Keep Me Guessing

There was a giant cake in the kitchen reading Congrats All Time Low! waiting to be cut. In the living room there was Mr. and Mrs. Gaskarth, Dawson, and Merrick, along with my aunt and uncle. Every set of parent was so proud of their child, they kept saying a congratulation on repeat, and only us "kids" noticed. Mrs. Merrick kept fawning over me and how lucky Zack was to have snagged me before somebody else; I smiled politely and excused myself. Brie and Rian were sitting at the kitchen table together, I pulled up a chair and joined them.

"Enjoying your party Ri?" I asked.

"Totally," he smiled. "I mean, it's a nice gesture, nice to know everyone supports us, but everybody is repeating themselves like a broken record."

"Nice analogy," Brie laughed. "Now, remember when you get all famous, you're bringing me and Addie, and Kara, and Cheyenne."

"Yeah," I joked. "We can be your groupies."

"Definitely." He grinned. "Or just a merch bitches."

"How many times do Kara and I have to do that for you." Brie moaned. "Make just Addie and Chey do it."

"Oh yeah, you guys have toured before, haven't you?" I said.

"Yeah," Alex said, coming up to us. "Just a few times."

"And Jack never made you guys come out to Seattle?" I gasped.

"We only toured the east coast." Rian said apologetically.

A thought dawned on me and I giggled. "Brie guess what!"

"What?" she asked wearily.

"You, me, and Kara are going to be envied by every little girl, and some boys, now." I grinned. "We're dating rock stars."

"Oh my god." She shouted. "That is so true. Now I can die happily."

"Hey now," Jack walked into the room. "No dying my dear."

"Where's Zack, Cheyenne, and Kara?" Rian asked.

"Right here." Zack said as the three of them entered the room.

All of us sat in the kitchen eyeing the cake and agreeing that our parents (aunt and uncle and guardian) hadn't even noticed not one of us was in the living room. Most of us had been in the kitchen for almost an hour by the time Zack, Cheyenne, and Kara had came in, and nobody had come looking for us yet. Conversation was far from ceasing, and even the most sadistic person could wipe the smile from our faces. Jack was edging closer to the cake with each passing tick of the clock and licking his lips to every tock. Right as he reached out to take off a bit of frosting I smacked his hand and shook my head no at him. He tried to pout, but I was his cousin and immune to his facial technique; a glitch in my programming he proclaimed.

It wasn't until my uncle came stumbling in the kitchen for a drink when our disappearence became clear. He smiled at us, shaking his head and told my aunt that we had come to the kitchen. The parents migrated in by us, you could hear the looks on their faces when this happened. Grabbing a knife, my aunt asked if anybody wanted cake; while the adults said yes, the rest of us all shouted the answer. Aunt Michelle handed out pieces and smacked Jack for shoving half of his slice in his mouth at once; nearly causing him to choke.

"A toast!" Mr. Dawson said. "To All Time Low's signing."

"To All Time Low's signing." We chorused.

"So boys, when do you record?" Mrs. Gaskarth asked. "When do you tour?"

"We're not quite sure yet." Zack answered for them. "We have another meeting with them next week though, to go over everything. We'll probably start touring more this summer though."

"Well, whenever you do," Mrs. Merrick said. "We will all be there for you."

"Thanks mom."

With the cake in hand, conversation died as we stuffed our faces with this cake. Forks clanked against the porcelain of plates and my uncle brought up the SuperBowl that had been played just a week or so earlier. It was Seattle against some other team, I was bummed that the Seahawks didn't win, only, I didn't really care. The adult men began talking animatedly about that while the adult women rolled their eyes and started talking about how proud they were of the boys. Like a lot of people, they tend to ramble and continue on a conversation, even if it bores everybody else in the room.

Following Kara's lead, the rest of us filed out of the kitchen, cake in hand, and to the living room. To us, this wasn't a party, this was a small get together. A party consists of loud music, tons of people you barely know, alcohol, and sex- but none of us are going to bring that point up. Lying on the ground trying to eat cake is not an easy task, I was attempting it and everyone of them was laughing at me.

"Stop it." I whined.

"Sorry Soph, it's just to priceless." Zack laughed. "Why don't you sit up and eat?"

"Because, obviously I am tired and wanting to lie down." I said.

He sat down on the ground and pulled me into his chest so that I was leaning against him, giving me an advantage to eating. I glared playfully at him before sticking my finger in the icing and wiping it on his nose, giggling like a little girl.Zack smirked, handing my cake to Brie he began to tickle me, I laughed uncontrollably. He kissed me slightly and when he backed away from my face, I licked his nose and grinned devilishly.

"What's going on in here?" someone mused from the doorway.

"Oh, hey Mr. Merrick." I stuttered.

"I was teaching Soph a lesson." Zack grinned.

"You sure that was all?" he teased

Our faces turned red as all of our friends laughed hysterically at Zack's father cathing is getting a little frisky. Mr. Merrick laughed, retreating back into the kitchen, leaving us, almost mortified. Zack and I sat there, paralyzed by what had just happened before bursting into our own round of hysterics.

"Some party." Alex said when we finished. "But whose complaining when we got signed!"

"Whoo!" Jack yelled. "Now all as we got to do is graduate."

"Then every teenage girl with good taste in music will know your names!" Kara said.

"Oh God." Brie laughed. "Girls, we're going to have plenty of little kids after our boys."

"We can handle it." I said, acting tough. "I mean, we already handle their antics."

The adults came back in, smiling still, to socialize with us, for once.