A/N: Okay, so I was listening to Jesse's new album recently and I got an idea ... why don't I go through the new songs and make some song fics out of them?? So ... I did. haha And here's the first one - sorry it's so long (10 pages on my WD), I just couldn't seem to make it shorter when I edited it. Keep in mind though that these are SONG FICS ... meaning that it's a one-shot deal. But also, reviews are encouraged so I know what to possibly change for the next one. And I might thank those reviewers in the next one too, so there's som incentive to review!! haha Please and Thank You =)
Leavin'
"Dude, check out that girl over there. Yeah, she's definitely a 10."
"Who – her? Nahh … maybe an 8 ½ in the dark …"
It was a typical Saturday night in Playa Linda, California. Which meant that Bradin and his friends were walking around the Promenade, patrolling for chicks soon after seeing a movie. That had been the norm ever since Bradin had joined the surf team and became popular. Friday was party night on the beach, and Saturday was movie and chick night. But something was wrong with Bradin this evening. His heart just wasn't into it. He was tired of the same-old same-old; he wanted to meet a girl on his own terms and actually have a conversation with her. Not just try to get into her pants.
So, when they turned a corner and his eyes drifted over to the local smoothie shop, Tiki Squeeze, he couldn't help but stop in his tracks and do a double take. Cleaning up a counter inside was quite possibly the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had medium-length brown wavy hair, tan skin, and an athletic build which pretty much meant she either surfed or played volleyball. There wasn't a whole lot to do besides that in the ocean-front town.
Bradin watched as she cleaned a table with ease, then blew some hair out of her face and began cleaning the counter. "I have to talk to her," he thought.
His friends had continued talking and rating the other girls around them, oblivious to the stunning beauty before them, until Lucas turned around and walked back to him.
"What's up, dude? You're missing some good chicks over here."
"She's what's up," he discretely nodded in her direction.
Lucas followed his gaze and drew in a breath when he spotted her. "Damn," he said under his breath.
"I'm gunna talk to her," Bradin stated, but showed no signs of movement.
Lucas rolled his eyes. "Stop thinking down there," he said, going behind Bradin to give him a little push, "and go get your girl before another dude swipes her up."
Bradin smiled and began walking towards the shop … but then stopped again. This time not for a good reason. Ahead of him, he saw Tanner walk up to the store and sneak inside past the girl to playfully tap her on the shoulder and surprise her with a well-deserved kiss that was definitely more than friendly. "Dammit." Bradin narrowed his eyes and stared daggers at Tanner's head as they began to deftly make out before him.
"Second that thought …" Lucas said behind him. He walked up next to Bradin and shook his head. "Sorry, B, my brother, the douche bag, strikes again."
"Lucky asshole," Bradin muttered under his breath as he walked away to join his friends.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
The next morning, all through his usual morning ritual of waking up, taking a shower, and throwing on some shorts and a t-shirt and running his hands through his blonde hair, Bradin couldn't stop thinking about the hot girl he had seen the night before. He wanted so much to know her name, to talk to her, or even to see her from far away again … and he couldn't figure out why. What was so different about this girl that made her stand out from the hundreds of others that populated Playa Linda?
Bradin was still wracking his brain, trying to understand, as he walked into Beyond the Blue for his morning shift. Jay had left early – saying something about an emergency surf lesson – and put Bradin in charge. It was Sunday morning and most surfers were either already in the water or sleeping off a hangover, but Bradin didn't mind; this gave him more time to chill and read the newest issue of Surfer magazine.
Two hours later, though, he was bored out of his mind and counting down the hours until he could leave, or until Jay came back. "How long does an 'emergency surf lesson' last, anyway?" he thought, looking at the wall clock for the first time in five minutes. Something told him that Jay wasn't at the beach. Bradin just rolled his eyes and chuckled and walked around to the front of the store, where he began organizing the display case.
Just then, Bradin looked up absentmindedly and checked his eyes as the mystery girl from the night before came into view. She was again working at Tiki Squeeze, which Bradin had forgot was right across from the surf shop. This time, she was delivering drinks to a table by the entrance and Bradin got momentarily lost in her smile. He smiled and, without thinking, went back to the register, locked it, and closed the door to the shop on his way out. Why couldn't he take a break, anyway? It wasn't like the store was overflowing with costumers at the moment.
Bradin walked across the street and went right up to the counter, where the girl was handling an order behind the glass. She realized that someone was waiting on her and quickly looked up, before looking back down and saying, "Sorry, I'll be with you in a second."
"No problem," he smiled. Ali was her name, evident by her name tag, and he smiled even more now that he knew her name.
She finished making the smoothie and handed it to a waitress waiting nearby then quickly wiped her hands on her apron and turned her attention back to Bradin. "Sorry about that, what can I get for you?"
"Pretty busy over here this morning," he commented as he looked over the menu hanging from the wall behind her.
"It's always like this weekend mornings. Surfers take a break from the waves and all of a sudden it's like smoothies are going out of style. … Oh, sorry," she quickly apologized.
"Huh?"
She motioned to his t-shirt which had the Wave Crashers logo on it. "Oh." Bradin hadn't even noticed which shirt he put on this morning, his mind was consumed with thoughts of her. "It's okay … I'm not in that league anymore."
She nodded and he could tell she was waiting for his order; a small line had formed behind him in the last two minutes. "I'll get a strawberry freeze," he said, going with the regular.
Bradin paid and decided to walk back to the shop with his smoothie. It was too crowded in Squeeze and he knew that Jay would be pissed if he found out that Bradin closed the shop early. Besides, Bradin had a plan.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Two hours later … and finally Jay had returned from his "emergency surf lesson" which Bradin didn't even point out lasted four hours. He was just glad that he was back, that he could take over, and that Bradin could leave and try again to talk to Ali. He had kept an eye out the front window all morning and knew that she was still working, but her shift probably didn't last too much longer so he could catch up with her.
Hey baby girl I've been watching you all day
Man that thing you got behind you is amazing
You make me wanna take you out and let it rain
"What's up, Bradin? I told you you could leave a half hour ago," Jay said as a customer left and Bradin was still "taking inventory" by the front windows.
"Yeah, I know … I just really need the overtime. You know … college and stuff coming up," Bradin mumbled, all the while not taking his eyes either off the clipboard in front of him or the shop across the street.
"Okay, who is she?" Jay asked with a smirk as he came up behind the teenager.
Just then, Bradin saw Ali wave at someone in the store and start to make her way out, no longer dressed in her apron and uniform. He had to get to her before it was too late. "Okay, I think I'm gunna head out now, Jay," he put the clipboard quickly down on the box in front of him and Jay noticed that it was empty. "You're gunna be fine here, right?"
But before Jay could say anything, Bradin was out the door and heading towards a girl across the street. Jay just smiled and rolled his eyes. "Teenagers."
Bradin walked up to the girl and called her name, causing her to turn around. When she saw him, he could tell she was a little confused but then recognized him and slowed down, smiling. "Strawberry freeze, right?"
"Yeah … How did you-"
"I don't get too many guys in there that order that," she explained.
"Oh … Well, my ex got me hooked to it," he tried to defend himself.
She smiled. "It's always the ex."
"Bradin Westerly," he stuck out a hand.
"Ali Jordan, but I guess you already knew that."
"Do you go to PLH?" he asked as they began to walk together.
"I used to; I transferred over to Pacific this year."
"Why the sudden change?" he asked, then immediately wished he hadn't when he saw her response. She looked down to the ground and a frown came over her face. "I'm sorry, that's none of my business."
"No, it's okay," she looked back up and smiled. "It was my mom's idea. Pacific is closer to home and here so I could go to work right after school and get more hours. My dad lost his job last month and Berkley isn't exactly cheap."
"Wow, you got into Berkley?" he asked in amazement.
"Not yet. I just submitted my application last month, but it's my top choice and I already have an academic scholarship in the works … so, hopefully. But I'm sorry … I don't even really know you and here I am spilling my guts."
"No, it's okay," he smiled. "You must think I'm really weird for just coming up to you and starting a conversation."
"Well, at least you aren't with your friends this time," she commented. He looked at her warily and she laughed. "Sorry, it's just that I saw you guys last night, walking around and ranking girls or something …"
"That wasn't me," he instantly said, mentally kicking each of his buddies in the balls for acting like morons. He was gunna have to talk to them later.
"I know. You were the only one … It was kinda cool," she smiled sideways at him.
"Yeah? Well, I try to defend women whenever I'm around those guys as best I can. It's good to know that my efforts aren't totally going by unnoticed."
Ali laughed. "They aren't." Ali quickly checked her phone and looked at the time. "Well, I should really get going. But it was nice to meet you, Bradin. Maybe I'll see ya around again?"
"Yeah, sure. Nice to meet you too," he tried his hardest to keep the sadness from seeping into his voice. As he watched her walk away, he somehow knew that she was meeting Tanner and that thought and mental picture was enough to send him over the edge. He hated Tanner. He couldn't imagine anyone willingly wanting to be with him.
I know you got a man but this is what you should say
Why don't you tell him that I'm leavin' never looking back again
You found somebody who does it better than he can
No more making you cry
No more them gray skies
Girl we flying on a g-5, g-5
And we're leavin' never looking back again
So call your shawty you tell him you found a new man
The one who's so so fly
The one to keep you high
Have you singing all night, like that
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Although their last conversation left Bradin with the uneasiness that he would never see Ali again, much less talk to her, he was happily surprised when she showed up the next day after school at the shop and how they had somehow developed a friendship through the course of a few weeks.
It was now three weeks since Bradin had spotted her that fateful Saturday night and they had started up an elusive relationship with which Bradin would go see her at work on his days off or she would visit him on her off days and if they were both working, then they would meet up afterward. Bradin loved how easy it was to talk to her and they often had stimulating conversations about their pasts, their current issues, and their future plans. Ali had not heard back from Berkley, but she expected the letter would arrive any day now. Bradin had no doubt in her mind that she would get in. She was just that smart and Berkley would be making a big mistake if they didn't accept her.
Bradin was once again working at Beyond the Blue, his daily scheduled time from 3 to 6:30 PM, when the bell over the door rang and Ali ran inside, holding a large envelop in her hands and jumping up and down. She couldn't even talk, she was so excited. Bradin laughed and took the envelop from her hands, realizing it was from Berkley. He looked up at her expectantly, but she just shrugged. "Didn't you open it yet?" he asked.
"No! I was waiting for you to do it," she bit her lip. "Do it quick, get it over with."
"Ali, look at this envelop. Do you think they'd be sending you all this just to turn you down?"
"Just do it!" she yelled. "Please …" she added quietly.
Bradin rolled his eyes and nodded his head. "Okay … here goes." He opened the envelop as slowly as he could muster, making her sweat with frustration. Then, when he took out all the contents of the letter and smiled, she knew that she had gotten in, but she just had to hear him say the words. "Dear Ms. Jordan … hmm …"
"What?!"
"Well, I don't think I can pronounce this guy's name …" Bradin stalled.
"Bradin! Did I get in, or what?" she was biting her nails now.
He looked up at her and smiled. "It is my pleasure to be the first to congratulate you on your acceptance-"
Ali screamed and lunged at Bradin with a big hug, tears of joy falling down her face. "Oh my, God! I got in!"
"I knew you would, Ali," he whispered in her ear as they hugged.
"Thank you," she whispered back.
"For what?" he pulled away a little.
"For believing in me."
"What about Tanner?" he asked.
Ali moved away and wiped away her tears. "He … doesn't know that I'm looking at Berkley. We don't really talk about that kind of stuff."
"Is everything okay, Ali?" he got the feeling that she was hiding something from him.
"I don't know … I guess, sometimes I get the feeling that he's cheating on me or something."
Now if I talk it girl, you know that I will walk it out
Man I'll put my money money where my mouth is
Cause you're the baddest little thing that I've ever seen
So I'm a ask you one time if you got a man
Bradin fought the urge to yell out "well DUH!" He knew that Ali really cared for Tanner - that had been evident from their talks about him throughout the weeks. But he didn't know how to tell her the truth about him, that he was basically a womanizer. He knew that he had to tell her, but he didn't know if she would believe him or would just get mad at him instead of at Tanner.
"Are you going to tell him the good news?" he asked.
"I guess I have to now," she said. "But I'm glad you found out first."
"Me too," he thought as they hugged again.
Why don't you tell him that I've leavin' never looking back again
You found somebody who does it better than he can
No more making you cry
No more them gray skies
Girl we flying on a g-5, g-5
And we're leavin' never looking back again
So call your shawty you tell him you found a new man
The one who's so so fly
The one to keep you high
Have you singing all night, like that
XXXXXXXXXXXX
The following week, Bradin was at a party on the beach with a few surfer buddies and the dates they had brought. He felt out of touch with the surfing world, since for the past month he had spent his time mostly with Ali. But for that night at least she had planned a night with Tanner to celebrate the good news and he wasn't about to spend a Friday night at home when he knew of a party going on.
The party wasn't all the great, however, so Bradin found himself walking along the beach with a bottle of Corona and thoughts in his head. He was walking by Spanish Cove and all of a sudden all his memories of girls in there caught up to him and he couldn't walk away. He just stood there, staring at the cove before him, surrounded by thoughts of Sara, of Callie, and of Erica, and of course the other random girls he had made out with by there a few Friday nights after one too many beers.
Suddenly, he heard a girl moan from around the other side of the cove and knew what that meant; some other guy was getting lucky just where millions of others had nights before. Something about that sort of grossed him out and he continued walking … until he came around the other side and saw the couple making out along the rock wall.
"Is that …" Bradin moved a little closer and instantly recognized the guy's face, but not the girl's. "Of course, the one time I see him cheating on Ali and she's nowhere in sight." As if on cue, though, he felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket and he quickly walked around to the other side of the cove and answered it.
"Hey, Ali."
"Bradin! I'm tired of this shit – Tanner didn't even show up tonight, and I made sure that he knew it was a very important night. Where could he be?" her distressed voice on the other end was too much for him.
Don't stress, don't stress, don't stress
Just tell him to the left, left, left
Don't stress, don't stress, don't stress
Cause we gone and we gone and we gone
"I might have an idea …" he mumbled while he was trying to think of a reasonable excuse.
"What was that?" she asked.
"Shit! I forgot she had bat hearing …" "Um … God, you know what. Just come down to Spanish Cove and meet me, okay?"
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"Just trust me, okay? I have something to show you."
He could hear her groan on the other end. "Fine, I'll be there soon."
As soon as she clicked off, Bradin knew that he was doing the right thing. Ali needed to see for herself what kind of guy Tanner really was and he knew that she wasn't going to believe him if he just told her over the phone. He just hoped that they would still be going at it by the time she arrived …
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"Okay, Bradin. I'm here. What's the big deal?" Ali came up to Bradin, who was sitting on the other side of Spanish Cove.
It had only been 10 minutes since he had called and if he listened close enough he could still hear them on the opposite side. "Ew," he couldn't help but think.
"Walk around to the other side of this cove with me," he stood up and placed a hand on the small of her back to guide her.
"What are we doing?" she asked, looking at him as if he had two heads.
"You trust me, right?"
"Yeah …"
"Then …" they had walked around to the other side and before them was Tanner and a random girl making out still against the rocks. "trust me when I thought you should see this."
No stress, no stress, no stress
Girl you deserve nothing but the best
No stress, no stress, no stress
Girl you need to tell him that
"Oh my, God," she whispered. Then she bit her lip and walked up to the couple, taping Tanner on his back so he turned around.
"What?" he yelled, clearly annoyed. Then, when he saw Ali's hurt face, his eyes widened and he backed away from the girl. "Ali. I-"
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she yelled at him. Bradin was immediately impressed with her vocal chords. "I bet you forgot that we had a date planned for tonight, right?"
"We had a-"
"You know what, I don't even care. All my friends were telling me how bad you were for me all the while we were dating, and I ignored them because you were so nice to me … Now I know what they were talking about, and I'm disgusted with myself for even giving you the light of day," Ali shook her head at him and backed off. "I should have listened to my gut when it told me to drop you and go out with Bradin."
I'm leavin' never looking back again
You found somebody who does it better than he can
No more making you cry
No more them gray skies
Girl we flying on a g-5, g-5
Bradin perked up at these last few words. She walked up to him and he put an arm around her shoulders, looking down at her with a smile on his face. And when she smiled back up at him, he knew that she was the one.
"You mean, you'd rather go out with this wimp than me?" Tanner stepped forward, brushing off the girl that he had been glued to for the last half hour.
"He's more a man than you will ever be," Ali said, glaring at Tanner. Bradin chucked at the compliment and looked smugly at Tanner. Never in his life would he have imagined standing next to a girl that was willing to trash talk Tanner in public. Ali just rose a little higher in his book.
"Whatever," Tanner laughed. "You'll call me."
"Fuck you," Ali responded, before giving him the middle finger and looking back at Bradin. "Let's go."
When they were a little farther down the beach, Ali collapsed in the sand and started laughing uncontrollably. Bradin just stood over her, looking down at her with a confused expression on his face. What was this girl doing?
"Are you okay, Ali? Not having a mental breakdown, are you?" he kneeled next to her on the sand.
"No," she laughed. "I just never told someone off like I just did back there and it felt so good! It was kind of a rush."
"Uh-oh," Bradin laughed, catching on. "Playa Linda better watch out; we've got another trash talker amongst us!"
"Oh, Bradin!" Ali playfully slapped him on his arm. Bradin caught her hand in his, pulling her closer to him and pulling her lips down on his. Ali gave into the kiss and relaxed in his arms.
After a moment or two, they pulled away and lay on the sand, their hands still enclosed on Bradin's chest. They both looked up to the dark sky and picked out some stars that were evident even with the light by the bonfire. Everything was so peaceful, and Bradin knew what to do next. "So, I was thinking," he said, still looking up at the stars, "I got accepted to Berkley this morning and I think I'm gunna go."
Ali took her gaze away from the sky and pushed herself up off the sand. She sat Indian-style next to him. "Are you serious? That's great!"
"But, I don't really know how the campus looks and that's obviously a major part of deciding where to go to college," he propped himself up on his right hand, looking at her.
"I suppose it is … But I know you'll love it. It's beautiful up there," Ali smiled.
"I was thinking of going up there next weekend," he said. "Wanna come?"
Ali smiled down at him. "I'd love to. I could be your personal tour guide." Then, she closed the distance between them by placing her lips on his again.
"Oh, I think we both know how much I'd like that," he smirked.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
The following Friday, Bradin and Ali piled into Bradin's car with the destination of Berkley University on their minds. It was 4:50 PM, the sun was closer to the earth and cast shadows over them as they began their journey on Pacific Coast Highway. Ali looked at Bradin and smiled, wondering why she even doubted her heart this whole time when it was clearly telling her that he was the one for her.
And we're leavin' never looking back again
So call your shawty you tell him you found a new man
The one who's so so fly
The one to keep you high
Have you singing all night, like that
Have you singing all night, like that