*****
The crew of friends had all gathered in Sam’s room after returning to the hotel. Jen had insisted a group movie screening in hopes of taking her friend’s mind off of what had happened earlier in the day.
“Are you sure he didn’t tell you where he was going?” Sam asked Joey again.
“No, for the third time, he said he wanted to leave, we came back to the hotel, I haven’t seen him since then,” he answered annoyed, explaining how Lance reacted after hearing what Joey had to say about Sam and Justin. “Like you deserve to know where he’s at anyway,” Joey huffed.
“Joey why don’t you pull the stick out of your ass for a little while and try to remember what it was like to be a human being,” JC said fed up with his friend’s horrible disposition lately. JC didn’t know exactly what was going on with Sam and Lance, but something was obviously wrong, Lance’s disappearing act only made that more apparent.
Just then there was a knock and the door and Sam rushed to answer it. A relieved smile graced her face as Lance walked past her into the room, noticing the blank expression on his face her smile quickly faded.
“Where have you been? Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving the party? I called your cell phone…” Sam spoke with a worried tone as he cut her off.
“I had it turned off. I needed some time alone to think,” he said flatly.
“About what?” she asked, afraid of what Scott might have told him in the few minutes she had made the mistake of leaving them alone. Her fears were confirmed when he sharply pulled away as she reached for his arm.
“Don’t touch me,” Lance said coldly.
“Maybe we should go,” Jen said to the other guys as she slid to the edge of the queen-sized bed.
“No,” he said sternly. “Everyone else might as well meet the real Samantha along with me. Did you guys enjoy lying to me and laughing behind my back about how gullible I was to believe it?” he quizzed Sam harshly.
“Lance I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I don’t know what Scott told you but…”
“I wasn’t talking about Scott,” Lance hissed. “I was talking about you and Justin and the night you spent together.” Lance’s words caught Sam off guard and she stumbled for a response. “So it is true?” he asked with a small nod of his head.
“Yes, but we only…” Lance cut her off again as all eyes in the room rested on Justin who shifted uncomfortably in his chair, his eyes directed at the floor.
“And this Scott guy, you do have some sort of history with him too?”
“Lance it’s not what you think, please let me explain,” Sam pleaded as tears began to spill over long lashes.
“No, the least you can do is spare me the details,” he said as his whole body stood expressionless.
“But you don’t understand,” she cried.
“You’re right, I don’t understand. I’ll never understand why you didn’t just tell me the truth.”
“Please lets just go somewhere and talk,” Sam begged, her brown eyes flooded with pain.
“No, I don’t need to hear anymore of your lies. Just shut up and listen because I’m only going to say this once.” The rest of the room sat stunned by Lance’s unfeeling demeanor as he continued. “As much as the sight of you disgusts me right now, I can’t afford to fire you with everything going, so you can keep your job, but unless it’s business related, don’t utter a single word to me.”
“What about us?” Sam asked, her voice wavering.
“There is no us,” he said icily as he reached for the door handle before turning back with the need for revenge blazing in his pale eyes. “You know, I’ve seen a lot of lying whores in this business, but you were definitely the most convincing. Someone ought to give you an Oscar for your performance.”
Sam stood baffled by the hateful tone in Lance’s voice; she had never imagined hearing something so crude directed at her coming from his gentle soul. Jen had sat quiet for long enough and began to rise before JC halted her as Lance spit out his final dagger.
“And I guess I should’ve known,” he said shrugging casually. “Considering you haven’t acted very virginal since the first night we were together.”
“Yeah, and I’m sure it’s the first time you’ve complained about it you fucking bastard,” Jen screamed as the remote she had been clutching in her hands fell to the floor in broken pieces after crashing against the door Lance had just stormed out of. She slid quickly down to Sam’s side where the small brunette had collapsed, sobbing uncontrollably. Jen wrapped her arms tightly around her body like a mother would a small child as Justin stood and headed for the door.
“Justin please don’t, you’ll only make it worse.” Sam’s plea fell on deaf ears as he raced to catch up to Lance, his jaw clenched and anger flashing in his blue eyes.
***
“What the hell was that?” Chris shouted, referring to the events that had just occurred in Sam’s suite as he, JC and Joey walked down the hallway to their rooms.
“That was Sam being exposed as the lying slut that she is,” Joey answered plainly.
“Well if that ain’t the pot calling the kettle black,” JC said rolling his eyes as he continued. “Not to mention you have no idea what you’re talking about. Nothing happened with her and Justin.”
“Yes it did,” Joey insisted. “I saw him coming out of Sam’s hotel room one morning.”
“Yeah and nothing happened,” JC reiterated.
“How do you know?” Chris and Joey asked in unison.
“Because Justin and I talked about it, they just feel asleep together. Did you ever stop to think about what blabbing what you THOUGHT you saw to Lance could do?” JC asked Joey sharply. “Not only to Lance and Sam, but to the group?”
“I thought he deserved to know,” Joey shrugged.
“Well maybe you should’ve thought a little harder and talked to Justin about it first, then you would’ve known that it was completely innocent. But no, you’re in a pissed off mood, so no one else deserves to be happy either.”
“Just shut the hell up JC. I might have been wrong about her and Justin but what about this Scott guy? That came right from the guy’s mouth,” Joey countered.
“I think we should try to stay out of it as much as possible,” Chris interjected. “Although it might be a little late for that,” he said glancing at his friend’s angered faces.
“Whatever,” Joey muttered as he stopped in front of the door to his room and fumbled for his key as Chris and JC continued walking.
“There’s something deeper going on with Sam. Couldn’t you see it in her eyes? And the look on her face at her parent’s house…” JC trailed off.
“Maybe, I don’t really know. What I really wanna know is where the heck have I been to be so damn clueless about all this crap?” Chris mumbled, shaking his head as he and his bandmate walked into their respective suites.
***
“I have never in my life wanted to hit someone more than I do at this moment,” Justin screamed at Lance as he barged into his room.
“Get out Justin, I have nothing to say to you.”
“Good because now it’s your turn to shut up and listen,” the tall man ordered.
“Why are you so upset?” Lance questioned. “Turns out you won after all, you had her first Justin, congratulations,” he said smugly.
“It’s not a competition,” Justin said thinly as he positioned his face directly in front of Lance’s. “And nothing happened that night. If you would’ve shut your fucking mouth long enough and let Sam talk at all, you would know that.”
“Get out of my face,” Lance said shoving Justin backwards.
“Good, get mad, show some emotions for Christ’s sake.”
“What’s the point? I don’t have the time and energy to waste on someone who has done nothing but lie to me from the beginning.”
“Damn it Lance. Nothing happened that night. Yes we shared a bed, but the only thing we did was sleep in it,” Justin explained exasperated.
“If nothing at all happened why did Sam freak out when I brought it up?” Lance asked folding his arms across his chest.
“Fine. We kissed, but that was all. It was no where near sex, not even remotely close,” the blue-eyed man stressed.
“How many times did I ask both if you if there was anything going on between you? Can you count how many times you both repeatedly lied to me?”
“We DID NOT lie. We ARE just friends. The kiss meant nothing, not to mention the fact that you and her weren’t even together yet,” Justin reminded.
“Oh and that is supposed to make me feel better?” Lance huffed. “You knew how I felt about her Justin. You are supposed to be my friend, my brother.”
“I am Lance,” Justin sighed, his stance softening as he continued. “It was just a stupid mistake and we both knew it. That’s why it stopped at a kiss.”
“You still should’ve told me.”
“Maybe we should’ve, but have you told Sami about every girl you’ve kissed before her?” Justin pointed out.
“No, but then again I’ve never kissed one of her best friends,” Lance countered as some of the tension began to fade from his body, only to return just as quickly as his thoughts replayed the awful words that Scott had said to him earlier. “Okay, so I was wrong about you and her, but what about this asshole from her past? Do you know anything about that?” he asked searching Justin’s face for any clues that he may hold.
“Honestly man, Sami has never even mentioned him,” Justin said. “But how do you know he was telling you the truth? He may just be some pissed off guy that she turned down in high school or something.”
“No,” Lance said shaking his head thoughtfully. “He was talking with her family like he knew them well. They definitely have some sort of intimate past.”
“Well maybe you should give her the chance to explain. You know her Lance, if she lied to you, she must have had a good reason,” Justin suggested as he turned to leave.
“I thought I knew her,” Lance said quietly.
“You KNOW her,” Justin repeated as he walked out.
***
Sam and Jen still remained huddled together on the floor. Sam sat up straight, releasing herself from Jen’s grasp, her voice muddled as she spoke.
“Weren’t you supposed to check in with Johnny tonight?”
“Yes, but it can wait,” Jen said wiping a tear away from Sam’s cheek.
“No, go take care of it. I don’t want to be responsible for you getting in trouble with your boss. It’s not fun trust me,” Sam said, forcing a smile at her own joke.
“Are you sure? You’re gonna be okay alone?” Jen questioned, her hazel eyes dark with concern.
“I’ll be fine. I just want to crawl in bed and forget this day ever happened.”
“Aww, girl I wish I could take it all away for you,” Jen said pulling Sam into a tight embrace. “I will call and check on you when I get done okay?”
Sam nodded her approval as the two friends stood and walked to the door.
“It will all work out, I promise. Someday you’ll look back on this and laugh, especially after I kick his ass,” Jen smiled.
“I don’t know about laugh, but I hope you’re right,” Sam sighed.
***
A short while later Sam was tossing and turning aimlessly in the large bed when the phone on her nightstand rang. She reached for it and pulled the receiver under the blanket to her ear as she answered.
“I love you and I am sending you the biggest hug ever imagined through these telephone lines.”
“Mel,” Sam cried. “You talked to Jen?”
“Yes and she told me everything. How are you holding up?”
“Not too good. Why didn’t I just tell him?” she asked, her voice dripping with anguish.
“You weren’t ready to tell him. I know the things he said hurt but remember that he’s hurting too and he didn’t mean one bit of it,” Mel reassured her sobbing friend.
“Oh I know, I don’t blame him for anything he said. I deserved all of it,” Sam said, her breath uneven from the heavy crying.
“I wouldn’t go that far sweetie. But you know what you need right now?” she asked, her mothering personality taking over as she continued. “You need a nice hot bath to relax yourself. Promise me that as soon as we hang up you’ll go take a good long soak in that big ol’ luxurious bathtub I’m sure you have.”
“Okay,” Sam said feebly.
“Good, I’m gonna let you go so you can get to it, but if you need me you know I’m here anytime, day or night.”
The two friends said goodbye before Sam returned the receiver to its cradle on the nightstand. She forced herself to rise from the bed and head for the bathroom, knowing that Mel was right. A hot bath always helped Sam relieve tension. She walked to the tub and turned the hot water all the way to the right and breathed deep as the warm steam began to fill the room. She adjusted the temperature to a comfortable setting with the cold water and undressed as the water level rose.
***
A good hour later Sam was returning to the bed, her fingers and toes shriveled from soaking in the water for so long. There was a light knock on the door just as she walked past it.
“Hi,” Justin smiled warmly as he stood in the hallway. “I just wanted to check in on you.”
“I’m fine,” Sam said, giving herself away as tears once again began to trickle down her face. “God, I am so sick of crying,” she moaned, wiping the salty liquid from her saddened brown eyes.
“I’m so sorry Sami,” he said softly as he pulled her into a close embrace. “If we would’ve just told him…”
“We both decided to keep it to ourselves, it’s not your fault Justin,” Sam said pulling away, once again wiping tears from her eyes before sliding her hands into the pockets of the white terrycloth rob she was wearing.
“I told him what actually happened that night…I think he understood…as for the Scott thing…” Justin trailed off.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Sam said quickly, darting her eyes to the floor. “I’m going to try to get some sleep. You should go,” she mumbled.
“You sure? I can sit with you until you fall asleep if you want,” he offered, his blue eyes showing obvious concern for his close friend.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea considering the circumstances,” she said moving to close the door.
Justin gave her an understanding nod as he turned and walked to his room next door, not noticing Lance standing halfway down the opposite end of the hall.
Lance had stopped when he saw Justin knock on the door to Sam’s room and stood still in his tracks since that moment. He knew in his heart that the encounter he had just witnessed was nothing more than a friend being worried for another friend, but his stubborn pride wouldn’t let his feet carry him the remaining distance to her, and instead he turned and walked somberly to his own room.