I told Alex a lot about myself, and he encouraged me to continue talking whenever I stopped. I told him about growing up in Illinois, moving here pretty much 2 weeks ago, and mentioned some other little anecdotes about myself here and there.
“Shut up! Okay it sounds like you live like 10-15 minutes from me” Alex said excitedly as I told him where my new place was.
“Okay no fair, first you want me to continue talking about myself and now you tell me to shut up! Make up your mind!”
He laughed at my joke, “hah, cute.”
I blushed and hid my face behind my coffee mug. “Anyway, so I think I covered enough about me, what about you, Smelly Feet?” I giggled remembering the day he had dog poop on his shoes.
Alex rolled his eyes, “clever…well where can I start? I moved to Maryland when I was 10 with my parents, we originally lived in England, not that you could hear my accent. Ummm, my last name is Gaskarth, I work in a local record store in Towson, I had lived there for almost 8 years until pretty recently tragedy struck when I was out of town with my friends…” he said trailing off.
“Oh my that’s terrible, if you don’t mind me asking, what happened exactly?”
“Well it was less than a year ago, and like I said, my friends and I were out of town and I had gotten a phone call from one of my neighbours saying that my house had caught fire, and pretty much the entire place burnt down,” he explained very sadly “we were all the way in Philadelphia so I couldn’t just rush off to see the house, so my parents went over and salvaged as much as they could. Luckily, I didn't have a whole lot of important things in there at the time, but a lot was lost. I had lived with my parents again, and eventually I found another house…”
“Oh I’m so sorry that happened to you Alex. I wouldn't wish that kind of thing on anybody, let alone a great guy like you.”
“Thanks, but at least it didn't take me long to bounce back from it.”
“So on a brighter note, what else can you tell me about yourself?”
“Hmmm…” he looked up at the ceiling thinking, “well I didn't tell you that I happen to have another job other than working at the record store? I, uh, happen to be in a band as well” he said giving me a huge smile.
“And by band I’m assuming you mean playing on the street corner for some extra cash?”
“Nooo Ms. Smarty-Sarcastic-Pants. I’m in a legit band with my friends Jack, Rian, and Zack. Wanna hear some of our stuff?”
“Hm I guess it wont kill me.”
“Alright cool.” he said grabbing his phone out of his jeans pocket and putting the volume up. I heard the song, and I recognized it. It was an All Time Low song from the album I had listened to on my drive from Illinois. I nodded my head along to the song, it was this song called Shameless, and it was great. When it ended, Alex took his phone back turning the music off and looked at me, “so? what did you think?” he asked happily.
“Okay, so now that we listened to an All Time Low song, you gonna show me your band’s stuff?”
Alex laughed loudly and hard, gaining quick glances from other customers and workers, and honestly, I didn't understand why he was laughing as hard as he was. “What are you laughing so hard at?” I asked him kinda confused.
He continued laughing but slowed himself down to speak, “That WAS my band! I’m the singer and I play guitar! I’m in All Time Low!”
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Alex’s POV
Rachel had the cutest expression on her face when I told her that I was in All Time Low, it was priceless. It looked like she was trying to process the fact that I was in an actual band, and she just looked speechless.
“So you're trying to tell me that I was listening to your voice in songs before I even knew you?! This is so weird!” She said holding her hands against her head and staring at me with wide eyes, still in disbelief.
I laughed “yeah I guess that’s what I’m saying! So you like it?”
“Yeah, that’s Shameless, I really liked that one when I first heard it. I actually really liked the entire album…and now I’m actually complementing the band to an actual member of the band, who would’ve thought that would happen”
“Well thanks Rachel, now I know that you really have a great taste in music”
We both laughed and finished the rest of our drinks and food. Time had clearly gotten away from us because when I looked at my phone it was nearing 8:00 meaning we had been there for almost 3 hours already, but I could spend the rest of the night taking with this girl. Rachel’s phone buzzed on the table and I saw the name “Benjamin” along with a small picture appear on her screen. She noticed it too and grabbed her phone.
“Benjamin. Who’s that, your boyfriend?” I said half jokingly, wondering if in fact she was seeing someone.
“Boyfriend? Yeah sure,” she said in her sarcastic voice, and I gave her a smile, and at the same time thinking “yes she’s not taken”. She continued on, “but if you must know, he’s a tattoo artist that I saw this week and he’s been sketching ideas for me.”
She gasped when she looked at the picture and then showed me it. It was a beautiful design so far, not yet completed.
“You’re getting a tattoo?”
“Yeah I'm getting different ones, various sessions though.”
“Awesome, you're gonna look badass! You got any other ones?”
“Actually yes I do, I have a memorial rose tattoo on my thigh dedicated to my grandpa, but thats it.”
“Hey kinda like mine but on my hand! Oh and I have this one on my arm,” I started pulling up my sleeve revealing my skeleton tattoo, “its a skeleton trick or treating cause I like halloween, oh! and I also have the All Time Low skull logo behind my ear,” I said turning and pointing to it, showing it off to Rachel.
“Wow those are nice!! My rose looks very similar to your’s too”
We both looked up when we saw the employees that were working starting to clean up and start stacking some of the chairs.
“Looks like they're getting ready to close up soon, wanna head out?” I asked her.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
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Rachel’s POV
Alex and I walked particularly slowly back to the train station still talking to each other about random things. It was really nice talking to someone who hadn't known me my whole life and starting from the beginning. I enjoyed talking and walking with him while hearing the snow and slush crunch beneath our shoes.
“Where’s your car? You do drive here in the mornings right?” I asked him when we arrived at the station.
“Oh yeah, it’s parked on the other side though”
“Well be safe walking back there after I leave”
“Okay there, Mother Bear” he sort of laughed.
“I’m serious, you never know about some people at night, Alex”
“I know. If it would make you feel better I could text you when I get home so you know I’m safe”
“Actually yes that would make me feel better” I said taking out my phone and handing it to him, and I took his, putting my information into it.
“Good cause I want you to text me too when you get home. Cant have a pretty girl like you not be safe.”
I smiled and blushed, like really hard. I was thankful though that it was night and Alex probably didn't see my red cheeks with the limited light coming from the lamps around the train track. The train arrived a couple minutes after comfortable chit chat, and I went to go board it when Alex called me.
“Yeah?” I asked turning around.
“Well arent you gonna say bye to me? Maybe gimme a hug or something?”
“Oh right…sorry” I said embarrassed, totally forgetting that I didn't even say bye to him. “Bye Alex, thank you for a very nice night” I said facing him and waving.
“Come here” he said in an adorable goofy voice, stepping towards me to give me a hug. We stayed standing in a hug for what I’d say “about 5 Mississippi’s” which is longer than a normal hug, but it did feel comfortable.
“I’ll see you soon, Rachel.” Alex said to me in a soft voice before we both pulled away. I waved again and boarded the train heading home.
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Friday January 31 2014
Dear diary,What a day. Work went well, Benjamin sent me a picture of his progress on my tattoos, and Alex and I spent a long time together getting to know each other and it was amazing. I learned that he’s in the band All Time Low with his friends, which kinda freaked me out at first because I wasn't expecting that at all, but I never did actually see pictures of the band and his voice had reminded me of the singer’s voice, so maybe I had some hints but never put them together. We had both texted each other when we got home safely, and he even asked me if I wanted to do something like that again, so I agreed and we’re gonna meet up at that coffeeshop again next Sunday! I wanted it to be a little sooner, but both Alex and I were busy when the other one wasn't so I settled for next Sunday. I’m so excited that we’re becoming close, he's such a sweetheart to me and I was starting to wonder if he was single. I probably shouldn’t be thinking of that sort of thing just yet…right?
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Alex’s POV
Once I texted Rachel that I had arrived safely to my house, I gained the courage to ask her to hang out next Sunday, and thankfully she agreed. She was a really interesting girl, not to mention pretty too. Most girls have long hair down to their ass and coloured like 7 different shades, but Rachel’s was a little bit past her shoulders and a beautiful shade of brown, looking like it’s never been touched. She had the most AMAZING eyes. They were green and a hint of yellow around her pupils, boy, if I could stare at them all day, I would. And then her body and personality. Sure she wasn't the tallest plant in the greenhouse, but she looked good in everything she wore everyday, whether it was skinny jeans and a hoodie or a fancier shirt, she looked stunning, just like her personality. She seemed like one of the most fun people you could be around since she was such a joker, yet could be serious and caring.
I decided to call Rian to talk to him about her. He was always great with advice on females.
“Hey Alex. Whats goin on?” He said answering his phone.
“Not much, not much. I kinda was looking for advice though…”
“Yeah, about what?”
“Well I just got home not too long ago-“
“Oh right, you and Rachel were hanging out tonight! Wait, you just got home not too long ago? How long were guys out together?!”
“We were out for like more than 3 hours actually, just at the coffeeshop talking”
“Wow, Alex Gaskarth with a girl for THREE HOURS and you didn't get bored?”
“Yeah actually I didn’t, and we only left because they were getting ready to close soon.”
“This is warming my heart,” Rian said faking to get emotional, “our little Alex is growing up and becoming a gentleman”
“Shut up, bro. Anyway, I wanted advice on how I should be taking things with her. I asked her to hang out again and she said yes, so we’re gonna go back there next weekend.”
“Well do you like her?”
“Yeah, I guess I do,” I smiled to myself thinking about her. “But I obviously don't wanna rush into a relationship when we’ve only known each other for just days.”
“Well I say that you hang out together as much as possible. Learn everything about each other, do different things together, just become really close. And then you'll know if she for sure likes you too, and then ask her out, just not on a cheesy date like the movies or something, make it worth her time.”
I sighed taking it all in. Rian was right, I needed to become close with Rachel and know about pretty much everything. “That sounds like the right thing to do. Thanks man, I needed that.”
“No problem dude. Get that girl, it sounds like she already means quite a bit to you.”
We said our goodbyes and I hung around my house for the rest of the night playing with my dogs, Sebastian and Peyton, and for once I actually felt content not going out on a Friday night and getting shitfaced drunk. I fell asleep late that night on my couch with one girl on my mind.