Misadventures (Tony Perry's Daughter)

Sick Entertainment

I don't know if Brent noticed I was uneasy or if it was just for show, but he put his arm around my shoulders as we entered the large two story house. Loud pop music filled my ears as I looked around at all the people I had seen at school but didn't know. I couldn't help myself from stretching my arm around his back and grabbing onto his other hand, something I had seen Niamh do with Ben often on tour.

Russell appeared in front of us, a grin on his face until he saw me holding onto Brent's hand. His grin faltered and faded down into a forced smile, "Its about time you got here."

Brent shrugged, "If you say so."

Russell motioned for us to follow him into the kitchen. I held onto Brent's hand tightly, trying to calm my nerves but I knew he could feel me shaking. I was going to have to explain my actions to him later. Hopefully he doesn't think I have a crush or something on him. He is like four years older than I am. Russell handed Brent a beer in a bottle before moving his gaze to me, "And what would you like?"

I shook my head and tried to reply, "Coke."

"Jack and Coke?" Russell asked.

"No. Just Coke."

Russell raised an eyebrow before turning around. After a few seconds he turned back around and handed me a red cup with ice and Coke. I took it with my free hand before taking a sip. I had had sips from the guys alcoholic drinks before and this was regular Coke with nothing else. I nodded at him, "Thanks."

Brent removed his arm from around me and started to drink his beer. I moved to his left side and grabbed onto his hand again. Brent glanced down at me, "Let's dance, skate buddy."

I followed Brent into the large living room where everyone was dancing around or sitting on the couches. He put my arms around his neck, pulling me in close, and wrapping his arms around my back, "Are you okay? You've been shaking since we came through the door and you won't let my hand go."

I shook my head, "I'm just really nervous. Sorry I attached myself to you."

Brent gave a small chuckle, "you could have just said that. Have you taken any anxiety medicine?"

I looked up at him, suddenly feeling a mixture of anger and embarrassment, "How did you know about my anxiety?"

"Jaime told me once a few years ago. He was just sitting on his porch one night almost in tears because you had a really bad anxiety attack and he couldn't calm you down. He thought your anxiety was getting worse and nothing was going to help soon. He was afraid of losing you." Brent replied as he kept his voice down. He could tell this was a touchy subject. I honestly couldn't believe Jaime told him about my anxiety. I also couldn't believe he was upset that I was getting worse and he would lose me. I closed my eyes so I wouldn't start crying. Jaime was the perfect godfather. Brent sighed before leaning his head down so our foreheads were touching, "Look, I'm here for you if you ever need anything. I'll hold your hand all night if you want."

I shook my head and chuckled, "Thanks. I'm trying to not be a baby about this."

"My turn!" I heard someone say before I was pulled out of Brent's grip and into Charlie's arms. He wrapped his arm around my lower back and held my hand in his other hand before placing a kiss on my fingertips, "My lady."

I rolled my eyes, "Don't call me that."

Charlie chuckled, "Sorry. I'm not good at doing Gomez."

Charlie started to swing me around to the beat of the pop song, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Charlie shook his head, "No. I've had a crush on Veronica Pate for a while but I don't actually know her. She's always hanging around her older brother."

"You sat on the porch with my family and acted cool even though they would each rip you in half if they saw you dancing with me. And you think her brother is scarier than that?" I ask as I take a huge swig of my Coke. Charlie shrugged, "Well your family isn't here. Andrew is."

"And you're afraid of him?"

"I'm afraid of being rejected by both of them."

I couldn't help but laugh a little, "Come on. Do it. The worst they can say is no and then it would just be another mountain to climb. Life's not out to get you, you know."

Charlie shook his head, "Don't quote Neck Deep to me."

"Then go talk to your crush." I replied.

Charlie chuckled before pulling away from me and walking off into the crowd. I felt my anxiety start to bubble again and made my way into the hall. I saw a small bathroom under the stairs and quickly went inside. I pulled the small plastic pill case out of my pocket before opening it and grabbing one of the Xanax. I quickly took the pill and downed the rest of my Coke. I'll be fine as long as I don't take another pill for another four hours, even though I did have three left in my case. I wanted to be prepared. I left the bathroom only to bump into Russell. He gave me a smile, "Are you having a good time?"

I shrugged, "I guess. I'm not used to parties like this. All the parties I go to are adults drinking and me laughing at their stupidity. And my godfather always making me dance the drunker he gets."

Russell grabbed my arm and pulled me back into the kitchen. He grabbed my cup that only held ice in it before turning around.

"I don't want any alcohol, please." I said softly but loud enough that Russell could hear me over the music. He turned back around and handed me my cup, with fresh Coke in it. I took a small sip and realized it tastes like plain Coke so I took a couple of gulps, "Thanks."

"Any reason you aren't drinking? Trying to make your dad believe you're really at a study group or something?"

I shook my head, "The last time I drank, it didn't end well. And you try curing a hangover on a bus with five other people. It's not fun. Plus, my dad knows I'm at a party. He would make any lame study group be at the house because he would want to make snacks and help us in times of need."

Why was I talking more than normal? Why was I telling Russell more than he needed to know? I pulled my phone out as I checked my texts, seeing a text from Jaime that was nothing but random emojis that didn't make sense and a text from Dad asking if I was alright. I sent dad a thumbs up and sent Jaime a smiley with its tongue out. Russell took a swig of his beer, "Your dad willingly let you go to a high school party?"

"Yeah. He just doesn't want me to ride with anyone that's drunk. He said 'if you can't happily tell us about something you did, that means don't do it.' Or was that Vic? Maybe Jaime said it?" I said, feeling myself slur. Why couldn't I talk all of a sudden? It can't be the Xanax. I've taken two almost back to back before and didn't have this reaction. There was no alcohol in my drink. I smiled as I thought of the guys and quickly pulled a picture of dad and me up before showing it to Russell, "Can you picture my dad wearing an apron and bringing a tray of cookies and carrot sticks with lemonade to a table of studying teenagers?"

I was starting to laugh almost uncontrollably at the thought. Russell glanced down at my phone, "That guy is your dad? He looks like a freak with all those tattoos."

"Were all freaaaaks!" I yelled excitedly before finishing my Coke. Russell shook his head and grabbed my cup before turning around and making me another drink. When he turned back around to me he gave me a small smirk before wrapping his arm around my a shoulder and leading me to some stairs, "Let's go talk about this upstairs so no one can interrupt us."