Back Into Your Arms

“Go shower, I have a change of clothes here for you”

I nodded as I took the clothes in my hand.
I showered quickly and tried my best at removing my makeup.
I had wanted to kiss John so badly, but it had not happened. I was left to wonder what had happened between them after I left.

To make the situation just a bit worse my phone had died and my parents both had androids. So no one had an iPhone charger to let me borrow.
I sighed as I tossed the phone to the side, it’s not like I wanted to speak to anyone anyways.

I walked back to the kitchen where my mom was making me some tea.

“Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah mom, I’m feeling a bit better”

She handed me the cup of tea and took a seat next to me.

“Can you explain to me what happened now?”

I sighed as I stirred the tea with a spoon.

“I was at an engagement party”

“Okay”

“And, well I was having a really lovely time”

“Lovely time with who?”

“I went with um, J, you know the one I told you about last time, I went as his date, we danced and everything, it was really nice”

“Ah, but then why were you in tears when I found you?”

“You see that, that’s complicated, his ex-girlfriend was invited to this same party”

“His ex-made you cry?”

“Not, not necessarily” I hesitated.

“He made you cry?”

“Not intentionally, his ex-girlfriend pulled me aside after I came out of the restroom and she started interrogating me and telling me horrible things about him and well it seemed that she was having a breakdown and when I tried asking her if she was okay, she was already done with me, so she slapped me across the face and he saw it”

“She dared to slap you, what did he do?”

“I was trying to explain to him that he shouldn’t well aggravate her more, but he didn’t listen to me, he told me to stay out of it and leave”

“And I assume that hurt your feelings?”

“He’s never spoken to me that way mom, it hurt”

“Maybe he just didn’t want you to get more hurt?”

“I guess that’s what he meant by it, but his ex-girlfriend she told me that he’s not a good person”

“He’s not a good person how?”

“That he’s alcoholic, that he’s a cheater, that he’s a player-”

“Wow”

“Yeah”

“Maybe she was telling you these things to convince you to leave him, out of jealousy?”

“I suppose you’re right”

“Do you really like this guy, this J?”

I smiled weakly.

“Yeah, I do”

“Well we still have to meet him to approve”

“I know mom, hopefully soon”

“But if you find out that he really is any of those things the girl told you, you leave him right away, understood? You deserve the best man out there”

I nodded.

“Thank you, mom, I’m going to go to sleep, hopefully I’ll feel better after”

“I’m sure you will, goodnight”

I was woken up in the morning by the smell of coffee. It was nice to wake up to a home that wasn’t empty. I brushed my teeth with the extra toothbrush my parents had stored and went downstairs.

“Good morning”

My mom and dad looked up.

“Hey there sweetie, coffee’s ready”

I smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, I could smell it from the room”

“How are you feeling today?”

“Better, well rested, I just need a phone charger”

“I actually stopped by the store and bought you one” my dad smiled as he stood up and took it out of a bag.

“Aww that was really nice of you dad, you didn’t have to, how much do I owe you?”

“You don’t owe us anything”

“I’m going to go plug my phone in, I’ll be back”

I made my way over to the room, plugged the phone in and waited for it to turn on. I already had 20 text messages, and 10 missed calls.

The most peculiar thing was the number of direct messages I had received on Instagram and the new amount of emails I had received.

I was confused about what was going on but I tried to take it in slowly, I started with the phone calls, many from John, a couple from Fal. I had text messages from the whole gang asking me where I was and if I was okay. John was begging me to text him back as soon as possible.

I sighed as I read his messages.

I texted Fal back letting her know I was okay.

I then looked at my DM’s. I was both shocked and confused. Messages coming in from different people demanding an answer.

“Are you John’s girlfriend?”

“Are you really that low as to ask him to leave the band?”

“Tell me the rumors aren’t true”

“Hi there, are you Mel Riley the one that is dating John?”

“How long have you been dating?”

“I heard you don’t support John being in a band, is that true?”

“I don’t like you”

“You don’t deserve to be with John”

“I heard you quit your job in New York to move to AZ and live off of John’s money, is that true?”

“You’re the girl John cheated on his ex-girlfriend with, huh?”

“Have fun dealing with all the haters”

The last one of my direct messages called my attention. It was a message from Kristina.

What had she done?

I replied to one of the girls, the one that sounded less demanding and rude.

“Hi there, I am Melody Riley, what’s going on?”

The girl replied right away.

“Rumors are you are dating John, is that true?”

“Where are these rumors coming from?”

She replied by sending me a photo. It was of John and I on the dancefloor, my head against his chest.

Kristina must have taken the photo and posted it. I then noticed the vicious caption that came with it.

I was furious and hurt.

“I’m not a tramp I can assure you, I also support John fully with his band, as a matter of fact the album is almost done. These rumors that are being spread are mean and hurtful, please don’t participate in the hate”

“Don’t worry, I’m not a hater, just a fan who wanted to make sure you guys were aware of these photos and rumors being spread”

“Thank you, I appreciate it. I’m sure John does too”

“No problem!”

I quickly texted John and sent him a screen shot of the DM’s.
We had to put a stop to this, not only was it damaging my reputation, his reputation, but our relationship had now been made known.

I sighed heavily as I put my phone down.

This was all overwhelming.

It was then that I received a phone call from a foreign number, as if to top things off. I hesitated to answer, but I felt in my gut that I had to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hey, this is Laura, Julie’s mother in law?” the woman sounded nervous and distressed. I was confused, why was Julie’s mother in law calling ME?

“Hi there Laura, what’s going on?”

“Julie and Eric got into an accident, they’re in the hospital…they’re alive but they have a lot of injuries”

I felt nausea overcome me.

“No…”

“Yeah, I feel pretty much helpless, we are here in Peru, Melody, in a small city that doesn’t fly people out of here until next week, I feel so terrible, just so, so very terrible. I called you to ask you for a favor, the kids, they are with the nanny, nanny agreed to take care of them for the night but we need someone to take care of them until we settle things, and the person they have written down as a guardian is you and myself, please I’m begging you Melody, fly out to New York and go see the kids, please” the woman pleaded to me, she was beginning to sob.

My heart was in agony, my poor Julie was in the hospital and her poor babies were still with the nanny probably terrified wondering where they were.

“I’ll fly out as soon as possible Laura”

“Oh Melody, we owe you our lives, thank you so much, we’ll pay for your flight, let me know everything you can about their situation once you get there”

“No need to pay for my ticket Laura, Julie is my best friend, I would have flown out regardless, I’ll let you know for sure”

She thanked me some more and I hurried over to the living room. My mom stood up concerned.

“I just really hate life right now”

“What’s going? What happened now?”

I took a deep breath.

“Julie and Eric got into a serious accident, their kids are with the nanny, Eric’s mother just called me to ask if I could go take care of them, otherwise, they are going to go to social workers”

“What?” my mom gasped.

“Yeah, you remember that I told you guys her parents had moved to Peru for a year? They’re still over there, Laura and I are the only other one’s with guardianship rights”

“MY GOODNESS, you have to leave as soon as possible” my mother said shaking her head.

“I know, I’m going to book a flight right now”

“What about your classes?”

“They thankfully just ended last week, I won’t be teaching Fall class until 3 weeks from now”

“Okay, okay, good, we’ll drive you home right away sweetie”

“Thank you, mom”

I was dropped off at my apartment, I booked my flight, packed my bags and finally had some time to look at my phone. John had just texted me regarding the Kristina fiasco. It was then that I told him about Julie.

He called me, though I honestly did not want to talk. I cut him off fast. My head was throbbing, my hands were shaking.

I didn’t understand how everything had gone wrong in the matter of hours.

I needed to clear my mind, I needed to leave this Arizona heat.