Adam

"So you hear about Peni getting banned from the dance?" I flicked my eyes over towards Jonas as I pressed the cold beer in my hand against my lips. I could see Dean's composure slightly fall and his face twist up in a grimace. I knew he was upset about Peni not being able to go with him to the dance. I'm not quite sure, but I have this hunch that Dean has a crush on Peni. I just don't think they'd work. They're too different... Not that I care or anything. I just don't want my boy getting hurt... "Yeah, yeah I did. Sorry about that by the way." I nudged Dean to let him know I was speaking to him. Peni hadn't talked to me since Monday, and it was irritating. Not even a peep in class or at lunch. She just kind of.. avoided me. I didn't much like it. "It's cool, I just feel kinda bad for her. She was actually looking forward to it. She even sent me a picture of her dress to make sure I matched it." Dean's grimace quickly twisted into a wicked grin, like he had a secret that he wanted to share.

"What's that look for?" Jonas asked jokingly and crushed the can be was holding, tossing it aside. Dean crossed his arms and looked down, the stupid smile still plastered on his face. "It's just... She looked really hot in the dress man." I gulped and looked up quickly. "She sent you a picture of her... In the dress?" I started grinding my teeth. I tried extremely hard to hold my tongue. What was wrong with me? Why was I getting so angry? "Yeah dude. Wanna see?" He didn't give me the chance to answer before whipping his phone out swiftly and going through his messages to find the photo of Peni, which did not take him long. He turned it towards me.

I could feel the frown appearing on my face. In the picture, she was attempting to hide her face so that you could only see the dress, but you could see just enough through her fingers to tell she was smiling. God, that smile... "Yeah, it's a really nice dress." I gulped again, attempting to keep my gaze away from the dress at all. I finally decided to just stop looking. Dean laughed, "The dress? You're looking at the dress?" Then Jonas stepped in, "Alright, chill out. This is Penelope we're talking about. Stop being such a perv." Exactly. Thank you Jonas. Jonas had changed so much since he got his girlfriend and it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I think in a way, Melody has kinda fixed Jonas. He had been a little screwed up for a while before she came along... but I'm certainly not judging him or anything. Of course, Dean and I are a little screwed up ourselves. Aren't we all though?

"Alright, alright. I'm just saying." Dean chuckled and slipped his phone back into his pocket. I tipped my head back and pressed the can to my lips again only to find there was nothing left to drink. I sighed and put the can down. I was already on my third drink, and I decided that was probably enough. Yes, I know I have a slight drinking problem. Yes, I've tried to fix it. I just can't. It's so difficult with all the stress I have been under lately. "So did I mention I got a birthday card from my mom Monday?" It was Thursday now, and I had been wanting to tell Dean and Jonas for a while but I guess I just didn't get the chance until now. It wasn't the first time she had sent me something or tried to get in touch with me, but it was one of the biggest for sure. They grew quiet and stared at me. "Well? What did it say?" Jonas spoke softly, almost as if he was trying to keep from waking someone up. " It was just a bunch of crap is all. The whole, I love you so much and miss you everyday." I tried not to sound bitter, but it certainly came out that way.

I'm not going to lie, I don't like my mother. I love her, of course. But only because she gave birth to me. I just find it kind of amusing that she only ever tries to get in touch with me on special occasions and not once has it been in person. It's always a card, and on very rare occasions, a phone call. I never really understood why she left either. She just packed up and went on her way, leaving my father and I in a messy, broken jumble. I don't care what my dad says either, he's still a mess. Danielle hasn't "fixed" anything. My mother messed us up in ways I can't explain. Maybe that's why I have such hard problems with commitment, and that weird love thing. I don't know, but it sucks. "So what did your dad do when he saw it?" I scoffed, "Nothing. I don't even think he did see it to be honest which is probably for the best."

Dean and Jonas both nodded slowly, allowing silence to fall over all of us. I tried to let myself think of different things, like the dance tomorrow night. But that just made me think of how I would be taking Charlotte. Don't get me wrong, Charlotte a nice girl. She's pretty, smart, and she's a cheerleader... but I don't think she's the right one for me. She never was to say the truth. It's not that we're too different, or even that we're too alike. It's just that she's not... "Hello, boys." I jumped, only to see Melody grinning and coming to a stop next to Jonas, who immediately turned all attention towards her. "Hey Mel." Jonas kissed his girlfriend on the cheek and half-way smiled. "What are you doing here?" She placed her hands on her hips, sighing. "I've come to steal you guys away from your dumb ole guy things. I've got Peni in the car and..." I perked up and glanced around to find Melody's car. Sure enough, I could see a girl's silhouette in the front seat holding a phone to her ear.

"We're taking her to the diner. She seriously needs some cheering up." Mel had suggested to her that we all just not go and hang out at her house, but she wouldn't even consider it. She had already taken up another shift at the library Friday, so there was no hope anyway. I was perfectly fine with the whole idea of not going, I didn't want to have to go to that stupid thing anyway. But... I do. "Come on, lazy bums. Let's go. Get in your cars and get your butts over there. Blake's gonna meet us there." Melody slapped Jonas on the chest and hurried us along. Hey, maybe this meant Peni would talk to me...

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This was not how I wanted to spend my Friday night, not that I had some party to be at or anything. I just didn't want to be here. At a school dance with all of these people crowded around sweating on each other. I would much rather be at home... Or with Peni... AND Jonas and Dean... Not just with Peni of course. "Adam. Come on. Come dance." I sighed dramatically. Charlotte was pouting at me. I felt slightly bad for her. The girl just wanted to dance and have some fun. I just really didn't feel like it. "Okay. Okay." I stifled a groan and stood up from my seat, holding out a hand for Charlotte to take. I didn't want to be rude. Despite what most people tend to think of me, I'm not terrible. I promise. Yes, I may have a history with girls and the way I've treated them but I'm not a complete asshole. Or at least, I try not to be.

Charlotte did look really nice. She had on this tight red dress that would, on any normal day, drive me crazy. But apparently, today was no normal day because I wasn't able to stay focused on her for more than a minute. "Yay! Thanks baby." Charlotte kissed me on the cheek and grinned, pulling me out to the dance floor. I knew this wasn't a good idea. I knew how to slow dance properly but that was about it. I had never tried to "party dance," I guess that's what it would be called. Charlotte loosely swung her hips and swayed back and forth. What was I supposed to do? The same thing? No. That's a girl's thing. Maybe, I should... Just nod my head or something...

"Hey." Thank God. "Yeah?" I paused my brief awkward moment with Charlotte and turned around to see Jonas smirking at me. "Punch. Spiked." I nodded slowly, "Hey Charlotte, you want some punch?" I tried to push the memory of what happened the last time we had spiked punch at a party, at my party, out of my mind. "Yeah sure." She continued swaying and swinging as I rushed off to get punch. That's what I needed right now. Alcohol. I drank as much of the punch as possible as I grabbed some for Charlotte. Thank God Principal Brown didn't get someone to man the punch bowl. This thing would've been ten times worse. I had somewhat of a talent for drinking alcohol quickly. I didn't take pride in it... But I certainly utilized it. Finally, I was beginning to feel light, and maybe even a little bit loose. So I brought back two cups of the punch, one to finish me off and one to start Charlotte off. This helped immensely with my problem of having fun. I'm beginning to feel good.

...But then my phone started to buzz... I on instinct declined the call, not even looking at who it was, so I could continue with my happiness. And then it just kept going. I kept declining and they kept calling until I reluctantly decided to answer. I didn't think about going outside to answer, I didn't want the call to last too long. I still didn't even glance at who it was that was calling;
"Yes? What is it?" I could here the annoyance in my own voice but I did not care. A woman's voice answered shakily, "Adam. Come home. Please, please come home." Danielle. It was Danielle. She sounded as if she was crying. "No. I don't wanna. Why should I have to?" I couldn't focus. Everything seemed to be happening all at once and it was hard to understand. "Adam. Adam, honey, I'm so sorry. It's your mother... She, she's dead, Adam. Your father is missing. I didn't want to have to tell you like this, but he's gone. He left and I don't know where he is. Adam, please come home. I don't know what he's doing. He could be hurt..."

Everything stilled, and I seemed to have simply understood everything that was happening. I couldn't breath. My head was hurting and the people around me were being unnecessarily loud. My phone fell from my grasp as if I wasn't actually trying to hold on anymore. Someone was calling my name. I don't know who it was, but they were so loud. I just wish they would stop being so loud. My knees buckled and I was on the ground, kneeling in the midst of everyone. I need to... I need to... "ADAM! Adam, are you okay? Adam, dude you're scaring me." Dean. That was Dean's face that had shown up. For some reason, only one thought popped up that would actually come out. "I-I need Peni."

Soooooo, I decided to make this chapter a bit longer so I could fit the important bits in there. Love you all so much. I will try so hard to update super soon. Thank you for reading!!!
Lily