Hutch or Peck?

I ended up at the Jonas’ house much to my dismay. I didn’t have any other friends in this industry so the Jonas’ were the only ones I could think of crashing.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. The door opened revealing Miley Cyrus. She rolled her eyes before speaking, “You guys. It looks like you have a crazy fan. She even has a suitcase, too.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but Joe rushed to the door his mouth dropping at the sight of me. My eyes welled with tears and immediately he embraced me in a hug before calling out to his brothers. I was bombarded with questions from the guys as I broke down crying. I heard Miley’s voice blended in with theirs as she also sounded more confused than concerned.

Well this is a crappy way to show up to someone’s house. I thought.

A woman, I assumed their mother, appeared from the kitchen with a young boy at her side.

“Boys, who is this?” she asked in confusion.

Wiping the tears away, I spoke, “I’m sorry, Mrs. Jonas. I’m Sam Parker. I worked with the guys earlier today.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but Miley spoke.

“That still doesn’t explain why you’re here,” she said with her arms crossed.

“I’ll explain later, but first, let me talk to Mom and Dad,” Nick replied in a strict tone.

Their mom raised a brow in confusion, but nodded. She went to another room pulling the boy with her. The brothers lead me to the living room, Joe pulling my suitcase as Kevin had an arm around me, Nick in the front while Miley was still in the rear.

“Miles, I hate to cut things short, but this is important,” Nick said turning to Miley.

Miley’s eyes widened a little.

“Seriously, Nick? What is going on?!” she exclaimed.

“I’ll explain later, I promise! Right now, we have to find out what’s going on with Sam, OK?!” he replied just as angrily.

Miley huffed, “Fine! I’ll talk to you later,” she answered before going upstairs briefly.

The brothers kept quiet until they saw Miley disappear up the steps before speaking.

“What happened?” Joe asked just as Kevin spoke with an, “Are you OK?”

Nick kept silent briefly before asking me simply, “Was it your mom?”

I locked eyes with him, tears wanting to form again, but Miley’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

“See you guys,” she said before storming out of the house without so much as a backwards glance, slamming the front door behind her.

Joe glared at the door about to get up and go after Miley, but Kevin stopped him.

“She’s not worth it,” he got out looking just as irritated as Joe.

I bit my lip feeling even worse than before. I didn’t want anyone’s relationship to be affected by me showing up. What was I thinking?

Getting a better grip of myself and the damage I had caused, I finally spoke for the second time, “Damn. I’m sorry. I-I shouldn’t have shown up. Or if I did, I should have let you guys know I was coming. I-I’ll go-,” I got out before I was interrupted.

“What are you even saying, Sam? We’re happy you showed up here,” Joe interjected.

Nick stared at me as though he wanted to say something, but it was Kevin who spoke.

“Although we wish it were under better circumstances, we are glad you’re here,” he said in a caring tone.

I looked at each brother feeling a little better, but still couldn’t get one fact out of my head: I left my sister with my mom.

Tears began to form again and this time, I couldn’t stop them.

~~~

I felt like I had cried for hours even though it probably had only been half an hour since Sam left. I somehow found my way to her room and was on the floor curled up in a ball. I pulled out my phone and called the only person who I knew would listen.

“Mel? What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Hutch asked frantically.

“I-I-S-Sam left,” I got out before nearly bawling on the phone.

“Crap, um, did you need me to get you?” he asked suddenly catching me off guard.

I stopped crying not knowing what to think. I felt overwhelmed with emotion. I didn’t want to leave my mom, but I didn’t want to stay at home either without Sam.

“Yes,” I answered. I heard Hutch sigh in relief in response to my answer.

“OK. Pack a bag and I’ll pick you up in 15, OK?” he asked.

I nodded before realizing he couldn’t see me.

“OK,” I answered with a sniff.

“Hang in there,” he concluded before I heard the line disconnect.

Using the last bit of energy I had, I closed Sam’s room and then headed to my own to pack a medium-sized duffle bag filled with clothes, a few cosmetics, and wallet. I slipped out of the clothes I was wearing earlier and instead put on some sweat pants and a t-shirt with sneakers and a light jacket, tying my hair up into a ponytail. Finally, I grabbed a pair of sunglasses and stuffed my laptop with the charger cable into my bag as well.

I stepped over the threshold of my room door and saw Sam’s door causing tears to fill my eyes. I sniffed, holding back the tears before shutting my door behind me. Once I reached the steps I was greeted with my drunk mother losing her balance before even taking her first step.

“And just where do you think you’re going?” she slurred still struggling to get up the steps.

“I’m staying at a friend’s house. It’s a sleepover,” I lied walking past her.

“What friend?” she got out causing me to stop once I was near the living room.

“Josh Hutcherson’s,” I answered biting my lip, but didn’t turn to face my mom.

A sound that somewhat resembled a laugh came from her before she spoke, “Oh that boy. You good girl. Listening to your mother. At-at least I have ONE daughter that listens to what I say,” she slurred.

Disgusted by my mother, I headed to the door, grabbing a set of house keys from the key rack and wrenched the door open.

“D-don’t make him work for it like your sister does!” she stammered still slurring.

I shut the door behind me without a second glance locking the door behind me. Once the door was locked, my legs gave out causing me to drop my duffle bag, but neither I nor any of the contents in the bag were damaged. I covered my head with my hands, resting my arms on my knees as I thought about everything that had happened.

Sam actually left. Then, suddenly, I felt angry. How could Sam leave me? I know she and Mom didn’t get along, but that was no reason for her to leave without me.

Sam’s words went through my mind again from earlier.

As true as that is, it depends on what Mel wants to do with her life.

“Like I know what that means,” I mumbled to myself.

Just as Hutch promised, after 15 minutes, he arrived in a black car barely waiting for the car to be fully parked before jumping out and walked swiftly over to me. He embraced me in a hug and I clung to him seemingly for dear life.

“It’s going to be OK. Come on,” he said soothingly taking my bag and guiding me to the car.

It felt like my legs wanted to give out again, but with Hutch being there, I managed to make it. Once we were in the car, I broke down crying once wonder why things turned out so badly and before I knew it, I drifted off in Hutch’s arms, his voice repeating over and over in my mind.

“It’s going to be OK, Mel. It’s going to be OK.”