My Life In Pieces (Book #1)

Chapter 15

At five o' clock Laura was back and I had to act happy about it. I almost gagged when I saw her outfit. She looked like 'Hooker Barbie'. She was sixteen but she looked like she was going on thirty with all the makeup. A pink bandeau was on display under a see through white crop top, and her jean shorts were so short I could call them underwear. We needed to discuss heavily what I would walk out of the house wearing if she thought I would walk out in public looking like that.

"Alex come on I brought some really cute stuff for you to try on." She pulled out a pair of shorts from her bag that were almost identical to the ones she wore.

"I'm not wearing those. Can you even wear normal underwear with those?"

Laura rolled her eyes, "You just wear them with a thong so you don't have panty lines."

I couldn't help but laugh. "You really think I'm the kind of girl who owns a thong?"

She pouted but pulled out another option. It was a mini skirt. I held it up to my waist. It was barely longer than the shorts. I rolled my eyes but tried it on. I pulled it down as far as I could and it still went above my fingertips. I looked at Laura who was beaming.

"You just need to shave your thighs and it will be perfect."

I looked at the little blonde hair on my thighs. Jordan had been emphatic that I not shave there until I was sixteen. In this outfit though I think she would make an exception.

"What about a shirt?"

Laura looked through her bag and pulled out a simple black t-shirt. It looked harmless enough so I took it to try on. After I slipped it over my head I saw the problem. If Tim saw how much cleavage I was showing I'd be grounded into next year. But Father of the Year was still out with his boss so I nodded that it was acceptable. Laura helped me curl my hair and do my makeup but I insisted on wearing my converse with this highly inappropriate outfit. U started to grab a jacket but Laura insisted that I wouldn't need it. Sure enough it was a very warm evening as we walked back over to her house and loaded up into Dylan's car. Both cousins gaped as I got in.

Dylan looked to Laura, "you turned our fifteen year old into a stripper."

"She looks great."

He looked to me, "Do you need a sweater or a burka Lex?"

I shook my head, "I'll survive." Both the boys shook their heads and we headed out. The whole ride to The Garage Dylan kept asking if I was positive that I didn't need a sweater. All it did was make me self-conscious about the fact my male cousins were uncomfortable with the size and exposure of my chest. Laura was dressed way worse and was barely older than me and had received zero crap from them.

Not fair.

We finally arrived and I hopped out before they could pin me down to throw a tarp over my chest. We had all decided to stay out from backstage so Brenna couldn't try to devour me. Soon Running With Scissors took the stage and Laura instantly wanted to dance. I agreed and we made our way to the floor. After a few songs Gavin showed up and joined us.

I started to look around for Ari or Elle. They had talked about the show all week. I finally landed my eyes on Aaron. He was grinding on someone. She turned around and I confirmed it was Elle. I made my way through the crowd to them. She squealed and hugged me.

"Hey where is Ari?" I yelled over the ruckus.

Her face fell a bit. "He got grounded from coming because he and Tyler got into a fight."

"About what?"

She looked like she was trying to decide whether or not to tell me. "Ask Ari."

I nodded and walked back to my group. I told Laura about what had happened. She thought for a moment then texted someone. Twenty minutes later she sent me outside. I laughed as I saw Jake's Jeep out front. I hopped in and got buckled up.

I leaned over and gave him a hug. "Thanks Jake."

He hugged me back, "No problem. Ari will be happy to see you."

I practically bounced the whole way there. I followed Jake covertly upstairs once we were inside. He left for his own room and I quietly knocked on Ari's door. There was no answer; he was probably trying to ignore his parents, so I knocked again a little louder.

He opened after a moment with a sour look on his face that instantly changed when he registered it was me. He pulled me in and shut the door. I found myself wrapped up in a bear hug as the door shut. I had to cling to him for balance as my eyes tried to adjust to the darkness of his room.

"What are you doing here?"

"Elle told me you got grounded so I figured I might come entertain you."

"Sounds like a plan." He took in my outfit. "Fuck, you look hot."

I rolled my eyes. "Want to play some video games?"

"Does a fish swim in water?" He laughed and logged on to X-Box Live. After a few minutes we were playing the latest Call of Duty game. I held my own but had nothing on Ari.

We had been playing for over an hour when I finally asked, "So what did you get grounded for?"

He shrugged, "Tyler and Brenna were fighting again and I stepped in. She said she still thought he had the hots for you and I said she was probably right. He got in my face and we ended up getting into it. My parents said they wanted me to stay home just to make sure I didn't cause a scene at the show."

"Why would they think you would cause a scene?"

He was quiet, not really wanting to answer. "Experience."

"Experience?"

"I used to have a really unstable temper."

That was news to me. He was always so calm, almost too calm most of the time. The only time I saw any aggression from him was when Tyler had hit on me at Chew Chews. I sat there for a moment trying to form an answer. "Well I missed you tonight. It was way more fun dancing with you than Laura."

"Well I am just an amazing dancer so it's not really fair to compare us." I laughed and we got back to the game. Elle texted me when she was about to be coming in the door so that I would have time to sneak out. Aaron gave me a lift home so that I didn't have to walk. I felt surrounded by big brothers here, and was more than okay with it.