Hutch or Peck?

I knew Peck was taking me away from the park, but I didn’t expect him to take me to our thinking hill/cliff. Just as we pulled up, another car was leaving it.

Probably some people who were up here to make out or something. My mind refocused on Peck as he suddenly became tense. He took a shaky breath before speaking.

“Melanie, you know I have feelings for you, but I just can’t-,” he began, but he didn’t finish.

I knew he had more to say, but what else was there? He couldn’t have feelings for me if he’s with someone else. And if I was going to give Hutch a chance, I couldn’t go around kissing him, either.

I ran a hand through my hair and shook my head.

“It’s alright, Josh. I totally understand. We have to move on or whatever. I respect that,” I admitted.

His head whipped at me as his face expressed shock.

“R-really?” he asked.

I nodded as I somewhat felt content with my decision. Then again, there was a part of me that didn’t want to do what I said, but I shoved that to the back of my mind.

Then, Peck did something I didn’t expect him to; he hugged me. He legitimately hugged me as though he didn’t want to let go. I couldn’t hug back because I was confused at his actions.

“Peck-,” I got out, but he cut across me.

“Mel, I have a lot of respect for you and if I could rewind time, I would have chosen to date you,” he said, but that offended me.

“If you were aware of how I felt about you, then why did you choose to ignore it?” I asked pulling away.

“I-I didn’t think you were my type at the time-,” he got out, but I interrupted him.

“I wasn’t your type? Allison isn’t your type, yet you decided to date her!” I retorted.

“I worked with her on the show! How could I not fall for her?!” he asked incredulously.

Silence fell in between us as it dawned on me.

“Y-you love her,” I got out, but it sounded like a mix between a question and a shocked statement.

He turned his head away from me and diverted his eyes.

“It’s not like I intended to do that, Mel,” he said, but I didn’t want to hear anymore.

“Just take me home. I don’t want to be around you anymore,” I said in a cold tone.

I shifted my gaze to the right to avoid Peck’s eyes, but I could still feel his stare practically burning into me, but I didn’t dare speak. I was far too jumbled with emotions to say anything. I was angry, sad, happy, and guilty all at the same time. I began to wonder if I would become as pathetic as my mother, but those thoughts were diminished as the engine started and we drove back to the city.

~~~

I practically ran out of the car once Nick and I arrived back to the studio. Even worse, I did something I didn’t expect to ever do; I asked Joe to drive me home.

Oddly enough, when he did so, he didn’t ask anything until we made it to the driveway.

“So, did Nick make his move?” he asked in a slightly angry tone.

How in the hell did he know?

I didn’t bother giving him an answer and instead went to reach for the door handle, but Joe stopped me, swiftly grabbing my left hand, but not gripping it tightly; only enough to get my attention. He did so with ease and stared at me so intently that I couldn’t help but say something.

“What does it matter if he did or didn’t? It’s no matter now and I just want to forget this whole day,” I answered harshly, but I didn’t mean for it to come out that way.

If anything, I was only trying to mask my true feelings about the situation and this was the only way I knew how. Joe’s eyes shifted and his grip loosened entirely and I yanked my arm (unnecessarily) from his grasp, slamming the car door behind me. He drove off just as Josh Peck’s car drove up and I saw Mel in the passenger seat.

My eyes widened as I began to march over, but it was pointless. She exited the vehicle and slammed the door behind her much like I did and walked up the driveway, her gaze instantly on my figure.

We stared at one another as we could clearly tell something wasn’t right with the other. But just like the sisters we were, we walked to the other and laughed.

~~~

We laughed after the day and although it may seem insane to the next person, we laughed only to keep our true feelings from coming out. It was a defense mechanism one would say; a laugh produced to make light of a situation despite how mixed our feelings were about things.

I walked to my five minute older sister and spoke.

“Didn’t go well in the studio?” I asked subconsciously wrapping my arms around each other.

“The studio wasn’t bad; it was what happened elsewhere is what was bad,” Sam answered rolling her eyes.

I linked arms with her as we walked inside, but just as Sam was about to start explaining what happened to her, our mom came out of the kitchen with a bottle of liquor that was already halfway drunken with an empty one on the kitchen counter.

“M-Mom,” I got out dropping my arm from Sam’s, but Sam stopped me from walking towards her.

“Isn’t it early even for you?” Sam asked and I stared at her.

“What the fuck do you care for? Just take your ass upstairs,” she got out, but her words weren’t slurred.

“Is this what you asked me to come home for? To clean up your mess?!” Sam asked incredulously.

Her voice echoed throughout the house and a deadly silence fell between us. Then, mom started yelling.

“WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO DO WHATEVER THE FUCK I TELL YOU TO WHETHER YOU WANT TO OR NOT! NOW GET YOUR ASS UPSTAIRS BEFORE I THROW THIS AT YOU!” she bellowed.

Sam didn’t even flinch; in fact, her words only fueled Sam’s anger.

“I can’t take this anymore. I’m going to a friend’s house,” she said to me, trying her hardest to ignore our mother.

Sam went upstairs and I quickly followed her, but not before mom threw another verbal, drunken order.

“That’s right! Run up those stairs like the little bitch you are!” she got out.

Sam’s door flew open and she grabbed a suitcase taking only the necessities with her such as night clothes for at least 3-4 nights, day clothes, relaxing clothes, two pairs of shoes, her laptop, chargers to her phone, wallet with a couple of purses.

“S-Sam, d-don’t leave,” I got out, but she cut across me.

“THE HELL I’M NOT LEAVING! IF I DON’T LEAVE, I’LL KILL HER AND I DON’T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN!” she yelled staring at me the most serious I had ever seen her.

“S-Sam-,” I got out before she interrupted me again.

“I don’t know when I’ll be back and I don’t know what’s going to happen, but take care of yourself. I can’t look after you anymore,” she said, but it sounded forced.

“S-Sam!” I exclaimed, tears running down my cheeks.

She pulled me into a hug and I nearly broke down right then and there clinging onto her for dear life.

“D-don’t leave, Sammy. We can fix this. I-I don’t know what’s going on between you and mom, but please don’t leave,” I pleaded through my broken voice.

“I have to, Mel. If I stay here,” she sniffed before continuing, “I may end up in jail and I don’t want that to happen.”

She suddenly pulled away from me, but I gripped her hand tightly putting all of my weight down.

“Melanie, stop!” Sam exclaimed, her eyes widening slightly as I saw the anger in them.

“Please, please!” I got out, but through all of my efforts, she somehow pulled out of my grip and took the suitcase with her.

I heard more insults from mom thrown at Sam, but they were nearly incoherent as I broke down entirely.

How did things come to this after an already chaotic day?