"So." Your dad crossed his arms, and for a moment you chose not to notice the vein on his neck. He was really pissed, for sure.
"Sweetheart," your mother cooed, "are you okay?"
Finally they were asking the right questions, but then your mom kept talking.
"I know, there's these drugs, with a lot of these 'rock star' types. Are you—"
"Doing cocaine?" you parroted. "No, Mom. Andy's not like that."
Your mind briefly shot back to an aquarium, seeing that smoke blow to the curved ceiling, sharks and all.
You kept your mouth shut—cocaine and nicotine were two different things.
So, you held your ground. Through all the questions, all the accusations, disguised with worry.
They were your parents, your protectors, your guardians. Now was not the time for them to finally act like it.
Your phone buzzed, halfway through your father's lecture about staying safe at "those rowdy, sketchy festivals". You internally rolled your eyes—like he knew anything about Warped.
Just as you thought of her, your phone buzzed with a ringtone.
Put your hands in the air if you think you're a player.
Biiggg Papa...
Your lips twitched upwards in a smile, and like the hawk he was, your father leaned forward, peering just as your mother did.
"Something funny?"
Your smile immediately fell, heart breaking on the floor of your chest.
"N-no,"—and another, softer tone played. Andy—"It's just—lemme check—"
"And here is the culprit!" Your father—in all his glory—snatched the phone from your hand. "The device that started it all. Your cell phone!"
You stood, mouth agape, soul open until words finally found a place in your brain.
"You... you went through my stuff?"
Before your father could get angrier (if that was even possible), you channeled something deep within.
"What. The FUCK?"
Sounds from both sides—two gasps in front, and another noise behind the door.
Was that
Was that a giggle?
"Shut up or I will murder you," you growled to the door.
You could almost see your bestie clap a hand to her mouth, two fingers twisted in a promise.
When you turned back, your father was scrolling through your messages.
"Are you looking at my texts?"
"I was," he replied. And then the phone turned, revealing the snapshot, the first photo you had taken at Warped. A selfie with Andy in the BVB tour bus.
Him stooped down, smile matching yours. And for a moment, you saw your own self-consciousness. How your lips stayed together, nothing like Andy's wide, carefree grin.
"Where was this taken?"
Liquid brushed your eyes.
You were crying yet again, but this time you were crying because of the pressure forced against you.
An interrogation. A long-term sentence of exposure.
With fingers snapping, your father claimed your attention.
"Before I go on," he said, "I'd like to know this location."
"Was this at his house?" your mother questioned.
"No," you answered. "How'd you even get in my phone?"
"Passcode is your birthday," your father explained. And then he showed you yet another picture—a selfie of you two, duck faces and peace signs. This one taken at your second Warped Tour.
"So authentic, right?"
You felt like screaming. You felt like muffling your cries and pulling on your hair.
You almost felt like surrendering.
Never give in, never back down.
"What do you want from me?"
"Your word," your father returned, matching your volume and contrasting your tone.
"Give us your word you won't run of again, especially with some wanna-be KISS ego-maniac rockstar."
You should know by now that he's batshit crazy and totally idiotic.
Another tear leaked and you hadn't realized the tears had paused in the first place.
"I'm sorry," you said. "It's just that I hate my life, I hate being in this town, I hate school, I hate the people, Granted, I only have a short time left, but..."
You sniffed back the sobs, standing straight. And without a tremor to your voice, you kept pushing words out of your mouth.
"I've met my best friend. I've been honored to freely love my idol—the guy who's helped me so much more than you two ever have—and I've been honored to have that love be sent right back. I'm not a fangirl, I'm not a groupie. I'm human.
"And I love both people you just saw walk out of here. Because they've been there. Always."
And that was your queue to leave.
"You're grounded for a year!"
And just as you finished walking through the open doorway, you let out a shriek of disappointment.
"You guys are SO unfair!!"
The door slammed behind you, immediately opened again by your mother.
"Dont you dare walk out this house—"
Putting distance between you and your parents, you flipped them the bird. And your mother's reaching hand was stopped by Andy.
"Don't you dare take my child away!"
"They have a right to choose," Andy responded. "They're old enough."
"You fucking pervert—"
And that was the last words you heard, the car door slamming and encasing you in the familiar silence. You didn't watch the brief struggle between Andy and your father. A quick elbow to the face, a bloodied nose, and Andy was slamming the driver's door shut.
You briefly glanced to him, as he twisted to back out of your driveway. No wounds. Good.

---

Five minutes into your ride back, your phone buzzed with a Spongebob giggle. Your bestie.
Play this song, ok?
With a glance to the rear view mirror, you saw her wave. She was following you both, wherever that path may lead.
You loaded up the YouTube video, phone plugged into Andy's AUX. And with light instrumentation, a soft female voice sang.
Yeah, some things may go astray
Just know you're better off that way
You thought of your ex, oddly enough. You thought of the messages your parents didn't know about. You thought of everything that had transpired in the past twenty-four hours.
And you held in that sadness, trapping it inside the space behind your chest.
Just buckle in
Head down, fighting the frown
Just know you're better off that way
A tear leaked, traveling its path down the side of your face, off your jaw, and onto your seat belt.
You unclicked your device, prompting Andy's stare to you.
"Hey," he said, "_____, what're you—"
You twisted, pushing on the car's roof and moving it back.
With the wind of the freeway hitting you, you stood.
You stood and screamed until you were laughing at the sheer complexity of your life.
In such a short amount of time, your life went from hopeless fan to being personally in love with your biggest idol.
So, you screamed until you were laughing.
Because this life was truly crazy sometimes, and that was okay.

Notes