The Other Side | All Time Low

Chapter 2

After a school day of trying to figure out where I am, figure out what I'm doing, fake being friends with people I never met, and not eating lunch due the immense anxiety coursing through my veins, I was unable to think of a viable excuse to get out of going to Rian's house with "the usual." Before I knew it, I was driving my car with Candice in my passenger seat and Laura sitting in the middle seat in the back. As I drove, the two girls fed me directions, because I'm sure they could tell I had absolutely no idea where I was going.

    "Did you just suddenly forget how to get to Rian's house?" Laura asked, raising an eyebrow at me when the three of us stepped out of the car. "I'm pretty sure we were here, like, maybe three days ago at least. Not to mention he's your best friend."

    "Long day." I answered, but Laura didn't buy it. She just narrowed her eyes at me, while Candice also gave me a questioning look. "I don't know what else you want me to say. I'm pretty sure I'm just losing my mind at this point."

    "That's one way to explain it." Candice shrugged, knocking on Rian's front door. A few moments later, a tall, lanky boy with horrendous blonde streaks in his hair opened the door for us. He stood a few inches taller than us, but I just couldn't stop looking at the awful dye job on his head.

    "It's about time you guys show up." The tall boy said, stepping aside to let us inside. His jeans were long enough to cover his long legs but seemed much too baggy on him, and like Alex this morning, the hoodie he wore was also much too large for him. Is baggy clothing a trend here?

    "Sorry, but someone's brain is clearly on backwards today." Laura proclaimed from beside me. She seemed like she was totally sick of me after only one day of dealing with me.

    "Oh, Jack, you totally missed it. She's been quite the basket case today." Candice added, ruffling my hair from behind me.

    "Sick Green Day reference." I mumbled, kicking my shoes off and following them all into the basement of the Dawson household. In the basement, we found Alex and Rian sitting on one of the couches opposite of the staircase. A girl with dark brown hair sat between the two of them. She wore a backwards hat with a flannel and skinny jeans like mine. Her face lit up the moment I walked in the room.

    "Hey, where were you at lunch? I looked around for you for ages!" The girl asked me, leaning forward on the couch. "I had to sit alone with these losers." She nodded her head at Alex and pointed at the kid whose name I learned was Jack.

    "You're the loser, Shannon." Jack retorted, attempting to be hurtful and ultimately failing.

    "I'm sorry! I had a few things to take care of during lunch. I didn't even get the chance to eat." I interrupted, knowing I was blatantly lying. I had left and wasted my lunch hour in my car because I needed a break from everything that was happening. "Won't happen again."

    "Are you smoking dope? Are you drunk? Are you under the influence of any sort? " Alex theorized from his spot on the couch. Candice snorted and I rolled my eyes into the back of my skull. "Really, what is up with you?"

    "No, I'm not smoking or drinking anything, Alex." I shot back. "Am I not allowed to have one off day? Just one?"

    "It's a little out of character, I gotta admit." Rian chimed in. I looked at him and sighed, which he responded to with a small shrug. "Just making sure you're alright."

    "Would it kill any of you to get off my case?" I challenged, a bit more aggressively than I anticipated. A few of the group looked at me with shocked expressions. "Can we please just change the subject?"

    "Don't you guys have a show this weekend?" Candice turned her attention to the boys. A show? "Shouldn't you guys be, I don't know, rehearsing? Isn't it in like three days?"