Some people wonder what it would be like to meet someone famous, to just be in the same vicinity of greatness – well, I can tell you right now that it’s a royal pain in the arse! It stinks to be honest, and I should know. I’m the eldest, adopted daughter of the world’s most famous rock star – Colter Slade. My name is Annie Slade and today my band are going to show the great legend Colter Slade how it’s done in this day and age.

My band ‘Staked’ formed, well basically, ever since I can remember. I’m the lead guitarist and backing vocalist. My adopted sister Ella plays guitar, my cousin Caleb is the lead singer. Chad is the drummer and then there’s my best friend in the whole world – Aston; he plays bass, and I couldn’t imagine my life without him. He grounds me and keeps me sane in this crazy world of paparazzi, screaming fans and people who always know who you are, even when you walk down the street.

“You’re Colt’s daughter, aren’t you? Oh my God, can we meet him?” Is the kind of bullshit I have to put up with on a daily basis. Being the daughter of rock royalty is not all doom and gloom though. Having Colt as my dad means that I was brought up with music ever since they adopted me when I was only six-months-old. I know I’ve lived a privileged life. I know I’m spoiled and get things other kids don’t, but that comes at the price of being a kid to a legend.

Me and my sister Ella couldn’t be further from polar opposites if we tried. I guess because we’re not real blood sisters that’s why we’re so different. Me? I’m tall for my age of thirteen. I have brown hair but the tips are dyed purple, my favourite colour, and people tend to think I have an attitude problem. But I’m a teenager for crying out loud, my hormones are running rampant and I have so much going on, that I guess sometimes I can lose my cool a little too easily. I have really bright green eyes and I’m quite skinny I guess you could say, but my boobs are growing and they’re not tiny little lumps any more. Thank God! I can’t wait to look like a real woman.

My sister Ella, well she’s short with blonde wavy hair and beautiful blue eyes. Unlike me, she’s calm and cool as a cucumber, as they say, nothing fazes her. She doesn’t care if people want to take photos of her simply because she’s related to the Colter Slade. She doesn’t care about all the hype surrounding our family, she’s just so relaxed about everything. I don’t know how she does it. I wish I didn’t let things get to me but they do, and I’m so glad to have my little sister Ella around when I start losing my shit. If Aston isn’t there, then Ella always is, and without her I would’ve been in a lot of trouble, a long time ago. Mum and Dad adopted Ella when I was about a year-and-a-half-old. She was apparently six-months-old at the time they adopted her too. Of course, I don’t remember, I was too young, so for me Ella has always been there. Sure we fight and argue like most teenage sisters do, but behind the arguments is always love.

I do love my family and even though I complain about all the headaches that come with them, it’s still nice to know that I’m loved unconditionally. Mum had a awful accident when Dad was on tour. She was hit by a van and some metal tubing impaled her stomach. The doctors had to remove all her insides, like her ovaries and stuff that makes her a woman. Mum doesn’t like to talk about it and Dad always gets a sad face on whenever I bring it up, which isn’t often anymore. But in a way I’m glad that happened to my Mum otherwise they would’ve had their own children and me and Ella would be with some other families, living God only knows what kind of life. Sometimes when I get angry, I wish I could’ve had other parents. But I quickly stop thinking like that because even though I hate some stuff that comes with this life, I still love everyone in it, and I couldn’t imagine my life any other way.

I have demons, and they play on my mind a lot. I guess that’s what makes me so angry all the time. I hate not knowing. Some think I’m a gossip because I have to know what’s happening with everyone around me all the time, and not knowing something does my head in. Like, not knowing who my birth parents are, and why they adopted me out. I want to know so badly everything about them, but then at the same time if they didn’t have the respect and decency to want me then why should I give two hoots about them? It’s a vicious cycle. I want to know, but then I don’t, and the ups and down with knowing you weren’t loved enough, that you weren’t wanted, well that damages people’s souls. And I know that my soul is damaged, probably forever, but with the help and support around me it helps. At least I know my parents, the ones who raised me and my sister, Ella, I know they love and support me.

My cousin, Caleb… well, there’s a family drama right there. He’s older than the rest of us and even though he is my cousin, he’s more like my big brother. He always looks out for me.

Mum and Dad have never said anything to me and Ella. We both know that Caleb’s mum Macy originally dated my dad Colt, but now she’s married to my Uncle Huxley, my Dad’s brother. I think that’s just plain weird! I also know that Macy told my dad that he was Caleb’s father, but after some testing it was found that Uncle Hux was Caleb’s biological father. It’s very complicated, but I think everything worked out for the best. I know Mum and Dad don’t have much time for Macy, and I don’t blame them, she is a little snobby, but I can’t talk I’m a snob too.

Uncle Hux is awesome. He spoils me and Ella and Caleb too, especially when we were all younger. He’s like a second father to me and he knows how overbearing my dad can be. Mum is good when Dad gets too over protective. We always let him have his little rants and then when he leaves Mum will calm me down. We fight, a lot… and I mean a lot. He treats me like I’m some pathetic little girl and I’m not! I’m thirteen for crying out loud! I have boobs and my period, so I’m practically a woman, but all he sees is his little girl that needs protecting. He’s nowhere near as overbearing with Ella and sometimes that makes me jealous of her, but it quickly passes because I love her too damned much.

“Annie and Ella, come here,” Dad calls out.

“Daaad,” I groan out as I know exactly what he wants – another bloody photo. I swear he should’ve been a paparazzi himself.

“C’mon just one more before you start your practice,” Dad says and Ella and I both groan as we walk over to him and Mum.

“Okay fine, but no more after this. You’re totally killing our rock and roll vibe, Dad,” Ella says making me laugh.

“I am rock and roll girls. Just remember where you learnt it all from,” Dad says putting his arms out to me and Ella and pulling us in front of him and Mum. Dad pulls his phone from his pocket and sets it to camera now that we’re all facing the right direction.

“Whatever Dad, you’re so lame,” Ella says making me and Mum laugh.

“Okay, are my girls ready?” Dad asks and we all squish in ready to pose for another family photograph.

“Yes, hurry up,” I say as I put my fingers up in a peace sign and stick out my tongue. The camera flashes and Ella and I go to walk off.

“Just one more,” Dad says making me and Ella laugh. He’s so obsessed with ‘capturing the moment’ because you never know when this might be your last or some bullshit he always spins.

“Oh my God,” Ella and I both say in unison, both annoyed that he’s delaying our first concert.

We lean back into Mum and Dad and just smile this time as he takes the photograph, then suddenly Mum leans in and kisses Dad. The camera flashes and Ella and I groan at our parents PDA yet again. They never bloody stop.

“Great they’re making out ah-gain!” Ella says as Aston’s parents, Anna and Johnny, laugh. They’re my parents’ best friends and the parents of my best friend Aston; who is strapping on his bass ready for our concert which we should’ve already started, if it weren’t for Dad and his incessant photo taking.

“Okay sorry, off you go,” Dad says wrapping his arm around Mum. Even though their PDA’s are a little too often, it’s nice to see how much they love each other.

We both run over to our guitars and strap them on as Johnny helps Aston tune his bass guitar. As I start to fiddle with my microphone in front of me, I hear Dingo talking to his son, Chad.

“Remember to hit the crash cymbal this time, Chad,” Dingo says and I inwardly grin knowing what’s coming.

“Shut up, Dad, I got this,” Chad bursts out and I smirk. He’s a hothead like me.

“Yeah, you do,” Dingo says, sounding so proud of his son while he hands him the drumsticks.

“Chad, don’t talk to your father like that, and Dingo don’t let him talk to you like that,” Sia says. She’s Chad’s Mum and also the Manager of my Dad’s band ‘Slayed.’ She is kinda like the boss of everyone, including Chad’s four-year-old twin brothers Carter and Carlton. They were named after two drummers, Carter Beauford and Carlton Barrett, and Chad was named after Chad Channing. Apparently they wanted to keep with the letter C for all their kids. I’ve never heard of those drummers, but apparently Dingo knows every drummer in world, or that’s what he likes to think.

“Okay, you guys ready?” Caleb asks as he plays with his microphone.

“Yep. What song you wanna do first, Caleb?” Ella asks as she sets up her music stand.

Love her to death, but she still needs sheet music to play. Whereas the rest of us can ad-lib and remember the notes. But she’ll get there, and I’ll help her as much as she wants.

“How about the new one we’ve been working on?” Caleb says in his performance voice that always makes me giggle. We all nod in agreement.

“Okay cool. So, parents and fellow un-cool people, we are the band ‘Staked’ and we’re gonna rock your socks off. This is our brand new song, ‘Don’t Mess With The Best’,” Caleb says as if we’re actually performing on stage. I guess it’s good to get into character when performing, even if it is only for our parents.

He counts us in and we start to play. Considering we’ve been playing in a band together for most of our lives, we all gel pretty well and the sounds ripping from my guitar as I strum the strings sends a vibration through me. I feel nothing but utter contentment as I play the latest song Caleb and I wrote together. I feel like I’m in another world when I create music. The feeling engulfing me as I rip through my guitar strings and sing the backing vocals to our song sends a soothing warmth through me. It’s hard to explain, but it’s like the colours of the world get brighter when I’m in my music trance. Everything seems more beautiful as I’m set adrift in the lyrics of the song.

I lean in toward Aston as we always seem to play better when we’re leaning on each other, back to back. Feeling him there supporting me is everything I need when I’m playing. I hear people laughing and cheering as we rock out playing our latest song. I pull back from Aston and look into his eyes and he smiles so brightly that it makes me smile in return. He always has the best smile I’ve ever seen.

He’s only a few months older than me so we understand each other really well. Ella is a year younger than me. She’s the same age as Chad. Caleb is much older, but he doesn’t seem to mind jamming with the kids. He’s only nineteen, but he’s able to drink alcohol and go out to clubs, where we can only stay home and have sleep-overs and eat pizza and drink coke.

I can’t wait till I’m old enough to go to parties. Sure, we’ve been to heaps of parties with my parents, but they’re full of celebrities and their boring, monotonous children who are always so damn spoilt and uppity.

Rich kids suck! And I know because I’m one of them. So I guess I seem as bad to them as they seem to me, but I don’t care. All I care about right now, is this moment, looking into my best friend Aston’s eyes and feeling that musical connection we share. The love of the melodies flowing through us and our love for each other.

I’ve known Aston all my life. He’s my best friend so, of course, I love him. But not in a weird relationship way… are you kidding me? He’s kind of like my brother next to Caleb, my two older, not actual brothers, who look after and care for me whenever I stuff up, which is often.

The song finishes and I high five Aston and a spark shoots through our hands as it always does when our hands touch. He smiles at me again and I look at Caleb and he nods knowing I want to keep going. I’m having far too great a time to stop rocking it out now. So we start up our next song and Ella leans into Caleb as she plays and he sings to her while Aston and I play to each other like always. He’s like my muse for music and I’m just so glad that he is a part of our team, our band, our family.

We finish playing the set and I’m sweaty from bouncing around all over the place and enjoying myself to the max extent. When I get into the zone I can’t concentrate on the outside world, the only thing I see is Aston and the only thing I hear is the rock music we make. I hear the clapping pulling me from staring at Aston and I look around the room to see Anna and Johnny – Aston’s parents. Macy and Uncle Hux – Caleb’s parents and Sia and Dingo – Chad’s parents, but two people are missing. It’s the very two people I was hoping to see the most.

I search the room with my eyes trying to find Mum and Dad while all my other bandmates are congratulated by their parents. Ella comes over to me and wraps her arm around my shoulders.

“It’s okay, they would’ve heard us from upstairs,” she whispers and I bite my bottom lip wondering how much of the concert my parents actually missed. Anger washes over me. They knew how important today was for me and yet they chose to leave during my performance.

“You okay, Lennox?” Aston asks calling me by my nickname that only he is allowed to call me. It’s because I was named after Annie Lennox, and he hates calling me Annie because it’s too close to his mother’s name Anna, who I was also partially named after.

“Mum and Dad missed it,” I say as my eyes start to well with frustrated tears.

“Yeah! I saw them leave just after we started the first song,” he says as he removes his bass guitar from around his body.

I huff and take off my guitar and force it harshly into the stand by the wall. “So, they’ve been gone for our entire performance?”

“Sorry. I know you wanted them to see you,” he says while he walks across wrapping himself around me.

For a thirteen-year-old, the boy certainly does have muscles. I know he works out with his dad. So instead of being the scrawny, pimpled face rock kid he should be, he’s quite good looking with his floppy brown hair and big blue eyes and toned body. It’s almost like he went from being this tiny boy I used to play with in the sand pit, to this almost grown man. He’s quite tall for his age and I’m sure people would think he’s much older than he is by looking at him. But to me he’s just Aston and right now he’s looking at me with that expression he uses just before he thinks I’m about to snap.

“Lennox, don’t get upset. You know what your parents are like. They can’t keep their hands off each other. They’ve been like it… forever!” Aston says, confirming what I already thought was the reason why they’d left.

They went upstairs while we all stayed down here performing for them. They ignored us for their own pleasure. I don’t get it, sex can’t be that great. Plus, they’re old and it’s gross for them to be going at it like rabbits all the time. They think we don’t know, but we’re teenagers, not kids. We know how that stuff works, Caleb has told us all about it. I know how to do it I just never would. That shit sounds nasty! Plus, you can get pregnant, and that is something I never want! Babies scare me. They smell, and all they do is cry. So why would I do anything that could make me have to deal with all of that? No thanks!

“Don’t get upset? It’s our first performance, Aston. They should’ve been here,” I say as a tear falls down my cheek. He leans in and wipes it away with his thumb, and his caress soothes me to my core. That is until I notice them walking back into the room looking all happy and doe-eyed at each other. I frown at them and fold my arms across my chest.

“Lennox, stop… take a breath,” Aston says resting his hand on my shoulder.

“No,” I reply and walk up to Mum and Dad and I stare straight at Dad and frown.

“Hey Annie, you sounded great,” Dad says and ruffles my hair like some little kid.

I huff, slap at his hand and take a step back from them and their faces fall like they know they’ve been caught out.

“How the hell would you know what we sounded like if you weren’t even here for any of it, huh?” I ask and Mum looks at Dad and bites her bottom lip.

“Annie, honey—”

“Don’t you Annie honey me! Every other band member had their families watching and supporting them and who did me and Ella have, huh? No one, because you were too busy upstairs,” I interrupt Mum louder than I meant to as I stare my dad down. He of all people should know what performing in front of your family is like for the first time.

“Annie, we still heard you guys. We were just discussing something important,” Dad says and I scoff as my anger boils even hotter. My heart starts to pound and my forehead furrows in frustration.

“Discussing what?” I ask putting my hand on my hip and resting my weight on one side as I stare at him with one eyebrow raised.

Ella walks over and stands next to me. I know she’d be upset with them too, but she is too placid to say anything.

“Adult stuff, Annie,” Dad says and Mum looks at me and frowns, at least she looks remorseful.

“Well? What was so important you couldn’t even be here to watch your daughters play to you properly for the first fucking time?” I yell and they both wince.

“Annie, don’t swear,” Mum says softly and I scoff while everyone else in the room watches us.

“Why? You and Dad swear all the time?” I rebut and she exhales and looks at Dad.

“Yes, but we’re adults,” Mum says.

“So am I!” I yell and they both shake their heads as Ella places her hand on my shoulder knowing I’m about to burst.

“Sweetheart, you’re thirteen. You have a long way to go before you’re an adult,” Dad says blasé with a smile like I’m being ridiculous.

“Fuck you!” I yell in his face and his nostrils flare as he leans in closer to me and points in my face.

“Annie Slade, you pull your head in right now, if you swear again, I’ll—”

“You’ll what, huh? You’re too wrapped up in yourselves to care about me or Ella. I bet my real parents would be proud of me and would want to watch me perform. You guys don’t even care enough to watch for thirty God damn minutes!”

“Annie—”

“No Ella, I know you’re pissed off about this too. They shouldn’t be allowed to just waltz back in here and just expect us to be okay with them choosing themselves over us... yet again. It’s ridiculous Ella, and you should be joining with me on this one. Our parents only care about themselves. Why adopt us in the first place if you’re just going to disregard our accomplishments? You’re meant to be supportive not ignoring us for yourselves. Maybe you need to look up the definition of what a parent is because you two suck at it. What kind of parents are you?” I yell and look at their stunned faces. I shrug Ella’s hand from my shoulder and run my fingers through my hair letting out a groan of frustration as I turn away from them before I lash out physically.

“Annie, we’re sorry—”

“Save it, Mum. This is so unfair,” I say quietly as I storm past them and out of the music room.

“Life’s not fair, Annie,” Dad calls out making me even more annoyed. I wrap my arms around myself for comfort as I walk down the hall. Away from everyone who just witnessed yet another Annie outburst. My temper just exploded and I said some very hurtful things and now I just want to be anywhere but here.