Watch Their World Burn Down

*Kellins POV*

Knock, knock, knock.

"Shut the fuck up." I murmured as I lay in my king sized bed, staring at the ceiling.

Not that the was music and the talking of pompous snobs coming from downstairs was enough torture, no. My father thought it was a great idea to obnoxiously slam his fist on my door.
I knew that he wanted me to join whatever he called a party, and that he was probably going to be mad if I did not, but I wasn't planning on getting out of my room anytime sooner. Maybe, if I just ignored him long enough, he was going to leave it.
Another three sets of knocks and then there was silence. Finally.
A satisfied smile was about to set on my face, but it vanished, when five seconds later, there was a sigh, and my father spoke up.

"Listen, Kellin." He said sounding impatient. "Please, come with me. Don't expose me in front of our friends."

"Our friends?", I seethed. He couldn't be serious. The people he had invited were either the rich pricks that paid him, for his oh-so important job or they were just as wealthy as we were, and here to celebrate themselves and get free booze.
I knew how these charity events went down. They were held under a positive excuse, but were really only there to maintain business and gain a good reputation in high society.
These heartless bastards never gave a shit about the actual reason they were here.
And neither did my dad, the organizer of this event. He only wanted me downstairs, so he could show off his precious son, even though I was pretty sure they couldn't care less about a random baby face like me.

"Come on, Kellin. Just stay for an hour or so." My father pleaded. God, he was getting pathetic.
Not that I didn't enjoy it, but everything I wanted him to, was leaving me alone. And he wasn't going to, unless I gave in.

"I don't want to." I shouted. "They are going to hit on me, dad."
As weird as it sounds, that was true.
Me, a seventeen year old, socially awkward homo, was more experienced in turning down middle-aged women than my own father, which was quite amusing.

"They won't. I told them you're seventeen."
Hm, how did it come I didn't believe him? Yet I let him finish though.
"You don't have to talk to any of my partners, but it would be nice if you greeted the Hills and the Lawsons. Just make an appearance, so no one thinks you're dead or buried alive."

Sighing, I sat up a little until I was now leaning on the headboard. Shaking my head, I replied "I don't know..."

"Well, I do. Justin is waiting for you, and Jesse's going to be here in fifteen minutes, so you're coming with me. Now." He said. There was also a nasty kind of triumph in his voice now; as if he knew I was going to give in, which wasn't too wrong either.

I groaned. It was impossible to dodge my friends. They were simply too lovable and with them, it wouldn't be that bad.
But still, I was not keen to show up, just because daddy wanted to play happy family.
See my dilemma?

"Five minutes, please!", I called, not making a move to get ready.

"No", my father said sternly. Then the door flew open, and he peered around the corner. I gave him a less than impressed look he successfully ignored. "Up you get. C'mon."

I frowned at him. "You can't force me."

The vein on the side of his forehead started pulsating visibly.
"Yes I can. You join the party or home schooling is canceled." He snarled, the look on his face spiteful and mean.

My eyes widened in shock. "What?!"
He just shot me a smug smile, knowing that he got me. I felt my face heating up in anger.
He couldn't do that. He knew what this would do to me.
Then again, I was pretty sure he didn't care about any harm he did. God, how I disgusted this guy.

"You're either coming down from your tower, and act respectful or I'll send you to the public school next week. It's your choice, Kellin." He repeated.
Choice? What fucking choice? What had happened to me in public school was one of the most painful, harassing things I had experienced.
That didn't leave me with much to choose from.
And what was he saying about 'coming down from my tower'? What the hell was he talking about? He was the arrogant, pretentious one of us.
If someone had to come down from their tower, then it was my dad.

Nonetheless, I had to let him win.
I shuffled off of my bed, standing up and straightening my clothes.
"Fine." I said. "An hour. I'm not going to stay any longer.

"Great." He muttered, sounding thankful. His face still had a malicious expression on it though. "Now hurry up and put on your tie."

Without any protest, I did as I was told, taking it from my desk, and tying it around my collar. When I was done with the familiar knot, I tightened it, and shoved my phone into my back pocket.
"Ready?", he asked. Nodding as I walked towards him, I grabbed the doorknob and pulled my door closed, locking it afterwards.
While we walked down the long hallway, the sounds of the party got more and more prominent, which left me a little bit anxious, because of the many strangers inside and outside my house.

My eyes darted around on the ugly, burgundy red carpet. I didn't speak a word to my father, since there was no random topic to start on, and our relationship wasn't quite good enough that I felt like telling him about my personal stuff.
We remained in awkward silence, but just before we reached the stairwell he stopped me by laying a hand on my upper arm to hold me back.
I didn't like to be touched by him. It was uncomfortable, but I wasn't bold enough to shrug his hand off.

"Don't overdo the drinking, show your best demeanor. And for the love of god, behave." My father demanded. "This is not a request, it's an order. You know what will happen, if anyone complains about you."

I hated it when he talked to me like that. It made me feel like a twelve year old, yet I guess he had the right to do so.
Sometimes, I was simply not able to keep the sass down, but tonight I thought it was manageable. Although I was annoyed by pretty much everything, I would try and restrain myself from being rude to our guests.

I nodded and answered truthfully. "Yeah. I promise, I'll behave."

"Good." He motioned for me to go first, so I did.
The further we went down, the more conspicuous got the smell of aftershave, food and expensive perfume. I almost sneezed. It was a nauseating combination, and it made me want to throw up.

I didn't really didn't have a chance to do that though, because when we reached the bottom of the stairs, he stopped me once more.
"A man your age is going to be here soon." My father spoke. "He's from Maryland, was in Harvard, and is a big fish in finance trade. I want you to talk to him and show him your best side, Kellin."

I groaned in frustration.
Of fucking course there had to be another catch.
"You said I could hang out with my friends!" I objected.

Again, he had this sly look on his face when he corrected: "No, I didn't. I said they were here, not that you'd spend time with them."

I felt the need to punch myself in the face. How could I be stupid and naïve enough to trust my selfish father?
"You'll have to keep Mr Fernandez entertained, since I'm not that good with young people."

Oh, you don't say, old man.
I sighed. Fucking fabulous. Now I would have to put up with some stuck up jerk all night.

My life couldn't get any worse.