Not Thinkin' Bout You

Chapter 50

PREVIOUSLY: She was so caught in the moment and enjoying herself too much to be upset in any way possible.

All too soon, the girls were waiting in Sienna's car for Zach to message Ellody and say it was OK for them to run backstage. Cars were slowly crawling through the traffic as people tried to leave the car park, but Ellody barely noticed her friends talking and people moving around her. Her eyes were glued to her phone, waiting for the text. She hadn't expected to be able to see Zach in person tonight, but Jonah texted Tate earlier and told her that they could come backstage, and that Zach would text Ellody when it was OK.

"What do you think Ellody?" Sienna said. Ellody looked up and blinked, having no idea what they were talking about.

"Huh?" she breathed.

"We were talking about how expensive Jack's perm was, back in the good old days of '18," Sienna said, raising her eyebrows.

"Were you dreaming of Zach again?" Christina teased.

"Wait, what? You're still into him?" Sienna added, pretending to be surprised. Ellody blushed a deep red, avoiding everyone's eyes.

"Shut your mouths," she muttered, raising her phone in front of her face and reloading her Instagram. She watched a random fan edit of her, Christina and Tate. To Ellody's horror, the awkward photo of her and the girl at the airport in Denver was in it. "Oh my goodness," she whispered to herself, putting a hand against her mouth in disbelief.

"What now?" Sienna asked her, snatching her phone away. "Dude, you watch fan edits?" she laughed. Ellody glared at her sister, hugging her knees to her chest in embarrassment. She wished Sienna would stop.

"OK, well... that's a pretty good one. Tate, you're not in it," Christina laughed, shoving the phone in Tate's direction. Ellody hid her face in her hands, listening as the girls talked about who the fans liked better and who was involved in the most drama.

"Definitely Kay. I'll admit, I used to love her, but... not so much anymore. It got to the stage where I basically had to choose between Ellody and Kay, and, well, here we are," Christina explained, smiling at Ellody, who smiled weakly back. She wished the girls would just give her phone back so she could watch Zach's text pop up in her notifications, but suddenly her phone pinged in Tate's hands, and she threw it back to Ellody.

"Zach, let's go," Tate grinned, throwing open her car door. Ellody tapped the message to open their text chain.

ZACH: all clear

ZACH: use the fire door the alarm isn't on

"He said to use the fire door," Ellody said loudly, stepping out of the car and taking a deep breath as fresh air hit her in the face.

"Well, duh. We're not gonna walk right through the main entry," Sienna laughed, raising her eyebrows. Ellody shrugged, following her sister. She had no idea how they were getting backstage - it was a game of follow the leader, from Ellody's perspective. It was Sienna who knew how to sneak backstage and break the law. "I can't wait to see them, I haven't seen them in months," Sienna said happily. Ellody nodded, remembering the weekend away that they had, and how Sienna had only caught a glimpse of them before they left for the beach house.

"Ellody can't wait to hug Zach," Tate teased. Ellody rolled her eyes, imagining his arms around her and breathing in his scent again.

"And she's blushing," Christina smiled, walking beside Ellody and wrapping an arm around her.

"Thanks guys," Ellody laughed. The girls walked right through the fire door. Ellody stared into the darkness as they all paused, their eyes adjusting to the lack of light as the door snapped shut.

"Which way?" Tate breathed.

"Only one way to find out," Sienna decided, sauntering forward. Ellody cautiously followed, Christina's arm still around her tightly. The sound of a door opening reached Ellody's ears, coming from somewhere ahead of them. The high ceilings and large black sheets draped over random boxes and equipment made backstage look creepy, and Ellody pressed her side against Christina's.

"Should we call for them?" Tate whispered.

"Probably best not to, who knows who's backstage. We could get kicked out," Ellody whispered quickly. She didn't want to risk her chance at seeing Zach.

"Then what do we do?" Tate hissed in Sienna's direction. Ellody looked at her sister's silhouette, hoping she had a plan that she hadn't mentioned.

"Um... we look around. Tate, come with me. We'll go that way and you two can go down that hallway," Sienna suggested. Ellody bit her lip as Tate and Sienna walked slowly towards a door on their left, and Christina started walking towards the hallway in front of them.

"They've got to be around here somewhere. I'll text Corbyn," Christina muttered, texting while they walked down the hallway. A door labelled 'cleaning' was to the right, and an unlabelled door was on the left. Ellody thought about knocking on it, because if they were behind the door and she didn't knock, they'd just walk right past and be wasting time. "Hold on, Corbyn says that if we keep walking down the hallway and take the second door on the right, we'll find another hallway, and they're in the first door on the left. Why is it so hard to find?" Christina explained. Ellody's heart began to race as she realised Zach was just a few doors away.

"Let's get the other two," Ellody replied, grabbing Christina's arm and running back to where Tate and Sienna had disappeared to.

~

ZACH'S POV:

"I'm so hungry, they better get here soon. I suggest Chinese, we haven't had that in a while," Corbyn said, rubbing his stomach. Zach nodded, not really thinking about food right now. Ellody was on her way, and she was all he could think about. She could bust in at any second.

"Do they even know where they're going?" Daniel wondered aloud. Corbyn nodded, waving his phone around and saying something about Christina.

"Once they get here, we'll get Chipotle," Caspary decided. Corbyn pouted.

"What did I just say about Chinese food?" Corbyn laughed. Jack rolled his eyes, sitting on the floor next to Zach and plugging a charger into the wall between them.

"My phone is gonna die. Like you playing Fornite," Jack joked. Zach shook his head and grinned, shoving his best friend in the arm.

"Whatever. I'm practically as good as you," Zach decided, puffing out his chest.

"Not in the slightest," Daniel called across the room, tossing a banana at Zach's head. It hit him right in the forehead, and Daniel clapped a hand to his mouth, laughing.

"Oh man," Jonah laughed, looking up from his phone with a smile.

"Did you get that on video?" Daniel asked, raising an eyebrow at Jonah, who smirked and held it out to Daniel. "Oh shoot!" he laughed.

"I gotta see," Jack grinned, patting Zach's arm before joining Daniel and Jonah. Zach massaged his head where the banana hit him, wondering how he managed to get himself such good friends. The door creaked open slowly and Zach immediately stood up, watching as Sienna walked through the door with her fist raised.

"Oh, it's you guys," she grinned, lowering her arm.

A/N ~ CHAPTER 50?! THAT'S CRAZY! hope you're all enjoying so far as much as i am! i'm posting this at school - we have twenty minutes left of lunch and i should probably be spending it with my friends since we're finally back at school after quarantine, but my social battery has run out and i'm really tired so i'm gonna spend time with the online world instead. love y'all :) and stay safe in this incredible dangerous time. pandemic + racism = uproar, and i hope we all make it out alive. there's a link to sign a petition against racism in my instagram bio @ zachs_churros so go check that out!!