In the Rose Garden

"So what'd you do with your father?" Mrs. Turner asked as she stood in Addison's doorway against the door frame. She blew out the smoke from her cigarette.

"Stuff," Addison responded and shrugged her shoulders as she emptied out her overnight bag.

"Stuff like what?"

"We went shopping, went to the movies, and had dinner with a friend of his…"

"Was it his new slut girlfriend?"

"She's not a slut, Mom," Addison said and looked over at her.

"Sure, whatever," Mrs. Turner replied.

Agitated, Addison turned to her and said, "If you don't really care, then don't ask. Katie is not a slut so just accept it for what it is and get over it."

Mrs. Turner stepped into the room and came face to face with Addison. "Don't you ever use that tone with me again. I will not tolerate that. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," Addison quietly said. The overwhelming smell of alcohol made her feel slightly nauseous. Her mother stared at her as she took another drag from her cigarette and then left the room. Addison rolled her eyes and gathered her clothes to take into the laundry room. She took the back stairs that led straight into the laundry room instead of going through the living room where her mother was. She dropped the clothes into the washer along with detergent and fabric softener and closed the lid before starting it. She retreated back upstairs to her room and called Lily.

"When did you get home?"

"I got back like, half an hour ago and my mom is starting fights with me already."

"Seriously? I love your mom," Lily said with sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Best mother ever!" Addison agreed.

"So when are we going out?"

"Maybe in an hour or two. I just put my laundry in the washer."

"Okay, well just let me know when that's all done. Anyway, what's your dad's girlfriend like?"

"She is seriously awesome. We spent some girl time together and went shopping. I'd take her over my mom any day."

"What does she do? What does she look like? How old is she?"

"She's a nurse. She's like, five foot ten or something with brown hair and green eyes. She's super pretty. She's twenty-eight."

"Twenty-eight? Seriously? She's barely ten years older than you. You should have let me know sooner that your dad liked them young. I would've-"

Addison cut her off. "Oh my god, Lily, that's my dad you're talking about."

"What? He's hot."

"That doesn't make him stop being my dad."

"I know. Isn't that weird at all though? She's twenty-eight and you're nineteen."

"So and my dad's thirty-six, big deal…" Addison shrugged her shoulders as if Lily could actually see her.

"I don't know. I'd be a little weirded out.

"It's not that bad once you actually get to know her. She's a really cool person. My mom's dubbed her a slut already."

"Of course your mom would. Leave it up to her to dub anyone your dad sees a slut."

"I'm thinking about moving to my dad's. I mean, I'm nineteen years old. I can legally do whatever I want."

"But that's like, an hour away from here, from me."

"In case you forgot, you're nineteen also. That means you can move out too."

"But I got a good setup here."

"I know. I really want to go though."

"Hmm," Lily said, "we'll figure something out."

"Yeah we will. It's going to be a while before I even bring it up to my mom."

"Yeah… are your clothes done yet?

Addison laughed. "Not yet."

Addison heard Lily say something to her mom and then get back on the phone. "I have to go take the dogs for a walk. Call me when your clothes are done and we'll go out."

"I will. Have fun."

"Yeah, sure," Lily said sarcastically and the girls hung up. Addison set her phone down and then went and lied on her bed. Excluding Lily out of the factor, she compared what her life is like with her mom compared to her life with her dad. She decided she would take life with her dad any day over her mom.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Big Rob looked around and kept a close watch on the two brothers. As the boys walked into Starbucks a photographer stepped a little too close. Big Rob stopped him right where he was.

"Don't even think about it," he told the man. Nick and Joe looked behind them at the scene and kept going.

"So where were you Saturday?" Nick asked.

"I went and saw Taylor and then I stopped back at that little shop we had went to earlier in the week to see if they still had those shoes Taylor wanted but didn't get."

"Or did you just want to see that girl again?"

"What girl?" Joe asked Nick with wide eyes.

"I overheard you telling Garbo about a girl you saw when you and Taylor were shopping."

"Wrong girl," Joe tried to lie but by the look Nick was giving him, he knew there was no getting it past him.

"Nice try, bro."

"Well it's not like I can do anything about it. I'm with Taylor now. I probably won't ever see her again anyway."

Nick handed the barista money and turned back to Joe. "You never know. She might unexpectedly pop up somewhere."

"Addison! Come on!" Joe heard behind him. He turned to see a brunette pulling on her best friend.

"Dude Nick, that's her," Joe whispered to Nick.

Nick looked at the girls and then at Joe and shrugged his shoulders.

"The blonde haired one," he told him and Nick looked again.

"I am so good," Nick said and nodded his head. "Are you going to talk to her?"

"And say what?"

"You're Joe Jonas; do you really need to say anything?"

"Um, yeah, it'd be kind of weird if I just walked up to a girl and said nothing."

"Yeah, that would be kind of weird," Nick agreed. "Well, good luck."

"You know what; I'm not going to say anything. I don't want rumors and things like to start and everything. That wouldn't be fair to her."

"Plus you have a girlfriend."

"Yes, that is true also."

When Nick turned to look at him, Joe was gone. He watched him approach the girls and shove his hands in his pockets. He clearly had no clue what to say.

"Hey Addison," Joe said lightly.

"Hey Joe…" Addison found it honestly amazing that he remembered her name.

"Hey look, again, I'm really sorry about Taylor the other day. She was having a really bad day and I know it's no excuse for that kind of treatment."

"There's no reason for you to apologize, you weren't the one acting that way but thanks though." Joe walked with the girls up to the counter so they could buy their coffees.

"You know what? These are on me. It's the least I could do," Joe said as he pulled a twenty dollar bill out of his pocket.

"You don't have to do that," Addison said she produced her own also. Joe held his free hand up to block hers from making it to the barista.

"Ha, I beat you to it," he said trying to be funny.

Addison found it cute so she laughed anyway. "Thanks Joe."

"Yeah, thanks Joe. I'm Lily by the way," Lily said from beside Addison.

"Oh, sorry!" she apologized to her best friend.

Lily and Joe shook hands before he introduced Nick. The girls grabbed their drinks off the counter and thanked Joe again as they headed for the door. Once they were outside, Joe pulled her aside and they had a quick private conversation before they joined Nick, Lily, and Big Rob.

"So um… it was nice seeing you again and it was nice meeting you, Lily," Joe and Nick said to the girls.

"Yeah, it was," the girls responded.

"We'll see you guys later," Nick said. The two pairs parted and went in opposite directions.

"So what did Joe want?" Lily asked once they boys were far enough away.

"To call or text me sometime," Addison responded.

"Dude, Joe Jonas from the Jonas Brothers has your number. That's pretty huge."

"Yeah but the only question is now is he actually going to use it?"

"If he doesn't, I'll find him and beat him with a stick."

"Don't say that around Big Rob."

"I know right. That dude is much more intimidating than he looks on TV."

"Usually that's the idea," Addison said and rubbed her friend's back. "It's all right though; you're still my best friend."

"Please, you can't get rid of me and my stupidity that easily," Lily said and sipped her frozen coffee.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Addison folded her new shirts and put them in the second drawer of her dresser. She put her new jeans in the third drawer and the hoodies were hung up in the closet. She looked around her room one more time to make sure she didn't miss any clothing items. She was sure she got everything after a minute of searching. She grabbed her composition notebook and a pen before sitting on her bed.

Lily and I stopped at Starbucks today and Joe and Nick Jonas were there. Joe actually remembered me. I honestly found that a little amazing given how many people he probably meets a day. Both he and Nick were really nice nonetheless. Joe bought our drinks I guess to try and make up for Taylor's poor behavior a couple days ago. It's not his fault she was acting like that. Well… it could have been and maybe he just wasn't admitting to it. But then again, their relationship and their problems are none of my business. I'm not friends with either of them so yeah.

Addison stopped writing long enough to check her phone which vibrated on the nightstand next to her.

Hey, it's Joe. I know it's kind of late but could you meet up with me somewhere?

After Addison responded, he quickly responded with the address and said cool, thanks. Being as quiet as she could, Addison grabbed a hoody and her car keys and snuck out the front door to go meet Joe.