FicWad

I WAS FEELING alive tonight. It always starts this way, this feeling. It had been a snowball effect ever since the beginning of the night. Nothing could get in my way. Nothing could hold me down.

Jan and I walked through the night in the comfortable but excited silence that comes from being shadows in the dark, going somewhere secretly and doing things we weren't supposed to. Being teenagers. I was on adrenaline when we walked up to the house, she pointed out, looming on the street; the only one with loud music seeping through every crack in the walls into the breezy summer night. August had come and winter was lurking in the distance, dispelling the stiffling heat of city summers, which comforted me.

"Wait, how do I look," I asked nervously as we strode across the lawn and up to the front steps. Jan looked me up and down and gave me a two thumbs up, "Like you're gonna have a good time."

"What about me?" Jan didn't ask it because she was nervous, she just wanted my appreciation for her outfit. She looked cute, her jet black hair loose around her face, the light glinting off her eyebrow ring, wearing her ever-present chucks, a pair of ripped dark blue jeans, and a dark red tank top. It was one of the first times I hadn't seen her in something emblazoned with some obscure animal-rights related organization.

The house was two-story and large, ideal for illicit activities. Jan grinned at me opened the door and we were engulfed in blaring music, heat, and a cloud of smoke. Jan had been drinking already, so the noise and throng of people did nothing to buffer her, but my stomach jumped at seeing so many people.

"C'mon," she kept her arm around my shoulders and lead me through the crowd, leading through the front foyer and off to a living room. I instantly grinned at seeing Andy and Bob setting up in the corner with the three other guys I supposed made up their band. Andy was already shirtless, showing off a portion of connected tattoos on his chest and upper arms, his drum kit assembled; the guys around him stood tuning guitars and messing with the amps.

"Videl, glad you came." Andy smiled and waved his arms widely. "I would hug you but I'm already sweating like a pig,"

"It's okay. I'm excited to see you play," I replied with a air-hug, which Andy returned. Andy was never one to dismiss a hug.

"Meet the other guys in the band; that's Alex and Scrap, and Chuck." I waved to the three other guys, who took a moment in setting up to say quick 'heys'. Alex, the first one I noticed, had shaggy brown hair that curled around his face and seemed fond of wearing cut off shirts to show off his few tattoos on his arms, Scrap was a kid with a red mohawk, and Chuck looked like the biggest stoner I'd ever seen. While I was looking at them setting up absentmindedly, I noticed Alex look me up and down a second time and give me a lopsided grin.

I felt a brief blush over my face and was quickly distracted by Jan.

"Videl, I think you need a drink and I need another three." She gave me a playful look and took off, coming back a few minutes later with two cups; she offered me a clear plastic cup full to the brim with dark froth which I hesitantly took.

"Don't worry, its just beer."

I smiled and said a quick thanks and took a sip to oblige her. It tasted like shit.

All of a sudden, without fair warning, Andy suddenly jumped up from where he sat behind the drum kit and started pounding every drum with a manic sort of ferocity, and the rest of the guys jumped in as if it was belated, but I was pretty sure that was how they meant it.

The amps blared the chaotic combination of sounds into the hot room, making it even hotter. Every song was pounded through; Andy liked a heavier type of hardcore than I was accustomed too, somewhere between Earth Crisis meets Suicide Silence. So I just bobbed my head as best I could to every manic, fast paced song with Alex growling along in a blur of words and snarls. I was pretty sure their band game plan was just to tear through every song as fast as possible without loosing the rhythm, so it took a few songs before I began to notice more things. Andy played very well, never loosing that crazy rhythm he had, and Bob and the others struggled to keep up. It was pretty funny, actually. Now I was starting to see why in the future he would be referred to predominantly as 'The Animal.'

When they had finished, it had been with the same formality as before: none. They proceeded to start breaking down their equipment. Jan yelled out loudly and the rest of the people in the room cheered drunkenly in appreciation; it seemed everyone there knew the band, and some kids started to come up and talk to them, but it wasn't like a production. It was just a few kids hanging out with the band, and it felt good to be included.

"You were great," I told Andy, who had a permanent wide smile on his face. His eyes were on fire, his crimson hair sticking up around his head in a sweaty mess. Just like the Animal.

"Thanks," Andy said, still covered in sweat. "That was a fuckin' blast."

"You're gonna play at the Metro I know it," Jan said confidently, downing the rest of her drink.

"It would be awesome, but I just like to fuckin' bang." Andy smiled at her. "Thanks sis."

"Will they really play at the Metro?" I asked Jan curiously.

"Oh hell yeah. I work there sometimes, I'm supposed to start back up again next week." She rolled her eyes. "I had to make sure I could handle all my grades, as long as I'm still headed for graduation and college, my mom doesn't care what I do. Andy, on the other hand, doesn't play by anyone's rules," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Damn fuckin' right I don't," Andy boasted with a grin as he came up. Jan scoffed and took a swipe at his head, which he ducked and picked her up.

"Andy!" she screamed, not expecting it, but he turned her around in quick circles before she could protest. "You're gonna make me fuckin' puke!" She groaned as he finally put her down.

"Yeah, Hurley," I grinned, I couldn't help myself. Andy laughed like a maniac as Jan stumbled away. "You guys suck, I'm going to the bathroom,"

I expected Andy to go whooping after her, but he instead turned to me with a devious look. "Now that she's gone, I gotta ask you something,"

"What's up, Hurley?"

"That girl, your foster sister."

"Natalie? Yeah?"

"Can you get her to hangout with me?"

"You," I arched my eyebrow. "Want to hangout with her? You gotta thing for her?"

"Shh shh, yeah," Andy shushed me. "I don't want Jan to know, she'll never leave me alone about it. But," he paused. "She's really cute. I'd like to talk to her."

I widened my eyes. "Natalie? My foster sister? You?" I said slowly. "You sure you just don't want into her pants?"

"What?" Andy yelped, a little louder than he meant to. He lowered his voice. "No, I'm not like that."

"I know you aren't," I chuckled and patted his arm. "I'll talk to her for you, don't worry about it." I stopped before I said anything about the way she really way; the other day, I might have laughed it off that she was just a goody two-shoes, but I didn't want to hurt her or Andy's feelings by saying something like that, even though she wasn't there.

"Thanks," Andy gave me another wide smile. "You're a good friend,"

"Hey there," I watched Alex come up to us, running a hand over his hair, his brown curls matted to his forehead.

Andy put his arm around my shoulders. "Play nice, Alex. You touch her I'll fuck you up," I watched Alex gulp as he stared at Andy.

"I'm just fuckin' around man," Andy laughed. "Videl's a cool girl. But still," Andy gave another serious glare and then smiled again, turning to talk to Bob.

"Your name is Videl right?"

"Yeah," I gave him a friendly smile.

"How d'you spell it?"

"V-I-D-E-L."

"You know you name could be an anagram of...devil?" I had to admit I was impressed Alex knew what an anagram was. I gave him a smile as reward for his wittiness.

"Yeah it could be."

"Are you gonna tell me not to make deals with the devil?" Alex said with a smirk.

I laughed. I had heard that one before.

That's when I felt it again.

If felt like a needle had been stuck into the base of my neck; I whipped my head forward and struggled not to cry out in pain, my head throbbing, my beer spilling onto my shoes. Alex jumped out of the way and looked alarmed at me, but I was concentrating all my efforts onto not falling to my knees.

I instantly felt sick to my stomach, my mouth tasting of copper and my head swirled. I wanted out. I pulled away from him, and he looked at me and glanced around for help. I swallowed down the feeling and hesitated before looking up.

"Are you okay?" he looked really worried.

"I'm fine," I said weakly, my head still throbbing. I gave it a few more minutes, hoping it would subside. "I just need to go to the uh--bathroom."

I walked quickly out of the living room, not looking to see if Alex was staring after me; I found my way into the kitchen and started looking for Jan, assuming she'd be near the alcohol. There was a crowd of people in the kitchen as well, setting up the table for a drinking game, several styrafoam coolers full of ice and booze crowding the kitchen space that wasn't full of people. I slunk through the crowd, towards the outside back porch, not seeing Jan anywhere. I slid open the sliding glass door, and was almost pushed out by some drunken kids.

"Oi," I snapped, whirling, and they put up their hands and walked away with mumbled 'sorry'.

I sighed and looked around outside for Jan, taking a second to suck in some cool air into my lungs. As soon as it hit me, I started to feel panicked because of how good it felt. All the people, body heat, and the loud music had made me feel kind of stuffy; I hadn't realized this underlying feeling had nothing to do with that. I bit my lip and felt my pores start working overtime, covering me in cold sweat as my heart picked up its beat. I leaned against the house and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself fully. There were a couple kids smoking off to the side, minding themselves; they glanced briefly at me and went back to talking.

"Hey," I turned my head and watched Allie come up, her blonde hair shinning in the weak lamp light outside.

"Hey," I replied, not really sure what else to say. Allie and I never talked much; she did a lot of talking about other people, though, so of course the next thing she said to me I should have known she'd know first. "You know Gary was here, right?" She said, standing with her back to the house.

"What?" I squinted my eyes at her.

"He left already, chill." she replied with a roll of her eyes. "You get so worked up so easily."

I scoffed. "That's because he got Jan suspended. He fucked up the art room,"

"You don't know that he did it," she replied cooly, taking a pack of cigarettes out of her purse and lighting one up. I arched a brow at her. It was like she didn't even care, but she was annoying me now so I wanted to find Jan.

"Uh, well, I 'm looking for Jan, d'you--"

"So you're friends with Patrick?" She said like she hadn't heard me, expelling smoke in a breath and looking into the distance like she didn't care, but she did shift her body closer to me.

Before I could answer, she continued. I think it had something to do with the way her breath smelled like alcohol. She was drunk.

"You know, he's weird. We were like, kind of dating, me and Patrick--last year." She looked at me, her face not holding any emotion. "Actually, it was more like pity dating."

"Anyway, I was at a party with him. And we were in Andy's room,and we were making out; and," She let out a snicker, "he couldn't even get it up, he just started crying. Like, bawling. Like a fuckin' baby. Andy had to drive him home." She blew out her smoke. "I think he may be gay or something."

I narrowed my eyes at her, confused as to why she was telling me this, and now I was angry.

"His mom died last year," I hissed, feeling anger surge through me as I pushed off from the wall and shook my head in disgust.

Allie shrugged. "Whatever."

I turned away, really wanting to slap her now, instead looking for Jan again. I took a deep breath before I went back into the kitchen, walking slowly back through the people in the kitchen, and decided this time to try the front hall. Every time someone bumped into me, I felt my heart quiver a little and I would jump from sudden warm contact on my clammy skin. I walked faster, through the door at the edge of it. From there, I wandered down a hallway where there seemed to be a bathroom; the door opened suddenly and Jan fell out, barley keeping herself on her feet. "Oops," she laughed as Jennifer came out behind her.

"Heeey," Jan giggled as she threw her arms around me. "Are you hungry?" She asked me, suddenly focused. "I'm hungry. I'm starving. Oh hey," she looked over her shoulder at Jennifer, who stood against the doorway with a dopey smile on her face. "We are fuckin' baked like cakes. Want a toke?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "No, I'm good--look I kind of just want to get out of here."

Jan cocked her head. "Why? Is someone messin' with you?" She turned away looked over my shoulder like she might find someone behind me.

"No, I'm fine but," I remembered Allie. "Allie says she saw Gary here."

"What the fuck does he want?" Jan said loudly as she turned back into me. "Videl, you would beat him up for me right?" She turned and looked fully in my eyes like she was telling me she was joining the military or something.

"Yes Jan."

"That's why you're my best friend," She sighed happily. "I love you."

"Yo, Janelle!" I heard someone shout. "Your brother's about to beat the shit out of Gary."

♠ ♠ ♠
The whole next couple of chapters are Patrick, Patrick, Patrick. We will also see more Andy. I'm sorry if I disappointed anyone so far; Pete does not make his present entry until about 5 more chapters, although you will hear more about him in the flashbacks. Joe will be coming in soon; you guys will love him too. Pete is the last one to rejoin the group. Save the best for last; I have written this Pete amazingly. I have alot of the Pete chapters already written, so we're working to that point.

Also, this is not a Patrick love fic, I am writing a separate one for him that will be posted soon.

Hope you guys are enjoying so far, let me know what sucks; what is awesome, if you want to write me a love letter, please do because I love you all.

-xoxo Videl aka Sabrina

ps.- I did use Pete's current girlfriend Meagan Camper as the image for Videl because I think she's absolutely gorgeous and fits my character exactly. I also love that she looks like the female version of Pete, seriously, they could be twins.