So Wrong, It's Right (An All Time Low fanfic)

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

"Are you sure you're going to be okay by yourself tonight?" Annabelle rolled her eyes at the question she'd already answered six times that day. "Yes, mom, I'll be fine." She popped another apple slice into her mouth as she watched her mom hustle around the house, doing last minute things before she left for work. "Well," her mother began, "I put the number to the hospital on the fridge, along with my cell number and Vicky's cell and the Gaskarth's house number." Annabelle groaned.

Ever since her mom had first met Vicky, they had become really close. Close as in Vicky was constantly over at their house, and when she wasn't, she was calling Annabelle's mom on the phone. Once Vicky heard that Annabelle was going to be home alone for the first time in their new house that Saturday night, she volunteered her phone number in case something happened. She also said Annabelle could stay the night at their house, which Annabelle said she'd think about, but after what she witnessed with Alex and the girl the previous night, she was leaning more towards saying no.

Her mom rushed past her again, searching for her keys. Annabelle was lost in thought, thinking about last night, like she had been all day. "Annabelle!" her mom shouted, breaking Annabelle from her reverie. "What?!" she shouted back. "Where the fuck are my keys?! I have to leave in five minutes or I'll be late!" Annabelle sighed. "Did you check the table by the front door?" she called out to her mother. Silence. Then her mother came back into the kitchen, where Annabelle was sitting at the table, staring out the front window, eating apple slices.

Her mom held up the keys with a smile. "You're a life saver. I don't know what I'd do without ya." Then she walked over to Annabelle and kissed the top of her head. "Okay, honey, I have to go." Annabelle turned and looked at the clock; 5:28. Her mom wouldn't be home until 6:30 the next morning. As her new job as a nurse, her boss had started her with the midnight shift, and today was her first day. Annabelle tried to be happy for her since she knew that she'd wanted to be a nurse for a long time, and now she finally was, but she was secretly nervous about being home alone in their new house for the first time. But right now she was putting on a brave face for her mom.

Annabelle stood up from the table and hugged and kissed her mom goodbye. "Have a good night, sweetheart. I'll call you if I can," her mom said as she let go. "Thanks mom, you too. I love you." They began to walk to the garage together. "I love you too!" her mom said as she climbed into her car. She slammed the door shut and started the car, waved to Annabelle, who waved back, then pulled out of the garage and sped down the street. Annabelle sighed as she turned and went back into her empty house, alone.

Meanwhile...

"Guys, shut up, my phone's ringing!" Alex shouted over Jack, Zack, and Vinny's yelling. They quieted down a little bit, but not much. All of the boys, plus Vinny, Evan, Jeff, and Matt were all at the skate park in downtown Baltimore, known as Wasteland. No one knew why it was called that, or who even started calling it that for that matter, but the name fit the place pretty well. Knowing that the guys weren't going to listen to him, Alex walked over to the very edge of the skate park, away from all the noise and commotion, and answered his phone.

"Hello?" he heard a sniffle, then his mom's voice, "Alex, honey, I hate to tell you this over the phone, but your Aunt Judy is sick." Judy was his mom's older sister. Alex had never really been close to her, but she and his mom were. "Aww, no! Mom, I'm sorry! What kind of sick is she?" His mom sniffled again. "We don't know yet. Your father and I are packing right now and going to head down there. I was just calling to let you know." His aunt lived about two hours south of Baltimore. "Oh," Alex said into the phone. He turned and watched Vinny do some kind of crazy trick on his skateboard, and smiled.

"Are you going to be okay by yourself?" Her voice brought him back to the problem at hand. "Uh, yeah, I'll be fine. I mean, I've stayed the night by myself before. It's no big deal." His mom was silent for a moment. "Well," she began, "your father and I are planning on staying the weekend there, not just tonight. We might even stay a few extra days, if she needs us to." Her voice choked up at the last sentence. Alex's eyes widened. "Oh," he repeated, "okay, yeah, that's fine. I'll be fine."

"You can have the boys spend the night, if you want." Her voice sounded cheerier when she said that. "Yeah, I probably will." His mom sighed. "Okay, honey, I just wanted to let you know what was going on." Rian walked up suddenly, eyebrows raised, with a huge Slurpee in his hand from the 7-11 across the street. He looked concerned. "Alright mom, thanks for calling. Give Aunt Judy my best wishes." He heard his dad say something to his mom in the background.

"Your father says he loves you, and I do too. I'll try to call as often as I can to keep you updated." Rian mouthed 'What's going on?' Alex mouthed back, 'Hold on'. "I love you guys too. Drive safe." They said their goodbyes and then Alex hung up. "What was that all about?" Rian asked. Alex sighed and ran a hand through his hair. My Aunt Judy's sick and my folks are going down to spend the weekend with her, maybe even longer." Rian's eyes widened. "Wow. I'm sorry to hear that. What kind of sick is she?"

Alex shook his head. "I don't know. My parents don't know yet, either." Rian put his free hand on Alex's shoulder. "I'm sorry, man." Alex looked up at him. "It's alright, don't worry about it. Hey, can I have a drink of that?" Alex asked, pointing to the Slurpee. "Sure," Rian said, passing it to him. "Thanks," Alex said before taking a sip.

As soon as it hit his tongue, Alex started to gag. "Rian, what the fuck is this?!" Rian held back a laugh. "I call it The Blast. It's a mix of every flavor of Slurpee that 7-11 has," he said proudly. Alex continued to gag and handed the drink back to Rian. "That's disgusting! You actually like that?!" Rian smiled. "You know, this would be a lot funnier if you hadn't just told me that your aunt was sick." Alex punched Rian on the shoulder, but not hard enough to hurt him. "You think so, dbag?" Rian started to laugh.

"Look," Alex began, "do you want to spend the night tonight? I'm gonna ask Jack and Zack, too." Rian nodded. "Sure, sounds good." Alex nodded. "Sweet."

"Come on," Rian said, "let's go watch the guys skate." Alex nodded, and they headed back over to their friends.