Fracture

"Keep going, mom!" Juliet ordered with obvious excitement.

"Party tonight," Pete said as he walked past my bunk, shaking the curtain.

"Don't care. Sleep is nice," I mumbled into my pillow, shimmying further under my warm blankets.

"Oh no you don't," Pete shook his head, moving the curtains and pulling the blankets off of me, despite the fight I attempted to put up.

"Fine!" I huffed, sounding angrier than I actually was.

I sat up in my bunk, knowing my hair was disheveled and my makeup smeared, but not really caring. I shivered in cool air as I crawled out from my bunk.

"Jack's gonna be there," Pete shouted from the bathroom.

I had no idea where the other boys were, but I didn't mind their absence very much. It was always incredibly loud when they were all there. Don't get me wrong, I was beginning to think of them all as brothers, but I needed quiet time every once in a while, too.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked, fishing through my suitcase for something to wear.

"I don't know," Pete shrugged, walking out of the small bathroom.

"Is it still ridiculously hot out there?"

"It's fuckin' Arizona, aka HELL. The temperature is never under 100," He rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed with the fact that it had been almost 115 at the peak of the day.

"Good, then I can wear shorts," I stood up with clothes in my hands and gave him a toothy grin.

"And you said you didn't want to go," Pete laughed at me as I walked into the cramped bathroom to change.

***

Around midnight, Pete and I, joined by the lead singer of The Maine, John, walked toward the field where the party was being held. There was already a ridiculous amount of people there, and the music was loud, even at a distance. I was wearing a loose, basic shirt over a red camisole, denim shorts, and red lace up Vans.

"This should be an interesting night," John smirked.

He was comfortable in his jeans and t-shirt, while I was still burning up in my shirt and shorts. Damn residents of this state.

"You're right about that, man," Pete nodded, scratching the back of his neck and peering down at his iPhone.

"Where's Jenn?" I asked him, noticing her absence.

"That's what I'm trying to find out," He chuckled, not peeling his eyes away from the glowing gadget in his hands.

We reached the crowd and John bid us farewell, apologizing in advance for the drunken night that was ahead of him. I looked around uncomfortably and pushed my already-too-hot hands even farther into the pockets of my shorts.

"Don't worry, kid," Pete slung his arm around my shoulder when he saw the look on my face, "You'll be fine."

"I hope so," I laughed lightly, attempting to hide the fact that I was actually very uncomfortable and terrified.

Back home, I had never really been a party-goer. The only time I had gotten completely hammered was a few months earlier at Natalie's New Years party. Plus, it was her family's party, so I had been doing shots with her barely 21 year old cousin in the guest room.

"Let's go find some beers," Pete led the way through the crowd and somehow found a table filled with alcohol.

He grabbed two beers with one hand and reached for the bottle opener he had on the carabiner clip on his belt loop that held his laminate and other random keys. Expertly, he removed the caps which fell onto the browning grass and handed me a bottle. I had barely sipped half the beer when I heard yells and laughter from the middle of the crowd.

The most distinct thing was, "I LOVE THIS SONG!"

"Looks like someone's a little tipsy," Pete laughed, motioning for me to follow him as he pushed through people, trying to find the source of the uproar.

"Just dance! Gonna be okay! DA DA DOO DOO!"

We had found the source of the yells and the reason everyone around was cracking up. In the middle of a slowly forming circle was the boy I had met a few days earlier - Jack. He was dancing barely clothed in his boxer-briefs, a white button down shirt, socks, and sunglasses.

"Well, shit," Pete mumbled, "He looks like he just stepped out of Risky Business."

"Should we do something?" I mumbled from behind the hand I'd brought to my mouth.

"That would probably be a good idea," He sighed, drinking the last of his beer and tossing the bottle onto the ground.

I carefully placed mine onto the grass, but it toppled over anyway, pouring the remaining contents into the dry earth. I disregarded it, instead following Pete from a distance as he approached Jack.

Jack looked up from focusing on his feet and dancing to see Pete walking toward him, "PETE! Dance with me, man!"

"I don't think that's gonna happen tonight, buddy," He shook his head.

"Why!? IT'S FUN!" Jack continued his ridiculous charade as the onlookers became even more amused.

"That's embarassing," Juliet mumbled.

"You have no idea."

"I think it's time to go back to your bus," Pete told him gently.

"Why would I do that?" Jack stopped his erratic movements abruptly and stared at the man in front of him who was only a year older.

"Because I think you've given these people enough of a show," Pete looked around at the crowd that had formed.

"I'll only go if she'll come," He pointed past Pete, and I was both extremely surprised and embarrassed when the direction of his drunken finger landed unsteadily on me.

"She'll come, Jack," Pete softly told him.

"Sweet!" He exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air Jersey-style and stumbling toward me.

"Hold on a minute," Pete stopped him before he could reach me and let Jack rest the majority of his weight on him.

"You're a good man, Charlie Brown," Jack mumbled drunkenly, patting Pete's head with his free hand.

Pete chuckled, "Em, just follow me."

"Like always," I smiled, causing Pete to laugh.

I walked a short distance behind the two as we made our way to the gravel lot where the buses were parked for the night.

"Our bus is blue, just so you know, Pete," Jack told him seriously.

"Find Alex's number in my phone and call him. Tell him we're at the beginning of the bus lot and he needs to hurry his ass out here so he can get Jack to bed," Pete told me and handed me his iPhone, trying to steady Jack's swaying, lanky body.

I scrolled through the list of contacts, doing my best to adjust to the touch screen. I found a cell phone number under "Alex G", confirming with Pete that it was the right one before pressing send.

"Petey! What's up, dude?" A male voice answered the phone after 4 rings.

"Actually, this is his friend Emily," I told him quickly.

"Oh, hi?" He laughed, and I could hear the confusion in his voice.

"Pete needed me to call you, because we have Jack and he's completely smashed," I told the man on the other end of the phone.

"Dammit. I knew this would fucking happen," He muttered.

"If you could just come to the beginning of the bus lot so you could get him, that would be awesome," I told him quietly.

"Yeah, of course. I'll be there as soon as I can," He told me.

"Thank you," I replied before ending the phone call and handing the phone back to Pete.

"That was a good party, though," Jack laughed.

"I wouldn't really know," I mumbled, making sure only I could hear myself.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with my drunk ass," Jack looked over at me.

"It's really not a big deal. Besides, Pete did most of the work," I shrugged.

"I knew you'd get all drunk and annoying," Alex said as he jogged up to us.

His skinny, tall frame was clad in a white shirt with a colorful pattern, baggy black basketball shorts, and brown flip flops.

"Emily and I are gonna go try to find his pants," Pete said as he transferred Jack's weight to Alex's shoulders.

"I want Emily to come with," Jack told Pete with a slight glare.

"I think that's really up to her," Pete said protectively, turning to look at me.

"Um... I guess I can go with him," I shrugged and looked between the three males standing around me.

"I'll go try and find his pants then," Pete nodded, turning back in the direction of the party and beginning a quick walk.

"We're this way," Alex told Jack and I, doing his best to support Jack's weight.

"I'd help if I wasn't so short," I apologized.

"It's not a big deal," Alex shrugged with a smile.

"I told you she was pretty, Alex. Didn't I tell you?" Jack looked at Alex as I blushed.

I thanked the darkness that surrounded us, making it easy to hide the hot flush my cheeks had acquired.

"You did indeed, Jack," Alex laughed, continuing to walk despite the extra weight.

"I have good taste, man. I really do. I can't help it. It's in my genes," He ranted.

"Yeah," Alex nodded absent-mindedly, "There's the bus."

Alex nodded in the direction of a blue and white bus that was only a hundred feet away.

"We have a really nice bus," Jack admired the vehicle out loud.

"Yep," Alex muttered, obviously annoyed. Jack didn't seem to notice or care.

I followed Alex up the stairs of the bus and tried my best to help with Jack. Once we were finally inside, I shut the door behind me and followed Alex as he walked to the bunk area.

"Do you think you could take care of him from here? My girlfriend's only here for one more night and I kinda wanted to spend it with her instead of rubbing Jack's back while he throws up," He looked at me with hopeful eyes.

I looked from him to Jack, watching as he dropped to his knees and tried his best to find something in his disorganized suitcase.

"I guess I could," I shrugged.

"Thank you so much!" Alex smiled and walked away into the back lounge, closing the door behind him.

"What are you looking for?" I asked as I knelt beside him.

"My shorts," Jack told me and continued searching, "Here they are!"

He grinned victoriously and kicked his legs out in front of him so he could slip the red basketball shorts on. This was going to be a long night.