Fangirl

“I just don’t understand why you’re freaking out right now, Hailey,” Bella’s voice rang out with a laugh over the speakers in my car. “You’ve dealt with the guy a handful of times before, so why is this any different?”

I knew she was trying to make me feel better about the situation, but her words were doing little to help the dread making its’ way through my chest. And usually it was the complete opposite – Bella was the driving force behind my sanity on any given day. This only further proved Alex Gaskarth’s effect on me, not like I hadn’t made a conscious effort to avoid it already.

“I’ve been over this, like, a million times with you already, Bella. I have to work with the guy for the next few months, so if this doesn’t blow over well, I’ve got that to deal with,” I pointed out. Honestly, that wasn’t the only reason why I was dreading this, but it was better than admitting that I was just too scared to talk to him outside of a professional setting. If the record store and concert venues counted as professional settings, anyway.

“Don’t even act like you aren’t eager to get away for a while. You’ve been looking for an excuse to leave since your mom left for work.”

That much was true. For the next six months, she was out of state dealing with her company’s inability to fire the higher ups while she left Dave and I behind to fend for ourselves in the meantime. Dave didn’t know how to do anything but run the record store and nearly work himself to death while my mom was gone which was the entire reason I’d gotten stuck with babysitting for a few months.
Originally, Dave was set to tour with All Time Low after finally tying the knot with my mother. But like most things, life had other plans. Shortly after their honeymoon, she had been transferred. Albeit, temporarily, but Dave obviously couldn’t run the store and manage to help the guys out on tour with her gone. At first, Dave wasn’t keen on the idea of me sitting my first semester of college out to take his place in making sure the boys didn’t get into too much trouble, but after their tour manager had seen the way I interacted with other bands, she had convinced him that I’d be getting experience I couldn’t get sitting in a classroom.

Along with the initial tour, Brian was allowing me to document the entire experience and help bring exposure and better publicity to the band. Even though they started out as hometown heroes, All Time Low had managed to turn into an overnight success story. As it turned out, that was both a good and bad thing.

Alex had something of a track record and was quickly living up to the lead singer stereotype, which was exactly what Roxie had been trying to avoid. All Time Low was quickly becoming a household name, but it didn’t serve them well when their lead singer was a little more than trouble. Sure, it went unnoticed by fans, but record executives were quick to turn them down because of the bad press.

“You’re still in the car, aren’t you?”

“Maybe,” I admitted sheepishly, finally deciding to shut off the engine. It took a second, but I managed to pull myself out of my car and lock it, the obstacle in my way now a twenty foot walk to the door. After Bella convinced me that I’d be fine for about the third time today, I slipped my phone in my pocket and started the walk toward the house.

I couldn’t help the lump that started to rise in my throat as I made it to the porch. I didn’t know if it was the sense of familiarity from standing in front of his door again or if it was because that I’d be face to face with him for the first time again in nearly a year. Throughout high school, I’d been to a handful of parties at this place and they’d all ended about the same way. Granted, the house belonged to his parents at the time and it wasn’t newly renovated, but the sense of nostalgia was there and nearly unshakable.

I knocked a few times before ringing the doorbell and held my breath.

When I heard footsteps on the other side of the door, I shifted my weight. It honestly seemed a little ridiculous to be psyching myself out now.

I was expecting to come face to face with Alex when the door swung open. What I wasn’t expecting?

“Um, who are you?”

It’s not like I should have been surprised all things considered, but I couldn’t seem to do anything but stare. From what I’d heard just from around town, Lisa and Alex had split for the ‘final’ time after being off and on for the better part of ten years. Apparently, someone had gotten the information mixed up.

When Alex appeared at the door behind her, I nearly let out a sigh of relief.

“Hadley, right?”

Instead of correcting the boy in front of me, I just gave a nod of my head. For once, I was grateful to see Alex. And as if she were the one to be intimidated, she turned to face him, an accusing look on her face. He rolled in his eyes in response before holding a finger up in my direction, closing the door lightly.

For half a minute, I debated just going back to my car and delivering the message via any other way than in person, but I knew that if he didn’t show up tomorrow, Dave’s first response would be to ask me. And I wasn’t ready for that conversation, so I sat on his front porch and managed to hear everything that was said on the other side of the door.

According to him, she should’ve known better than to assume that they were ‘actually getting back together’ and that last night was just ‘fun.’ This was obviously news to her because her voice kept getting higher above his and I was convinced that she was going to end up crying. Instead, she ripped the door open and stalked out, shoes dangling in her hand.

“In case it wasn’t obvious, don’t call me again, Alex. I can't believe I thought you were actually capable of growing up. And just a little advice – everyone is sick of your shit, dude. Maybe it’s time you wake up and realize it.” Lisa turned around to look at me before walking back to her car, a small frown on her face. "Don't sleep with him if you know what's good for you. You look too sweet."

“She’ll be back,” Alex muttered, slipping a pair of sunglasses over his eyes before turning his attention directly to me. His lips pulled into a smirk before he reached up to run a hand through his disheveled hair, the color a natural looking auburn for once. “Sorry you had to hear all of that, sweetheart.”

My insides erupted into a nervous fit at the pet name, but I had to remind myself that it was all just a part of the act. If I didn’t react, he’d revert to the way he was around anyone else, and I think I preferred that.

“Dave just sent me to remind you about the show tomorrow,” I told him, handing him the flier that we had been in the process of hanging up. “And we ran it by Brian and she said these were fine, but we were letting you guys see if you liked it.”

His eyes ran over the design before he stuffed it into his pocket, folding his arms across his chest. “Okay, yeah, I’ll be there. Was that all you needed, then?”

I sucked in a breath before chewing on the inside of my cheek. If you react, he’ll know it bothers you, Hailey. “Yeah, that’s it. See you tomorrow.” I plastered the sweetest smile I could muster on my face before turning to walk down the steps.

“And by the way, it’s Hailey.”