So, it’s Friday and I’m standing in front of my mirror trying to decide which bra and panties set I should wear for the big night. Sure, I may have a thing with bras and panties, like I own more than a whole sorority, but this is kinda a big deal. Compared to my shoe obsession this is nothing, but that’s a whole different story. The fact is I need this to be perfect; I’ve been waiting forever.  I was beginning to think this day would never come.  At least, I hope this is the day, for all I know Justin could chicken out or come up with some other excuse. Like he wants to be married first.

Holy shit, that’s not even funny.

I finally decided on a black lace bikini set, sexy but not too sexy, and pulled my dress over my head.  I took a deep breath and fixed my hair, for some reason I’m actually kind of nervous.  It feels absolutely ridiculous to be nervous over something so stupid but god; I’ve been waiting a long time for this shit.

It better be good.

I straightened out my dress and slipped into my shoes before heading downstairs and grabbing my purse and digging for my ringing phone inside it. “Hello?” I answered heading out to my car.

“I’m alone, you know.”

“Jonas? What do you mean?”

“I mean I’m alone.  In the house and nobody’s here!”

“Where is everyone? Who is watching you?”

“Nobody’s watching me. I’m alone. Wanna know where everyone is?”

“Yes Jonas, please tell me where everyone is.” How is he alone? Who left him alone?

“OK,” he took a deep breath to prepare himself, “Dad’s working. Mom’s at that place getting that stuff. You know what stuff I mean? That stuff that she has to get for that thing?”

“For the party, yes I know what you mean. Where’s Jackie?”

“No! I wanna go in order! Next is Jake and he’s not here either. I don’t know where he is cause he doesn’t live here but he lives with you so you know where he is. Do you know where he is Jules? Where is he?”

“He’s looking at houses. Please tell me why you’re alone and where Jenna or Jackie are.”

“I’m getting to that! Next is you and you’re on the phone with me! Where are you Jules?”

“In my car on my way to your house, keep going Jonas, where’s Johnny?” There’s no use in trying to get him to rush through it or go out of order, it’s not going to happen. Why the hell is he alone and why am I the only one in the fucking family that thinks about shit like this? Right, and why the fuck does it have to be tonight, of all nights?

“Johnny is at school. He lives there too. Next is Jackie. Jackie went out with her boyfriend but I’m not supposed to tell anyone, I’m supposed to say she went out with her friends.”

“Was Jackie supposed to be watching you?”

“And last is Jenna. No wait, I’m last. So, second to last in Jenna,” he ignored my question, “Jenna is at soccer practice. Mom is going to pick her up after she goes to get that stuff.”

“So Jackie was watching you?”

“And then last is me. And I’m home in the living room but there’s nothing good on television and no one to play with.”

“Jonas, sweetie, who was supposed to be home with you?”

“Jackie, but she went out with her boyfriend. Only I’m not supposed to tell anyone that. I’m supposed to say she went out with her friends.”

I took a deep breath; I swear this girl has no brain. She’s a complete idiot teenager that thinks the whole world revolves around her. I hate her. I really hate my sister. I don’t care how bad it sounds; she’s a fucking idiot.  “I’m coming now, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“Good, cause it’s not fun being alone. It’s kinda scary even.”

“I’ll be there in a little bit,” I said as I looked at the clock on the dashboard to see I was supposed to be at Justin’s five minutes ago. Fantastic.              I pulled into the driveway and rushed into the house, letting out a huge sign of relief when I saw Jonas sitting on the couch completely fine. Sure, maybe I overreact a little but he should not be home alone. For gods sake he could light the house on fire, I wouldn’t put it past him. “Hi Jonas. Did you have a good day at school?”

“Yeah, kinda. Hey Jules, how come we don’t have sleepovers no more?”

“We do. We just haven’t had one in awhile cause everyone’s been busy. We’ll have another one soon.”

“Oh, I know! We can have one tonight!”

“No sweetie, I wish we could but we can’t tonight. I have plans.”

“Oh, that’s ok next week then. Oh, how about if next week that guy can come too.”

“That guy?”

“Yeah, Justin. Does he still come over? He’s cool.”

“Yeah. He is cool,” I am going to personally kill Jackie. Seriously she’s dead. “I’m going to call around and see if I can get mom or someone alright Jonas? Why don’t you work on your drawing?”

He clapped his hands in excitement, most likely forgot all about his drawing that he loves to do so much. I fell on the couch and grabbed my cell phone, dialing Jackie’s number.  It didn’t surprise me one bit that it went right to voicemail.

“Jackie, where the fuck are you?” I yelled into my phone after walking away from Jonas so he couldn’t hear, “Are you seriously that big of an idiot that you’d leave Jonas alone? You’re so fucking stupid. I have places to be! You can’t just leave him! Call me as soon as you get this. Dad is going to absolutely kill you and you’re on your own with that. Good luck.”

I took a deep breath and called each of my brothers, my mother and my father, getting each of their voicemails. How is it possible that I have such a big family and no one is around when I need them?

The next step is to call Justin, I suppose. Once again, I’m nervous. Why does he make me nervous? He’s like the least intimidating person in the world but he makes me nervous. I have serious problems.

“Hey Jules, you better not be standing me up. I’ve got lots of food cooking,” he laughed.

“Hey, I’m so sorry.”

“You are standing me up.”

“No. I mean… I was on my way to your house and Jonas called me. He said he was all alone and Jackie just left him. So, obviously I couldn’t just leave him alone.”

“Of course not.  Is he alright?”

“Yeah, yeah he’s fine. I just, I can’t leave him alone.”

“That’s fine Jules. Do you want to bring him? I have plenty of food.”

Do I want to bring Jonas? OK, now I’m completely confused and it’s very likely Justin is planning on having me over for dinner. Like… only dinner. Why is my life such a pain in the ass?

“Jules?”

“Yeah. I mean, no that’s all right. Someone should be home soon. My father doesn’t work late. I mean, he never does so he should be home soon.”

“Alright, that works. Do you want to just come by when someone gets home then? I’ll keep everything warm. Does that work?”

“Yeah, that’s great. I’m sorry Justin.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. It’s not a big deal; I’ll see you later on. I’m excited for tonight,” he paused and chuckled, “Are you excited?”

“I am.” I answered softly.

“Good, it’s going to be a good one,” he laughed, “Alright, I’ll let you go. Tell Jonas I said hi. I’ll see you later.”

“Bye Justin.”

I let out an annoying sigh as I placed my phone on the couch. It’s only me that this stuff happens to.  There is a strong possibility that I’m going to kill my inconsiderate whore of a sister when I see her. And of course Justin is perfect and understanding and not even a little upset. Ugh.

“Justin says hi.”

“Oh, hi Justin! Tell him I said hi.”

“I sure will,” if I ever see him. “Want to play Uno?”

Forty five minutes later the front door opened and I jumped off the couch. I took a deep breath when I realized it was my father and said a silent prayer this would go as smoothly as possible.

“Well, hello Julie. I didn’t know you were coming over tonight. Are you joining us for dinner? Where are your sisters? What are you wearing?”

I pulled my dress down as far as it would go and then pulled the top of it up hiding my cleavage that was obviously pretty much out there. Since, ya know, I was planning on spending the night with Justin not babysitting. “Hi Daddy. It’s a long story really. I’m not staying.”

“Hi Jonas, come say hi. How was your day?” my father ignored me completely as he took off his suit jacket and placed it on a chair, “Where are the girls? Would you please put a sweater on?”

“Jenna is at soccer practice. Jackie is god knows where.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have to go,” I grabbed my purse, “But Jackie was supposed to watch Jonas but he called me like an hour ago and said he was alone so I came over. I have to go so I’ll see you Sunday.”

“What? She what?”

“Jackie went out with her boyfriend but I’m not supposed to tell you that. I’m supposed to tell you that she went out with her friends.” Jonas filled him in, and now I’m absolutely positive that I’m not going anywhere.

“What do you mean her boyfriend? Jackie has a boyfriend? Did you know about this?”

Sure, now this is my fault too. “No, not really. Look Dad, I have plans I really have to go.”

“You’re going to have to stay with him for a little while longer. I’m going to find her. Did you call your mother?”

“Yes Daddy, of course I called Mom.  I really need to go.”

“On a date? That can wait Julie; I need to find your sister. God knows what she’s up to. She’s too young to have a boyfriend,” he’s pacing around the room like I just told him my sister was pregnant or something. He needs to relax. “And you, you need to put a damn sweater on, don’t go out like that. And you need to bring your boyfriend over for dinner. We need to meet him. This is ridiculous.”

Oh my god, he’s gone fucking mad.

“We’ll talk later. Call me if you hear from Jackie and tell your mother to call me as soon as she get in.”

“Sure.” It’s not like I have a say in any of this or I have anywhere to be. How does he think he’s just going to find her anyway? He’ll probably drive around the streets yelling out the windows for her thinking she’ll come running to the car when she hears him.

I fell back on the couch as my father walked out of the house. He seriously needs to calm himself. Obviously I’m not bringing Justin over. There’s no way in hell.

“Do you have any… sevens?” Jonas asked me. The poor kid was holding onto his cards this whole time.

I picked up mine and shook my head, “Go fish.” Jonas took a deep breath and pulled a card from the pile, “Wait! We’re playing Uno, not Go Fish you goof!”

~*~*~*~

A half an hour later the door opened up again and my mother and Jenna walked in. Finally, freedom.

“Jules!” Jenna shouted and ran into my arms, we’ll ignore the fact that she’s sweaty and dirty. I’m still happy she’s a cute normal preteen and not crazy like the other one.

“Hey girlie, how was practice?”

“Good. How come you’re here? Are you staying over?”

“No, I’m just looking after Jonas.”

“Jules?” my mother asked as she stepped into the living room, “I thought that was your car. What are you doing here sweetie? Are you staying for dinner?”

“No, I was just watching Jonas. I have to go though.”

“It’s good to see you sweetie,” my mother ignored me completely and gave me a hug, “Where’s Jake?”

“Looking at houses,” I answered and tried to calm myself. There’s no need for me to try and escape, I just need to wait a few minutes and answer all the questions and fill her in about what’s going on. “I was watching Jonas because I was on my way out and he called me saying he was all alone. I guess Jackie left him alone so she could go out with her friends.”

“She what?” my mother shouted, kinda weird how both my parents have the same reaction. They’ve been around each other so long it’s like they’re the same person. Although, my mother won’t go try to hunt her down and kill her boyfriend. At least I hope she won’t.

“I know, she’s an idiot. But it’s ok because Jonas called me right away and he was really only home alone for a couple minutes. He knows he shouldn’t be home alone so he did the right thing and called me. Good job, Jonas.”

“She didn’t really go out with her friends you know Mom. She went out with her boyfriend but I’m not supposed to say that, I’m supposed to say she went out with her friends.”

My mother took a deep breath, “I don’t know what we’re going to do with that girl.”

“Boarding school?” I suggested.

“A nunnery?” Jenna added with a laugh.

“A mental institution?” I laughed.

“Alright, enough,” my mother smiled, “Where’s your father?”

“Out searching for her and her boyfriend so… yeah. Good luck bailing him out of jail.”

My mother took another deep breath, “I don’t know what I’m going to do with him either.”

“Me neither, he’s lost his mind. He wants you to call him. Are you all set with me? I kind of have plans.”

“Of course sweetie, go ahead. You look so nice. Do you have a date?”

“Kind of.”

“I’m sorry sweetie, go ahead.” My mother gave me a hug, “Have a good time. I don’t know what we’d do without you Jules, I know we don’t tell you that enough but you really do so much for us, especially with Jonas.”

“Of course, it’s not a problem,” I said waiting for my mother to let go of me, “Are you alright mom?’

“Sure, I’m just not sure what we’re going to do with Jackie. You have fun. Are you going out with Justin?” I nodded my head, “You should bring him by sometime, we want to meet him.”

“I know, you’ll meet him soon I’m sure. Everything has just been so hectic.”

“Alright, make sure.  I meant to ask you about shoes. I need a pair for this dinner we have in a few months, I can’t find anything to go with my dress.”

“I’ll look at the dress Sunday, alright? I’ll get you a pair.”

“OK, that’s fine. I’ll let you go. Thanks again sweetie.”

“Alright no problem. Don’t forget to call Daddy.” I grabbed my purse and hugged each of my siblings before making it to the door and letting out a huge sigh of relief.

I made it.

Now I just need to get out of here before my father comes home and decides he wants me to go on a Jackie hunt with him.

I just want to get to Justin’s. This night has to happen.