Jinxx’s Pov

8th grade was tough. It was by means, no walk in the park; however I kept up my honor roll and my seat in orchestra. Amy and I, who had long parted ways, were in several classes together. She tried to talk shit, and for the first time, I called her out on it and she shut up. She hasn’t bothered me since and it’s been about three weeks.

Mom’s anniversary came up again. I spent the entire day playing my cello until my fingers bled. Dad was around, and because of that, I showed him the piece I had written. When he smiled and said I was a far better musician then him, I blushed and gave him a great big hug. Moments like these were the moments that made up for everything.

With Andy Dawn in the hospital, there was a lot of stress on everyone. Tour also took a lot out of everyone and that made things worse. Dad showed the typical signs of slipping up. Within a month of mom’s anniversary, I knew he was slipping up. It was Halloween again and I went out with him and the little ones for the first time in years. It was dorky but a lot of fun. I got to bond with my siblings for the first time in years and it was pretty great.

It was thanksgiving when I knew he was falling. My uncles hadn’t noticed it but I had. Dad had tried to make it look like he took more food then he did. I discretely took a picture and texted it to uncle Jake later on. I had sent, “I think Dad is slipping again, I don’t want to worry over nothing but I tend to notice more than I lead on. I think he’s slipping like Andy Dawn did. I may be reading far more into this then I should, but I also don’t want it to actually be happening and I watch and let it happen.”

He actually said that what I had sent was very mature and he would look into it and talk with the rest of the guys. Dad would probably not be pleased, but I knew that deep down, he would be.

It took until after Christmas for dad to admit he had been struggling again. Christmas was good however. Dare I say I was pleased when my siblings got less toys and more practical things like clothes and stuff they needed rather than all the useless toys they wanted. I however got some new stuff for mystic, and I got a little note that said I could pick a three week time to get to go on tour with them, at any leg I wanted to go on. That was exciting. I chose to go to the UK leg. I wanted to go over seas and see the world around me. Uncle CC also got me some cool vans and my dad gave me a coat that said “Mystic” on the back.

Andy Dawn had returned for Christmas. She ignored me completely and she later got scolded on it. Overall, Christmas wasn’t too bad and I actually enjoyed it. New Years was fun. My family was beginning to notice me and it made me have hope that things would look up and the rest of the New Year would not be so bad.

But, when my birthday came and I was once again not noticed, I was now 13 and ignored once again. This time around, I made sure I was noticed. It took uncle Billie and Aunt Adrienne asking what we were doing for my birthday for them to realize that I was forgotten about. Then they figured out that we had not celebrated my birthday in several years; that then made them feel like shit. I honestly didn’t care. Uncle Billie sent me a 5 seconds of summer T-shirt and an A Day To Remember shirt. I still can’t believe I met 5sos when I was younger. That was like so amazing.

To make up for missing my birthday for multiple years, my uncles all treated me to things. Uncle Jinxx got me a nice guitar I picked out (it was affordable, gosh who do you think I am, Andy Dawn?). Uncle Jake got me a really cool camera. Uncle CC gave me a hairless cat (thank you dad for letting this happen) and I named it Cleo. Andy, my “brother” got me a badass Guardians of the Galaxy poster, which the actors signed. My dad took me to Disneyland, the Zoo, and a few other places I wanted to go. I had an absolute blast.

One day at the stables, I kind of forced my dad to go in with me, saying he needed to resign a document or something. Once inside, he saw the trophy case that held pictures and newspaper clippings talking about me winning several awards (like a lot) and he was dumbfounded. He looked at me, and he started to cry before hugging me. I took mystic out and he watched me ride for a while before we went home. It was a nice afternoon that day. The more time I spent with my dad, the more and more fun I had.

Later that night, I had read some stuff he had posted on twitter. He had written, “My beautiful Daughter Jinxx makes me so proud. Words cannot describe how proud I am of her. She has straight A’s, First chair in orchestra, can play more instruments than I can, has one many awards for competing with her horse Mystic, She can Draw and Paint very well. My little munchkin did this all on her own. While I was on tour, she raised her self. It saddens me to know that I didn’t get to see her accomplish all of this, but I am proud of her. And I’m glad I can see what she has done, now before it’s too late. She is literally the most mature person I’ve met for her age. She’s 13 and she behaves better than Andy ( :p ). I am proud of you, you little Mystic, and I know your mom would be just as proud.”


Once I read that, I went down stairs and hugged the crap out of him. He hugged me back. “ I love you dad. You’re the best dad I could have ever asked for. And could have gotten. You’re the best parent anyone could ask for. I miss mommy but I miss you more when you’re away.”

The next day we went to the beach as a family (without Andy Dawn, since she’s still in the hospital) and I got to bond with everyone more. Uncle Jinxx and I talked a lot. Andy and I had fun and I chased him along the shore, and he threw me in the water. I sat on Uncle Jinxx’s shoulders while Dad sat on Uncle Jake’s in the water and we tried to push each other off. We then all ate food we brought and relaxed. Eve, Kellin and I built a sand castle. Getting to bond with them a little bit was fun. Eve even said she loved me. That was pretty cool.

Things got better and better. School went well, and I ended the year being top of the class. We went to the UK for several weeks and I had so much fun. I got to go see a bunch of new stuff and try new things there while getting to see my dad do what he does best (other than being a dad). Overall, I enjoyed it a lot.

Warped tour was also a blast. I met a lot of the musicians that I listen to and hung out with them a little bit. My dad and my uncles didn’t party when I was around. If they partied, they went to another bus and spent the night. But, they didn’t party much. Instead, we played bored games, watched movies, and did family stuff. It made me feel like I fit in, in my family. I also managed to talk them into letting me stay the entire tour, so I got to see so many new places. There were times where I got sun burnt, but it was worth it. At each date, since Dad couldn’t walk around with me and not gather attention (we tried once, it didn’t end well; and let’s just say security was REAAALLLY happy with us…not), I walked around with one of the roadies that Dad knew really well (not like that, not at all like that). Her name was Chloe. She had been working warped tour for a very long time, and was close to my dad’s age. She was really nice and had brown hair and green eyes.

After warped tour ended, I started high school. It was the first days of school, mom’s anniversary, and the holidays that I missed mom most. She wasn’t able to be here with us and that always bummed me out a bit. Andy Dawn finally got out of treatment, and was doing better. She was also finally being nicer to me. I guess dad said something to her or something. She also apologized for all that she had said to me before and took me out shopping. Getting to bond with my sister was something I enjoyed and made me hope we could have a stronger relationship.

Kellin and Eve finally came around, and now we are closer than before. We actually plot pranks together against uncle CC. School was fun. I made friends who were my age, and had similar interests. Most of the kids who bothered me went to different schools, so I had it pretty calm most days. I also may have convinced dad to talk to Chloe some more after warped tour had ended.

Let’s just say, they hit it off pretty well and have some chemistry. He calls her Cleo and she calls him Ashy. I think he’s afraid to date her since the only woman he ever loved was my mom. Let’s just say, uncle CC had a fairy tell him that Chloe would make a great mother figure for the three of us. Uncle CC then had a fairy mention it to dad. So he’s warmed up to the idea, but we’re not pressuring him. He’ll do something when he’s ready.

Things were looking up for my family, and most of all, they were looking up for me.

Notes

hey. i've been meaning to update. i really have. i've been busy tho. andywho, comment darlings, let me know what you think! (:

<3
~Ash