Hallelujah

chapter forty-six

"Where are you headed off to this early?" Hannah asked as I made my way out the front door of the house.

"I went to bed early last night, and there's a record shop a couple blocks up the street. Figured I could go check that out before I miss anything too exciting for the day," I said smiling. She followed me out the door and onto the porch.

"What was that about last night? How come as soon as we got home you went straight to bed? You killed our mood," she whined.

"Sorry Han, there's just been a lot on my mind lately and I have to get my mind off it." There was no way I was telling her the "it" on my mind was Brendon.

"I get it, just be back by noon we all wanna go to the beach later!" she said patting me on the back and sending me on my way.

I put my headphones in and listened to the newest blink album. I wanted to find it on vinyl but I hadn't been able to find it in Vegas so I was hoping I would have more luck in LA.

I flipped through the bins of records and ended up finding one of twelve copies of the album in the shop, along with some classics that I really didn't need but I definitely wanted. I brought them to the counter and dug through my wallet.

"The new blink album? Good choice!" A friendly voice said. I looked up and found a boy with bright red hair and light brown eyes smiling at me from behind the counter. He was gorgeous.

"Yeah, I have it on digital and CD but," I paused.

"Everything sounds better on vinyl," we said at the same time. I blushed a little and he laughed.

"Um, Josh," he said. I looked at him confused and his cheeks turned a nice shade of pink and he ran his hand through his messy hair. "Josh is my name. My name is Josh," he said. He paused and took a deep breath. "Josh Dun."

He held out his hand for me to shake and I graciously took it.

"Well Josh Dun, it's nice to meet you. I'm Alex," I said smiling brightly.

I handed him my card and he swiped it. "Are you new around here? I haven't seen you before?" he asked curiously.

"Actually I'm here on spring break with a couple friends," I smiled. He started placing my purchases into a bag and looked up at me.

"Oh, well maybe I could give you my number and if you have some free time while you're here I could show you around or something," he paused. "Like if that's alright with you." He ran his hands through his hair again and chuckled to himself.

"I would love that," I said smiling. His face lit up and he scribbled some numbers down on a piece of paper and stuck it in my bag. "It was nice to meet you Josh Dun," I said turning around.

"I look forward to your call Alex," he called as I walked outside.

As soon as I was outside the store I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Dammit," I mumbled to myself. I headed back to the house and pushed Josh out of my head so I could focus on having a good day with my friends.

"There she is!" Pete yelled as I walked inside.

"Here I is!" I laughed.

"Go get your swimsuit, we're going to the beach!" Patrick said eagerly. I did as he said and quickly went to my room and grabbed my things. I threw on my swimsuit underneath a small sundress. I tied my hair up and grabbed a towel and sunglasses then headed out to the car where everyone was waiting for me.

We were only a few minutes from the water which was great, I mean if you like the beach. Me? I'm not a big water person way too many opportunities for death, so I just chilled on my towel in the sand.

I watched as Hannah and Dallon teamed up for a game of chicken fight against Pete and Patrick. Ryan acted as if he was the ref for their war and Brendon sat next to me.

"Enjoying your time in Cali?" he asked me.

"Enjoying would be an understatement," I smiled. I pushed my sunglasses up my nose making sure the bright sun stayed out of my eyes.

"You should come join us you two!" Hannah yelled from the water.

"I'm good!" I yelled back laughing.

"Suit yourself," Brendon said running towards everyone else and making a large splash as he entered the water. I just smiled as I watched them all splash around and laugh with each other.

I took out my phone and looked at the number from the Josh boy at the record shop and I sighed. I wanted to call him and talk to him but I couldn't stop thinking about how Brendon would feel.

"What's going on with my girl?" Hannah asked sitting down next to me.

"I wish I could be better," I sighed.

"Spill it girl," she said as she ringed her hair out with her towel.

"I met a guy," I said quietly.

"A guy!? Like a potential date?" she asked excited.

"Well, his name is Josh and he is so cute and extremely nice and he gave me his number but I don't know I'm just worried about how Brendon will take it and stuff. Like I want to move on but I don't know if Brendon is ready to move on too," I explained.

"You aren't allowed to let Brendon control you, whether he's ready for you to move on or not you need to. You should call this guy, go out have fun. For Christ's sake Alex live a little. You can't let the fear of if you and Brendon are ever going to happen control you. You have to live in the moment."

"Hannah, I honestly don't know what I would do without you."

"You'd be a virgin," she said plainly. She stood up and started her way back to the water. "Now go call that boy."

I stood up and grabbed my phone, I headed to a spot under a tree and slowly dialed Josh's number. It rang four times before the same familiar voice from this morning came through the speaker.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Josh, this is Alex, from the record shop," I said nervously.

"Ah, hello Alex from the record shop, I've been awaiting your call." I could hear his smile through the phone.

"Um, well I was wondering if you maybe wanted to do something tonight."

"Of course and I have just the idea, I'll pick you up at 7. Text me your address!" he said.

"Um, yeah okay that sounds good!" I said a little more excited.

"Great! Then it's a date." And with that he hung up.

I had a date with Josh Dun tonight.

------------------------------------------------

Shook.