I'm In Trouble: What's Not To Adore?

Once upon a time on a hot summer day something very dull was in the mist of happening; a long agonizing car ride to Chicago to visit my parents. Talk about exciting. And being cramped in a crappy yellow beetle with no air conditioning was just the icing on the cake. The windows were rolled down letting the sticky humid air surround my perspiring skin, but it didn't help much to cool me down.

My best friend Raleigh sat in the drivers seat humming happily almost oblivious to the dangerously boiling air. I never understood how she could be so elated all the time.

"Stop pouting," Raleigh laughed when she caught sight of my sour face. "We are going to be there in about five minutes. And I bet your parents have the air on –they always do."

Releasing a groan from the back of my throat I threw my head back and whined, "But it's so hot in this freaking car. Three days is long enough! I'm going insane."

"How can you go insane when you are already crazy?" She joked in that sickly sweet voice of hers. I rolled my honey eyes at her horrible attempt at humor. This is why I'm the funny one and she's the giddy one. "I'm just kidding!"

"No. I took you seriously."

The sarcasm made her chuckle, "I just wanted to make sure you didn't think I was being serious."

Cause anyone can take her rudeness sincerely. Raleigh is like a saint –for the most part, she can have her moments (those very few moments that no one ever sees except me and when I say something about it nobody ever believes me).

"Look we're going to be turning onto your street any minute now," informed Raleigh with excitement that I know I could never accomplish giving over something as simple as a street.

"Woo hoo," I hooted monotonously in false enthusiasm, which made Raleigh laugh instead of doing what a normal person would do, like scowl.

'That's what I'm talking about!" She giggled contagiously causing a small smile to crack on my face. "We're home. I mean I love California, don't get me wrong, but it's a nice change of scenery to be able to sit back and relax. We're always so busy over there."

"Yeah I know what you mean. It's going to be so nice knowing I do not have to go to work for the next two weeks." Stupid Blockbuster. "And it's a nice break before school starts."

"I feel so bad leaving my kids though," Raleigh sighed. Her and her damn helpful hands, teaching unfortunate kids who don't know how to play guitar to play. "Megan was looking so forward to lessons. I'm teaching her how to play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

"I feel awesome because I know how to play that," I stated glad that I could play at least one song. Well, that actually is the only song I know how to play on acoustic guitar. And the only reason I know how to play is because of Raleigh.

Raleigh squealed happily as we pulled up in front of my two story house. It looked much better than the last time I had been here a few months ago. My parents had repainted the trimmings around the house and watered down the brick so it looked much cleaner. They also mowed the lawn.

"Yay!" Raleigh yelped as she parked the car outside in front of my house. Dramatically I jumped out of the car and let myself fall in a patch of grass. I gripped at the lawn and moaned happily into the ground. Driving for three days straight in a small compressed beetle is not something I'm going to be happy to do in two weeks on the ride home to California.

"Evelyn get off the ground and give me a hug!" Picking my head up from where I had thrown it into the grass I saw my mother standing there with her arms outstretched and her fingers wiggling dramatically.

"Mother." Jumping off the ground I skipped over to my mom and let her give me a bone-crushing hug, I rolled my eyes behind her back.

"Rae," my mom pushed me away. Literally, I almost fell back to the ground with how hard she shoved me away. She ran over to my friend and embraced her as tight as she had with me. The two of them jumped around screaming like two fourteen year old girls in high school. Immature.

"It's so nice to see you Chris," Raleigh said when she released my mom and came over to my side. "The house looks nice."

My mom wrapped her arms around both our shoulders and brought us closer to her body, "We just repainted the house inside too. It's wonderful. We redid the living room. The walls are olive."

"Ewe." This comment from me gave me a smack in the back of the head from my mom. "Ouch woman! I was just saying ewe there's a pile of dog shit over there and that cat is going to step in it."

"What cat?" My mother questioned while turning her head around to see some imaginative mammal and dog poop I had just made up. Raleigh chuckled under her breath when I gave her a 'my-moms-a-goof' look. "I don’t see a cat."

"That's because it smelled the dog poop and ran away. Now let's get my stuff and get inside for some nice air conditioned house."

Raleigh and I opened the tiniest trunk in the world and grabbed the few bags we brought with us on our trip. As we tugged them behind us and entered the newly furnished living room of my old home I gagged on the smell of fresh paint. The olive colored walls weren't as bad as I assumed they would be. They brought a more earthly glow to the room.

I ignored my brothers, who openly ignored my presence as well since they sat in front of the plasma television playing video games, and made my way to my old room. A sincere smile crossed my face as I scanned the picture covered walls of all my past friends and family. It seemed so surreal knowing that the last time I actually called this room my own and slept here almost every night was back in high school a few years ago. Nothing had changed about it other than the fact that it had been cleaned. I'm known as a very messy person.

"Look at that picture of us," Raleigh grimaced at an older one of her and me in the alley behind my house. "Gross."

I tossed my bags on the wooden floor and Raleigh copied my move as I flopped down on my futon. My eyes instantly closed out of exhaustion from the heat and driving from California to Chicago.

The bed sunk in as Raleigh lay beside me. We both were silent and almost drifted off to sleep when my mom busted open the door with a loud bang. Raleigh leapt up into a sitting position and covered her face with her hands as if it would hide her from the monster I called mother.

"I have a surprise for you both!" My mom sang to us with a large smile on her face. It was kind of scary. Almost like it stretched across one cheek to the other.

An envelope was in her hand and she held it out to Raleigh who cautiously took it. The older woman before us urged us with her eyes to open it. Raleigh attempted to give me the envelope, but I shook my head 'no'. I was too tired and lying on my stomach. Nothing could make me move.

"Jonas Brothers tickets!" Exclaimed Raleigh amused. "With sound check and private meet and greet passes."

My mom grinned, "It's a birthday present for Eve. The big two oh." This means twenty if you can't catch on.

"We have tickets for back in California too," Raleigh said.

"But you can never get enough Jonas Brothers," I smiled as I grabbed the tickets from Raleigh and examined the number of seats. "Are we on the ground floor?"

"Front row tickets…" My mom said slyly. I faced Raleigh with large eyes and let myself become as excited as she had been when she saw we were only a few streets away from my house. I sat up and did a dance that consisted of shaking my butt and flailing my arms wildly. It. Was. Hot. The dance was duh.

"Thank you so much!" I grabbed my mom in a hug and jumped up and down with her like Raleigh had done in greeting. "Jonas, Jonas, Jonas! Jonas, Jonas, Jonas, JONAS!"

"Shut up Eve," my friend chuckled at my excitement. Okay. Maybe I was a little over the top, but I was animated. Sue me for being happy once in my life.

"Like you aren't happy? Meet and greets, sound check passes, and front row tickets. That most have cost you some money."

"We've been able to save more money with you out of the house," my mom informed me with a grin. I huffed at her statement. I wasn't that much money. "But I need to go grocery shopping. You two girls eat more than everyone in this house together."

"That is true," Raleigh grinned.

"Buy me some fried chicken and beer," I raised my eyebrows at my mother waiting for her to make some kind of comment at my funniness. She frowned at my words before shaking her head and leaving the room. When the door shut behind her I faced Raleigh who was putting the tickets back in the envelope and got up to put it on my dresser.

The two of us both lazily began to go through our bags to pull out things we needed like our toothbrushes, hair brushes, makeup, deodorant, perfume, and pajamas given that we were going to get some shut eye since we were so consumed with jet lag.

As Raleigh started to organize both of our things in some order do to her OCD she began to talk about the Jonas concert. "These seats are so much better than the ones we have in California. We're almost in the nosebleeds," Raleigh contemplated as she began to move things around the room.

"Raleigh stop messing with my shit."

"I can't stay in a place with bad Feng Shui. It's just as bad as your room back at home."

I let my eyes wander around the room, "Actually this is cleaner."

"Ugh!" She groaned as she started to throw away what she assumed was garbage. I didn't bother trying to stop her. If she wanted to clean my room she could do as she pleased.

"So… Joe Jonas is going to look good sweating on that stage when he's playing."

Raleigh laughed, "Well Nick has better muscles."

"Joe Jonas sprays hot white foam on people's faces making their ginas tingle. Nothing could be hotter than that," I joked.

"Gross!" Raleigh scrunched up her face in dislike. "You're so sick."

"Don’t say you weren't thinking it."

"I was not thinking it," giggled Raleigh.

"Oh. That's just me I guess."

"Obviously."

"Joe Jonas dances on stage."

"Nick Jonas has beautiful curls."

I scoffed, "Nick Jonas is ugly as balls."

"No he's not!"

"Yes. He. Is."

"Shut up Eve!" Raleigh cried defensively for her stupid lover. I'll say it again. Stupid lover.

"You should be happy I don't find him attractive at all."

"I guess that's true."

Raleigh gave up attempting to clean my room and sat down on the bed beside me where I had resided. We both gave up talking and I almost fell asleep sitting up. My head kept bouncing up and down as I came in and out of consciousness. Just as I lay down to fall asleep a commotion sounded from the living area of my house.

"Evelyn! Raleigh! Come help me with the groceries."

Raleigh and I shared a fatigued look before groaning. So much for sleep.