- Text Size +
“So, there’s this party tonight…” I started to bring up a new subject. We had just finished eating and were still watching the movie. The Chinese food was really good this time, I think he got it from a different place.

“No.” he interrupted me with a simple but firm answer.

“WHAT?!? Why not?” I scrunched my eyebrows and stared at him. He tore his eyes from the screen and locked them with mine.

“Today is Wednesday. It’s a school night. You have homework. You can’t go.”

“Are you kidding me? I have my reputation to uphold! I will be laughed out of school tomorrow if I’m not there tonight!”

“Honestly, Bay. You play football AND basketball. You are the most popular kid in the entire high school and you are only a freshman. Somehow, I doubt that missing one party is going to jeopardize that. If anything, everyone else will feel lame because it wasn’t a good enough party for you to show up at. Remember? You are the standard setter…if Baylee Littrell does it, then it must be cool; but if he doesn’t, then it’s gotta be lame.”

“Easy for you to say…you are WORLD FAMOUS!” I argued, tossing my empty carton on the floor.

“Go ahead, Baylee. I dare you to take a poll of ALL the Backstreet fans in the world because I am willing to bet that you are more popular than me and I am IN THE GROUP!” he raised his voice as he leaned toward me.

“Whatever,” I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

“You and Mason are more famous than ANY of US are…and you have been ever since you were born because all our fans are girls and they were all ‘goo-goo ga’ing over how fuckin adorable you both were. So don’t you even dare try to put that on me, as a guilt trip. Your precious popularity isn’t going anywhere and neither are you.”

“You know what? I don’t even see why AJ is such good friends with you. He is so cool and you are such a dick.”

“Look, you can call me what ever, the hell, you want but you are still under MY care and you are NOT going to that stupid party! Ding. Ding. Ding. Yatzee…FINAL ANSWER!” At this point, I could tell I was getting under his skin again.

“The only thing I hate about my parents, is their decision to make YOU my guardian.” I retorted as I narrowed my eyes in anger. Why can’t he just loosen up and let me go? UGH! I never get to do what I want.

“Oh, Boo fucking hoo. Cry me a river, build a damn bridge, and get the fuck over it Baylee.” He told me in a low voice. I can always tell how mad he is at me by how much he swears. He tries really hard not to swear at me but when we really get into it…he looses all his control and lets the cuss words flow.

“You know what…FUCK YOU! I’m going to bed.” I screamed in his face before turning on my heel and running up the stairs. Another typical night in our house, except, I usually don’t swear at him. I know better than that. I just couldn’t help it! He is being so ridiculous! I mean, what is the big deal? He just doesn’t want me to have any fun!

So guess what I did. I rummaged through my huge closet that was packed full of designer clothes and picked out an outfit. Quickly getting dressed and running a comb through my massively curly hair, I raced around my room. It was only 15 minutes before I was climbing out of my window and down the tree. I had called one of my older friends and told him to pick me up at the corner. There was NO way that I was going to miss this party!

Just as I figured, the party was awesome! I had some beers and danced with a cheerleader that I really liked. I was only gone for a few hours. Slowly climbing back up the tree outside my window, I made my way back up to my room. I quietly climbed through my window and into my dark bedroom. Tearing off my shirt, I tossed it to the floor and flipped on the light.

“Oh shit,” I said, barely above a whisper as I noticed, for the first time, that he was sitting on the chair, in the corner…waiting.

“Oh shit doesn’t even begin to cover it, Baylee.”

“I just went to talk to AJ, but I figured, if I asked, you wouldn’t let me do THAT either,” I said lying through my teeth and hoping that he would buy it. He was glaring at me with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Oh really? Well that changes everything because AJ has been sitting downstairs, waiting for your return, for the past two hours. After discovering that you were gone, he was the first person I called but, low and behold, you weren’t there. Strike one was you sneaking out. Strike two was you lying to me. Are we going to go for strike three?”

“I…um…” I stuttered while I fidgeted with my hands.

“That’s what I thought.”

“Hey, glad to see you could join us,” AJ said appearing in the doorway. “I called Kevin, Baylee. He’s on the way and he is NOT happy.”

“What did you do that for?” I shouted in disbelief. How could AJ turn against me, too? This was not, at all, fair. AJ was always the cool one, why is he being such a stiff?

“You are giving us no choice...hold the fucking phone for a sec…,” AJ scrunched his eyebrows and leaned forward as he came towards me. He looked me square in the eye. “You are so fucking busted, Baylee! I can’t believe this shit! Out of you?”

“Do I even want to know?” the voice in the corner spoke up, again.

“Baylee, you are to sit on that fucking bed and not move a god damn muscle until we get back. Do you understand me?” AJ asked with a look of pure anger and disappointment. Oh, I was in for it now!

“Yes.” I answered in a whisper, hanging my head and staring at the floor. If it would have just been my guardian, I would have been able to hide it, but with AJ there…I didn’t even stand a chance. The two of them left the room and I heard them talking. I knew AJ was telling him that I had been drinking. AJ knew that scene all to well.

“WHAAAAAAAAAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” My head shot up and my eyes grew so wide that I’m surprised they didn’t fall out. I had never, EVER heard him yell that loud!

Next thing I knew, the door flew open with such force that the door knob made a hole in the wall behind it. He took a hold of the wife beater that I was still wearing and pulled me close. Taking in a deep whiff of my scent, he let go and stepped back. His face fell and his eyes hazed over with a mixture of defeat and disappointment.

“Let’s leave him,” AJ said placing a hand on his shoulders. He and I had not broken the lock that our eyes had. He shrugged AJ’s hand off his shoulder. Letting out a deep sigh, he shook his head.

“Pack, Baylee. I think you need to go with Kevin, when he gets here. You’ll be staying there for a few days,” his voice was low and full of…sadness? Yes, I was sure that I detected quite a bit of sadness.

“I think he’s right, Baylee. We, obviously, aren’t doing the job well. Maybe Kevin can get through to you,” AJ agreed with a similar sadness. They left my room and went downstairs to greet Kevin, who would be there at any moment.

See, when I moved in with my guardian, AJ moved too. He got a place right down the street because he wanted to help raise me and be there to support both of us. I had majorly blown it this time and I knew it. I had hurt them both really bad. But, was there any way to fix it? Or, was it too late? I headed out of my room, without even packing, to try and talk to them. When I reached the top of the stairs I heard Kevin’s voice.