Chapter Five: Parties and Angry College Kids.

Dad turned to the gasping lady, who I recognized now as Penny, who works at my Mom's boutique. She always seemed a little weird, just something about her wasn't right. And I was slightly offended she got a job there and I didn't.

"Sup?" He asked, pulling me back into the present, I looked up at him, where'd he get the gum?!

"Well this is awkward!" She sighed, I turned back to Penny and arched an eyebrow at her.

"Why is this awkward?" Dad asked, she rolled her eyes

"My husband is here!" She whispered, pointing behind her. I exchanged confused look with Becky, who introduced me to the hot guy, whose name was Kyle, and apparently teaches a workout class at the local gym that my mom goes too.

"What time is it?" Another male spoke, and I turned to see Wylie walking up. He gave me the creeps sometimes, just sulking around and appearing out of nowhere.

"Oh nothing! Just, uh, just time to…." She turned Dad, looking up at him expectantly. Dad, just like me, just stared at her, wondering what the hell her problem was. I'm guessing they're extensive.

"Help me out here!" She whispered desperately, glancing at her husband as if she was hiding something important. Okay, I know my parents loved each other, neither would ever cheat on the other. What was this woman on?

"Well… Uh… I'm not sure… Hey, Wylie, how'd Andre McKenzie do? Did he pass his test?" Dad asked, Wylie rolled his eyes. I wouldn't be surprised if he said no. Wylie hated us, it took me 4 times to get my license, because he kept testing me. Finally, my Mom went with us, and demanded to see what I was doing wrong. Needless to say, I got a perfect score.

"He squeaked by! We didn't check out any soapy cheerleaders!" He shouted the end, looking at his wife. Who was staring at my Dad. This is so weird.

"What's going on with you and my wife?" Wylie asked, noticing the woman's behavior.

"I'm gonna go!" Kyle spoke, turning to leave. Dad nodded.

"Why don't we all go? I don't see any of these conversations working out for me." He shook his head.

"See you guys later!" Kyle said, walking away.

"Hey! I'll bring the Hubba Bubba." Penny stuffed something into my Dad's hand before turning on her heel.

"What?" Dad asked. She just walked away from him, disappearing around the corner.

"Oh yeah. Party tonight, 80's style! Rocky 3!" Wylie smiled, apparently not noticing the exchange, doing some punching moves, until his wife returned to yell at him. It was then Mom walked back up.

"Hey babe." Dad greeted, Mom glared in the direction Wylie and crazy lady had walked off too

"What does Penny's note say?" She asked, Dad unfolded the paper and I peered over his shoulder. It was a shopping list.

"She wrote: Mayonaise, ziti…" Mom cut him off,

"The other side." Dad flipped the note over, and read it out loud.

"Meet me by your mailbox at 11…. Why would I meet her by my mailbox at 11?" He asked, looking at us. Mom glared yet again, and snatched the note from his hand and shoved it into her mouth before strutting away.

"Do you have any idea what just happened here?" Dad asked Becky and I.

"Not a clue." We replied. He shook his head again, and followed after Mom. Becky and I followed him. 30 minutes later, we were back home, and getting ready for the party. Lyssa came over to get ready with me.

"Do you think Tanner will show up?" She asked, looking over some of the makeup she had brought with her. I shrugged, pulling on my leg warmers.

"I don't know… Probably." I replied, reaching for a pair of black dance shoes. Although I hate shoes, I may just go barefoot. I frowned down at the shoes.

"You think he'll bring Meg?" She asked, I looked back up at her.

"What's up?" I asked her.

"You weren't listening? I asked if you think Tanner will bring Meg!" She rolled her eyes, I decided I wasn't go to wear shoes. I threw them into my closer as I shrugged again, walking over to examine myself in the mirror. The grey sweater covered my black booty shorts and made it look like I wasn't wearing any pants. Very 80's. Now for hair and makeup.

"Who knows? I don't really care though… The two could get married and have more kids. It doesn't affect me," I replied, turning around to face her. She sighed.

"If you say so." She said. She was wearing an outfit that resembled Star from the Lost Boys. I nodded and we finished getting ready, once we were finished, we walked downstairs, and sat with Keithie and Becky.

"How long ago was the 1980's?" Becky asked.

"It was a really long time ago in the 1900s…" Keithie began to explain, I zoned out and walked to find my Mom, who's outfit was wild.

"Anything I can do to help?" I asked her, she turned from where she was setting up some chips.

"Sure sweetheart, could you finish up setting out the food? Just the cake I think is all that's really left." She said, I nodded and she walked out, grabbing some earrings from the counter as she teetered away. I began to finish the food, and had just put the awesome Rubik's Cube cake onto the counter when the doorbell rang. Lyssa walked in and sat at a stool,

"Adults are arriving," She frowned, grabbing a chip.

"My Dad's friends are pretty great!" I assured her, she shrugged. Marcus and Braden walked into the kitchen

"Hey Gemma! Gemma's friend. Who's ready to get their party on?!" Marcus exclaimed, doing a little dance. I laughed at him as Braden rolled his eyes, smirking a little bit. Now that the two were next to each other, you could see the similarities, I mean, it was like Dr. Evil and Mini Me sizes…. They were indeed dressed as Hall and Oates.

"Marcus this is Alyssa, she cheers with me." I introduced. Lyssa waved,

"Oh yeah, Lenny told us you made Captain, way to go girl!" He leaned in and I high fived him, Braden gave me a curious look and I just smiled.

"Thanks." I chuckled. Soon after that, everyone else began to show up, and for a little bit, it was just the old crew hanging out. Dad, Kurt, Marcus and Eric all sat in wooden chairs, drinking and talking. Mom and the other wives were all up at the house doing the same thing. Braden began swinging Becky and Bean around in a circle, and I smiled at the sight. Keithie and Lyssa were chatting away, along with Donna. Greg was at work. Charolette as it turns out was on a date with some kid, Deanna was all excited, Kurt was slightly annoyed. I wasn't feeling right still, so I went back inside. Food would always help.

"There you are." A deep voice caused me to drop my chips as I spun around to find Braden standing in the doorway.

"You were looking for me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He smirked slightly, causing my stomach to flutter.

"Maybe." He said, he walked over and sat next to me.

"Why are you in here all by yourself?" He asked, I shrugged,

"Just not in the partying mood I guess." I replied,

"Is it because of what happened earlier? With your boyfriend?" He asked, my eyes widened and I stared up at him.

"Greg told me why you were going to the baby store." He explained and at the moment, I wanted to kill Greg. That was not his business to tell!

"Yeah…. That probably has something to do with it." I sighed.

"Well… If you don't mind me saying, he's a real idiot for doing what he did." He said, I shrugged.

"I can't be that great if he went to find her." I said, Braden huffed, and jumped up all of a sudden. I scooted away,

"Come on." He held his hand out and I arched an eyebrow at it.

"Come on what?" I asked, he rolled his eyes and pulled me up

"You're coming with me and having fun. You're not allowed to sit in here and mope. And if you see your ex, tell me and I'll punch him." He proceeded to pull me out the door.

"Braden!" I whined. Why couldn't he just leave me to sulk?

"No whining! It's a party; we are going to have fun!" He ordered, I groaned. Stupid boy.

"Fine!" I stomped my foot, glaring up at him. I allowed him to lead me out into the middle of the people that were dancing. And soon, all my issues were forgotten. I was laughing and talking with Lyssa, dancing with Braden. The entire town was here, everyone was just having a great time.

"Your Dad really knows how to throw a party!" Lyssa exclaimed, she was dancing with her long time crush Bobby, and the two seemed to be hitting it off.

"Hey! Gemma! Do you know where your father is?" Mom asked, walking up. I turned to survey the area, Braden's arms latched around my waist. I finally found my Dad sitting across the lawn with some people.

"He's over there." I pointed, she nodded and walked away, Becky wandering behind her, rubbing her eyes and yawning. We continued dancing and talking when the J Geils Band showed up and began preforming. Braden pulled me to the front, where everyone was and we jumped around, dancing to the music. All of a sudden the music cut off, but the singing continued. We found the source- Charlotte McKenzie. And damn. She could sing. She seemed to notice the music was gone and all the attention was on her and she stopped, looking down at her feet.

"Charlotte? Where did you learn to sing like that?" Mr. Kurt asked.

"I just sing a little in the shower." She admitted. You could see the pride on her parents faces, and then Bumpty, some weird sophomore started to rap, to which Mrs. Dee threatened him, and he shut up instantly. We got the music started up again and the party continued, until another interruption. Everyone seemed to focus on in,

"What's going on over there?" I asked, Braden and Lyssa shrugged, and we followed the crowd of people. They were surrounding two people, my Dad, and some bald guy. The two exchanged some words. Dad backed away, getting ready to punch the man, who all of a sudden dropped to his knees.

"NO! NO! PLEASE DON'T HIT ME!" The man yelled, this caused everyone to be really confused.

"The only reason I picked on you was because I was scared of you!" The guy groveled.

"Oh my God…" I whispered, everyone was believing the charade, as my father yelled at the man, in an overdramatic away, basically threatening to turn him into a puddle. I rolled my eyes. The scene ended as Mr. Clean walked away, and everyone began to congratulate my Dad, and the festivities continued. Within minutes, it was as if nothing ever disturbed the partiers, and things were back into full swing.

"Gemma! There you are!" The voice I had been dreading to hear made its way over the music and to my eardrums. I spun to see Tanner there, not dressed for the party.

"Why are you here Tanner?" Lyssa growled.

"I need Gemma to hear me out, to let me explain." He said, Braden stepped forward, towering over Tanner by a good foot.

"She said leave her alone." He said. I placed a hand on his arm, and stepped from behind him. Tanner went to respond, but we were all cut off.

"WOOT WOOT WOOT!" I looked up to see probably the scariest and strangest sight ever. It was a bunch of kids, older than me, most likely college, and they all stood in a massive line, looking pretty angry about something.

"What the hell is going on now?!" I demanded, everyone seems to notice this and soon, our two groups were in an epic face off.

"College kids that don't look too friendly…" Bobby muttered. I nodded, this night just wasn't going to go smoothly for us at all was it?

Hello my lovely readers! I know the romance between Gemma and Braden is going slow, but I promise after this, it will pick up! Don't lose faith just yet. So, let me know what you think!

Much love,

Rhey!