Whiskey & Vows

T W E N T Y O N E

C H A P T E R  T W E N T Y  O N E ||  YOUR NAME WOULD BE A GOOD TATTOO

 

                "Derek, do we have to go to Dr. Wilson?" Andy whined. He adjusted his hat-one of Derek's old baseball caps and looked at him with pleading eyes. I looked at Derek who's eyes softened at the child in front of him. Sighing, I popped a strawberry in my mouth and watched as the two of them battled their biggest obstacle of the day. Derek seemed just as thrilled as Andy to go to Dr. Wilson's, and I knew it was because of me.

                "Trust me bud, I don't want to go as much as you." Andy frowned at Derek's response and looked at me quickly before giving Derek puppy eyes once again. Shaking my head, I watched as Derek helplessly tried standing his ground.

                "We don't have to, he's not a good guy, he did make comments toward Anna," Derek swallowed and looked back at me helplessly. I shook my head, knowing Andy played Derek like a fiddle. The poor guy couldn't say no to Andy if he tried.

                "No, you're both going. Suck it up. Andy, if you want to have a cookout tomorrow with Daniel and my mother, you're going to go get looked at. Derek, if you don't go, you're sleeping on the couch." With that the boys huffed and both shot me a dirty look, but slowly walked out the door.  Just as they walked out, Charlie walked through.

                "See you, boys!" She chuckled, noticing their grim expression. I laughed as Charlie made herself comfortable and plopped down on the large couch right away.

                "Why do they look so unhappy?"

                "I'm making them go to Dr. Wilson," She nodded her head and looked around the room. Charlie sat up and looked at me seriously.

                "So, guess who I talked to today?" She asked eagerly, sitting up from her comfortable spot on the couch, looking almost like a puppy.

                "Who?" I sighed, knowing whatever was going to come out of her mouth would mostly be bad, so I held my breath and waited for the news.

                "The manager at Ron's, and guess who's performing tomorrow night?" My jaw dropped and I could feel my heart thud at her question.

                "Charlie-"

                "You!" She squealed. I could feel my heart racing in my chest. I haven't performed in front of an audience in a very long time; I got too nervous and I felt judged if I knew someone there.

                "What?" I gasped, trying to wrap my head around her words.

                "Look, I know that you've had a lot of shit your way, but it's time to get your ass in gear. You're a great singer, Anna. Now you have the opportunity to prove that you've got talent. It's a start and you never know what important person could be there!" She looked more excited than I was. I nervously started biting my nails and looked at her nervously.

                "It's been a really long time." I muttered, playing with my fingers.

                "Yeah, well, get over it." She smiled. I flipped her off, causing her to laugh at me. There were so many things I wanted to yell at her for, but I knew she was right. I needed to face my fears and just get it over with. Music was something I enjoyed; it was time I stopped avoiding my fears and started facing them.

***

                When Charlie picked me up that evening, I thought I was going to turn into goo. I nervously walked out of the house, telling Derek we were having a simple girl's night, despite his questionable looks at my attire. It wasn't much-just a pair of skinny jeans, red heels and sporting a black leather jacket. Clearly, it was different from what I usually wore because he whistled as I left.