Maybe It's Not My Weekend, But It's Gonna Be My Year

Zack’s POV
Eventually we all went to bed, after Donna and her band went home. I couldn’t sleep though, and since I heard a lot of noises (not those noises) I didn’t think the others were asleep either.
‘Guys?’ I heard Jack ask. ‘Guys, are you awake?’
‘Yeah’ both Alex and Rian.
‘Me too’ I replied.
‘Let’s party’ Jack said.
‘Dude, really?’ I asked him.
‘Yeah, let’s not do that’ Alex replied. ‘Besides, Summer is asleep and I’d like to keep it that way’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Summer asked.
‘Oh, you’re awake’ Alex stated. ‘I just meant that you could use some sleep, that’s all’
‘Guys, shut up and go to sleep’ I said. I was tired, and if they kept on talking I definitely wouldn’t be able to sleep. Luckily everybody shut up after I asked them to. I closed my eyes and after a couple of minutes I finally fell asleep, only to be woken up a few hours later by Matt.

‘Get up!’ he yelled after he entered the bus. ‘If you want to complain about not sleeping enough, you should go to our runaway Alex.’
Alex groaned.
I sat up and rubbed my eyes. According to my watch it was 7 AM. We would have to pack our stuff and leave for the next city. Rian and I got up quite easily. The same could not be said about Alex, Jack and Summer.
‘Let’s wake up Alex’ Rian suggested. ‘He’ll wake up Jack and Summer’
‘Yeah, just slap him in the face’ Matt suggested.
‘Why don’t you do it?’ Rian asked.
Matt made his way to Alex’s bunk over the messy floor. He opened the curtains to his bunk, slapped him in the face and then ran away like a little kid. It worked, Alex was awake, but unlike Rian and I he wasn’t amused.
‘You fucking…’ Alex started, but apparently he didn’t have the energy to finish his insult.
‘Good, you’re awake’ I said. ‘Now get up and wake Summer and Jack’
I gestured Rian and we dragged Alex out of his bunk.
‘Fuck you!’ he yelled at us. We weren’t impressed though. We were used to Alex’s morning mood.

An hour later everyone was finally up and running. Rian had made breakfast while I was helping the crew to pack all our stuff. Alex and Jack were just being lazy and making dick jokes, and Summer was doing her hair and makeup.
When we were having breakfast, Jack brought up a question he had apparently been dying to ask.
‘Does anyone of you have Donna’s number?’ he asked.
‘Dude, did you honestly forget to ask her number?’ Alex laughed.
Jack nodded.
‘I had other things on my mind, like my disappeared best friend’ Jack replied.
‘I don’t know her number but I do know where she lives’ I said.
I immediately got Jack’s full attention, which was rare.
‘I asked her if I had to walk her home, since you didn’t offer’ I told Jack. ‘She said no, because she lived near the venue. I asked where she lived and she gave me her address… I figured you might need it but didn’t dare to ask her about it.’
‘Zack, I love you, do you know that?’ Jack asked me.
‘I feel so used right now’ I replied laughing.
‘Yeah, I’m sorry about that bro, but sometimes you just gotta do whatever it takes’ Jack replied wisely.
‘Haha, yeah sure dude… I don’t really see your lazy ass do whatever it takes’ I joked… Kind of… Actually, it was true. I wrote Donna’s address down on a piece of paper and handed it to Jack.
‘How do you think this is gonna work anyway?’ I asked him. ‘She lives in Atlanta and you live in Baltimore’
‘Well, it’s not like I spend that much time in Baltimore anyway’ Jack replied.
‘Yes, being on the other side of the world makes it a lot easier’ I said sarcastically.
Jack shrugged. ‘I’ll figure it out’
After we finished breakfast, Jack went to visit Donna, to the displeasure of Matt, who was convinced that Jack would be late and mess up his schedule. He was probably right about that.

Alex’s POV
I was glad things were okay again between me and Summer. I always hated fighting with her. After breakfast we had about an hour before we had to leave. Rian attempted to play basketball outside. I wanted to talk to Zack about what was going on, but Summer wouldn’t leave.
‘Alex, would you mind giving us a moment?’ Summer asked me.
Zack looked at Summer confused. I sighed, and nodded. I went outside to play basketball with Rian.
‘Do you know what’s going on with Zack?’ I asked Rian.
He did an attempt to throw the ball in the basket but failed. He then turned to me.
‘Yes’ he replied.
I looked at him quizzically. ‘Aren’t you gonna tell me?’ I asked when he didn’t continue.
‘I think you already know, Alex.’ He told me. I looked at him confused.
‘He’s upset because Summer has a boyfriend of course’ Rian explained.
Of course, I thought. Why didn’t I make that connection? I nodded as a sign that I understood.
‘I really don’t get it… I love Summer and therefore I’ll drop it, but it’s just so not like her’ I said.
Rian nodded. ‘I know what you mean. I was talking about it with Zack yesterday before we found you. She would always introduce her boyfriends to us, and we would always like them… The fact that she doesn’t even want to introduce this guy says enough…’
I nodded. ‘I really want her to be with Zack… I know he would treat her the way she deserves to be treated’
We might always have liked Summer’s boyfriends, but they weren’t always good boyfriends to her and Summer’s heart had been broken pretty bad multiple times. I would know, since I would always be the one to comfort her after some stupid jerk broke her heart. We would usually have fun with her boyfriends, but they didn’t appreciate Summer. Some had even cheated on her. She deserved to be with someone who wouldn’t hurt her or try to change her. I knew Zack would do no such thing. Partly because he knew that I would get really mad: he had seen me mad at the other guys who broke her heart, and he wouldn’t risk that, knowing how protective I was of Summer. But the main reason why I was sure Zack wouldn’t hurt or try to change Summer was because I knew how madly in love he was with her. Had been for a very long time, no matter how little he saw her.
Rian nodded. ‘Well maybe we should give this guy a chance… Do it for Summer’ Rian said.
I shrugged. ‘Well, it would be useful to know where he lives if he hurts her’.
Rian shook his head. ‘Dude, how can you still say you’re not in love with her?’ he asked me.
‘Because I’m not!’ I exclaimed. ‘I just know my best friend, and she may seem tough, but when it comes to love, she’s fucking vulnerable and I’m sick of these cocksuckers taking advantage of that!’
Rian shrugged. ‘Whatever you say, man…’
‘I’m not in love with her’ I said.

Donna’s POV
I was asleep, until I was woken up by my doorbell. What idiot would ring my doorbell at 8 AM, I wondered. I put on my bathrobe and walked down the stairs, towards the front door. A tall figure was standing in front of it. I unlocked the door and opened it, to find out it was Jack.
‘Jack!’ I said sleepy. ‘What are you doing here? So early?’
‘Uh yeah, sorry about that’ he replied. ‘But we’re leaving in an hour and I wanted to see you’ he replied.
I smiled.
‘Well, in that case’ I said smiling as I stepped aside. ‘Come in’
Jack walked inside past me.
‘Just give me a minute to change’ I said.
‘Oh you don’t have…’ Jack started but I cut him off. ‘Yes I do, I’m not gonna walk around in front of you in my bathrobe’ I said with a smile. ‘Make yourself at home’. I rushed upstairs and went into my bedroom. I put a pair of skinny jeans on, and my Fall Out Boy t- shirt. Wearing my favorite All Time Low t-shirt in front of Jack seemed weird. I put on a pair of socks and my worn Converse. I put on some makeup and went downstairs.
‘Do you want a drink?’ I asked him. I walked into the kitchen as he nodded. Jack followed me. I opened the refrigerator. The only thing I had was a bottle of Diet Coke. It seemed too early for that…
‘I only have diet coke’ I told Jack.
He shrugged. ‘It’s fine to me’ he replied.
I took the bottle out of the refrigerator and put it on the sink. I took two glasses out of a kitchen cabinet and filled them with coke. I put the bottle back in the refrigerator and handed Jack one of the glasses. We walked back into my living room and sat down.
‘So, you wanted to see me before you left?’ I asked him.
He nodded. ‘Yeah, I wanted to apologize for everything that happened yesterday… We’re usually not like that. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea’
‘Don’t worry’ I replied. ‘It’s okay, everybody fights… At least Alex and Summer are friends again, right?’
Jack nodded.
‘But what I wanted to ask’ he started. ‘is if I could maybe have your number. I would like to keep in touch with you’
I smiled. ‘Sure’ I said, and I gave him my number after he took his phone out of his pocket. He then gave me his number.
‘I’m afraid I have to go’ he said with a sad smile after I saved his number.
‘Too bad’ I replied. ‘We should definitely stay in touch though’
Jack upped and I followed. We walked towards the front door. We then looked at each other awkwardly, not knowing how to say goodbye. Jack ended up hugging me. It was an extraordinary long hug, but frankly I didn’t want it to end. Eventually Jack let go of me and stepped back.
‘Bye Donna’ he said with a smile.
‘Bye Jack’ I replied.
He opened the front door and walked out. He looked around once and then kept on walking. I watched him go, realizing I didn’t want him to.

Rian’s POV
Alex and I had been playing basketball for some time when Jack walked onto the parking lot, on time, surprisingly.
‘Did you get her number?’ I asked him.
He nodded. Alex threw the basketball he was holding to Jack’s face.
‘Dude, you’re so madly in love, it’s all over your face’ Alex said laughing.
Jack didn’t reply to that, and he wanted to go into the tour bus, but I stopped him.
‘Don’t, Summer and Zack are in there talking’ I said.
‘About what?’ Jack asked.
‘Dude, you really are clueless’ Alex said as he came closer. ‘Didn’t you notice Zack was acting strange yesterday? More quiet than usual?’
‘Of course not’ I said. ‘The only thing he noticed was Donna’
‘That’s true’ Alex agreed. ‘Anyway, as you might have noticed, Zack has been in love with Summer for years’
Jack looked at me.
‘Yeah, I did notice that’ he said.
‘Good.’ I replied. ‘Anyways, you might also have noticed that Summer has a crappy boyfriend called Luke’
‘Crappy? I thought he was kinda cool’ Jack replied.
Alex and I both raised our eyebrows. ‘You clearly missed the whole conversation’ I said.
‘Yeah, the guy’s a jerk who’s trying to change her into something she’s not’ Alex said.
‘Oh that guy’ Jack said, ignoring mine and Alex’s confused looks. ‘What about him?’
‘God Jack, you’re so stupid’ Alex said.
‘Zack is obviously heartbroken because Summer is with some other guy’ I explained.
‘I can hear you guys you know’ I heard a voice behind me.
We turned around, to see Zack and Summer standing next to the window.
‘Well, this is awkward’ Jack said.
‘Not really’ Zack replied. ‘I already told Summer’
Thank god, I thought. We all looked at Zack and Summer, but Zack didn’t say anything more about what he and Summer had just discussed.

Notes