"I really don't care, I just want to get this year over with," I say, rolling my eyes. "If we compete and win this festival, I won't need school anyways," I finish, throwing a pair of jeans into the already overflowing cart.

"Um, I wouldn't be throwing away the college option so easily, Jenna," my best friend, Victoria says, grabbing a pair of Birkenstocks.

"Tori," I say, irritated, "even if I wasn't competing in the festival, I wouldn't be considering college. Maybe Juilliard, but definitely not college."

She rolls her eyes and steers the cart in the direction of checkout, retorting, "Jenna, Juilliard is a college."

"Juilliard for me would be considered a DisneyWorld. Not a college," I state, dumping an armful of back-to-school jeans onto the checkout counter.

I pay my share of the denim mess and grab bags, leading Tori towards the store next door.

"Y'know, I would be really far away if you went to Juilliard," Tori says to me, with a pout on her face.

"I know, Tor. And I'm really feeling pulled. But it's what kinda determines my life, you know?" I ask, ruffling through a couple backpacks and making my way straight to the back of Hot Topic, where band merchandise is kept.

I grab a couple of sleeveless shirts and hold them up. "Fall Out Boy, Paramore, Hey Monday or Me You At Six?" I ask.

Tori bites on the inside of her cheek, thinking. "Definitely the Fall Out Boy and Hey Monday," she says, nodding. I throw them in with her ripped stockings, and stride to the counter. There isn't a cashier.

"Hello?" Tori calls, looking back over her shoulder at the changing stall.

"Coming!" a male voice shouts above the GreenDay song blasting in the overhead speaker.

"Poor guy he must be on duty all by himself," Tori comments.

After a couple of moments, the "poor guy" steps out of the changing stall and walks behind the checkout desk. His golden brown hair is swept down across his forehead, and his brown eyes glow as he turns to you and grabs your shirts. "Hey, how's it going?" he asks easily.

"Great," I return, giving him a small smile.

"Hey! That's a custom pick!" he lets out excitedly. I pull my hand away from the Hey Monday sleeveless and instinctively rub my left thumb across the pick attached to a strap of leather on my right wrist.

"Yeah," I mumble, turning red. He probably couldn't see it in the dim lighting, thank goodness.

"I want one of these so bad," he says, looking down at it, openly grabbing my wrist and pulling it up for inspection. "Blacklisted? Who're they? I've never heard of 'em," he asks.

"Um, it's my band. We call ourselves Blacklisted," I say, blushing harder. It was never this awkward explaining Blacklisted to anyone else. What was it with this kid?

"Dude, that's insane! I have a band, too!" the cashier grins excitedly, completely forgetting about the purchases on the counter. "Have you ever heard of All Time Low?"

Greek could've been more familiar. Catch my drift?

"Uh, no," I say in a flat tone.

"Oh. Well, you will," he smiles to himself as he picks up my shirts and puts them in a bag. "That'll be $47.76," he says, smiling at me once more, and moving on to Tori. He finished her purchase and handed her the bag.

"I'm Alex, by the way," he calls to me as we head out of the store. "Jenna," I call back, waving.

"Well, he was really friendly," Tori says to me as we head towards the center of the mall, checking out Zumies and a couple of other skateboard shops.

"Let's go to H&M," Tori begs me. "Fine, but after that, the food court. I'm starving," you say, clutching your torso and groaning. "I think my stomach might commit suicide to escape from my evil plots of starvation against it."

"Ew, gross," Tori grimaces as we enter the huge department store. "Don't worry, I just have to find a baseball cap," she assures me, and I nod. She actually does a fast job, finding one within ten minutes.

"Food. Oh my gosh, food," I say, eyeing the nearest Italian restaurant. Tori and I split, she has to go to Subway for a vegetarian lunch.

I make my way in line and pull out my wallet, getting ready to pay the cashier for my Marinara Meatball Special. "Hey, I like your bracelet. Isn't that a custom-made pick?" the cashier asks me. I look up, and gape.

He stares back at me, waiting for a reply. "Uh...um yes," I clear my throat. "Yes it is."

The 17 year old-looking guy had dark brown hair, just like the Hot Topic dude. What was his name? Aaron? Austin? I'm terrible with names.

Except for his brown hair had a flash of bright blonde in it. It fell across his forehead, just like the other guys'.

"Who's Blacklisted?" he asks. I glance at his name tag. Jack.

"Uh...my band," I say dazedly, looking into his eyes. They were identical to the Hot Topic cashier's.

This was crazy. Two people noticing my pick within the same hour.

As soon as my words leave my mouth, his face lights up and he says, "You're kidding! I'm in a ba-," the customer behind me grunted and coughed and Jack turned red and handed me my food.

"Please stay right here, I'm on my lunch break in five," he tells me, and I nod. Why was I agreeing to this?

After three more customers, a girl with thick black and blue hair took the place of Jack at the register and he smiles at me. "Anyways, I'm in a band too. Have you ever-,"

Suddenly, Jack cuts himself off and grins at someone coming our way. I squint and realize it's the Hot Topic guy.

This is getting weirder and weirder.

Once he reaches us, he and Jack do that bro-hug thingy that guys do, and he looks at me and then back at Jack. "So you've met Jenna," he says. "You know Alex?" Jack turns to look at me.

Alex! I knew it started with an A.

I nod. "He works at Hot Topic. He noticed my pick, just like you did."

"What can I say, we're best friends. And great minds think alike," Jack laughs. I grin. "Hey, Jack, you should meet my best friend, Tori." I say, scanning the food court for her.

"Wanna have lunch with us?" Jack asks, grinning.

"Sure, let me go get her. Meet us after you've gotten food."

They nodded and turned, in search of a good place. I spot Tori at a table in he center of the court, and mazed through tables to get to her.

"Guess what? We're having lunch with our favorite cashiers," I joke. She crinkles her forehead and replies, "I thought Alex was our only cashier? Who'd you pick up at the Italian place?"

"His best friend," I respond, half seriously half jokingly.

Tori's eyes widen as Alex and Jack both return to your table and sit down with their pizza.

"Hey!" Jack greets Tori, smiling. "Hi," she says, looking at him then looking down quickly to her vegetarian sub.

After getting settled, Jack looks up at me and says, "so me and Alex are definitely interested in your band, tell us all."

"Well, we're sort of your...punk rock, I guess you could say. We write our own songs. I'm the lead singer, and Tori's lead guitar. We have our friends Grayson and Marissa for drums and bass. That's about it."

"What's up with All Time Low?" Tori asks, looking up at Jack. He smiles at her. "Alex is lead vocals and I'm lead guitar. Rian and Zack are drums and bass. Oh, and we have the same idea when it comes to punk rock. Have you ever heard of the Volt Festival?"

I freeze. I feel Tori tense up beside me, and she squeezes my hand. The Volt Festival is the one we're performing at in two months.

"You're kidding we're-"

The sound of my phone ringing interrupts me and I reach into my pocket, pulling my phone out.

I can see Alex look at Jack, and I tell them, "Sorry, it's my mom," and Jack nods his understanding.

"Hello?"

They all watch me as my mom tells me to get home soon, because we're having dinner with her boyfriend, Erik.

"Sorry, guys, I have to go," I say, turning back to them. I honestly really am super bummed. They were kinda cool, and not to mention the fact that they were in a band...

"That means I have to go too, Jenna's my ride," Tori says, looking sadly at Jack. His face pulls into a temporary frown.

"Well, I hope we see you around, bye Tori. Bye Jenna," and Tori and I get up to leave. We make it halfway out of the mall before we hear our names being called.

We turn around, and Jack and Alex are running toward us, holding out their hands in an attempt to stop us. I come to a halt with Tori and Alex comes forward and smiles while breathing heavily.

"I hope this isn't too forward, but can I have your number?"

Tori looks uncomfortable, but I don't. Oddly enough. Usually I'm the awkward one. And the wary one, but I had this weird feeling about Alex.

"Yeah. Sure, here, swap phones," and I enter my number into his phone.

"Bye, Jenna," he says, waving. "Bye, Alex."

"Jenna, that kid could be a rapist." Tori says to me, giving me a glare as soon as we stepped into the parking lot.

"Oh my gosh, Tori, would you lay off? It's not like I gave him my social security number, dear lord."

"Come on, we better get to your house. Is Erik taking you out?"

"Yeah, I think so. He's supposed to take me shopping on Tuesday for that back to school bash thing this weekend, too."

"Cool, can I tag along?" Tori wiggles her eyebrows at me. I laugh. "Sure, Erik loves you," I say, smiling.

I dropped her off at her house, and drove to my own. Walking through the door, I came in to my mom and Erik smiling happily.

"Come on, honey. Get dressed for a nice dinner," my mom says excitedly.

I nod and smile back, not aware of the excited look Erik had on his face or the sparkly diamond ring on my mom's finger.