Adopted by Rilex (Jalex)

14

"Okay, so we have an announcement to make." Dad stands up happily to get everyone's attention.

Lydia and I stop our small conversation to look up at him, "I previously mentioned this, however, the details were very vague at the time." I look at Dad in curiosity, "We knew we would be touring this summer," He pauses. I vaguely remember a mention of touring, "We just didn't exactly know specifics." He says as his face grows to a happy smile, "We will be going on warped tour!" He announces Happily.

A wide smile grows on my face, as the band gets excited, "And, of course, we will be bringing Stella with us." Alex gives me a happy smile, which I return.

I felt ecstatic, I could not wait for school to end and summer break to start. Not to mention, I had never been to warped tour before, but now, I'll be spending my summer there. Then I remember something; I will be away from Lydia for nearly three months. I look over at Lydia to see a saddened expression on her face. "You okay?" I ask quietly while everyone is distracted by their joy. She nods slowly before her expression turns passive, almost as if she is completely unfazed by the news.

"Excited for Warped, Stella?" Jack asks,I snap my head in his direction before processing his words.

"Yeah, it's going to be a lot of fun, is there going to be anyone on the tour the same age as me?" I question.

"Uh," He thinks for a moment, "I think theres going to be some sixteen-ish-year-olds for the YouTuber part of it." He shrugs.

"Oh nice, not just a bunch of old dudes like you." I joke.

"Rude," He says in fake offense.

"Are you sure you can tour, you might need a cane on stage." I tease.

"I'll break a hip and blame it on you." He laughs.

I take a few bites of my food before standing up from the table, "I'm going to use the bathroom." I inform my parents.

"I'll go with you." Lydia smiles as she stands up.

I didn't mind, in all honesty, I was going to the bathroom to get away from the commotion. When I get to the bathroom I lean against the counter to talk to Lydia but end up letting out a loud yawn before I even have the chance to speak.

"Tired?" She questions.

"Always." I nod.

"Did you come to the bathroom to take a nap or use it?" She asks.

I let out a chuckle, "Nap, totally." I say sarcastically, "No, but, uh, I don't actually have to go." I shrug.

"I figured." She says before she glances at the stalls to make sure they are empty, "That's why I came in here, to do this." She says as she takes a step closer to me, placing her hands on either side of the counter and leaning in, connecting our lips. 

I place my arms around her neck loosely as I kiss back. When we pull apart I speak, "You just love doing that, don't you?" I tease.

"My favorite thing." She smiles at me before closing her eyes and leaning in again.

This is the kind of escape from the commotion I needed, and I was enjoying every second of it.

When we get home after dinner, Lydia and I go up to my room. Changing into comfortable pajamas, with no intent on sleeping anytime soon. "Wanna watch a movie?" I ask.

"Sure." She replies as I pick up my laptop. 

"What should we watch?" I ask as I open up Netflix.

"I don't know, anything that looks good." She shrugs.

Shortly after scrolling through Netflix theres a knock on the door. "Come in." I say, just loud enough for them to hear.

Dad opens the door with a passive look on his face, "I am going to Jack's house, ya know, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." He informs me.

"Okay," I reply before thinking for a moment, "What time will you be back?" I ask. 

"Not sure," He replies, "I'll call," He informs, "I love you, I'll see you later."

"Okay, love you too, tell Jack I say hi." I reply, hoping he comes back before Papa goes to sleep.

"Sure thing, sweetie." He says before shutting my door.

"What's it like having a functional family?" Lydia asks.

I stay silent for a moment, staring at the door in thought, "Something seems off." I say.

"What do you mean?" she asks curiously.

"Jack was perfectly fine at dinner, only half an hour ago." I mention.

"A lot can happen in half an hour." She shrugs.

"I guess." I decide to let it go, "How about, White Chicks?" I ask as I stumble upon a classic on Netflix.

"Sounds perfect." She smiles as we get comfortable on the bed.

About halfway into the movie, we both ended up falling asleep early. The next morning I woke up, before Lydia, to the sound of muffled yelling. Curiously, and half asleep, I make my way out of my room, sitting at the top of the stairs, hearing the argument much more clearly.

"I'm sorry!" Dad defends himself.

"All you say is sorry!" Papa gets mad, "But still you don't correct the action that you are sorry for, you keep doing this, you stay out until morning and don't tell anyone where you were." He yells angerly.

"I told you, I went to Jack's house." Dad defends himself.

"And you said you would call if you weren't going to come home." Papa retorts.

"I already told you, it was an accident, I was tired, I didn't mean to fall asleep." Dad tries to explain.

"Oh my god, can you stop with your excuses," Papa sighs, "You are so lucky that Stella is not awake to hear this, or better yet, she wasn't awake to find out that you weren't here." Papa states angerly, "I was worried sick about you, and god knows how Stella would have felt to wake up and find out you never came home." Papa explains, furiously.

I tune out, understanding what the argument is about, and lean my head against the railing of the stairs with a soft sigh. I know its normal for couples to argue, especially if they have a kid, but, I never thought about being adopted, only to have to listen to them argue. I guess this is better than living in that foster home until I'm eighteen.

I always fantasized about a perfect family, perfectly happy, perfectly stable, perfectly, just, perfect. But sometimes dreams just don't come true. My dream of having a family came true, but my dream of a perfect family did not.

Don't get me wrong, it's not a dysfunctional family in any way, it's just not TV perfect. I wish I didn't hear them argue, better yet, I wish they didn't argue at all. A tear rolled down my cheek as the word "Perfect," rang through my mind. Another tear, I am not perfect. Another tear, my family is not perfect. Another tear, I want perfect. Tears begin streaming down my face as I sit there, with my head leaning against the railing. The arguing from my parents downstairs continued as I sat here, my parents unaware that I can hear everything they say.

"Stella?" Lydia searches as she steps out of my room, "Oh honey," She lets out a sympathetic sigh, "Don't listen to them, it's not good for you." She says as she helps me stand up.

Once I am standing she places her palms on the sides of my face and wipes away my tears and leans in, placing a gentle kiss on my lips. She pulls me into my room, shutting the door to muffle the sounds of yelling from downstairs. "It's going to be okay, hun." She pulls me into a hug as we sit down on my bed. "Here," She says as she pulls out her phone, "You mentioned this band once," She says as she turns on the song Ancient History by Set It Off. The music playing from her phone seems to drown out any other sounds coming from downstairs.