Bea & the Broken Record

Chapter 7: High Heeled Stilettos

I paced back and forth in my bedroom, my dark jeans unbuttoned and hanging low around my hips and my plaid button up shirt unbuttoned. I was a mess and I could definitely admit that.

What was I supposed to wear? I met her mother and could tell by her sharp eyes and attitude that it wasn't going to be easy to get along with her. I was not good with pushy people. That's why I get along with Bea so well - she's just like me.

"Okay, baby brother. You're going to walk a hole in the floor," Brody's voice boomed and I jumped slightly. I had a few cans of Monster and my nerves were shot. I was worried about how this dinner would turn out, how I'd get to the show if I ended up staying longer than planned.

"Brody, bite me," I deadpanned. Brody chuckled and walked to me, beginning to button my shirt immediately. He glanced down at my pants and raised an eyebrow.

"You can button those," I rolled my eyes and buttoned them along with my belt. I looked in my mirror and liked what I saw for the most part. My hair was the only problem.

"Here, just brush you hair. Geez, Ash. You act like this is the first date you've ever been on," Brody examined as he reclined on my messy bed.

"Dude, it's not a date. Her parents want to meet me. They're a little over protective. I'm not going to reject a friendship with Bea. She's freakin' awesome," I felt my cheeks warm as I said that. Why did I say that?

"She's freakin' awesome, huh? Well okay then. You have fun at this meet and greet with her parents and don't be late for the show or Quentin will have your hide," Brody warned as he walked toward my bedroom door to leave. I stared at him inexplicably.

"He'll have my hide? Are you going country on us?" I laughed at him while he glared at me.

"Shut up. Do you want a tie?" He asked.

"Yeah," I nodded my head and followed him to his room to get a black tie. With my red and black plaid shirt, dark pants, black tie, and converses, I was ready to go. I wanted to wear most of this stuff for the show anyway.

"Thanks for, uh, helping me," I said awkwardly while Brody adjusted my tie. He looked like he was entirely concentrated on making it perfect. I could tell this by the way his eyebrows were scrunched together.

"It's no problem, little brother. I can't believe you're actually meeting her parents," Brody joked and threw his arm around my shoulder, shoving me into his side in a brotherly hug. I rolled my eyes and grunted in annoyance.

"Would you guys drop it already? I get it. It's like we've been dating for a long time, but we haven't. It's called 'over protective parents'. We wouldn't know what that meant though," I sighed moved away from my brother. I knew that when I mentioned mom or dad he hated it. He missed seeing them just as much as I did, but he hated talking about it. Mom and dad to me are my aunt and uncle. Mom and dad to him is a real thing. To me? I wasn't very sure. My dad and I had a complicated relationship, as well as my parents.

"They love us, Asher. You know that. You know what they went through and mom- you know what? Let's just drop it. We don't need to be talking about this now," I could tell he was just trying to keep his anger down to nothing. It was a touchy subject for both us, but more for him. He knew mom and dad much longer than I did before we had to move out.

"Whatever," I mumbled and walked out of the room after throwing a thanks back at Brody. He hummed and went back to getting ready for the show.

No one said anything to me as I left the house. They all just ignored that I was leaving and focused on whatever they were doing. I got that they were mad I was leaving on a show night, but it's not like I wasn't coming. I definitely was. Even if I had to leave Bea's house early. At least, I thought I would do that.