Life Isn't All That Bad

Downstairs, my mother was busy unpacking our kitchen supplies. Light conversation filled the room for the next few hours as we unpacked, organized, and reorganized our belongings.

Finally, my mom announced that we were done for the day, and that it was time to start dinner. Something simple- spaghetti.

While my mom was boiling the noodles, I was attempting to get the sauce ready. Next thing I knew, the front of my Ryan Adams shirt and my purple shorts were covered in the tomato sauce.

"How did that even happen?" I yelped, trying to wipe some of it off with a paper towel.

My mom just laughed, rolling her eyes. I sighed, and gave up at cleaning the mess. I needed to shower anyway; I'd change into clean clothes then.

After making dinner without any more accidents, my mom and I sat in silence, eating our food. "I'm sorry about last night," I said quietly, breaking our silence.

She glanced up from her plate. "It's alright, Beau. I just... I'm not used to this. In New York, you hardly went out, and when you did, it was with Danny. I always knew where you were, and Danny is basically a son to me, so I knew you were with someone safe. Here? I don’t know that Nickelsen boy. His family seems nice, but I don’t know him. I didn’t know where you were, or who you were with. I just... I was scared."

"I'm really sorry. I promise it won't happen again," I mumbled, twirling the spaghetti around my fork.

"Oh Beau. Don't promise something like that. You're a teenager. You're supposed to be wild and reckless. I know that I was when I was you're age. I don't want you to look back and think, 'why didn’t I do that?' or something like that. But just... Next time, let me know where you are, okay?"

I nodded, giving her a small smile. That was what I loved about my mom. She was still young, almost 41. She'd had me at the mere age of 23. She'd always been a rebel as a teenager, so she wasn't as strict as most other parents. She was willing to talk to me about anything, and that was what I loved about her.

After a few more minutes of silence, my mom spoke. "So, tomorrow, I think I'm going to go job hunting.

After dinner, I announced that I was going to shower, and headed upstairs. I turned the water on, setting it at a warm temperature. I pulled my hair down from its messy bun, stripping out of my clothes.

The water felt refreshing. All day, I could feel the linger smell of alcohol and smoke on my skin. I thought back to the party last night. I should have never agreed to go. Liz never should have begged me to go. The girl was my best friend; anytime she begged me to do something, I'd cave.

Earlier in the day, she'd sent a text, saying that she was sorry for ditching, but I hadn’t bothered to respond. She was probably too hung-over to even care.

I scrubbed at my skin, the warm water washing away all thoughts of last night's party. But one thought stayed in the back of my mind.

John had kissed me last night. That conceited boy that I hardly knew kissed me. Sure, he was doing it to get rid of that drunken brute, Evan, but that didn’t mean I was any less mad. The next time I saw that conceited asshole, I was going to give him a piece of my mind.

I rinsed out my hair quickly, shutting off the water. Steam had fogged over the mirror while I wrapped a towel around myself. My typically pajamas were still messy from my dinner accident, so I opted for sleeping in a loose tank top and a pair of boy shorts. I was tired, but it was too early to go to bed. Instead, I just laid in bed, doodling in an old notebook. Ryan Adams' voice echoed throughout my room, eventually lulling me to sleep.

As soon as my mom woke me up, my stomach let out a large grumble. I was starved.

"Beau, honey, I'm going out. Job-hunting time. So you gotta get up," she said softly, sitting on the edge of my bed. I just grunted, rolling onto my stomach.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm up," I grumbled, my face buried in the pillow. I felt her weight leave the edge of my bed, and heard her footsteps head out of my room. I rolled back onto my back and let out a small groan. As hungry as I was, I didn't want to get up. I wanted to stay in bed, and just sleep the day away. I heard some noise downstairs, and then heard my mom's car drive away. I guess I had to get up now.

Sitting up, I grabbed my glasses, pushing them up on the bridge of my nose, and pulled my hair from its bun. Leaving it like that overnight was a bad idea, especially because it was still wet. My hair fell around my face in a pile of curls and waves. It would take a lot of straightening to fix that...

I climbed out of bed, and headed down the stairs, oblivious to the noises downstairs. I assumed my mom had left the TV on or something. She was known for doing that, all the time.

When I stepped into the kitchen, I suddenly wished I had paid more attention to the noises I had heard. Instant, I found five guys sitting at my kitchen table, all of their eyes falling on me. Their eyes went wide at the sight of me, and I bite my tongue to keep from screaming. My cheeks were on fire with embarrassment.

"W-what... J-just... I-I'll be r-right back," I stammered out, running out of the room, and back up the stairs. Why were they in my house? Had my mom let them in and not warned me? Or had they just waltzed into my house uninvited? It wouldn’t be a surprise- Garrett had already done that once, why not do it again? Of course, he'd been alone last time. Now he brought all his friends with him. At least Kennedy wasn’t here- Liz would be furious if he was.

I pulled on a pair of shorts, and ruffled my curly mess of hair in an attempt to make it look somewhat decent. I let out a heavy sigh, before returning back downstairs.

"Sorry for scaring you," Pat said when I returned, a guilty look on his face. "You're mom let us in on her way out..."

"I just wanted to see my best friend!" Halvo announced.

"The guys were all over at my house, and we thought we'd keep you company," Garrett explained.

"Oh, um, okay," I stuttered out, shifting back and forth on my feet. "D-do you guys mind if I um, eat first?"

"Do you have food to share?" Pat asked, smiling widely. I smiled weakly, and pulled out a box of Pop-Tarts, taking one for myself before handing the box to him. The box was passed around the table, and soon I had no Pop-Tarts left.

The guys chattered amongst themselves while I sat silently, staring at the table. I didn’t understand why they even wanted to be here. I was shy and awkward, and not all that much fun.

Jared poked my arm. "Are you alright?" he asked softly, so only I could hear.

I shrugged, nibbling on my Pop-Tart. I wasn’t really alright- they'd all just seen me in my underwear. That was not alright. I could feel cheeks heating up at the mere thought.

"So, baby, what do you want to do?" John asked from across the table.

I glared at him. "I thought I told you, if you ever call me-"

"You said if I ever called you babe you'd seriously hurt me. Never said anything about baby," he smirked. The guys just looked back and forth us, confused looks on their faces.

I shot him a glare, as if to tell him that he couldn’t call me that, but I could feel my cheeks getting red.

What were these Arizona boys doing to me?