Who The Fxck Is Jack Barakat?!

Part 17

*Liz's POV*

"But I will fight until the day the world stops turning..." Jenna McDougall sings into my ears on this Monday morning. I'm sitting in the bus that gets me to my work every day and I decided to listen to some music in order to not fall asleep again (yes, again). The first day of work after some cool holidays is always the worst, especially when those holidays have been really nice because of a certain someone.

I still can't believe Jack asked me to be his girlfriend, I was more than scared that he didn't want to have anything to do with me after the first kiss and me being so stupid to not let us talk about it right after it happened. But still he asked me. Me. Jack is officially my boyfriend. I can't help but smile at the thought of the skunk-haired idiot. I didn't think it would be possible to fall in love within a few days (or to fall in love in general) but it happened and I'm very thankful for that. My last relationship didn't exactly end in a good way but I have the feeling that with Jack - even though it's probably too early to say this - everything could turn out well for once. At least that's what I hope.

If a person told me two weeks ago that I'd meet somebody and immediately fall in love with him, I would have thought that this person's a lunatic and to be honest, I am still not completely convinced that everything's going to stay that easy for us and our relationship. Right now everything is perfect but I am sure that clouds are waiting for us somewhere out there. And with clouds I mean that life has never been treating me too kind and I learned to not trust any people or situations naively like I used to. I shiver, thinking back to my not so happy days.

"Stop being such a pessimist Liz, you're only a bit paranoid again" I mumble to myself. Everything will be fine. Take a deep breath. Have a bit faith in yourself and Jack. Everything will be fine in the end.

I take a look at the window to see that we've almost reached the bus stop and I get up from my seat to stand in front of the door for the remaining few seconds. As soon as the bus stops and the door opens I get out and put my phone back into my bag, I don't want to relive the moment at the festival where I bumped into a stranger because I thought looking at my phone and listening to music is more important than paying attention to where the hell I was at that time. Even though this incident turned out to be a great thing, it was rather embarrassing for me at first and who knows how another person would have reacted.

I finally arrive at the music store I'm working at just in time for my shift and am greeted by the scent of CDs, vinyls, new guitars and stuff like that. We sell basically everything when it comes to music, from CDs to actual instruments and that's what I like about working here. Because no matter what you sell, the other person is mostly very happy about it. Whether it's some teenagers buying a new album by their favourite band or a father getting his son his first guitar, the excitement in their eyes is what keeps me going, even on the longest and most boring days ever.

A few years ago when I started working here, this place was close to becoming bankrupt but after me having somehow managed to convince Paramore to play some acoustic sets here, people were reminded that we still exist and things couldn't have gone better for us. The store flourished and we got way more customers than we could have imagined. New bands ask us whether they could play some sets here in hope to get recognised by people from record labels who sometimes attend those acoustic sets. We became 'the' place for young artists in our area or people who enjoy getting lost in the thousands of CDs we keep in the store. For me it's really one of the coolest jobs ever, only actually being in a band is cooler. Maybe one day.

I leave my bag in the room for the employees and look what's up for today. First a new delivery of CDs has to find its way into the shelves and later I'm going to help out my co-worker and friend Jordan at the check out. Before we close the store we have to decide which bands will be allowed to play shows here next month, that's always my favourite part of the shifts. It's basically just listening to music with the others and giving them an opinion, best way to end the first day back at work.

The arranging of the CDs doesn't take too long and I begin to concentrate on other problems. I answer some of the customers' questions, stop a guy from making us all deaf while playing drums, help another one finding a new bass and eventually I'm ready to join Jordan. It's not even midday but there are already enough people here to keep us busy and we don't get to relax until we make our well-deserved lunch break.

Jordan and I leave Sally and Toby, two trainees, in charge of the store, hoping that they won't burn it down in the hour we're gone and stroll up to the city center and get something to eat in a café. Maybe it is a bit reckless to let the two manage everything in that time but if there are really any problems, the owner is sitting in his office and they should be clever enough to get his help if they need any. I take the first bite from the pizza I bought and start a conversation about the holidays with Jordan.

"What have you been up to during your time off?" I ask, not having swallowed everything.

"You look very sexy, talking with a mouth full of pizza" He teases me but I simply roll my eyes at him. "Emily and I visited her parents in California, they own a house near the beach and it was very cool."

"So you've seen her parents for the first time, right? Do they like the choice their daughter made?" I wink at him.

"They're some really nice people and treated me like they would have treated a family member so I guess yes, they like me" He laughs. "And who did you meet during the holidays? I hope he's a good guy."

I almost choke on my pizza now. "How do you know about Jack?! I haven't told you about him yet, have I?"

"Oh come on, we've been working together for three years and we've been friends for even longer, I know some things about you. For example: You always sing Still Into You by Paramore when you're happy because of a relationship" Jordan explains and takes a sip from his milk shake. "Don't look at me like I'm Sherlock Holmes, it was easy to figure that out."

"I... uh... have been singing?" I ask and blush. Great Liz, absolutely great.

"Yeah while arranging the new CDs" He grins and I blush even more, if it's still possible. "Don't worry, I think nobody heard it except for me."

"Thanks God" I sigh relieved. Jordan is able to deal with my singing skills but I'm not sure about our customers...

"Seriously, I hope this time it's somebody who really cares about you and makes you happy, you don't need another asshole. You deserve to be loved by somebody who loves you from the bottom of his heart." He interrupts my thoughts about my little performance earlier.

"Thank you, I hope so, too. I'm done with boyfriends who don't give a fuck about me. But this time... I don't know. I have a feeling that this time my fairytale won't have a bad ending." I smile. And hopefully I'll be right.