Contagious

When Parker stepped in the door of her house, the tears fell from her eyes. She fell back against the door, sinking to the ground. Her head fell forward onto her knees, her tears soaking the material of her blue jeans, her shoulders shaking with each breath. Forty eight hours in the past, everything was fine. Everything had been working out. How could everything have changed so fast?

“Parker? Honey, are you okay?” her mother asked, walking into the foyer. Upon seeing her daughter sobbing against the front door, she fell to her knees at her side, arms wrapping around her shoulders.

Parker shook her head, her chest heaving.

“Honey, what's wrong?” she asked, her cheek resting against Parker's head.

“Everything is ten shades of fucked up, momma,” she told her, hiccuping with every other word. She looked up from her knees and ran her hands over her face. The tears were still flowing.

“What happened?”

Parker shook her head, a slight sneer on her face. “Doesn't matter. Doesn't change shit.”

Her mother sighed. “Parker, I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong.”

“He lied,” she managed to get out between hiccups and sobs.

“Who lied, honey?”

“Martin.”

Her mother sighed. When she had decided Parker would come back for senior year, she didn't give her daughter's ex boyfriend and neighbor a second thought. In her mind, they had been children. Both of them had no doubt grown up and moved on. But judging by the look on her daughter's face, that wasn't the case. “What happened?”

Parker shook her head, running her hands over her face again. The tears were slowly stopping and she felt more mad than anything. She frowned—she'd rather be angry than sad any day of the week. “He's such an asshole.”

Her mother nodded. “Any particular reason?”

“He's a fucking...” she trailed off, shaking her head, scoffing. “I mean, who does he think he is? I'm fucking Parker Hensley. I have three Grammy Awards! I have VMA's! People love me! And I'm gonna let someone treat me like shit? Fuck that. Not happening,” she muttered, pushing herself off the floor and walking over to the stairs.

Her mother just watched her; she didn't say a word.

Parker turned back around. “Who does he think he is?” she repeated. “Huh? A nobody, that's who. Because you don't try to destroy someone's relationship. You don't tell someone you're still in love with them, and that you'll wait for them, but then rush home and fuck your girlfriend. Especially after you said you'd break up with them!”

“Parker, language,” her mother warned.

“No,” Parker snapped. “I'm pissed. He's an asshole. And I can't put up with this anymore,” she said. After the onslaught of anger, she fell back on the stairs, sighing. She felt tears prick her eyes again and she rubbed at them viciously. “I can't do it anymore,” she whispered.

Her mother walked over to her, sitting on the steps next to her daughter. “How can I help?”

Parker looked up at her. “End this, momma. Please let me go to New York and work on our new album. Please let me finish being tutored. Please let me leave this place, momma. Please,” she pleaded. “Please.”

With a sigh, her mother ran her hands over her daughter's hair. “Parker, you can't run from all your problems.”

“Let me run from this one,” Parker whispered. “Please, momma.”

Her mother sighed again. “Parker, I don't know—”

“Mom, I can't look at him every day. Not after all of this. I'm begging you to let me go to New York and get away from him. I'll never have any hope at moving on if I'm surrounded by memories of him,” she told her. “Please. I know you don't understand and I wish that you did. But please, do this for me.”

“Parker...”

“For me, momma. Please.”

Her mother sucked in a deep breath. “I'll see what I can do.”

Parker smiled, barely, wrapping her arms around her mother's shoulders. “Thank you.”

“But you have to promise me one thing, Parker.”

“Okay.”

“As long as I can arrange it, you'll come back and graduate with your class,” she told her.

Parker nodded. She still had half of March, all of April, and all of May to convince her mother how bad of an idea that really was. “Okay.”

Her mother smiled softly. “I'll go make some calls.”

“Thank you, momma,” Parker whispered.

Standing up, her mother ran her hand over her daughter's hair. She just nodded before walking into the kitchen.

Parker stood up slowly, walking up the stairs and into her room, shutting the door behind her. She opened her laptop and turned on her music before turning over to her window. She walked over and reached for the curtains, eyes falling on Martin's house out of habit. He was in his room, at the window, staring right at her. She didn't react. Not visibly, anyway. She simply reached for her curtains and tugged them over her window. It was as if her heart was breaking all over again. She kicked off her shoes and fell back onto her bed, allowing the music to cheer her up and make her sad all over again.

How the time passed away,
All the trouble that we gave,
And all those days we spent out by the lake.
Has it all gone to waste?
All the promises we made.
One by one they vanish just the same.

Of all the things I still remember,
Summer's never looked the same.
Years go by and time just seems to fly,
But the memories remain.
In the middle of September,
We'd still play out in the rain.
Nothing to lose but everything to gain.
Reflecting now on how things could've been.
It was worth it in the end...

+

“Parker, honey, you have to wake up or you won't sleep tonight.”

Parker groaned, lazily opening one eye to see her mother sitting on the edge of her bed. “But it's spring break.”

Her mother rolled her eyes. “I made some calls. You be out by tomorrow night,” she told her. “Your label has you and the band set up in a penthouse, studio time is squared away, and Sylvia is beyond elated that she can promote you guys even further. She already has three photo shoots and two interviews set up for next week.”

Parker smiled softly. “Of course Sylvia's elated. She's our pimp,” she joked.

“That's true,” her mother said, smiling. “All you have to do is call the guys. I'm sure they'll be happy, too.”

“Completely,” Parker muttered to herself. She didn't think about the fact that she was tearing Ross away from Orion at all. “I'll call 'em now and then I'll start packing. Are we still on for the summer tour?”

“Yes. Sylvia's adding a few more stops earlier on, as well,” she told her before standing up and walking over to the door.

“Thanks, momma,” Parker whispered sincerely.

“You're my daughter, Parker,” her mother said.

Parker smiled and her mother shut the door. She stood up and walked over to her laptop, silencing the music before picking up her phone and dialing Ross' number. She bit her lip, leg bouncing due to her nerves, and she waited for Ross to answer.

”Hey, Parks. How did Martin react?”

At the mere mention of his name, Parker's heart broke a little more. “Bad. Pack your shit, bro. We're in New York tomorrow night.”

There was a pause on the other end.

“Ross? Did you hear me?”

”We're going to New York tomorrow?”

“Yeah. To, you know, record?” She shook her head. “My mom set it up.”

There was another pause.

Parker sighed. “Look, I know you're not happy. And I know I'm selfish. You and Orion just...kinda got started and now I'm tearing you away because I'm weak and stupid and can't handle Martin's shit. I know I'm a bad friend and I know you're pissed at me. But... I mean, you wanted to head off to the studio as soon as possible. And now we can.”

”I'm not pissed at you, Parker. I'm glad we're going back. Orion and I can work it out, that's not a problem. I just worry about you. What did he say?”

Parker shrugged. “He just...says one thing and does another,” she answered lamely.

”Meaning...?”

“Meaning I threw away something great with Paul because Martin said he'd wait for me and that he still loved me and all this bullshit. And the minute I go to tell Martin, he's, like, rolling out of bed with Dallas and says stupid shit like, 'oh, hey, I didn't know you'd make up your mind this quick!' and other bullshit,” she ranted, the anger returning. She hated wasting time crying and being sad—she chose anger every time because, that way, she got some good music out of it.

”Wait, what?”

Parker sighed. “Try to keep up, bro. Martin said he'd wait. He didn't. I went to tell him and he had just finished fucking his girlfriend. Said he wasn't sure if I'd ever be ready to be with him again—“

”So because he wasn't sure if you'd ever be ready, he assumed you wouldn't be for a while, and screwed his girlfriend?”

“Pretty much.”

”Give me five minutes. I'll be there then I can kick his ass for you.”

“That's not necessary, Ross,” she told him. “We're leaving tomorrow. And he is, too. Going out of town for break with his whore. So he won't even know I'm gone until next week. And by then, we'll be eating sushi in our penthouse while chilling with P. Diddy.”

”We don't chill with P. Diddy, Parker.”

“Oh. Ludacris?”

”No.”

“Damn. Nikki Sixx?”

”Nope.”

“Okay, um... A Day to Remember?”

”There ya go.”

Parker laughed. Ross always made her smile. “I really am sorry to tear you away from Orion.”

”Don't be. If we both really want this, and we do, we'll make it work. You shouldn't have to deal with Martin's shit all the time. I just can't believe your mom legit switched this around to where we could go back. You know she was all gung-ho for you having a normal life.”

“Yeah, but she never thought about the Martin aspect of life in Boston,” Parker mumbled.

”I'm glad we're going back. We belong in a studio or on a bus.”

She laughed. “That's very true.”

”I'll call the guys, talk to Orion, and pack. We're leaving tomorrow?”

“Can I call Orion? I want to talk to her about this anyway.”

”Sure thing, Parks.”

“And, yeah, just be here by, like, noon tomorrow. We already have some shoots and interviews set up.”

”That song you last showed us, Ignorance? Yeah, that's our first single, by the way.”

She laughed again. “You're the boss.”

”Rhymes with Ross!”

“Don't be an idiot.”

+

“So you're leaving in, like, twelve hours?” Orion asked, sitting on Parker's bed.

Parker nodded, digging out her traveling suitcases and throwing clothes in. “Yeah.”

“That sucks. I'm gonna miss you.”

“I'm gonna miss you, too, Orion,” Parker told her, throwing in an armful of socks and underwear. “I mean, I feel horrible that I'm tearing you and Ross apart—“

“Don't. We'll make it work, dude, seriously,” Orion told her, pulling the clothes out of the suitcase before folding them properly and laying them back in.

Parker watched her and laughed. “You'll have to come visit us on long weekends,” she said.

“I will. And I'll also kick Martin's ass for you when I see him again,” Orion promised.

“You do that,” Parker said, nodding.

+

Twelve hours later, Parker found herself in the back of Josh's SUV, the back filled with all of their luggage. She sent Martin's house a quick look, knowing full well that he wasn't there, and she felt herself smile, just slightly. Leaving always felt less like that and more like a fresh start.

And this was a fresh start she was more than ready for.

+

A week later, Martin walked through the school doors, newly single and feeling completely refreshed. He had gotten back from his vacation three days sooner than planned due to the unexpected break up (at least on Dallas' end) and he had delayed talking to Parker simply because he knew she would need time to calm down. He got his books with a smile on his face before making his way to his first class, hoping to talk to her before.

The bell rang and there was no sign of Parker.

After class, he stood by his locker longer than necessary, just hoping to catch a glimpse of her.

His second class flew by, then lunch, and before he knew it, he was in gym.

She was nowhere to be seen.

After the final bell for the day, he changed and walked quickly through the hallways, searching for the one person he knew he could ask. He must have looked in every hallway before he found Orion standing by her locker. Their eyes met before he could walk over to her and she scowled at him. He ran over to her, reaching for her arm before she could walk away.

“What do you want, Martin?” she asked him, her tone short.

“Where is she? Where's Parker?” he asked.

“She's gone,” she told him simply.

“Why?”

She scoffed. “You of all people should know why.”