Blackmailed Into The Band

Sob Shows

" You already knew?!" I yelled at my dad before pulling in him for another hug.

He nodded, prying me off as he helped me and Carter pack.

" All of us knew. You kids really deserve it," He said, getting teary eyed.

" Don't cry," Carter frowned.

" Yeah, if you cry I'm going to lose it," I said, half-teasing, half-serious.

" I'm really proud of you two," He said, fanning his eyes with his hands. " Agh... I'll be back," He muttered before leaving the room.

Carter and I laughed, finishing our bags and getting ready for the van to pick us up. This was it. Drea's Last Words was going places... No more school.

I said goodbye to Gerard, who I promised to Skype every night at the same time Carter hugged Hayley. She meant a lot to him but he couldn't bring her along. It was sad to leave the cats behind. And my parents. But my mom and dad could Skype while Gerard and Hayley wouldn't understand what's going on and why their humans are missing.

" Your ride's here," My mom called as the sound of the door creaked through the house. My dad and Gavin, the guy with the luxurious man bun, talked about our trip to LA in the van.

Carter and I hugged my mom before throwing our stuff inside the van and returning to hug my dad. When I heard Gerard and Hayley crying at the doorway, I started crying with them, all pride forgotten.

Carter laughed through his own tears and led me into the van, sitting beside me as Gavin came back in and drove away from my house. I looked back at the shrinking homes I grew up with and once we left my street, I turned to face forward because that's where we were headed.

" You kids love your parents a lot, don't you?" Gavin asked.

" Yeah," Josh said. He was sitting in the passenger seat and his voice was raspy, as though he was crying too.

" That's great. It's rare to see that these days. I love sob shows," He said, pulling into another driveway.

We watched a very upset Phillip walk out of the house with a younger girl following him. She was crying and tugging on his sweater.

Gavin got out of the car and brought his luggage in as Phillip's mom came outside and talked to him one last time. She started crying, and we watched the very intimate scene before us as she ran her hands through his hair.

I started crying again, hugging Carter as he sobbed beside me.

Wow we were so not ready to leave our families behind. So much for being angry punk-rockers.

Ten minutes later, after kissing his sister's cheeks long enough, Phillip joined us in the van and we picked Aidan up.

Gavin got out to help with his bags and all of us were torn at the sight. Aidan had the hardest goodbye, if this had been a contest, he had won.

No one was there for him.