They Keep Me Coming Back For More. (ATL) [ON HOLD]

Intro

Here's the story of my life. The twists and turns. The ups and downs. The laughing and the crying.

My name? It's Starla Jones, or Star for short. I'm quite tall and of average weight. Meaning, I'm not fat but I'm not skinny. My raven black, wavy hair goes down to about my waist. My eyes are light brown, like pools of caramel. I have my nose pierced on the right side and a tattoo on my arm that's of the Blink 182 bunny sporting the Australian flag.

Yes, I'm Australian.

Yes, I have an accent.

I play guitar and can sing a little bit, though I'm not that good. My best friend taught me when we were younger. Maybe around 15 or 16. I've just turned 21. I haven't seen my best friend in over 5 years. I went to school in England. My Dad got a job over there, so naturally my family moved. I started school when I was 13. I was an outcast, until I found some friends who accepted me. How? I was wearing a Green Day shirt and so was one of the other kids. All together I had 2 friends. One was a was a boy and one was a girl.

My friend that was a girl, moved a year after I had started school in England. Her name was Emily. She said her Mum had gotten a job in America, so she had to move. I missed her a heck of a lot, but I still had my other best friend. Alex. We stuck together through thick and thin. We would always be there for each other. Both us were treated like shit, but we made it.

Alex moved away when I turned 16. It was two days after my birthday, he told me he was moving to Baltimore and that it was somewhere in America. It was only a few months before, that we'd lost Alex's brother. I understood why they wanted to leave, but now it meant I was on my own. It meant that I had no one to talk to. No one to call late at night when I had nightmares. No one to play video games with on a Sunday afternoon, instead of playing sport like normal kids.

We promised to keep in contact. He kept his promise for a while. For someone with a busy schedule and probably a lot more friends than he had over here, he did well in keeping his word. The only problem, time difference. He'd be awake when I was asleep, or I'd be awake when he was just going to bed. We had to maneuver our Skype schedules. Sometimes we wouldn't even be able to talk to each other for about a week, because of it.

School got worse. I hadn't made any new friends and I was on my own. Meaning, I was an easy target for the people who liked making other people's lives, hell. Bullies. I would walk home everyday after school and get harassed, called names and even being beaten till I was bloody and bruised. I never told Alex any of this though. He would just blame himself. If I had gotten a black eye, or a cut on my face, I'd cover it up with makeup or tell him that I wouldn't be able to talk to him.

Alex was the only one who gave me hope in life.

So I graduated, packed up my stuff and moved back to Australia. I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Leaving all my bad memories behind. Getting me to where I am today.

"Star!" Emily clicked her fingers in front of my face. Oh, yeah I forgot to mention that we kind of bumped into each other here. I was looking for a job and saw her in a coffee shop. She was here on a work trip, looking for places to take photos. She told me she was a professional photographer and had a job over in the states that carried her over here. She showed me some of her prints and said she can stay over here for as long as she wants, she just has to send her boss the prints via email. So I moved in with her and got a job at the local music store.

We were currently having coffee in Starbucks, while Emily was showing me her new shots of the Sydney opera house. I must've zoned out because she was glaring at me playfully. "You spaced out again, Starla. You seem to be doing that a lot lately. What's on your mind?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just I want to do something with my life. Here's you doing what you love, being all professional. Then there's me, working in a music store, stacking CDs and tuning guitars for a living," I sighed, stirring my coffee with the wooden stirrer.

"Hey, Star. Don't beat yourself up about it. I know you've always wanted to be in a band, so put an ad in the paper or something. Start somewhere," She smiled at me from behind her coffee.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay," I grinned. Instantly, my spirits had been lifted. We fist bumped, then I stood up. "I have to get back to work, but I'll catch you later?"

"Of course," she smiled and returned to her photos. I exited the store and headed towards work. The bell rang on the door as I entered.

"Starla! You're two minutes late!" My boss, John, exclaimed. Yeah, my boss is a douche canoe.

"Sorry," I mumbled, as I pushed past him and headed toward the back of the store. I pulled the sleeves of my Pierce The Veil hoodie down, as I started shining the electric guitars.

I didn't bother looking up when the bell rang, signaling someone else coming into the store. I felt a tap on my shoulder and spun around to be faced with a girl about my age, with brunette hair and blonde streaks running through it. "Could you please direct me to the acoustic guitars?" She smiled.

"Sure," I motioned for her to follow and led her into a room where all the acoustics were kept.

"Thank you..."

"Starla," I shot her a small smile.

"Starla. Nice name. I'm Cassadee."

"Well, nice to meet you, Cassadee. If you need any help, just give me a yell," She nodded and I went back to shining guitars.

I really needed to do something with my life.

My phone started vibrating, so with much effort, I slid it out of my skinny jeans pocket. It said an unknown number was calling me, but I picked it up anyway. "Hello?" I heard some shuffling and someone shouting on the other line. I was about to hang up, when I heard someone start to speak.

"Starla?!" I almost dropped my phone. That voice was so familiar.

"Alex?"

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So... My first All Time Low fic. I've had this idea for a while and thought that I should get to it. I hope you enjoy it. Feedback would be awesome!

Thanks for reading.

Shay xo