Raising Sophie Ryan.

Anticipation tantalized every nerve in my body, the adrenaline rush causing me to pace faster, and Harmony’s eyes fixated on my nervous breakdown did nothing to anchor my movements. My habit of cleaning everything when I was anxious was not often a selling point in my friendship qualities, and right now, it seemed to be irritating Harmony, as she watched me race from one end of the apartment to the other, juggling window cleaner, stain remover and cleaning cloths.

“Can you stop? You’re making me exhausted just watching you!” Harmony complained, stretching out on the couch with a can of pop, looking up at me with lazy eyes. “You know, they’re not going to care what the place looks like, they’ll just mess it up again in a matter of seconds.”

I sighed, dumping the cleaning products on the table. She had a point. “You’re right, I’m just sort of nervous, it’s been a while since we have seen the boys last, and to be honest, they are big rock stars now! What are we, a barrister and a music shop assistant?”

Harmony sat up straight, pointing a finger at me accusingly. “I resent that! I am much cooler than you make me sound.”

I rolled my eyes for lack of better way to show what was rolling through my mind. Despite Harmony’s attempts to calm me down, the beast of anxiety roared awake in the bottom of my stomach, rippling out and filling up my body with apprehension. I was right, the boys Harmony and I grew up with were no longer just that, they were in a highly successful band, selling albums worldwide and touring with bands they used to look up to for inspiration. They had changed, we were still the same.

We had always been the brat pack in school, the group of kids that were neutral, never cool, but never losers. Alex Gaskarth, Rian Dawson, Zack Merrick, Jack Barakat, Harmony Evans, and me, Adelaide Scott. We endured the highs and lows of high school together, prom, tests, teachers, Phys Ed class, and eventually, graduation. And when that time came, the boys got signed to Hopeless Records and their band, All Time Low, began to pick up and take off, which meant they had to leave for long periods of time, and we didn’t hang out as much. With All Time Low taking flight, it left Harmony and I here, taking a gap year to decide what to do with our respective futures. One year rolled into a few more, and we are still here, working shitty day jobs in a small apartment and going nowhere.

I’d like to say that this bothered me; in fact, I would love to say that this encouraged me further to start living, but I just can’t. I found nothing wrong with my life, as long as I was still here for when our boys got back, as long as we were here for them to fall back on. They were all that mattered, but now, with their new record ‘Nothing Personal’ topping charts, would they still be our boys?

A loud burp brought me back, and I looked down at Harmony, my nose crinkling a little. “Your lady-like manners astound me, Harmony. Now, get your ass up, you can help me make dinner.”

Harmony’s grin fell, accompanied by a loud groan. Whenever the words “I need some help with this,” were spoken out loud, Harmony seemed to magically disappear, or suddenly be in need of a shower, or extremely busy. It seemed fate was on her side whenever work was needed, because at that moment, the door bell ringed, and Harmony let out a cheer.

“That would be them!” Harmony jumped off the couch, and flew to the door, moving faster than I ever thought possible for Harmony. With a rapid heart, I followed suit, straightening out my outfit with fumbling fingers.

Harmony pulled the door away to reveal four smiling boys, the corners of their eyes crinkled with weariness, but nevertheless looking ecstatic at the sight of us.

“WE’RE HOME!” Jack squealed, flinging himself at Harmony and causing both of them to land in a giggling heap on the floor.

“Addie!” Alex, Rian and Zack yelled, and I soon found myself wrapped in three sets of arms, as I tried to hug them all back, my smile splitting my face as I tried to contain my joy. I realized my worrying had been pointless, our boys were back, and they still remained our boys.

The next five minutes were filled with hugs and words of welcome tumbling effortlessly from mouths as we all fought for our excitement to be heard of the next.

“Zack, dude, you have been working out, you look good!”

“Alex, knock up any girls on tour?”

“Jackie! Did you bring me back anything cool?”

“Wow, who is that hunk? It can’t be Rian!”

“You would not believe what happened while we were in Florida!”

“Hey, shut up!”

“Yeah, he kept it wrapped up pretty tight!”

And so on, and so forth. I thought my body couldn’t contain the excitement as we entered the kitchen, Harmony passing out drinks as I found the local pizza shop menu; it was obvious that no one would be cooking now.

Before I could ask everyone to shut up so I could get the order correct, God forbid I order pepperoni, the door bell rang out once more, capturing everyone’s attention as they gazed toward the front door. Seeing as no one else seemed willing to answer it, I opened the door cautiously to be met with a sight I hadn’t expected, nor would have welcomed.

“Kendra?” I questioned, raising an eyebrow at Alex’s old high school girlfriend, and more so at the kid standing quietly at her feet.

“Yeah, Alex here?” Kendra asked, sounding as if she was in a hurry to leave. I nodded and moved to the side of the door frame as Alex walked up behind me, mouth slightly open as he saw who was waiting for him.

“Kendra, what are you doing here?”

“I brought you a little homecoming present. Wasn’t prom night a blast? Yeah, look what I got out of it.” Kendra pushed the little girl forward and the girl cringed in fright. “I don’t have the money nor the time to look after her, so tag, you’re it. All the legal documents and stuff are in her bag, don’t try and contact me. This is your mess.” And with that, Kendra vanished, leaving a stunned Alex to deal with a little girl who cuddled her stuffed bear close, and was holding a bag in her shaking hand, whimpering in fear.

I could feel my face contort into an image of disgust, I couldn’t believe Kendra could be as harsh and vile as she just was. With Alex motionless, and no one else having anything to say, I kneeled down to the girl’s level, smiling despite my anger at Kendra.

“Hi sweetie, my name’s Addie. What’s yours?”

She looked up at me with large eyes, Alex’s eyes, before mumbling, “M-my name’s Sophie. Sophie Ryan.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Sophie. Do you wanna come inside, out of the cold?” I asked, unsure of how to get her inside without scaring her too much. She shook her head violently, before hiding her face in the tattered bear.

I decided to try a different tactic. “Well, is your bear hungry? I’m sure we could find something for both of you to eat, it’s nearly dinner time.”

Sophie peeked up at me, and nodded her head slightly, before opening her arms in a motion to pick her up. I lifted her onto my hip, and gestured to Alex to grab the bag that had fallen at her feet. Alex seemed emotionless, his face hard as he grimly picked up the bag and shut the door behind him.

Jack, Zack, Rian and Harmony just watched with their mouths hung open as I settled Sophie on the counter top and began to rummage through Harmony’s collection of junk food for something suitable. Settling on a juice box and a packet of chips, I gathered Sophie in my arms and took to the couch, letting Sophie cuddle in my lap as she cautiously began munching through her snacks.

Slowly, the rest of the gang found spots in the lounge, their eyes still stuck on Sophie, nobody saying a word. Jack crawled a little closer, peering at Sophie as she stared back at him just as hard.

“I don’t get it...” Jack started, still being stared down by Sophie.

“What’s there to get?” Rian interjected. “Alex, being the testosterone filled dude he is, shoved is d-"

“Rian!” I squealed, covering Sophie’s ears with my hands, as Harmony did the same to her own. I rolled my eyes at my best friend, anyone else would swear black and blue she was a six year old stuck in a twenty-one year old's body. Zack slapped Rian on the back of the head, earning a small giggle out of Sophie.

“That’s not what I meant!” Jack stated loudly, shoving Rian in the gut. “I meant, I don’t get how such a good looking kid could come from... Alex.” Alex shot daggers at Jack, who just raised his hands innocently. The room went silent, Alex still staring at Sophie, his eyes filled with total desperation and fear.

It was then that Zack piped up, asking the question that all of us were thinking, but none wanted to say out loud.

“So, what do we do now?”