Now I panic?

The club is all lights and drunk people dancing(if you can call what they're doing dancing) when we get there. We're at the back entrance. Mark and the others start unpacking all the stuff.

Speakers: Check. Guitars: Check. Extra Drumsticks: Check. Mic: Check. Glow in the dark paint?: Uh... check(but i have no idea what they're gonna use it for) And special Guitar picks: Check.

The guys set up onstage, while I wait in the V.I.P backstage performer's room with a couple other bands. They stare at me in amusement.

"Hey look, a groupie!" One of the guys laughs. He walks over, cocky arrogance coming off of him in waves. "Let me guess, you want an autograph, right?" He pats the top of my head, like I'm some little kid.

I don't look up. "Leave me alone."

He feigns shock. "Oh no! That was mean. You have to be punished." He grabs my arm, and I lose it. I jump up, and use his momentum to flip him over. He lands stomach down and I press my knee into his back. I lean down to his ear. "Now if you're smart, you'll leave me alone. Who knows what will happen if you get me any angrier? Now go back over to your little friends. Kay?"

I lift my knee off his back and he leaps up, angry now. His fist comes up. But before it can move back down, he gets a punch that sends him fling back into his friends. They knock over like bowling pins.

Liam stands over me, angry as heck. He grabs my arm, and I jerk away from him. "Let me go Liam! I could have taken care of this myself. You're gonna get the band disqualified."

The guy he punched stands up and runs back over, aiming for me. I smile, ducking underneath his punch and slamming my foot into the back of his knee. He drops like a sack of bricks. Liam laughs and we walk over to our corner, just as Mark and the others walk in.

"Whoa. What happened in here?" Mark looks at me, his eyes narrowed. I smile innocently.

"He pet my head."

Mark winces, knowing how much I hate that, then helps the dude up. "Sorry bro, but you had that coming. Don't mess with her head."

I sit on the edge of the sofa, then notice that the guys have beers in their hands. I swallow nervously. Bryan takes notice of this.

"Relax, Kort. We'll drink half now, and half later. Chill."

But now, I can't relax at all. They all sigh in unison and put their beers down.

Mark runs his hands through his hair. "Kort, that was one time. When are you gonna let that go? It's like we're not even allowed to have a good time anymore. Not with you around."

The guys nod in agreement. "You need to loosen up, Kort," Liam says. "You're killing us here. We're over twenty three, and can't even drink one little beer. Just stop, please."

Their words sting like a slap, but I don't cry. Not in front of them. I won't. I stand up, getting angry instead.

"Fine. But you're the one who wanted me to come!"

Mark doesn't look at me. "Well I'm starting to regret that now."

I'm truly speechless for a second. But then I speak again, almost a whisper.

"Fine. Go ahead and party all you want. Get drunk, and takes some girls home; I don't care."

"That's not what I meant Kort-"

"I don't care. Do it; have all the fun you want." I grab my bag. "Just don't expect me to watch that happen to you again." I stalk out of the room.

I've waved over a taxi, and am about to get in, when a hand grabs my arm. Mark.

"Kort, you know I didn't mean it like that. Where are you going?"

I take my arm back, making myself look calm and collected. I look him right in the eye.

"Listen. I had to watch you try to do that to yourself once already. I had to watch it dam-" I stop, realizing that I'm screaming now. I take a deep breath. "I'm going to Megan's. Have fun while you can."

He looks confused. "What-"

"When your done, you'll be coming home. When I get there tomorrow, the boring will start all over again. So have fun while you can."

I get in the cab. Mark holds the door open, pulling a twenty out of his wallet. He gives it to me. "We'll call you if we win."

"Don't bother," I say, and close the door. the taxi drives away from the curb.

...........................................................................................

Megan's house looks bigger than I remember. I hesitate before ringing the doorbell.

A short, pale woman opens the door, smiling softly. "Can I help you?"

"Um hi, is Megan here? Tell her it's Kortney."

The woman nods, beckoning me inside to wait. I take the time to look around.

Megan's parents have definitely renovated lately. The color of the season seems to be cream, and everything is modeled around that color. It makes me sick, reminding me of my parents' house.

A loud squeal interrupts my thoughts, and Megan comes bounding down the stairs to me, and I prepare myself for the tightest hug of my life, which she delivers.

"I can't believe your here! Wait!" She pulls back. "Doesn't your brother's band have a gig tonight? A competition?"

I shrug. "Yeah, but um... I don't think they... Well, Mark told me..." I smile, trying unsuccessfully to hide my hurt, even as tears come to my eyes. Megan puts a hand on my arm, comforting. I take a deep breath.

"I just think they'll be better off without me tonight-" My voice breaks on this last part, and I lean on her shoulder, sobbing. She hugs me, and I faintly hear her giving orders to someone.

I stop myself, determined to be strong, and she instantly pulls me into her cream colored dining room. On the huge marble counter top, there's the biggest dessert buffet I've ever seen in my life.

Cakes, brownies, cookies, ice cream, pudding, cupcakes, turnovers, cheesecake.. even straight jars of frosting! Megan pulls me over to it.

"How in the world did they get his here so fast? I just got here three minutes ago."

She smiles, already digging in. "I always have this set up for me on Saturdays. That's when my parents aren't home. You came right when the cook finished. Lucky you; now you can forget about your cruel band mates."

So we eat, talking about random things, until we're stuffed, and sleepy. Then we go up to her room, where she instantly falls asleep, not even bothering to change. I lay awake for awhile though, staring at the wide map of constellations covering her whole ceiling.

Megan's rich; or, her parents are anyways. She gets everything she wants' except for them. They're always working. I feel sorry for her. The truth is, this is exactly how my life would be, if I still lived with mom and dad.

I moved out with Mark, when he got tired of our parents. They didn't stop me. Now I'm lower than rich(way lower), but loving every minute of life; doing things I wouldn't be able to do if I still lived with our parents. My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I flip it open, so as to not disturb Megan. It's a text from Mark.

Are you okay?

I text him back.

I'm fine.

He answers almost immediately.

I'm sorry.

I answer, Goodnight, then turn my phone off, and go to sleep.

...............................................................

Megan is jumping up and down on the bed, trying to wake me up. I grab her ankle and yank, sending her sprawling onto her back in a fit of giggles. She has my phone, and hands it to me. "It's Mark."

I snatch the phone away and put it to my ear, still half asleep. "What do you want," I snap, just wanting to go back to sleep.

"Kooooort," Mark whines. "Please come home. The guys have serious hangovers and I don't know what to do with them."

"You'll figure it out." I'm about to hang up, but he yells for me to wait. I hear Liam tell him to shut up in the background.

"Kort please. I'm begging you here."

"I'm not moving from this bed, Mark. You guys are almost double my age; you should know how to take care of yourselves by now." I hang up.

I'm fully awake now, and I sit up. Megan is sitting Indian style at the end of the bed, a tray of delicious smelling food in front of her, watching me. I snag a piece of her bagel.

"So what did he want?"

My bagel is warm, and I cram it down, feeling bad now. "The guys have hangovers from last night and they want me to come home and play nurse." I sigh. "Can I borrow some clothes please?"

Megan nods, smearing jelly on a piece of toast. I pick out the simplest things I can find(even though it still adds up to over two thousand dollars of clothing) and change quickly, then grab my bag and one more piece of toast.

"Sorry Megan. Maybe I can come back next weekend?"

She smiles, excited. "Yeah! Maybe we could make an event of it. The whole weekend together, just like when we were kids."

"Sure, see you later."