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Sorry that's it's all formatted wrong, the website screwed it up.
This is an Avenged Sevenfold fanfic, but they didn't have a category for them.

Chapter 1
I moved my books to the corner of my history seat and straightened them out. The history teacher walked up to the front of the class and began to lecture us and I scribbled away in my notes.
Late as usual, the boy that sits next to me, Zacky showed up. He and his friends, Jimmy, Brian, Matt, and Johnny, were the bad boys of the school, always skipping school and getting drunk. All of them absolutely hated me and jumped any chance to make my life harder.
The only one of the group that wasn’t horrible was Zacky. He has glittering green eyes and raven hair. As much as I’d hate to admit it, I had a little crush on him. I didn’t like it though, seeing as I have straight A’s and spend my life on school. But he was irresistible, I’m pretty sure half the girls at school have a crush on him.
During the whole period he pretty much just blankly looked into his textbook. When the teacher was done talking and gave us time to finish our notes, Zacky leaned over and whispered in my ear “Can you sum up the whole chapter for me?”
My face got hot and my heart started beating. I briefly explained the chapter and silently prayed I didn’t bore him. We barely ever talked, much less him ask me something. Even the smallest little things we did were adorable in my eyes.
“Boring stuff,” he sighed.
“I know,” is all I could think of that wouldn’t sound stupid or nerdy. Besides, if I said anything else, I’d probably just regret it later. Zacky and I had slowly started talking more and more lately. About a month ago, I’d just sit there silently. Now we talk a little sometimes, and a lot other times, and I cherish when we do.
Disappointment washed over me as the bell rang. “See you later,” Zacky said as he rushed out of the classroom with him friends. I grabbed my bag and my books and slowly walked home by myself.
The long night dragged slowly on as I followed my daily routine. I did my homework and studied for every single upcoming test. I took my dog, Stella, for a walk and when I got home, I watched some TV.
I was tired of my day. I’d been doing to same thing for years, but every day I’d been hoping for something to come up that could change me. And that’s one of the reasons I like Zacky so much. If things started actually happening with us, which I doubt they ever will, so much could happen to me and finally change my boring life.

Chapter 2
The next day at school, I shoved my big brown history book back into its place and shut my locker, only to see Jimmy, one off Zacky’s friends, leaning against my locker next to mine. The only times he would ever talk to me is to make a snarky remark or say something stupid to me. He was at least a foot taller than me, he was huge. “Ever seen a horror movie?” he asked.
“Yeah, and I have no intention to see one again,” I quietly answered. He was probably going to do something stupid or humiliating to me in a second.
“Why? You think it’s dumb how they run around the house over and over again?” he asked. We started walking down the hallway. It felt really awkward, saying how he sort of hates me and has never actually held a conversation with me.
“Pretty much,” I answered. I looked up into his eyes he smiled at me. He had beautiful light blue eyes that looked endless. I blushed and looked down at my sandals.
“Well I’ve gotta go now,” he winked at me and walked down the hallway. I walked to history, my absolute favorite class. I walked into the big white classroom and saw Zacky sitting next to my empty seat and tried my hardest not to smile. I sat down next to him as the teacher began rambling about my favorite subject.
“My parents are out of town and I’m having a party tomorrow night. You should come, you have to get out and interact with actual people every once in a while.” Zacky whispered.
“I’ll see,” I said, trying not to explode. Usually I pay attention in this class, but today I couldn’t even read a single question without drifting off. Should I even go to his party? I’ll probably just embarrass myself. Or what if it’s a prank? But what if I do come and something amazing happens, like in movies?
The bell rang as the short hour came to an end. I picked up my bag and left before Zacky could have to chance to ask me for an answer. I hurriedly walked home and nearly got hit by multiple cars on the way. I unlocked my front door and threw my backpack on the counter. One of the nice things about your parents being gone constantly is that no one is there to tell you that you’re making a mess.
For the rest of the evening I finished up my homework and finally sat down to watch TV. About halfway through the show, Stella wouldn’t stop barking at something in the living room.
“Shut up!” I yelled at her, but she continued barking. I sighed and got up to see what it was. As I walked into the room, I saw her barking at nothing but our back door. “Stella, you cutie,” I scooped her up and carried her back to the couch with me.
Right after the show finished, I heard our front door creak open. Maybe it was Rachel, coming to check on me. I walked up to the door and saw it was halfway open, blowing back and forward in the wind. “Rachel?” I yelled. No response. I closed it and locked it, beginning to get worried. Had someone broken in?
I paced through the hallway for my kitchen phone. Maybe I could call Rachel and ask her to come over so I wouldn’t be alone. I picked up the phone but no tone came up. I looked at the phone and it said “No service”
I ran upstairs and tried that phone, but the same thing happened. Slowly out of nowhere, I heard footsteps. They sounded loud and heavy, and I didn’t recognize it from anyone I knew. I ran downstairs and felt like at any moment someone was going to jump out and kill me.
As I was walking down the hallway, I heard a door burst open behind me. Before I could turn around, a pair of hands wrapped around me arms and mouth and pulled me back into the closet behind us.
They closed the door shut and I stood completely still, barely even breathing. My heart was pounding a million times per second and I had no idea what was happening. I could hear someone’s breath on my ear. “Hi,” a familiar voice said.
I whirled around, throwing the hands off of me. “Jimmy?” I opened the door to get some light into the small dark room. And indeed it was, Jimmy.
He started laughing like it was the most hilarious thing he’d ever seen. “Wait, that was all you?” I asked.
“Of course it was. Now do you understand horror movies?” he asked.
Oh, so that’s what that conversation was all about today at my locker. “Okay. So you broke into my house, killed my phone line, and pulled me into a closet all so I’d understand a pointless movie genre?”
“Yup,” he said and walked out of the closet into my family room. “Do you know how hard it is to remake a movie in real life?” he helped himself into my DVD drawer and began to sort through all my parent’s old DVD’s.
He picked one up and showed me. “Jacob’s Ladder. Have you ever seen this?” I nodded my head no. It looked like a weird movie so I never bothered to watch it. “Come on” he sat down on the couch. “We’re watching it right now,”
It didn’t seem like he would take no for an answer, so I sat down next to him. Could this be anymore awkward? He never talked to me, but when he did it wasn’t nice. All of his friends hated me, with the exception of Zacky. He’d never done anything nice for me, but here we are, casually watching a movie together after he broke into my house.
The movie was long, but I actually did enjoy it. And to my surprise, I liked having Jimmy around. He wasn’t super crazy like he was at school and actually seemed like a decent guy. I doubt he’d be like this tomorrow at school though.

The next day, I sat down at my history seat and got my pen out. After contemplating whether to go to the party or not for about an hour, I decided not to. Maybe it’s all just a huge prank, and there’s lots of more faults I could do than good things.
During the whole period I had a long argument with myself, deciding whether to go. Luckily, we had a busy period, so Zacky and I didn’t have any time to talk. Finally, at the end of the period, I decided I wasn’t going to go. There were just more cons than pros, and don’t boys like mysterious girls or something?

Chapter 3
The next day I sat next to Zacky, who looked extremely tired. It looked like he was about to say something, but Jimmy walked up and sat on my desk. “So you were a no show to the party last night,”
“I had a lot to do” I said the first excuse that came to my head.
“You should have seen it, Brian was so buzzed. He didn’t even show up to school today he had such a hangover. Hey, I just had the most fantastic idea! Why doesn’t Anna come to band practice today? She could be like our groupie. Plus she needs to make up for the party.”
“Since when are you guys best friends?” Zacky asked, rubbing his eyes. He looked so cute all tired, and honestly I’d love to know if he was any good at guitar.
“We had a little get together. Nothing fancy. Just as all normal get togethers.” Jimmy smiled and walked over to his desk.
Zack’s POV
What could Jimmy and Anna done? Jimmy doesn’t have normal get togehters with anyone. Did he do something freaky? Or did he kiss Anna? What did they do together?
I looked over at Anna. She looked so cute with her brunette hair flowing down her back in perfect curls and her cute little tortise shell glasses. She had the most irresistible pink lips that I’ve been wanting to kiss for such a long time and the cutest big brown eyes. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jimmy made a move, but I’m going to have to make one soon unless I want to loose her.
Back to Anna
The bell rang and I stood up with Zacky. He looked a bit more awake than he did an hour ago. We walked out of school with Matt, Jimmy, Johnny, and Brian following behind us. “So what’d you and Jimmy do?” Zacky asked.
“Nothing much. Just watched a movie,” I said, sticking my thumbs in my pockets. We got to Matt’s house and all walked into the garage. “So are you guys really any good?”
“You just wait and see.” Jimmy said and sat behind a big drum set. Zacky and Brian picked up guitars and Johnny picked up a huge bass that made him look like a munchkin. Matt walked up to the microphone and Jimmy started playing.
I didn’t expect them to be any good. But I was blown away. Each one of them was amazing. Jimmy flew across the drums, his hands faster than milliseconds. He hit every beat right on time and faster than any other drums I’d ever heard.
Zacky played the chords perfectly behind Brian’s guitar, which I was in awe of. His hands swept across the guitar neck, his fingers moving so fast you couldn’t even see them. It sounded amazing, which is something you’d never expect from him.
Johnny played the quiet bass which like all the others, sounded amazing. Matt had the most beautiful voice. At times in the song, it was gritty and harsh. But at other parts, it was soft and melodic. The five of these guys are truly amazing. I didn’t even listen to rock music, but they blew me away.
“Oh my god.” Is all I could think to say.

Chapter 4
The next couple of weeks were definitely some of the best weeks of my life. I didn’t spend all day studying, most the time I was out with friends. I went to band practice with Zacky a couple more times, and each time I went they’d be even better than before.
Jimmy and I also started to hang out more and more. We’d go out and do something fun like go to the beach or we’d just watch a movie at my house. I slowly started to like him more and more as we both got closer.
Zacky and I also hung out a lot too. I loved him more and more every time I saw him, as a friend and intimately. We’d go out to the park or sometimes all we’d do is talk, which is something I surprisingly enjoyed doing. He was the sweetest person I’d ever met, and he was also one of the most gorgeous people I’d ever seen. I could tell he was beginning to like me too, and everything was falling perfectly into place.
I shut the door behind me and walked upstairs to put my book in my room. I walked back downstairs only to see Jimmy sitting on my couch. “Lucky my parents aren’t home,”
“Let’s go on an adventure,” Jimmy smiled.
“Where to?” I asked.
“It’s a surprise,” he led me out the door and into a car.
“Can you even drive?” I asked, feeling a bit nervous. What if he crashed and killed me?
“I have my permit, close enough. Don’t worry, I’m a fucking amazing driver,” he said and started the car. We drove down a quiet road and he was a good driver. He didn’t jolt the car or even get close to hitting anyone else.
I finally recognized what road we were on. “Are we going to the beach?”
“Mhm,” he nodded. About 5 minutes later, he parked the car in front on the sand. We were the only ones there, and for the first time, I didn’t feel awkward with him. It was dark out and the stars reflected off the ocean.
“So why are we at the beach?” I asked, wondering what he was going to do next. One of the great things about Jimmy was he always surprised you, he always kept you entertained.
“I love this place. One of my favorite places to get drunk,” he laughed. I smiled and nudged him.” So am I an amazing drummer or what?”
“I hate to admit it, but you’re okay,” I asked and laughed. I loved being with Jimmy. You could be silly or completely let yourself go and he’ll just go with it. If you’re with him, you’re guaranteed a good time. “Remember when you used to hate me?”
“Yeah,” he looked at me then looked down. He truly did look sorry for all the bad things he’d done to me. And easily enough, I forgave him.
“Why’d you stop?”
“Zacky got his period and started getting really pissed off at us because he like, loves you. So then I was curious,” Jimmy looked off into the ocean. It truly was a beautiful sight. “Do you like Zacky?”
“I.. I don’t even know,” I looked down and laughed at the irony. A month ago these 2 wanted me to die, and now I’m sitting at a beach looking into the ocean with one of them. “Things are just-“
Jimmy leaned down and kissed me, and time stopped. Sparks went everywhere throughout my body. I kissed him back, and it felt truly perfect. It was my first kiss. It didn’t feel petty and pointless like those girls who first kiss at age 11 at a spin the bottle game at a little party. It felt meaningful and perfect and I never wanted it to stop.

Chapter 5
Zacky sat down on the grass next to me. “We should do something fun tonight,” he looked at me with his amazing green eyes. I was a huge sucker for green eyes, I just thought they were beautiful.
“What did you have in mind?” I asked him. Was he asking me on an actual date? That was quite manly for the Zacky, the guy who skipped class every other day.
“I was thinking we could go to the beach. It’s one of the best places to be at night,”
“The beach?” I asked. It would be awkward since I went with Jimmy last night. Oh my god, did I cheat on him? We weren’t officially dating though. Maybe he’ll never figure out. “Sounds fantastic,”
Zacky flashed his beautiful smile at me than walked away to sit with his friends. I looked into my chemistry book to study for the test coming up, but I just couldn’t concentrate. I’d just been asked out on my first official date.
Zacky’s POV
I walked back over to my 4 friends who were sitting on a table. Brian was smoking, something he wasn’t supposed to be doing at school. “So, what’s you just tell Ann?” Jimmy asked, like he was a gossiping girl or something.
“I asked her to come to the beach with me,” I said, expecting lots of “Zacky that’s so lame” and “come on” but surprisingly, Brian was the only one who said anything snarky. Jimmy didn’t even say anything.
“The beach? Hm, she’ll love that,” Jimmy smiled like he was hiding something, but that was typical Jimmy.
Anna’s POV
I ran upstairs and began to curls my hair. I wasn’t any good at it, plus my hair was already curly enough. I ran downstairs to look through a magazine to get ideas, but I saw Jimmy sitting on my couch on his phone. “You left your back door open,” he said without even looking up.
“I’m getting ready for something and I have to leave soon,” I said. I didn’t really want Jimmy finding out about my date with Zacky. I would just feel like I cheated on him, even though he probably wouldn’t care.
“For Zacky’s date?” Jimmy stood up and began walking upstairs. “You didn’t think Zacky wouldn’t tell us, did you? Silly girl,” I followed him up to my bedroom. Okay, so I’m about to go on a date with someone but I have another guy in my bedroom right now?”
“Jimmy, I gotta get ready,”
“Get all pretty for Zacky? We can have a makeover party,” Jimmy sat down on my bed. My room luckily was clean, but still was a little embarrassing with all the family picture frames from 10 years ago all over the place.
I began to fuss with my hair. I tried putting it up, but it looked boring. I let it down, looking at it and trying to find out what to do with it. I put in into a braid and threw it over my shoulder. It looked okay, but it looked a little weird since I didn’t have any bangs or anything. I pulled a few pieces of loose hair in front of my face to see if it looked okay.
Jimmy walked up behind me. “This,” he brushed the stray pieces off my face. “looks a lot better,” I looked down and blushed. I was supposed to be going on a date with Zacky, not him. “Aw, little nerd is blushing,”
I looked up. It could work, surprisingly. I pushed them a little bit downward and it did look nice. I was already wearing jeans, but I was just wearing a boring long sleeved red shirt. I took that shirt off, but left my undershirt on, noting Jimmy was still there.
I threw on a beige tank top and a black lace sweater I have that I never wore because I thought it looked too fancy. But finally, a worthy occasion had come up. I glanced at the clock.
“You have to go now. Zacky’s gonna be here in ten,” I said and walked downstairs.
“Scared Zacky’s gonna see us together? It’s not like he knows we kissed or anything,” a pang of relief swept through me, but also embarrassment. Wasn’t your first kiss supposed to be with your boyfriend?
“Okay, well you really have to go now,” I said and walked with him to the front door.
“Bye Anna!” he said and he walked into the dark. I shut the door and grabbed my black flip flops. I didn’t want to wear any fancy heels or sandals since we were going to walk through sand and it would kill me. I checked myself in the mirror one last time.
I forgot about makeup! I ran upstairs and grabbed mascara from my mom’s bag. II only wore makeup on fancy occasions so I didn’t own any. I put on a very light coat of eyeliner and some lip gloss because I didn’t want to overdo it. The doorbell chime rang throughout the house. I ran downstairs ad opened the door. Zacky smiled at me. “You look really good,” we walked out to his car. Zacky actually did have his license, so I wasn’t worried about driving with him.
“So how’s the band going?” I asked, wanting to start a conversation. I was okay with silence and just being with him, but I didn’t know if he was.
“We got or first gig!” Zack turned onto the quiet beach street. “At Chain Reaction. I’d love if you could come. It’s gonna be super fun.”
“That sounds fantastic!” I said, excited for him. What if he became famous? Then I’d be the girl everyone loved and I’d have the best boyfriend anyone could ask for.
Zacky parked in front on the long beach. We got out of the car and began to walk on the beach. I loved being with Zacky. He was just so nice and sweet, and you could talk to him like a brother but still feel intimate with him. Plus he was hot and had the most beautiful eyes.
After walking and talking for about an hour, we stopped right near where Jimmy and I were sitting. “God, you look pretty tonight,” Zacky said to me.
I smiled and looked up at him. “Thanks,” We looked into each others eyes for a moment, and chills shot down my spine. Then he leaned in and kissed me. At first I thought about pulling back, but I couldn’t. Kissing felt magical, especially if it was with someone you cared about. I couldn’t think about anything else but Zacky right now. After some time, he pulled back and smiled at the ocean.
Did that kiss with Jimmy even matter? It was nothing, right? He’s nothing more to me than a friend. Anyway, I’m dating Zacky now. And Zacky is amazing. But would he get mad? I hope not, it’s not like it meant anything. Or did it?

Chapter 6
Jimmy’s POV
I walked up next to Zacky. “So how was your fancy little date last night?”
“We went to the beach & kissed,” Zacky paused for a second. “What did you guys do when you ‘got together’” Zacky did little air quotes.
“I thought she told you,” I said. “We kinda kissed,”
“What?!” Zacky said. Okay, well obviously she didn’t tell him. I didn’t want to throw Chelsea under a bus, so I have to say something to make me not seem like a jerk.
“Well it was after school and I kissed her but she said it was wrong, but we’re cool now. Besides, it was before you started dating,” I lied. I didn’t want to hurt Zacky or Anna, so lying was a win win. But lately, all I wanted to do was kiss her again.
Anna’s POV
The last bell rang and Zacky walked up beside me. “Hi,”
“Did you and Jimmy kiss a couple of days ago?” Zacky asked sounding not angry, but confused.
“Oh, um,” my face flushed and my cheeks started burning. “I told him not to. And it was nothing, just a silly mistake,” I said, hoping Jimmy had told him something completely different than what really happened.
“Oh,” Zacky said.
“I swear, it was nothing,”
“It’s okay. I believe you,” Matt ran up behind Zacky.
“Hey, where’s Jimmy?” Matt asked Zacky. “We have practice today,”
“I heard he got busted for something,” Zacky said. “He’ll probably just get detention or something,”
“Okay. See you later,” and Matt walked off with some cute little blond girl. I walked home and found Rachel sitting on my couch.
“How was school?” she asked. Rachel was like a sister to me. I talked to her about everything, but there used to be barely any drama in my life. Now I have a great boyfriend and great new friends.
“Fine,”
“I made pasta for dinner,” Rachel yelled.
“Yum!” I yelled back at her. I went upstairs, finished my homework, and studied for an English test I had the next day. At 6:00, I got a text form Brian, which was unusual. I barely ever use my phone, although I have been using it a lot more lately. But I’d not once gotten a text from Brian. I unlocked my phone and read the text.
cant find jimmy. is he with you??
I told him he wasn’t, but I’d look for him. “Rachel?” I asked. I was going to have to drive myself. Who knew what Jimmy could be doing?
“Yeah? And remember in a couple weeks we’re going down to UC Santa Barbara!”
“No one can find my friend, and I want to help look. Can I borrow your car?,” if my parents were here, I wouldn’t have even lied to get out of the house. I would have already known the answer and given up.
“That’s my only car.,” Rachel said.
“I know, but I really need to help a friend right now,” I said, desperately hoping she’d understand.
She looked down and sighed. “If you get caught or one scratch on my car, you’re dead,” she tossed the keys at me. I caught them and ran into her car. I know the one place where Jimmy might be.

Chapter 7
I parked in front of the beach and looked around. “found jimmy at the beach” I texted Brian. Jimmy was lying down on the ground, the waves lapping his feet. I tried calling Zacky, but his phone was off. 2 empty beer bottles were next to him.
I walked up to him. “Jimmy?” I asked.
“Ann! How nice to see you,” he loudly said. He didn’t look good.
“Why’d you get in trouble?” I asked. That had to be the reason he’s here. Why else would he be drinking alone on a weekday?
“The fucking principle thinks I’m on fucking drugs,” he stuttered.
“Well are you?” I said, being careful not to set anything off. Angry and drunk are not a good mix and anything could set him off.
“Nah. I tried them once but they weren’t my style. So now I’m in deep fucking shit even though I’m not on fucking drugs,” Jimmy sat up. I sat down next to him.
“Just tell him you’re not. He can always take a blood test to prove you’re not,” I said. I don’t think he processed any of what I just said.
“The principle is a stupid asshole and he fucking hates me,” Jimmy went on for a while about how stupid the principle is before Brian showed up. He ran up to us and pulled Jimmy up.
“Dude, you’re wrecking my moment,” Jimmy muttered.
“What the fuck happened to you?” Brian asked, brushing sand off his shirt.
“I’m so fucking pissed at everything!” Jimmy shouted. “I guess I’m on drugs and I’m going fucking crazy,” Jimmy pushed Brian off of him. “Because I can’t fucking kiss her,” Jimmy pointed a shaky finger at me.
So it did mean something to him. No, it couldn’t. That would screw a lot up. It’s probably just the alcohol talking. “Jimmy, that’s Zacky’s girl,”
“Yeah and it fucking sucks!” Jimmy yelled at the ocean.
“I’ll take him to my house,” Brian walked Jimmy to his car. I got in Rachel’s small car. Brian looked at me from his car, then backed out. It was a peaceful drive home, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what Jimmy said. He wanted to kiss me again? He probably didn’t even mean it. He probably won’t even remember it next morning.
The next few days no one had seen or heard from Jimmy. Everyone at school was curious about why he was in trouble and where he was. I probably made his phone explode with text messages and phone calls for him. All of his friends were worried for him. They said he usually didn’t go off the map for more than a day, and it had been three days.
I snuggled up to Zacky as we watched some sappy love story movie on his TV. He kissed he on the cheek and I put my head on his shoulder. “I’m worried about Jimmy,” I muttered.
“We all are,” Zacky replied. “None of us have been able to find him.”
“Have you looked everywhere?” I asked. This was so weird of Jimmy, to just disappear.
“We’ve gone through town about a million times. We’re all worried about him,” Zacky said. We went back to watching the movie and talked a bit more once it was over. We kissed goodnight and then I left.
I smiled just thinking about the perfect little night I just had. I closed the door behind me and saw Jimmy waiting for me on my couch.
“Jimmy!” I exclaimed. “Where have you been?”
“Pissed off, hungover, and not in the mood for school,” he walked into my living room and magnetized toward the grand piano no one ever played.
“Do you play?” I asked. He’d be the last person on Earth I’d think would play the calm, relaxing piano.
“Some. Mostly my own stuff though,” he sat down on the black piano bench and I sat next to him. He began to play a beautiful song. It started with a slow arpeggio, which sounded beautiful. The whole piece wasn’t too long, but just sounded soft and magical the whole way through. He finished playing about a minute later, and I rested my head on his shoulder.
“That was so good,” I muttered.
“It’s a little something I thought of yesterday. So are you coming to our gig tomorrow?” he asked.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I said. I felt so calm right now, I just wanted to fall asleep in his arms.

Chapter 8
Zacky looked so cute. He had a tiny bit of eyeliner on, but so did the rest of the guys. They all looked pretty scary, but that’s what they were going for. Zacky grabbed his guitar, and we kissed for a minute. “You’re gonna do amazing!” I yelled over all the chattering people behind us. He smiled at me and walked onstage.
There weren’t too many people there, maybe 100. But it sounded like a thousand people. They started playing To the End of Rapture, a song which everyone went crazy to. They were all so talented, I was just so happy to have met them. If I never dated Zacky, I’d be home tonight probably reading through my chemistry book again.
They played lots of amazing songs, none of which I didn’t like. But then a familiar song came on. It was the piano piece Jimmy played to me yesterday. The lyrics were some of the sweetest things I’d ever heard. The whole time Zacky was looking at me, and I couldn’t stop smiling at him. Everything was so perfect right now But from the back of the stage, I saw Jimmy trying not to glance at me.
“Those were for all of our girls out here tonight,” Matt said into microphone, looking at his cute little girlfriend. They played 2 more songs, and the crowd seemed sad when they finished the last song.
My phone began to buzz. It was from Jana, a girl I was doing a science project with. The guys walked offstage right as I walked out the back door to take the call.
“Hey Jana,” I said, my ears ringing form all the noise.
“Hey, I was just wondering if you wanted the poster black or blue?”
“Black,” I answered. I saw two shady looking men walking around the corner. “I gotta go, bye,” I hung up.
“Hey!” one of them shouted. I ran toward the door, but one of them jumped in front of me. “Where you going?”
I ignored him and tried to get past him. “Baby, not such a hurry. We got lots of time,”
“Zacky!” I yelled, knowing he wasn’t going to move and this wasn’t heading in a good direction. “Jimmy!”
“Little whore has two boyfriends so she won’t mind fucking us too,” the other guy said. He grabbed my hand and I whirled around and snatched it back. He tried to grab me completely but I jumped back unfortunately right into the other guy.
Out of no where, Jimmy punched the guy in front of me hard in the face. The guy holding me stumbled backwards and held his face. Zacky was behind me, shaking his hand, like it hurt him to punch the guy behind me. He ran up and hugged me. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said, hugging him tight. Tonight could have been scary, but he’d been there to stop it. I looked at Jimmy over his shoulder. He looked bummed and also a bit angry.
“Let’s go,” Zacky said.
“I’ll meet you in a second,” Zacky left to go start the car. I walked over to Jimmy.
“You know we have something,” Jimmy said. “And I can’t just ignore it anymore. It’s driving me fucking insane,”
“Jimmy, Zacky and I-“ Suddenly, Jimmy bent down and kissed me. He held it for a minute, and I couldn’t even think to pull back. Now it really was cheating.
“That wasn’t nothing. That time we kissed on the beach, that wasn’t nothing,” Jimmy looked into my eyes. “I’ve never felt this way about any other girl, Anna,”
I looked down. What am I supposed to do now? I do like Jimmy, but I’m dating Zacky. “Jimmy, I’m dating Zacky. I like Zacky,” I said, completely clueless of what else to say.
“Why are you spending so much time with me then?” Jimmy asked.
“I don’t know. Jimmy, I- ” He looked into my eyes for a minute then turned around and walked away. I was left alone in the dark, standing there. I walked toward Zacky’s car and got in with him. He looked at me and could tell I was hurt.
“Yeah,” I said. “You did amazing onstage,” I smiled at him.
“You’re not okay,” he looked sincerely at me. We took a short drive to the park, got out, and sat on a bench and cuddled. “What happened?”
“Jimmy just-“ I was trying to think of how to explain what happened to Zacky without including the kissing part. “I think he was just a little drunk,” Zacky held me tight and we looked into the dark for a while. I learned that Zacky was also fine with silence, which made me happy. It was nice to just sit back and enjoy not having noise every one and a while. And I’ve had plenty of noise for tonight.

Chapter 9
I came back to school the next day only to find that Jimmy decided not to show up. As I was walking to my locker inbetween classes, a teacher told me the councilor wanted to see me.
“Yes Mrs. Dawson?” I asked. I never really talked to Mrs. Dawson since I never really had any problems. In fact, I have no idea why I’m here right now.
“Have a seat,” she pointed to the small chair behind her desk. “I’ve noticed you’re hanging out with Zacky and his friends a lot lately. I’ve also heard that you and Zacky are ‘dating’”
Why was she snooping through my life? It wasn’t any of her business. “Yeah,” I quietly replied.
“Are you sure that’s the best choice? Those boys don’t have a good reputation. They drink, smoke, do drugs-“
“None of them do drugs,” I said. It just made me so mad she assumed they did all these bad things. Plus, Brian was the only one who smoked.
“But I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to be spending so much time with them,” Mrs. Dawson said. She’s acting like she knows my whole life!
“Aren’t you always talking about how we should see through the stereotypes and see people’s true personalities?” she nodded. “Well, Zacky is the sweetest guy I’ve ever met. Jimmy is such a fun person and one of the most talented musicians I’ve ever met,”
“Yes, but you need to watch out,” she said and looked concerned. She needs to back off!
“I’m smart, I’d never drink or do drugs or anything. Before I met them, I didn’t have a life. I wouldn’t ever hang out with friends. All I’d do is study. But now, I have the most caring boyfriend and the best friends anyone could ask for,”
“I understand,” she finally seemed to shut up. I think I finally proved my point. I got up and opened the door to leave. “One last thing, do you know where Jimmy is?”
“He’s been sick all week,” I said, covering for him. He had to stop ditching, it wasn’t doing any good for any of us. I quietly shut the door and walked over to Zacky. Honestly, I’m kind of glad Jimmy wasn’t here. I don’t know what I’d say to him. I still have no idea what I’m supposed to do.

I got home and Rachel was sitting on the couch. It looked like she’d been waiting for me for a while. “I got an email from your councilor,” I looked up at the ceiling. “She says you haven’t been hanging out with the best crowd. Let’s catch up. I haven’t talked with you in ages,”
I sat down on the couch next to Rachel. I suppose I could confide in her, she was one of the people I trusted most. I explained to her about how amazing Zacky was, but also how great Jimmy was too. I told her about me and Jimmy at the beach, then me and Zacky at the beach. I told her about Jimmy getting accused of drugs, then what he said when we found him. I told her about the gig, and what happened after the gig.
“It sounds like ever since you met them, only bad things have happened,” Rachel said. Wait, she really wasn’t going to support me?
“Zacky is amazing. I’d go through anything for him!” I said, beginning to get angry. No one had my back lately. Everyone thought I was stupid for being with Zacky.
“I don’t think you quite understand,” Rachel licked her lips. I was starting to get really frustrated with her.
“I’m going to do my homework,” I walked upstairs, fearing I’d say something I’ll regret.
The next day at school I just felt like I’d rather be anywhere but there. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, I didn’t want to do anything. I was just in a random terrible mood, which I don’t usually get. Classes passed dreadfully slowly, each one seemed like 10 hours rather than one.
At lunch, I sat out on the grass with Zacky. We talked a bit, but Zacky seemed distracted the whole time. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Is something going on with you and Jimmy?” he asked. I couldn’t lie to him anymore. I had to come out with the truth sooner or later, and why not now? I mean, nothing could possibly make my mood any worse.
A couple of annoying blond girls were sitting behind us, obviously listening. “We’re friends,”
“But, are you more than friends?”
Better get the big elephant out of the room sooner or later. “He kissed me after the show. He was mad, and I don’t know what was going on in his head,”
Zacky sat for a second, silent and motionless. “Brian said you and him found Jimmy drunk at the beach a while ago,”
“Yeah, he was jus talking about how dumb the principal was,” I answered, purposely leaving out some parts.
“Brian said Jimmy told him he wanted you though,”
My face began to get hot. “He was drunk talking,” I quietly answered, feeling ashamed of myself. I guess I had unknowingly been cheating on Zacky. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t even realize what was happening,”
My throat began to quiver. My vision slowly began to get blurred by tears, but I choked them back. Zacky still sat there, not even looking at me. I felt terrible inside. I was wrong, my mood could get worse. “Zacky,” my voice shook.
“I need some time,” is all he said as he got up and walked away. I was left alone on the grass, holding back tears. I got up, and the girls behind me started laughing.
“Whore!” one of them shouted. I pretended I didn’t hear them, but that word slapped me in the face. Did I deserve that? I suppose I did.
The rest of the school day I spent trying not to cry. I couldn’t concentrate on anything, I was too busy mentally reviewing everything that had happened. When the final bell rang, I sped-walked to my house and ran upstairs.
I ran into my bathroom and locked the door behind me. I didn’t want to talk to anyone right now. I just wanted everything to stop. As I reached to turn on the sink, pieces sticking out of a wooden basket for soap cut across my inner arm.
It stung like crazy. Why do people even cut themselves? I wondered for a minute. Was it like a magic stress reliever or something? Academic girls like me would never even consider this. All it did was hurt, so why would people even do it? I quickly swept past the idea, concluding it wasn’t quite logic.
I laid on the ground for a while, staring at the white ceiling. From across the room, my phone rang. I got up to check it, and it was a text from Jimmy. I immediately unlocked it. The brief text said “beach,”
I ran downstairs and almost sped the whole way. Jimmy and I always had a way of meeting up at the beach. I sucked up my tears and wiped the blood off my arm. How stupid was I, to accidently cut up the inside of my arm in such a way that made it look like I cut myself.
I parked in front of the windy beach. I looked around, and saw Jimmy laying down across the beach. I ran over to him. “Lay down with me,” he muttered. I got down next to him and put my head on his shoulder. He seemed like the only person who cared about me right now.
“Everything is a mess,” I said, looking up into the stars. They were all so pretty, so distant.
“Tell me about it,” I looked over at Jimmy and saw he was smiling. Sand was blowing into my clothes and knotting into my hair.
“Snoop of a councilor tried to tell me it wrong to hang out with you,” I held his hand. “Rachel has a stick up her butt, and Zacky and I got into our first fight,”
Jimmy turned his head and we wended up looking into each other’s eyes. “I ran away from everything. I suck. Now the school probably really thinks I’m a druggie,” I sat up.
He sat up with me and held me tight in his arms. I really did like Jimmy, and I was just now accepting the fact. “I told him about us and now I’m the school whore,”
Jimmy glanced over at me. I immediately felt embarrassed about everything for no reason. “Anna, you’re a lot of things. You’re smart, beautiful, caring, kind, and selfless. But you’re not a whore.” He twined his fingers with mine. “Because you’re so much better than that. You’re better than all the girls who called you a whore. You’re gonna go to Harvard and get a million degrees and be rich,”
I could always count on Jimmy to make me feel wonderful about myself, no matter how terrible things were. “And you’re gonna grow up and be in that amazing band of yours and you’re gonna go on tour every month and have thousands of girls screaming your name,”
“Sucks for them, because I’m already going to have a wonderful girlfriend,” he looked over at me, and then kissed me for the third time.
Jimmy was an amazing person. He was fun and pushed me to be the absolute best person I could be. He inspired me, he encouraged me. I kissed him back, and it felt right for once.
“Let’s do something we’ll remember tonight,” Jimmy smiled at me. “Like that night in Titanic,” Jimmy grabbed my hand and pulled me up. The sun shined began to fade over us. I had a feeling tonight was going to be magical.
We plummeted straight into the rushing water. I laughed and threw my head back. My clothes became drenched and my hair became sandy, but I didn’t even care. Jimmy laid down in the sand, and I kissed him. The sun began to start the slow process of becoming night.
We ran into my car, soaking the seats. “Where to?” I asked.
“Doesn’t matter!” Jimmy said, shouting out the window. I backed out the car and drove the short road into town. I saw a couple of the girls from school in the little window shops looking at me and Jimmy like we were insane. “Turn here! Matt’s parents have a beach house we can go to,”
I veered to the side and drove for a while down a twisty road. Jimmy pointed to a very nice looking house on the side of the road. I didn’t want to make sure that we had permission or anyone was home right now. Quite honestly, I didn’t want to deal with anything at all right now.
We got out of the car right as the sun began to hit the horizon. “Come on!” Jimmy exclaimed. He grabbed my hand and pulled me into the house. We went up a long staircase that led to the roof. We sat down, our feet dangling over the edge of the house. The sun began to submerse under the water.
“It’s beautiful,” I said. I turned my head away and kissed Jimmy. I slowly broke away as the day’s light came to an end and the moon shone bright. “This is probably the most rebellious thing I’ve ever done,”
I climbed into his lap and he put his arms around me. “This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time,” Jimmy said and put his head next to mine.
“Do you’re parents ever get worried about you?” I asked. I had been curious for a long time, and I felt that he never talked about his family with anyone. I wanted to be the special person he confided in.
“They gave up on me a while ago,” Jimmy said. “They don’t care what I do anymore,”
“My parents are barely ever home,” I said. “They’re always on stupid business trips. But they constantly remind me about my grades. I just can’t impress them,”
“No one can be impressed,” Jimmy looked out into the ocean. “They always want something,”
“I don’t want anything right now,” I whispered. “Everything I want is here right now,”
“Let’s go to a party,” Jimmy said and picked me up.
“What?” I asked. Really? A party?
“Let’s show everyone who the real whores are,” Jimmy smiled.


Chapter 11
We walked into the Freshman Ball, which happened to be tonight at some different high school. We sneaked in through a side door and when we got inside, a song I didn’t know that had a heavy beat was playing. Jimmy grabbed my hand and pulled me to the dance floor.
Jimmy outed every other person there by at least a foot, he was a giant. I smiled as we danced the night away, always dancing close and never leaving each other’s side all night.
Finally the final song came on, it being a slow song all the little kids were dancing to. Jimmy grabbed my waist and chills shot through me. I laced my fingers behind his neck and we swayed in sync.
“Tonight has been perfect,” I quietly said. We leaned in and kissed, not caring who saw us. Someone behind Jimmy tapped his shoulder.
It was a chaperone that had been eyeing us the whole night. “Are you even freshmen?” she asked. Jimmy laughed.
“Let’s go!” Jimmy shouted and we ran out of the building. I looked back and the lady was just standing there. She shrugged and continued telling kids to stop dancing so close.
We got outside and laughed. “What now?” I asked. “I don’t think we can make it back in there,”
“Zacky is gonna be so pissed!” I said but still smiled. I was finally doing something bad. “Let’s go back to my house,”
We drove the short drive home and stumbled inside the door, kissing right as we entered. In the middle of a kiss, I noticed that the lights were already on, and I was sure I turned them all off when I left. I pulled my face from his and looked around.
My mom walked in the room. I accidently let out a gasp, because she wasn’t supposed to come home until the end of the month. “Anna!” she said, then saw Jimmy next to me.
“Mom!” I nervously said. “This is Jimmy. Jimmy, this is my mom,” I said, my heart beating rapidly.
“Hi Mrs. Summers,” he smiled at my mom. I silently prayed Jimmy wouldn’t do anything crazy, but I trusted him. The person I didn’t trust was my extremely judgmental mother.
“Hello, Jimmy,” she said, looking him over.
“Where’s dad? I butt in, trying to distract her the least bit.
“He’s staying in Florida. I decided to come home for the weekend to be with you,” my mom looked at her phone. “Come on Anna, help cook dinner,”
“Be back in a minute,” I whispered in Jimmy’s ear and quickly kissed him as my mom faced the other way.
Why of all times did she have to show up this night? Tonight could have been magical, but she was ironically here to stop us. I bet you Rachel told her that I was ’hanging with the wrong crowd’. I walked into the kitchen and began chopping lettuce my mom had set out for me.
“So you’re taking boys home now,” mom said, looking down at her tomato.
“Mom, I’m not some crazed girl. We were just going to watch a movie,” I lied. Who knows what crazy thing we could have done with our night?
“Rachel told me you were dating a Zack or something,” mom looked over at me. Since when was Rachel filling her in on my life?
“We had some complications,” I said, thinking about Zacky for the first time this night. What was going to happen with us? “Besides, Jimmy is a great friend to me,”
“Anna, I have heard bad things about that kid. I heard he does drugs,”
I put down what I was doing. Why do people always assume Jimmy is constantly baked? “He’s never done drugs, and he never will,” I looked my mom in the eye. She needs to understand that I can’t be her perfect child. “Why are you always so critical?”
“Well when your kid comes home with a druggie, you can understand,”
I almost exploded right where I was standing. Why couldn’t she just stay in Florida? “He doesn’t do drugs! He has unbelievable talent and he is an amazing friend,”
“Anna, I don’t want you-“ ,my mom was interrupted by a piano coming from the living room. She looked out. Jimmy was sitting, playing something beautiful and fast that I’ve never heard.
It sounded meaningful and bright, and had a great melody to it. My mom and I walked up behind him and watched his hands move fast across the white keys. My mom did always have an appreciation for classical music. For once, she seemed to be genuinely listening.
The rest of the day went by pretty awkwardly. Jimmy stayed for about 10 minutes, then we both decided it would be best if it were just me and my mom. After e left, se lectured e about how there’s always room for grades to improve and about choosing the right crowd.
The rest of the weekend was my mom trying to make up for all the lost time. We didn’t have a normal relationship. Sometimes I thought my mother was more Rachel than my actual mom. Truly, things did slide by a bit easier with her always gone, but sometimes I did long for that relationship where the mother and the daughter are like best friends. My mom left Saturday morning, waving back to me as she boarded the plane toward Orlando. She called me when she landed and said that her and dad would be back soon, but I didn’t quite believe her.
When I got home, Rachel and I left for UC Santa Barbara, the trip Rachel promised she’d take me on. The drive luckily wasn’t dreadful. We listened to music and talked the whole way there. We took a long tour of the collage and went to the cafeteria to get a drink. Rachel said I could have some time by myself to look around.
I walked out of the UC Barbara cafeteria and looked out over the ocean. This would be a nice collage, seeing how it had the perfect view. Every night you’d get to see the sun say its final goodbyes to the daylight.
Rachel walked into the little collage store to get some gum. I waited outside, looking over the ocean, imagining all the possibilities. “So do you like it here?” a deep, unfamiliar voice said from behind me.
I jumped and whirled around. It was a cute guy who looked about my age. He had short brown hair and huge brown eyes. “Yeah,” I smiled at him. “The view is absolutely perfect,”
“I know,” he said. “I’d love to have one of those dorms,” he pointed to the dormitory overlooking the ocean. “I’m Damon,”
“Anna,” I smiled at him. He seemed nice and we seemed to have a lot in common. I could tell he also cared a lot about his grades, just like me.
“I would offer to show you around campus, but I don’t know it that well,” Damon smirked.
“Let’s go for it!” I said. Why not have a little adventure on my trip? Damon attempted to show me around campus the rest of the day. He would secretly try and look over at maps and pretend he knew his way around. I giggled more than I ever have in one afternoon. We sat out on the grass right before the sun set.
“It’s pretty,” he said. “But just a tiny bit bright,” he looked away.
I laughed. “What if we both went here? Then we could be best collage friends,”
“You from around here?” he asked. I liked being with him. I got to not be myself for a day. I didn’t have to think about Zacky or Jimmy or anything, I just got to think about me. Plus, I made a great new friend. He was fun to be with, and just cute in so many little ways.
“Hunington, so not too far,” the sun bobbed below the horizon and stars began to appear.
“I’m from LA!” he said. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I quickly whipped it out and looked at it. It was from Jimmy, it said “movie tonight?” I put it away and concentrated back on Damon. “Everything okay?”
“Of course, just a friend with homework questions,” I lied. Why bring Jimmy into this? Remember, I’m someone else today. For a while we talked about school, then sadly it was time to leave.
“We have to hang out soon,” Damon hugged me goodbye. “Text me!” he waved as I walked away. I got into Rachel’s car and she drove us back to reality. But the whole car ride, I replayed the day in my head.

Chapter 12
Jimmy put his arm around my waist as we walked into the movie theater the next day. We sat in the top corner, where the shadows basically devoured us. I was wondering if he was planning to make out with me during the movie.
I’d never made out with anyone. Sure, I’d kissed Zacky for a couple of seconds, and I’d kissed Jimmy, but never made out with him. Honestly, I did want to make out with Jimmy though.
The previews went by, and the movie began. I rested my head on Jimmy’s shoulder as the movie dreaded on. About 10 minutes into it, he cupped his hand around my chin and turned my head toward him. He kissed me over and over again.
I closed my eyes and melted inside. Jimmy was great, and I kissed him back and couldn’t help but smile and giggle. It felt like no time went by at all before I opened by eyes. It was a bit weird making out with other people if the room, but they didn’t even notice.
From the corner of my eye, I spotted a cute guy with short brown hair. In fact, I knew this guy. And I met him yesterday at collage. And he was sitting so less than a couple seats diagonal from us.
I closed my eyes and tried to forget he was there. I didn’t want to mix my life with our friendship. He was supposed to be my getaway, a place where I could go just to pretend I’m not Anna anymore.
Jimmy’s warm lips on mine felt magical, but I felt a bit jittery. Had Damon seen me? Should I go and say hi? “I have to call someone,” I panicked and whispered to Jimmy. “School project,” I kissed him and left the theater. I stood out in the hallway for a minute.
Why is Damon here? I breathed deeply and was about to walk in the theater as I heard someone behind me call my name. “Anna!” Damon said from behind me.
Had he followed me out? Did he see me with Jimmy? “Damon?” I tried to act surprised. “Long time no see!” I joked.
“Yeah. So are you watching this movie too?” he asked.
“Yep, and I don’t want to miss anymore of it!” I smiled and quickly walked inside before he could say anything else to me. He followed me in and saw me sit next to Jimmy.
The movie went by dreadfully slowly. Jimmy and I kissed a lot, and although I loved it, I constantly felt like I was being watched by Damon even though he probably didn’t even care.
The credits finally began rolling and I dragged Jimmy out of the theater. I was almost out the theater door before Damon walked up beside me. “Hey!” he said.
“Hi!” I smiled at him. Jimmy grabbed my waist as Damon looked up at him. “Jimmy, this is Damon. Damon, meet Jimmy,”
“Hey,” Jimmy made his little friendly face at Damon.
“Nice to meet you,” Oh no, Jimmy probably thought I cheated on him or something.
“We met on the collage tour yesterday,” I explained.
“Fun,” Jimmy smiled. An awkward conversation shook by and Jimmy and I drove home. I told Jimmy about him and he seemed fine with it. One of the great things about Jimmy is he easily forgives and forgets.

Chapter 13
I could tell Zacky wanted me again. He kept on being extra cute during history. But now it was the opposite situation, I was dating Jimmy now and I was beginning to like Zacky again.
“When’s the last time you came to practice? You used to come all the time!” Zacky smiled at me. He was so hot, it was hard not to like him. Jimmy and I usually did other things, not come to band practice together. But it had been a long time, and it would be a good chance to clear up any weird vibes between me and Zacky.
“Sure,” I smiled at Zacky as the history teacher began rambling on. After school, I went to Matt’s house and listened to the band play. They were all amazing as usual. Afterwards, Jimmy and I tried to figure out how to surf. It was a failure, but one of the most fun things I’d ever done in my life.
We watched the sun set together then went back to my house and he tried to teach me some piano. I couldn’t not love Jimmy, he was so amazing. I kissed him while we were sitting on the piano bench. But a reoccurring theme that kept on popping into my head was Zacky.
The next week flashed by. I hung out with Zacky, clearing out bad feelings and growing new ones. I couldn’t deny it, I had feelings for him again. Zacky and I walked together through the park, talking the whole way.
“Do you think Jimmy’s mad?” I asked, wanting to know the sure answer. Jimmy denied it, but I think he cared.
“I think he’s just getting competitive. It’s a Jimmy thing,” Zacky answered. “We kind of got into a fight the other day.”
“A bad fight?” I asked. The last thing I’d want to do is come inbetween friends.
“Kind of. Both of us threatened to leave the band, but we were just acting on instinct,” Zacky clarified. If I was coming inbetween friends, I had to stop it. The rest of the walk I tried to find out solutions in my head.
I didn’t want to be the end to their band. That would just disappoint everyone. So I was going to have to change something, but I didn’t know what. I finally came to a cold decision that was going to hurt, but it was going to be necessary.
The next day I was walking home from school with Jimmy. It was time to break up with him. I had to stop tearing him and Zacky apart. Before I spoke, a million regrets flew into my head. What if I’m just overreacting? What if I’m just making more of a problem than there really is?
“Jimmy, we have to stop seeing each other,” it hurt me to say. He stopped and looked at me.
“What?” he asked. This was going to be one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
“I’m tearing the band apart. I’m tearing you and Zacky apart,” I said, biting my lips to keep from quivering.
“No, it’s not you. All friends get into fights,” he said, trying to reassure me. I knew it was me though, no matter what he said.
“I’ve been bouncing back and forward with you and him, and it’s not fair for you guys. Things are just going to get worse,” I said and tears began to fall out of my eyes.
Jimmy looked into my eyes for a second, and I was going to start bawling and screaming if I didn’t go. I turned around and walked myself home, crying the whole way.
Why can’t I just do something right for once? Why did everything have to be so hard in life? I suppose everything happens for a reason, but I really was questioning what happened.

Chapter 14
After a week of pity looks and sorrowful stares at me I got a text form Brian, who never texted me, that said “meet at the park.” I honestly was so glad to get a text from him. It meant there was still hope for me and the guys.
The past week had been terrible. I’d gone back to old me, always feeling nerdy and alone. No amazing guy had been there to comfort me. My week was dreadfully boring, and I thought this was how it was going to be again forever.
I walked to the park and saw Brian standing by a tree. I fussed with my scarf and walked over to him. “So why’d you wanna meet?” I asked, still unsure about what this whole thing was about.
“Well Zacky has a new pity girl that he’s nonstop nailing and it’s pretty fucking annoying. And Jimmy isn’t himself and I think we both know why,” Brian said. He lit a cigarette and stuck it in his mouth. He inhaled than blew out smoke. “So you need to stop that because no one else can,”
“And what do you have in mind to stop it?” I asked, not liking where this was going.
“We have a gig tonight. You’re gonna be there as my date so they’ll get pissed off and snap out of it,” Brian said. My first reaction was a definite no, but I thought about it for a second. Jealousy is one of the most powerful emotions, although I’d hate to manipulate people I care about.
“Only tonight, and it better work,” I said. Brian smirked at me then walked away. I walked back home and waited for the gig to begin.
I arrived there around 8. The place was packed and the band was onstage, already playing when I got there. Zacky saw me and immediately looked down at his guitar. They were in the middle of a song I’ve heard before but couldn’t remember the name.
Brian winked at me right when Jimmy looked at him from behind. I could tell they had no idea what was going on by the looks of their faces. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. Was I supposed to look like I was having fun or like I missed Jimmy and Zacky?
I ended up mixing the two, dancing a little but not really enjoying myself. Throughout the whole set, Brian kept on winking and looking at me so the others could see. After an hour of amazing music, they were done playing. I walked backstage and up to Brian.
He looked worn out but was still up for it. He put his arm around my waist and whispered “Big finale.” in my ear. He leaned down and kissed me in front of everyone.
Jimmy and Zacky looked over at us. I couldn’t close my eyes and melt into it. It just didn’t feel right, like I was kissing the wrong person at the wrong time. I just let my arms hang down, thinking how awkward I looked to people walking by. None of this was right. Also, it probably was just pissing everyone off instead of fixing things.
I broke away. “It didn’t work,” I said. My face began to get hot from embarrassment as I quickly walked to my car. I didn’t want to explain anything to Jimmy and Zacky.
I drove around and got some ice cream. I ate alone in my car, regretting the whole night. I silently finished it and drove back home. I threw my keys on the counter and walked up to my room.
I closed the door behind me and jumped when I saw Jimmy sitting in my bed. I immediately felt embarrassed and sat down next to him. I was expecting him to ask about tonight, but instead he sighed and said “You’re so good,”
I looked at him in confusion. “What?” I asked, not knowing what he would say next.
“You’re so good. Like you actually study and don’t miss school and come up with crazy plans to make your friends feel better,” Jimmy brushed a piece of my hair back. “I get hammered every other day and ditch school for no reason. You deserve better,”
“Jimmy, you’re amazing!” I smiled at him. “You are an amazing musician and you have the most fun personality. Plus, you’re the most ballsy person I know,” I nudged him.
“What was the whole Brian thing?” Jimmy asked. My face heated up and I began to play with my fingers.
“Stupid ideas of Brian’s. He thought it would help everyone,” I put my hair on my shoulder. “And it failed miserably,”
“I talked to Zacky,” Jimmy said.
I looked at Jimmy and smiled. I kissed him on he cheek and whispered in his ear “What’d he say?”
“He said it’s okay if we date,” We kissed for a while and I couldn’t help but smile. “He said he’d be happy for us,”
“That’s fantastic!” I exclaimed, hugging Jimmy.
He bit his lip and smiled. “We got offered a spot on a tour, and I want you to come with us,”
I smiled at him. “Of course,” I whispered as I kissed him. So many possibilities were opening up for the both of us. He would begin the long journey to becoming world famous and I’d finally have someone to love. Finally, my life wasn’t the same, repetitive journey I thought it was. It was an amazing ride that took me into darkness and led me into light, and now I got to spend it with Jimmy.