Therapy ~ Alex Gaskarth

~6~

~Scout~
We arrived at the hotel but Lisa stepped away to answer a phone call. I followed Alex closely like a lost puppy.

"You don't have to be so close to me." I shot him a look. "I'm a sixteen-year-old girl in Los Angeles. I'm not risking shit."

A familiar man with a beard walked towards us and Alex smiled instantly. "Brian!" The two shared a hug. "Brian, you remember my little sister?"

Alex put his hand on my back and Brian's jaw dropped. "Scout? Last time I saw you, you were this tall!"

He put his hand at half of the height I currently was.

"Yeah, I've gained some height." I felt awkward. "Are you fifteen or sixteen now?" Well, at least he didn't assume I was going into middle school like everybody else does.

"Sixteen. I just finished my junior year." He chuckled. "Damn, growing up fast." Alex butted in. "So, is everyone here?"

Brian nodded. "Yes. Jack was our airport runner and got everyone for me while I worked on stuff for tomorrow. Now, the first interview is at nine, so we have to be out of here by eight-thirty."

I rolled out of the conversation and took a quick glance around the hotel. It was somewhat quiet, other than a couple stragglers here and there.

I looked down towards the elevators and there was the man with a blue stripe in his hair, walking towards us.

Jack.

He waved to me and hurried up. "Scout!" I walked over and gave him a big hug. Jack and I had a complicated relationship.

Because I was more shy and timid, I had never gotten along with him as well as everyone else. Trust me, we got along just fine, but I like to space out my time with him.

"There's the jack-in-the-box. How's the LA life treating you?" He smiled. "It's going fine. How's high school going?"

I sighed. "I just have one more year and then no more school!" He chuckled. "I remember my last year. That was an exciting time."

I glanced around again. "Where's Zack and Rian?" I thought I heard Brian say they were here. "Rian and Cass are swimming and Zack's working out. I can show you where he is."

I left my bag with Alex and followed Jack down the other hall, where the laundry room, workout room, pool, vending area, and more rooms were.

I glanced into the pool area and saw that it was pretty busy. I caught up with Jack and followed him into the workout room.

There were a couple people using the treadmills and Zack was lifting weights. "Zack, you've got a visitor." Zack looked at us and lit up instantly once he saw me.

Zack was the one I got along with the most.

He hugged me tightly and I pat his shoulder. "Need.. air." He let go and chuckled. "Sorry. I haven't seen you in so long,"

I took a moment to recollect myself. "Hey, Alex told me you're going on tour with us. That's exciting!" Jack looked at me.

"This is the first I'm hearing of this?" I nodded. "Yeah. I'm staying with Alex until school starts so I'm stuck with you dumbasses all summer."

Jack fake pouted. "I'm not always a dumbass." Zack rolled his eyes. "Have you seen Rian yet? He'll definitely be excited to see you."

I shook my head. "I glanced into the pool area and saw how busy it was. I'll wait." The three of us chatted until Alex popped in.

"Scout, we're going up to the room and then all of us are going out to eat." We all left the room and I followed Alex.

He unlocked the door and let me in first. Lisa was sitting on one bed, using her laptop. She glanced up and smiled at me.

"Did you have a nice visit with the guys?" I sat on the other bed. "Yeah. I'm excited for tour. I mean, I'll be surrounded by those idiots, but it'll be fun."

Alex pushed me over and sat next to me. "And don't forget, we've got the guys from Swmrs, Waterparks, and The Wrecks."

I could not believe what I was hearing. "I'm sorry, did you say Waterparks? As in, Awsten Knight, Geoff Wigington, and Otto Wood?"

He smiled.

"That's the band I mentioned." I was not prepared for tour as much as I thought I was.