Chapter 11: The Fight
Sammy's POV
Mike, Patrick, and Alex were all taking turns walking with my crutches. Patrick had them right now and he came in the front lounge after going to the back lounge for the fifth time. "Is this what it feels like to be you?"
Cassadee, who was sitting next to me, and I giggled as Patrick handed my crutches to Mike. He put my crutches under his arms and put on a fake girl voice. "Oh, I'm Sammy." He flipped imaginary hair over his shoulder. "I'm dating Jack, my ankle's sprained, and I play bass."
Everyone else laughed and I crossed my arms over my chest. "Do I really sound that preppy? Because if I do, I'm so sorry."
"That's his female voice," Alex said, sitting across from me.
"I don't even think I can make my voice sound that preppy."
"Yes, you can, Sammy! Embrace your inner girly girl!" Cassadee said.
"Embrace your inner tomboy!" I retorted.
"Wehehell." Alex held his hands up in defense as Patrick sat next to him.
Mike came back from the back lounge with my crutches. "These are fun."
"They make your armpits hurt," I said, bluntly. "And my biceps are getting a serious work out. Check it!" I flexed my arm.
"Nice," Patrick said.
"You already had good upper body strength, though. Being a cheerleader and all," Cassadee said.
"True, but I haven't really had to lift weights for it in a while. My arms aren't used to this!" Cass giggled. "And that's another thing. Right now, I would be doing flips again already instead of staying off my ankle."
"Strict coach?" she asked.
"Very strict coach," I nodded, "but it helped. We were good."
"We saw," she chuckled.
"Am I a creeper for thinking some of those cheerleaders were hot?" Patrick asked, moving so he was laying down with his feet hanging over the arm rest.
I shrugged. "More of a pedophile."
He shrugged. "Jack was one to," he pointed out.
"He waited until she was eighteen, though," Mike said, coming back from the back lounge. He sat my crutches down on the floor in front of me before sitting next to Cassadee.
I sighed and looked down at my crutches. "I want to stop using you already."
"Are you talking to your crutches?" Alex asked.
"I am talking to my crutches," I confirmed.
He raised his eyebrows before holding his hand up for a high-five. "Nice." I scoffed, but slapped his hand.
I looked down at my clothes, deciding I wasn't going to sleep in jeans. I looked at the four other people in the front lounge. "If you were me and wanted to go into the back lounge to change clothes, would you use crutches or crawl?"
Mike and Patrick said, "Crawl."
Cassadee said, "I'd use crutches," and Alex nodded in agreement.
I considered this is my head, but picked up my crutches and walked into the back lounge. Then I changed into sweat pants and a tank top, carefully, before walking (crutching?) back into the front lounge. Sitting next to Cassadee, I put my crutches on the floor again.
"You're getting faster at that," Alex pointed out.
"Walking with crutches or changing clothes with a sprained ankle?" I asked, an eyebrow raised.
He thought a moment then shrugged. "Both."
"Oh." I shrugged. "Alright then."
The End Of Tour
"Sammy!" I was hugged by Aiden and Kaylee at the same time.
I chuckled, hugging them back. "Hey, guys!"
"Hey, Sam!" As Kaylee and Aiden released me, Kyle wrapped me in another hug. "We missed you!" he said.
"I missed you, too!" I replied, stepping back from him. "Where's Cindy?"
"Right here." She came around the corner from the kitchen. I skipped over to her and hugged her tightly, making her stumble a little and hug me back. "Hi," she said.
"Hello," I replied and stepped back from her. I grabbed my bag from tour and dropped it in my room on my bed before going back into the living room.
That night, I was folding my now clean laundry from tour and putting some of it back in my bag for going to Baltimore that day. The bedroom door opened and Aiden said, "Hey," from behind me. I turned around to face him. "Going to Baltimore again?"
I nodded. "Mmhmm." He sighed and shook his head before walking out of mine and Kaylee's room. I followed after him to see him now sitting on the couch in the living room. Kaylee and Kyle were at the table to the left of the living room. "Aiden," I sat next to him, "what's wrong?"
He shook his head again and stood up, walking over to Kaylee and Kyle. I was about to ask what was wrong again when he turned around and said, "Hey. I'm Aiden, that's Kaylee, and he's Kyle," Aiden said, pointing to who he was talking about each time. "Remember us? We're kinda you're best friends. At least we were before you started dating Jack."
I knitted my eyebrows. "You guys still are. Nothing changed."
"We never get to see you!" Aiden yelled. Kaylee and Kyle fell silent, just looking at the table. "You're either on tour, or at Jack's. It's like we don't exist!"
"Aiden-"
"You know it's true."
I let my gaze fall to the couch cushion. "I'm sorry," I said, my voice small. He was right.
"Why doesn't he just come out here?" Kyle asked, making me look up.
"Because they can't have sex here," Aiden said bluntly, giving me a cold look. "Nice to know that comes before us."
"Aiden, you know that's a lie," I said, standing up.
"But it's not." He narrowed his eyes. "Be honest, how many times do you fuck him when you're there?"
"Why does that matter?"
"So, a lot." He crossed his arms.
Tears filled my eyes and my voice cracked as I said, just above a whisper, "That's not true."
"Yes, it is," Aiden laughed, and it's a bitter laugh. "If it wasn't he would come down here."
I didn't know what to say. I just stood there with my eyes threatening to pour down tears, staring at all of them. Aiden had a knowing look on his face, Kaylee wouldn't look up from the table, and Kyle was staring at the floor.
"You better go," Aiden said. "You won't wanna miss you're flight." With that, he walked back to his room. Kaylee got up and walked to our room, never looking up from the floor, and Kyle eventually followed after Aiden.
I fell onto the couch, crying into my hands. They were right. It was like Jack mattered more than them, but they all mean the same to me.
Around two in the morning, I was still awake. I cancelled my flight and now I was crying in Cindy's arms on her bed. She was holding me tightly, stroking my hair and telling me, "It'll all be okay."
This wasn't the first time this has happened. I remember when my first boyfriend broke up with me, this is what I was doing the same night. She was closest thing to a mother I had. Hell, she basically was my mom.
My phone started ringing, so I pulled it out of my pocket. I sniffed, wiping my eyes. Jack was calling me. I threw my phone on the floor, it landed and bounced multiple times with a thud, and yelled, "My relationship with him is fucking everything up!"
"Shhh..." Cindy stroked my hair again and held me tighter. "It's okay. Calm down."
I sniffed again. "I love him so much, Cindy."
"I know you do," she said.
"But Aiden, Kyle, and Kaylee mean everything to me, too."
"I know they do."
I wiped my eyes again, even though I was gonna keep crying. "What am I supposed to do?" My head laid on her shoulder.
"You cry until you can't cry anymore. Don't hold these emotions in."
I took a deep, shaky breath. "They hate me."
"No, they don't. They're just mad because you're gone all the time." She paused, then added. "I know my kids, they'll get over this in a day or two...maybe even by morning. In the mean time, why don't you have Jack come out here?"
I sighed. "I, honestly, didn't think about that."
"So, call him. Tell him to come here."
I looked up at her. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"Being the closest thing I've ever had to a mom."
Cindy looked shocked, but she smiled and kissed the top of my head. "You're welcome."
