My little brother's fist collides with the door for the second time in the last five minutes, except he now he doesn't stop.

"Shawn, I know! Just hang on!"

"I gotta brush my teeth! Do your makeup somewhere else!" He sighs loudly, as if his day is ruined before it's even begun.

I unlock the bathroom door, and Shawn comes barreling in, practically stomping.

"Shawn, let your sister get ready." My mother points a finger at him as she stops outside the bathroom door, still in her robe. My sister Layla is right behind her, sticking her tongue out at our brother.

"Yeah, Shawn." I say once my mother and Layla continue on down the hall.

He mimics me in a high voice, scowling at me in the mirror.

Shawn is thirteen, and now that he's in middle school, he's no longer as sweet as he used to be. I get it though, middle school is rough.

Layla is nine, and everyone says she's just like me when I was her age. A social butterfly, but still quiet.

I finish up my mascara, and let Shawn have the bathroom to himself. I go downstairs to get my backpack and something for breakfast.

My father sits at the table in the dining room, already in his suit and tie.

"Good morning dad."

He doesn't look up from the papers in front of him, even when he speaks. "Good morning sweetheart."

"What'cha working on?" I ask from the kitchen as I put two slices of bread  in the toaster.

My father's lawyer firm is one of the best in the city.

"It's a big case, I just got it yesterday." He calls loud enough for me to hear in his New York accent. It's not as intense as it was when I was little, but it's still there.

He and my mother both met in New York City. As wild as it is, both of their parents came to the U.S. on the same ship just decades before. They couldn't believe how the universe had aligned itself for them to meet in college. My mother says it was the perfect time. She thinks they were star crossed from the second their parents bought their tickets for America.

Just as I'm done spreading strawberry jelly onto my toast, Shawn and Layla come into the kitchen. Immediately, they start to bicker about where the Cocoa Puffs are.

My mom is here too, talking to Dad. He's given up on trying to get work done, and now he drinks his coffee.

Since Mom doesn't work anymore (she used be a paralegal) she's still in her pajamas.

"Chasity, did you get something to eat honey?" She calls as I begin to put my backpack over one shoulder, half a piece of toast still in my hand. If Michelle and I want to get to class with time to spare, we need to go now. I can already see her waiting by the curb from one of the front windows.

"Yes," I wave the toast in my hand. "I've gotta go."

"You know I won't be here later right? I've got to help my sister with the baby shower."

Great. I'm watching Shawn and Layla for who knows how long after school. 

"Okay," I say. Trying to argue it won't get me anywhere. Babysitting really isn't that bad. I'd just rather hang out with Michelle instead. 

Both of my parents tell me to have a good day, and I yell bye to Shawn and Layla right before I walk out the door.

Today is going to be a long day. I can feel it already.

***

Once school ends, I remember that Michelle has volleyball practice on Wednesdays when I don't see her in the halls. I have to walk home alone, and won't see her for a couple hours. At least I'll be busy babysitting.

Still, I frown a little to myself. It's boring without her.

But I continue on home anyway, down the steps that lead up to the main entrance of my high school.

It's easy for me to walk in my own little world, so I do, focused on the snack I'm going to make once I get home.

My daydreaming comes to an end as I approach Axl Rose leaning up against his shiny black Camaro that's parked next to the sidewalk. A sight I'm not prepared to be taking in. Did I miss something?

"What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see you. Give you a ride home." He says nonchalantly, with a smile on his face.

"You're too nice Ax, has anybody ever told you that?"

He stares past me, not saying anything. The look on his face goes cold. He really isn't smiling anymore. I know what's happening before it even is.

"Who is that?"

I don't need to look behind me to know who he's talking about. "Dylan."

"He's been staring at you the whole time you were walking over here."

"Yeah, he does that. He stared throughout our whole class too." I can hear the exhaustion in my own voice. "He's been spreading rumors about me. All because I don't want to go out with him. He won't leave me alone, honestly."

Dylan was truly beginning to push my limits as of today. It's like he's always around now. I can never catch a break.

People were starting to talk even more than they already had been about Chasity Novelo being Dylan Reynold's new prospect, and I hated it. Two girls in the bathroom interrupted me touching up my lip gloss just to ask about it.

Boys in my grade whispered as I walked by.

"Get in the car, doll." Axl opens up the passenger side door, and I don't object.

After Axl shuts the door once I'm inside, I look through the window to see Dylan staring at Axl from the top of the stairs. Axl stares right back at Dylan.

Neither of them budge, not until I see the look on Axl's face become even more menacing than before. Dylan then walks off, trying to play it cool. Like that exchange didn't just happen.

Axl walks around the front of the car, gets in, and we drive off. Immediately, I notice the tension that spawned between him and Dylan is gone now that we're leaving.

"You just stay away from him."

"I have been," I say. As if I hadn't  though of that myself, I think. "It's kind of impossible when he's popular."

"And you're not?"

"God no," I laugh. "Why? Do you think I am?"

Axl shrugs, glancing over at me with one hand on the wheel. "You seem like you are."

"And what makes you say that?"

He shrugs some more. I laugh again.

"Because you're so likeable. Every time you walk into a room everyone wants to be around you."

"That's not true. Unless you count your bandmates. And they don't count." I tell him.

"Doesn't change the fact that everyone likes you. Like everyone, Chas. I can't imagine anyone hating you. There aren't any reasons to. Which is why that Dylan guy is a dick."

"Yeah, and your macho man show totally changed everything. Thanks, Axl. You're a life saver!" I resist the urge to laugh.

Axl knows I'm making fun of him, which is why he starts to laugh himself. "Oh, shut up Chas! It was all I could think of without calling him out and making him cry. But I'm sure you would've loved to see that."

"Yes, I would've. Very much so," I nod.

"Well, how about I pick you up tomorrow and we can see if that small experiment worked? I'm already gonna be over here, since Duff and I have to meet with the people who are gonna be mixing the album." Axl says as we pull up in front of my house, and he puts the car in park.

I throw my backpack on again once I'm out of the car.

"As long as I don't have to walk home!" I smile enthusiastically, happy with that idea.

"Bye Chas!"

"Goodbye William!" I wave from the sidewalk.

When I look back before closing the front door, Axl is still smiling from the driver's seat.