Misadventures (Tony Perry's Daughter)

Danced On The Edge

I helped Mike carry the groceries into Jaime's house to see they had covered the living room in sheets and blankets already. I dropped the four bags I was carrying and plopped down onto the floor, "Woe!"

Vic popped his head out from under the blanket to look at me, "Get off of the floor, child. We made a blanket fort for you to woe in."

"But Mike left me in Wal-Mart. With a boy. Alone." I said and threw my arm over my head dramatically.

Dad instantly came out of the fort and went into the kitchen, "Michael Fuentes!"

Vic laughed before crawling out of the fort and holding his hand out for me. I grabbed it and he pulled me to my feet before grabbing the bags of snacks and carrying them into the kitchen. Before I could follow Vic into the kitchen two hands came out from the fort and pulled me into a strong chest. I looked up at Jaime and stuck my tongue out at him as he gave me a big grin, "Jellybean for fudge pops."

"They're in the kitchen. The traitor has them." I said and tried to pull Jellybean out of his grip.

Jaime chuckled and handed me Jellybean, "Mike left you alone with a boy? Are you sure this is the real Mike?"

I shrugged, "He was the one to notice Blake in the first place and got his attention."

"Ooooh, it was Blake." Jaime said and wiggled his eyebrows. "He should have invited him over."

I shook my head, "I love you guys but I don't really want anyone to know I'm related to you. I don't want fake friends like I had at my last school. And if Blake has realized who you are then he hasn't said anything or acts like he doesn't know."

Jaime rolled his eyes, "Don't remind me of those fakers. That one girl that would always try to flirt with Vic creeped me out."

Vic lifted the sheet and crawled into the fort with two beers in his hand before handing one over to Jaime, "Are you talking about that weird Jess girl? Never speak of her again."

Jaime and I couldn't help but laugh at how upset Vic was at the mention of her. To be fair she was pretty creepy. When she had realized who my family was she would invite herself over for sleepovers and if Vic was over she would suggest a horror movie. Of course I would always agree but she would get all scared and hug up to Vic. She would also "fall asleep" on him. I crawled over to one of the mattresses on the floor and collapsed. It looked like they had put two king sized mattresses together and piled them with pillows. It's a much better idea than what we used to do, which was layer the thickest blankets we had down until it felt somewhat comfortable.

Jaime tossed a backpack at me, "Tone went to your house and got your clothes and stuff so you can get changed in here. We'll leave you alone."

Vic crawled back out of the fort but I grabbed jaime's arm before he could leave, "Can I sleep in one of your shirts tonight?"

His signature big grin formed on his face and he nodded, "I'll go get one."

Usually when I had anxiety like this I would like to sleep in someone's shirt because their scent enveloped me a bit more. It's like when I was little and they would hold me tightly in their arms, their smell just comforts me. I quickly changed into a pair of shorts Dad had packed and flopped back down on the mattress. It wasn't long before Jaime was thrusting his hand with a t-shirt in it under the sheet. I took my shirt off and pulled Jaime's black Obey shirt on.

"Bring in the snacks!" I yelled as I made myself comfortable in the middle of the two mattresses. I heard all four men laugh as they started to pile into the fort. Jaime claimed the spot on my left (he complained that he hates being on the end, which is something else they all say I inherited from him) while Vic claimed the spot on my right. Dad was beside Jaime while Mike was beside Vic. I took a sip of my fruit punch before ripping into a bag of Zebra cakes, "I vote a horror movie!"

"Evil Dead!" Mike said from beside Vic, throwing his fist up in the air and spilling beer on his older brother. Vic hit mike in the chest before glancing over at me, "Pick something that hasn't been watched in a while that all of us will enjoy. Nothing too scary for Himes."

I stuffed the rest of my cake in my mouth before setting Jellybean down in my spot and crawling to the large flat screen tv. I turned it on before grabbing the remotes and crawling back to my spot. I turned Netflix on and started scrolling through all the horror movies.

"Let's start off easy. How about Dead Silence?"

"No!" Dad and Jaime said all too quickly.

I raised my eyebrows at them, "It's not scary."

Dad shook his head, "All those damn dolls are creepy. Nothing with dolls."

"Fine. A Nightmare on Elm Street it is." I replied as I clicked on the movie before anyone could complain. Jaime gave a small groan from beside me but I just held Jellybean out to him, "You can snuggle her if you're scared."

"Then what about when you get scared?"

"Please. You helped Dad raise me. I love this movie." I replied to Jaime. When I was younger I put Jaime through some terrifying movie nights. He and dad would take me to Blockbuster to pick out a movie and I would always choose a horror movie. They always tried their best to talk me out of them but I was persistent. Children of the Corn, The Shining, Friday the 13th, Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street. You name it I watched it. Dad didn't scare easily but he just wasn't a fan of horror. Jaime actually got me started on them after watching Scream. He doesn't really classify that as horror, but a slasher. Either way I was hooked at a young age.

Jaime chuckled, "You're braver than I am."