Chapter 33– Just A Get Together**Fast Forward Sunday** (Jacquie’s POV)

I wake up and get out of bed I yawn and walk into the lounge room I sit on the couch and turn on the TV and flip through the channels all that is on is music shows. Normally I would love this but it didn’t really appeal to me at this moment. I turn off the TV and put on the kettle to make a coffee I knock quietly on Mum and Mark’s door to check if they were awake, The door opens and Mark pops his head out.

“Morning sunshine” he says sarcastically to me.
“Morning bed head” I say.
He feels his hair and serious his hair was like a birds nest.
“Damn” he says trying to flatten his hair with his hands.
“So you trying the dreadlocks look?” I ask.
“Totally” he says sarcastically.
“You and Mum want some coffee?” I ask with a smile.
“Yeah that would be nice” he says.
“Sure” I say and he closes to door.

I walk back into the kitchen and make 3 cups of coffee.
Mum and Mark come out and get their coffees and sit together on the couch and watch TV.
“Hey Jacquie it’s Musicz” Mum says.
“Nah I don’t feel like watching but if you see anything that I would like call me,” I say taking my coffee into my room.
I take a sip of coffee and place it on the desk I sit down and continue my little song I was writing. It wasn’t really a song,More like a poem about boredom.

My phone goes off.
I answer it.
“Hello, if you would like to see your friends live pay $10,000” Andrew says.
“Nope, not paying” I say jokingly.
“Well you' mean” he says laughing.
“You know I would pay but I can tell it’s you” I say.
“How?” he asks.
“Your voice” I say
“Yeah but I made it sound muffled” he says.
“Yeah but I could tell it’s you” I say.
“Sure” he says, “Anyways, So wanna come over Jared’s say 6pm?”
“Why not now?” I ask.
“Going away party” he says “Surprise”
“You know I didn’t want a party” I say “But thanks I’ll come”
“Well it’s not really a party more like a little get together” Andrew says.
“Oh okay” I say.
I hear whispers down the phone line.
“Oh and Mel and Tahlia want you to spend time with them while me and Jared are getting ready” he says.
“Okay” I say.
“Well they will be over in an hour so yeah get ready” he says.
“Okay bye” I say.
“Bye babe” he says and hangs up.

I smile to myself and put the phone down and get out pair of blue skinny leg jeans and a black shirt with the words rockstar in training in big red bold print Then I get out a pair of black sneakers and black socks I put them on the bed and go for a shower,When I finish I get dressed and do my hair and then apply some black eyeliner and mascara.
“Jacquie, Tahlia and Mel are here” Mark says.
And then my bedroom door opens up wide and Tahlia and Mel run in and hug me.
“Hi” I say
“Hey” they say letting go.
“So what are we doing?” I ask.
“Umm shopping and umm anything you wanna do?” Mel says.
“Okay” I say getting my wallet.
I check how much I have. $70 oh yeah I’m rich.
We walk out of my room and I say bye to Mum and Mark and we walk out the door.

We walk down to the mall and go into a couple of shops Tahlia and Mel had run off on me so I decided to look for a couple of CD’s that I liked.
“So how you going?” Someone asks behind me.
It’s Nate.
“I’m pretty good” I say “Yourself?”
“I’m good” he says “So what are you doing tomorrow?”
“Why?” I ask.
“Robbo and the guys were having a skating contest and I thought you and Andrew might wanna come along and see” he says.
“Oh, well I can’t make it” I say.
“Why?” he asks.
“I’m gonna be on a plane” I say.
“Where to?” he asks.
“America” I say.
“Sure,sure” he says “You could say you didn’t want to come”
“No I’m serious,” I say.
“Oh really?” he asks.
“For the last time YES” I say.
“Okay” he says.
“So do you wanna come to the get together tonight?” I ask.
“Sure” he says.
“Yeah it’s at Jared’s” I say.
“Whose Jared?” he asks.
“Oh you haven’t met Jared” I say “Right he is a friend of mine”
“Okay so where does he live?” he asks.
“56 Shanty Road” I say.
“I have no idea where that is” he says with a laugh.
“Oh well maybe you should tag along with me and my friends till we go there” I say.
“Where’s your friends?” he asks.
I look around and sigh.
“I don’t know they left…” I say and my phone goes off.
I answer it.
“Where did you go?” Tahlia asks.
“Angst music” I say.
“Oh be there in a bit” she says and hangs up.
“Well it seems they are coming now” I say putting my phone away.
I go back to looking at music and Nate joins.
“Hiya” Tahlia says coming up to us with Mel.
“Sorry we left you” Mel says.
“Its okay Nate kept me company,” I say showing them Nate
“Hi” Nate says.
“Hi” they both say.
I look and see they have bought a couple of things in my absence with them.
“Oh yeah Nate is coming to the get together thing is that okay?” I ask.
“Sure the more the better” Tahlia says.

We all walk around looking at shops that took our fancy But then we got bored and decided to have some lunch,I have sushi and the others have hamburgers.
“How the hell can you eat that?” Mel says
“It’s cat food” Tahlia says.
“Sure” I say eating the last of it.
I get up and put the container in the bin near where we wear sitting and sit back down.
Nate finishes his hamburger and throws the wrapperstraight into the bin from where he was sitting.
Tahlia and Mel take a while finishing theirs.
When they finish we go walking to the exit.
“Hey Jacquie didn’t you wanna dye your hair?” Mel asks.
“Well yeah a while ago I did” I say.
“Why don’t you get it done now?” Mel says pointing to a hair salon “Our treat”
“Nah, I’m fine” I say.
“You sure?” Mel says.
“Yes” I say.
“Good lets go inside” she says pushing me into the salon.
“No I don’t want it done I’ve changed my mind since last week” I say trying to walk back out the shop.
She pulls me to the desk.
Tahlia and Nate walk in and sit down on a couple of chairs in the corner obviously for waiting customers.
A girl with Blonde hair walks to the counter.
“What would you like done?” she asks.
“Well” Mel says nudging me.
“Umm can I have purple tips” I ask.
“Sure” she says writing it down and then pointing to a chair with a mirror in front of it “Please sit in that chair over there”
I sit where I am asked.
Mel walks over.
“Do you want to have your nails done too?” she asks, “We can get them done at the nail shop”
“No, I’m good” I say “But I’m not sure you guys wanna stay around here while I get my hair done”
“Meh we will go have a game of bowling and come back or something” she says.
“Aww I wanna go bowling” I say.
“When you get your hair finished we can have another game” she says walking off to the counter again.

I watch her pay the girl at the counter and walk of with Nate and Tahlia.
A girl with bright red hair and green tips walks over to me.
“So what am I doing for you?” she asks nicely with a heavy Irish accent.
“Can I please have purple tips?” I ask.
“Okay and how long do you want them?” she asks.
I show her then length and she nods.
“You don’t mind if I bleach the bottom of your hair blonde then dye the ends purple?” she asks, “It makes the purple a brighter and deeper shade”
“Sure” I say.
“Okay we need to shampoo your hair first so come with me to the washing station” she says and we walk over to a seat with a sink behind the head of the seat.

1 and half hours later…
The red headed girl finishes blow-drying my hair and I look in the mirror.
“Wow it looks awesome” I say.
“Thanks” she says, “Okay well you're good to go"
Okay bye” I say getting up and walking to Mel, Tahlia and Nate who had finished bowling half an hour ago and had been sitting and talking.
“Wow” Nate say.
“That looks great” Tahlia says getting up and playing with the tips of my hair.
“Yeah they did a good job,” Mel says.
We all walk out the salon.
“So how about that game of bowling Jacquie?” Mel asks.
“Sure I’ll show you a thing or two” I say.
we walk to the bowling place.

5 hours later (5 games later) {6.50pm}…
We had just finished our last game and at about 5.30pm I called Mum and told her I’m gonna be at Jared’s, she approved thank god.
“We have to get to Jared’s” Tahlia says rushing us.
We walk to Jared’s quite quickly.
Tahlia opens the door with her key and we all walk in.
Andrew is lying on the couch with his eyes closed and Jared walks in.
“Hi” he says and punches Andrew in the arm.
“WHAT” Andrew yells and see us.
“Hi” I say.
“Hey” he says getting up and stretching.
“Mr sleepy here has done nothing but sleep” Jared says and glares at Andrew.
“What you could have wokenme up” he says.
“Anyway, drinks people?” Jared asks.
“Sure” I say, “What do you have?”
“Vodka, umm beer and well anything in the fridge” he says “Dad stocked up on stuff”
I walk with him into the kitchen.
I look through and decide I feel like a vodka cruiser, so I take one and go out to the rest.
“You guys want vodka cruisers?” I ask around.
Everyone says yes but Nate who wants a beer.
“None for Mel” Andrew says.
“What?” Mel says “Why?”
“Mum would have a fit if I let you” Andrew says.
“noshe won’t” she says “Just one come on”
“Fine but if Mum find out your in trouble not me okay” he says.
Jared walks in with 2 beers and 3 vodka cruisers.
Nate takes the beer and passes along the vodka cruisers to Andrew and the girls.
We sit and Jared puts on some music, to be precise Anthrax.
I take a big glug of my drink.
I loved vodka cruisers well really I just loved alcohol as a whole It didn’t matter if I didn’t like the taste I would drink it anyway.
Nate gets up and walks to me.
“Toilet?” he asks.
I get up and walk him to it and walk back and sit down.
“So Jared where are your parentsanyway?” I ask.
“What?” he asks.
“WHERE ARE YOUR PARENTS?” I yell over the music
“OH they are...” he says turning down the music a bit “they are at the movies, won’t be back till 11pm tonight it’s there anniversary”
“Really?” I say “Cool”
“Yeah except the fact there bed is gonna be squeaking tonight” he says.
Tahlia nearly chokes while drinking She swallows it.
“Eww” she yells, “They don’t do they?”
“Yep” he says “They are fucken loud, last time I walked around town till 2am and came home just so I didn’t have to listen”
“Eww” she says again “Mel I’m staying at yours”
“Sure” Mel says.
Andrew gets up.
“No way in hell” he says.
“Why?” Mel asks.
“You two will do something evil and you know it” he says.
“Well yeah but still” Tahlia says “I’m not staying”
“Jacquie I’m over yours” Andrew says.
“I don’t think Mums gonna allow that” I say.
“I’ll sleep on the couch if I have to” he says “I am not losing my eyebrows again”
“What?” I ask.
“We shaved his eyebrows off when he was sleeping” Mel says with a laugh.
“That was hilarious” Tahlia says laughing.
“No it wasn’t” Andrew says “Thank god my hair was in bangs so I could cover where my eyebrows would have been”
“That didn’t stop us from cutting your hair so you could see where they weren’t” Tahlia says.
Mel cracks up.
“Shut up” Andrew says
Mel covers her mouth trying to stop herself from laughing but it was useless.
Nate walks in.
All laughter stops.
“What?” he asks sitting down next to me and picking up his beer and sculling it and putting it down on the table.
“Nothing” Mel says.

3 hours later…
Andrew and Jared are tipsy fun drunk Tahlia and Mel are not drunk or tipsy just crazy. They have only had that onedrink. Me I’m … a little drunker than Andrew and Jared but definitlynot as Nate,Nate is totally off his face He is so damn pissed its not funny well actually… it is,He is trying to sing but is slurring everything.
“I think I might take him home” I say to everyone.
“Sure” Jared says.
“I’ll come with” Andrew says.
Andrew and I help Nate not run into anything as we walk out of the house and down the road.
“So where does he live?” Andrew asks.
“Somewhere in Cyprus Road” I say.
Andrew stops.
“What?” I ask.
“Cyprus Road?” he asks.
“Yeah” I say, “What’s up?”
“You know how dangerous that road is?” he asks
guess not” I say.
“It’s full of drugies,” he says
“So all we have to do is drop him off and leave,” I say.
“Do you know the house number?” he asks.
“Nope” I say.
“Yo Nate what’s your house number?” Andrew asks.
“2 ….6” he says.
“I just hope that means 26” he says.
We continue walking till we get to the road.
We hear a scream and then it stops.
My adrenaline started pumping.
We begin walking down the road. We look for 26 but there is nothing it only goes up to 10.
“I know number 2 is a flat maybe he means house 2 floor 6” I say.
“Okay but I seriously don’t think its safe to go in there” he says.
“Man where’s your adventure?” I say and we walk to number 2.
I walk with Andrew and Nate into the flat We walk up the floors passing 2 drunk people lying down and some guy injecting himself with a clear liquid.
When we reach the 6th floor there is 2 doors.
“Nothing is ever easy” Andrew mutters.
“Nate which one is your place?” I ask him.
Nate walks to the right door and gets out a key and rams it into the door completely missing the keyhole and making a dint into the door. I take the key from him and open the door.
He walks in and flops on the lounge face first,I put the key on the bench and look for a piece of paper.
“What are you doing?” Andrew asks.
“Paper?” I ask him.
“No I don’t have any” he says.
I find a piece on the ‘kitchen’ bench and I find a pen on the ground I write a little note for him telling him Andrew and I walked him home and what my number was and to call me if he can and if he didn’t I would call him till I had to leave for America.
I walked out of the room locked the door behind me.
We walk down the stairs and out of the flat onto the road
Woa that was different” I say.
“What do you mean?” he asks.
“That was probably the most excitement I have had for a while” I say.
“What?” he say confused “The thought of … getting in trouble or attacked or… worse excites you?”
“Kinda” I say.
We begin walking back to Jared’s.
“Man you are crazy” he says.
I laugh.
“That I am” I say.
“And thatswhy I love you” he says with a laugh.
“Cause I’m crazy?” I say.
“Cause you make me laugh” he says.

We knock on Jared’s door and Mel opens it.
We walk inside.
“Now we can finally give you our little present” Tahlia says.
“Aww don’t I’m gonna be away for a week and that’s it I don’t need to have any presents”
“Well I didn’t get you anything you gave me strict orders not to” Andrew says sitting down.
“I didn’t cause I don’t know what you like” he says.
“We did cause we didn’t want you to look like shit in New Jersey” Tahlia say passing me a bag that I immediately recognized from when we went shopping “It’s from me and Mel”
I open the bag and pull out a shirt. I unfold the shirt and it’s an Anthrax shirt.
“This would make my like millionth band shirt I have” I say “Thanks”
I give them both a hug.
“No problem” Tahlia says.
“Well Mum and Dad get home pretty soon so no offence or anything but I gotta clean up so yeah umm can you guys go home?” Jared says.
“Okay” I say “bye Jared”
I give him a big hug he was like a brother to me.
“Bye Jacquie” he says hugging me back.
I let go of him and everyone says their goodbyes to Jared and we leave first to go to Andrew’s to drop off Tahlia and Mel.
When we arrive I give Tahlia and Mel a hug and we say bye.
Then Andrew and I set off for my place.
“So” he says
“What?” I ask.
“You're goin tomorrow"hesays.
“Yes” I say.
“Who are you gonna miss the most?” he asks.
“Jared” I say jokingly.
“Oh fine then” he replies jokingly.
“It’s obviously you” I say and I hug him.
As we walk I start feeling dizzy. Looks like the alcohol is finally kicking in.
“Shit you're all over the place" Andrew says
Apparently so” I say
He grabs me by the waist and pulls me closer to him We continue walking as if we were joined at the hip.
“Do you remember how much I drank?” I ask.
“Umm you had 3 vodka cruisers and a beer and a half you stole the half from Jared” he says with a laugh.
I laugh.
“I think you had a vodka and a beer” I say.
“Yep” he says.
We finally arrive at my place.
I open the door with my key, which seemed to take forever since the key kept missing the keyhole.
We walk in and run straight into the couch, man I was clumsy in the dark and the fact I was somewhat drunk wasn’t helping.
I gain my balance again and look around All the lights are out obviously Mum and Mark were asleep.
“So I’m sleeping where?” he asks.
“I dunno” I say making my way to my room.
He follows me and I open the door We walk through and he closes the door after him.
“Excuse moi, I need to get changed” I say.
“Excuse moi … okay” he says and walks out the room.

I open the closet and try to find my pj’s but fail to find them; I guess I packed them up already. I decide to wear a really baggy shirt instead I change into it and call Andrew back in.
“You can sleep on my bed and I will sleep on the couch” I say.
I go to walk out the room He grabs my wrist.
“Why?” he asks.
“Well I don’t think my Mum is gonna be very happy you’re here, so its best I don’t push it by having you in the same bedas me” I reply.
“Maybe I should sleep on the couch” he says.
“Nah you a guest, you bed” I say.
He smiles.
“No you bed” he says.
“Are you mocking me?” I ask.
“No me no mock you, you go bed” he says and he lets go of my wrist and goes out of the room closing the door behind him.I lie down on the bed and almost immediately go to sleep I didnt even get enough time to put the covers over me.