Alex's POV:
By now, I was very familiar with almost every single band. Some I liked, some I didn't, but there was one I had yet to meet. That was Still Burning Daylight.
We would be touring with them in the fall, and I had already listened to some music. They sounded absolutely amazing. I saw that their set was on our stage this evening. The guys and I decided to go check it out. When we got there, I noticed how great they really were. All the energy was amazing. Their music was tight, so much more than ours. They told jokes between the songs like us. I knew in that moment that we were going to get along very well.
"Yo, Alex, check out their drummer." Zack said, just mezmerized. "She's just- wow."
"Dude, we can't fraternize with our touring buddies. That's mixing work and pleasure." It was easy for me to say. I had Lisa back home. God only knew how long it would last this time, though. We had been fighting quite a bit lately and honestly, I hated being wifed up with someone I didn't even wanna be with anymore.
"I don't care. That girl is mine. She's more than a girl. She's a woman." He looked at me. "That woman will be mine."
Zack wasn't very romantic, so I found this a little strange. But I shook it off and kept watching. Their lead singer was very captivating. The light glisened off her golden hair. The way she smiled at the crowd and was always moving. I decided to observe her more. She was in grey vans, light skinny jeans, and a blouse. This chick wore a yellow, button down blouse on stage at warped tour. If that wasn't unique, then I don't know what is.
Jack stumbled over. "I see you checking out that hottie with the body singing 'bout bacardi."
"I'm with Lisa." I said, though I didn't want to be. "How drunk are you today?"
"I am highly buzzed." He said with certainty.
"Alex!" Kenny, the stage manager called.
"What up, Kenny?" I replied.
"Stop checking her out. She's only sixteen." He said.
"I'm not checking her out. I have a girlfriend."
He laughed. "Pft, yeah right!" And walked away again.
After their set, Zack ran off to go find the drummer. This blonde masterpiece walked up to us and started talking. She was cocky and goofy and even insisted on calling Jack 'Boner'. I wanted to get to know her better.
_______________________________________________
I saw her sitting alone later at the party, a smile plastered on her face, head nodding along with the music. I decided to take the empty chair next to her.
"Hey! It's that Alex guy!" She smiled.
"It's that Marina girl!" I replied.
(A/N: I find this to be too beautiful. In book three they've already had a kid together, but here they are meeting. I can't. Too perfect.)
"Alright Alex, I like to get to know people by hearing something that nobody ever asks about, yet they're really proud of it. What's something like that for you?" She asked.
"I can cook really well. I just never get to. What about you?" I countered.
"I'm very talented at using chopsticks. I picked it right up when I was younger and I can pick up just about any food with them." She smiled. "Give me a proper introduction of yourself."
I really liked how blunt she was. "My name is Alex. I have a pet dog named Sebastian whom I love, and a girlfriend named Lisa whom I don't love-" I stopped myself. I couldn't just blurt shit like that out at anyone.
She giggled. "Then why are you dating her?"
It was something I hadn't put a ton of thought into. I was honestly dating her for the sake of not explaining to everyone why we broke up, and having a safety net. Otherwise, I really didn't want to. "For shallow reasons." I replied. Hell, if you're being honest, might as well spill it all.
"Do you consider yourself shallow?"
"Not in the least bit."
She playfully whacked my arm. "Then show some integrity! I think people should be whoever they want to be, as long as it's unapologetic. You've gotta put yourself out there and say, 'I'm shallow and I am proud!', not act shallow then say you're not."
She brought up a wonderful point. I wasn't sure how to respond. "No, you're getting the wrong idea of me-"
"Just say it Alex. I am shallow and I am proud." She smiled.
I thought about it. I guess it was pretty shallow, yet I didn't regret it. "I am shallow and I am proud." I mumbled.
"You don't sound proud." She egged me on.
"I am shallow and I am proud!" I said.
"There. Everybody has their vices."
"What's yours?"
She laughed. "If you can't tell, Alex, I'm extremely arrogant."
She had this air about her. Her sun golden, long hair fell in loose waves. Her eyes glisened with a blue from the sea. Her tan skin was the soft sand. Her smile kept rushing to her eyes, then calming back into a smirk. Her confidence warmed and grace shun. She was an ocean.
"Enough about me and my inability to come to terms with my own traits." I mocked. "Tell me about you."
"I just want to make other people happy. Whether it's by writing relatable songs or telling penis jokes or even just giving someone attention. If you have the power to improve someone else's day, then why would you not use that?" She explained. "I accept people for who they are and if they're not proud of themselves then how can they expect me to be?"
"I'm not shallow by the way. I don't care about looks or pop culture or substance-less drama. I guess my relationship is just shallow because it's a security blanket." I finally had the nuts to explain.
"How is it a security blanket?" She asked, very kind and softly, unlike the arrogant judgement shown before. I could sense her showing off through the arrogance, but not truly being that way.
I had to think about her question. "When you're single, you face so much judgement. The judgement of why you can't keep a relationship or going places alone. It does sound pretty shallow, but at least I can accept that I'm afraid to be judged by others."
"Me too. I mean, I use my arrogance as a sheild. Nobody questions you when you don't question you. Doesn't mean you're right, though." She spoke more softly. "But regardless of my showing off, I still firmly believe that you should accept yourself no matter what."
"I like your philosophies." I said. "Okay, let's choose a lighter subject. Do you have any favorite movies?"
"Oh yeah." She replied. "I love movies. I can't talk about my favorite though."
"Why not?"
"Because it's the first rule." She paused. "And the second."
I liked how complicated she made it. "I see. You like Fight Club."
"Shh!" Her hand went over my mouth. "You're not supposed to talk about it!"
I laughed. "What else do you like?"
"I like Wayne's World and Bill and Ted. I love all the Jackass films. But I can also get really into more serious movies like anything by Tarintino..."
We talked for a while about movies and being in bands and music. We had so much fun, just enjoying someone else's company. I really liked her, but I kept guilting myself with Lisa. I just couldn't make a move. After spending a while together, she decided to go back to her bus.
"Wait, lemme walk with you." I stood with her.
"Oh, what a gentleman!" She mocked. "My bus is in lot 62."
"No way! Mine too!" I replied.
We walked and talked some more. Soon enough we were at her bus, right beside mine. The lights were on and there was a lot of talking. "Alex, let's investigate." She said quietly. I nodded in agreement. She opened the door very slowly, crouching down. I followed suit. We stood behind the curtain to the front lounge. I would say it was uncomfortably close, but it felt thrilling to be near her. She lightly lifted the edge of the curtain to peer inside. I peered in the other edge.
"Alex?" Zack asked.
"Marina!" Emily said.
They were sitting on the couch with a glass of wine in their hands. Their legs were entangled on the couch. They must have been talking since the end of Marina's set at seven. It was 1:30 now. In the morning.
"Marina, this is Zack." Emily said as we walked in.
"Hi, Zack." She shook his hand. "And this is Alex."
"Hello." I waved.
Marina sat on a couch across from them. "Alex, you're welcome to stay."
"Thanks." I plopped down beside her. "So this is a bit of a coincidence."
"Let's start with you, Em. I saw you run off with this guy after our set. Now he's hear at almost two in the morning." Marina began.
"Well, he ran up to me after the set and immediately asked me on a date." She said. Zack blushed. "He asked me when I was free and I was right then, so we went to a coffee shop and talked for a while and haven't really stopped since."
"What's going on with you two?" Zack questioned, knowing I had a girlfriend.
"Nothing, nothing." I replied. "Just met up at the party and chatted for a bit."
We stayed as group for a little bit, but then I left for my bus. When Zack came back, I was still in my bunk staring at the ceiling, wondering if I could ever have Marina. Even her name was the ocean.
"Alex." I heard a shout whisper.
"What was that about, man?" I asked him.
Zack sat in Jack's bunk across from mine. "We just wouldn't stop chatting. We never ran out of things to talk about." He paused, looking at the ground with a grin. "Do you believe in love at first sight?"
"Well now that I've seen how glowing you are, I guess I do." I chuckled. "Did you fuck?"
He lost the grin. "No, we did not fuck. We kissed."
"Like makeout kiss or romantic end of the night kiss?" I asked.
"The latter." He replied.
"So whatcha gonna do about it?"
He looked up this time. "I'm gonna ask her out on as many dates as I can until she wants to date."
"Sounds good." I gained a smile too.
He looked back at me. "Don't you fuck around with Marina, Alex."
"Pft, I'm not fucking around with her." I tried to play it cool.
"She's sixteen, you're twenty two, and you have a girlfriend. You can't fuck around with her."
"Who says I wanna fuck around with her anyways? Maybe I just wanna be friends! I'm not some horny Jack." I pointed out.
"Alex, if you only wanted to be friends, you wouldn't still be up at three in the morning thinking about her." He finished the conversation and walked away.
Was it really three already? I checked my phone. Sure enough, it was 3:14.
*
Okay, another fun little chapter. The chapters on this story will be a lot shorter because the point of views shift more rapidly. My other books average 2,000 to 3,000 words a chapter. This will be more in the 1,000-1,500 range. This one is a little long. Question: What is your New Year's resolution? I'm not going to write update info on my A/Ns for this story because I'm posting it as a whole. Aight. Catch yah on the flip side. -LoryXD