”

It felt like my breath was snatched from my chest when he said my name, and I made a mental note to avoid dancing with him. A cute guy plus lots of whiskey is no bueno.

I grabbed Alex’s cup and poured him an even stronger drink.

“Then live it up.” I told him, and smiled as he tried not to cough when he took a drink.
“Jesus.”
“You can just call me Savannah.”

He looked at me for a second, indescribable look on his face. “Let’s dance.” He said after a pause.
As I transitioned from being tipsy to just being drunk, the more I wanted to dance with him. My worries seemed to matter less in my drunk and fuzzy brain. He was so cute, and I really did like him.
When he grabbed my hand this time, I put up little resistance. I wrapped my arms around his neck and felt his hands rest on my waist. As we moved to the music, I tried to remind myself not to fall for his shit. As we started talking and laughing, it got just a little bit harder.