You're Welcome

3

"Hey mini Arreaga, Stacie is throwing a party tonight to celebrate our victory and you should show up, tell your brother and Ashley to come too!" Samantha came and told me. Me and Samantha were close, I could tell her everything, she was hands down my go to person when I needed someone to talk to who wasn't related to me. Stacie on the other hand was our new team captain, she was co captain when Ashley was captain so now she's captain. I wasn't the biggest fan of her but we are on the same team so I just stay on her good side because there's just no reason to start beef with her.

"Alright, I'll text you if we decide to come, thanks Sam!" I said and we walked different ways.

I walked back over to my family and they were all talking about going to dinner and such.

"Can someone take me to the mall, I have my wallet on me and I got invited to a celebration party and I kinda want to go get new outfit" I said making my voice go higher to try and convince someone to take me, and when that didn't work I brought out my weapon, my puppy eyes. I can never get mom or dad to fall for it, Nick doesn't slip as often anymore, Austin becomes oblivious and looks away so he doesn't get dragged in, Edwin will be like "awwww honey" and then argue with himself, and Zion is the softie and caves in and uses the excuse "I'm doing this because you're my niece and I love you, not because your puppy eyes worked" but I know that it worked, it works everytime.

Mom and Dad drove me back home and Zion followed us in his car since he was taking me to the mall. I called my Grandparents in the car and told them about us winning first place and they were so happy, my aunt Halie was with them so I got to talk to her too, they asked about what I was doing tonight to celebrate and I told them that I was going to a party and that Zion was taking me to the mall so I can buy myself a new outfit, my grandma knows about my puppy eye trick because my dad and Halie did the same thing to her and my grandpa, it was an Arreaga thing, Daniel does it too, just not as often as I do. After I got off the phone with my grandparents and aunt my dad gave me the rules for the night, it was the same rules as always

· No drinking

· No smoking

· No hooking up

· Be home by midnight

· Text them periodically

· Never put down my cup, EVER

The last one is because one of my friends was at a party and she put her drink down for one second to go to the bathroom and someone drugged her drink and I had to rush her to the hospital and luckily she was okay and we all learned a HUGE lesson from that.

I got home, took a shower, did my face routine and threw on a t-shirt that was probably Daniels or one of his friends, black leggings, and white converse. I straightened my hair and didn't bother with makeup because it was just the mall.

"You ready kiddo?" I heard Zion yell up the stairs.

"Yea I'll be down in a second I just have to tie my shoe" I yelled back.

I walked downstairs and didn't see mom or dad or Daniel, I was so confused.

"Where is everyone?"

"Daniel took Ashley home, and your parents are out with the rest of the family. They told me that you have an extra key to lock up the house."

"Yeah I do, it's hanging up in the laundry room, I'll go grab it."

I grabbed the key, locked the door and got into the front seat of Zions Jeep. I plugged my phone into the aux cord and we listened to some old favorites. I had a lot on my mind and had to talk to someone so I decided to let it all out and talk to Zion.

"Hey Z, can I talk to you about something and you gotta give me you're an honest opinion"

"You always know you can talk to me, what's up"

"I feel like Cameron is hiding things from me, he showed up to my cheer competition not only late but totally drunk and his friends were acting as if they knew something that I don't, and I have no clue what to do, like I don't know if I should confront him about it or if I should let it go because I know for a fact that his friends were drunk too."

"Well, if you're really concerned about it then I think you should talk to him about it, don't start by accusing him or anything, just bring up the behavior you noticed from his friends, you know that Cameron isn't my favorite person ever, but I do think that if you have an uneasy feeling about something then you definitely need to talk it out with him, and if he starts to get defensive and flustered, you know that something is up and that's when you need to lay all the cards on the table and make it all very clear to him how you feel." Zion said as he focused on the road. "Audrey be honest with me, do actually love this kid."

"I don't even know at this point, he says he loves me but he only says it when he isn't sober, he's always hopped up on something"

"Then why are you still with him Auds"

"I have no clue, it's just what everyone expects, I'm the cheerleader, he's the football player, it's just what everyone thinks it should be, so I went along with it and it was great at first but now I don't know"

"Well I know that you'll make the right decision and if he ever does anything you know me, and the boys will give him hell, we all love you so much and we only want the best for you"

"I love you guys too, and I'll always tell you guys everything." Audrey said as they pulled into a parking space and walked into the mall.

We walked into H&M and a couple other stores and I bought a few things from each store, so I have options for the party. Of course, all outfits had to be "Uncle Zion" approved so my dad didn't have a hissy fit when he sees me walk out the door. I decided on ripped jeans and a cute white top, Zion wasn't in favor of the top but I paired it with a simple cardigan so my parents wouldn't kill me for wearing or him for letting me buy it.

I figured it would be a little chilly because it's fall so I decided to buy this cardigan for tonight. I brought all my items to the front desk and checked out. After I was done shopping me and Zion went to go get food and then we started walking out of the mall.

"I'll race you to the car, last one there is a chicken" Zion said as he took off for the jeep.

"Not on my watch" I screamed as I zoomed past him with all my bags swinging over the place, I'm pretty sure I hit someone with my bags while I was running, but I had to beat him. Ever since I was little we would always do that, Zion is literally a man child, that's why my parents say he was so excited when he heard that my mom was pregnant, he could finally have little kids running around and he could be the "fun uncle". He honestly is though.

When we got home I texted Ashley and told her that we all got invited, I doubt she would go because her and Daniel are packing because we have to travel out of state next weekend so some colleges can look at Daniel, even though Clemson really wants him and is offering him great deals, he wants to see if some other schools will match them or offer more, so we're going to Texas A&M, and we're going to Ole Miss, and Florida State University. As I predicted, Ashley and Danny passed up the offer so I headed to the bathroom and turned on my curler and started to do my makeup, I decided to go simple because it's just a celebration party for our win today, nothing big.

I got ready and I walked out of my room when I finished and I grabbed my keys to be stopped by my dad and everyone else. Dad and Nick went through the rules all over again, Edwin fixed my hair a little bit and checked to make sure my makeup was all good, Austin was being chill and he just told me to have fun, and Zion checked my outfit and pulled my cardigan over my shoulder and told me to have fun and call him or any of the boys if I needed anything. Once I they were done I gave everyone hugs and walked out to my truck. Yes, I'm the girl who didn't want to be basic and get a white jeep, and I didn't want to die in a tiny little car so I bought a Toyota Tacoma, it wasn't all jacked up and everything, but it was a big enough vehicle that me and my family felt comfortable with me driving it.

I pulled up to Stacie's house and saw a lot of familiar cars, Cameron, Samantha, Jess, Shane, and a whole bunch of others, I could hear the bass booming as I walked to the front door, I don't know why but I did not have a good feeling about walking into this party alone.