A New Hope

Chapter 9: Get out!

"Hold on! Don't hit play! We forgot popcorn!" Alex said quite loudly before I hit play. It had taken us ten minutes to actually figure out how to start the movie, (again, I always have issues) and I really wanted to hit play.

I just rolled my eyes. "Do we really need popcorn?" I asked impatiently.

"Yes! Popcorn is bae, and you can't watch a movie without it!" he whined like a five year old.

"Did you seriously just say 'bae'?" I asked.

"Maybe... let's just go!"

"Ugh, fine. But keep in mind I like to put extra butter and parmesan cheese on my popcorn."

"I like parmesan popcorn too! Twinsies!"

"Don't say twinsies. Please."

"Fine."

We walked downstairs and toward the kitchen. "Brendon, we have popcorn in the pantry, right?" I called to Brendon (who was in the living room watching The Conjuring) as I opened the pantry.

"Yeah, there should be so... oh, that's gotta hurt," he responded.

I shuddered as I found the popcorn and pulled it out of the pantry. I absolutely HATE horror movies. They are the worst EVER, mainly because I'm the biggest scaredy-cat 15-year-old you'll ever meet. All of a sudden I heard a phone start ringing, making me snap out of my thoughts. "It's my dad, I better take this," Alex said, looking at his phone screen, "Hey dad... yeah, I'm still at Chloe's house... she is?... what did I do?!... ok I will... see you tomorrow... love you... bye."

"What was that all about?" I asked.

"My mom went off again. God, I don't even know what I did this time," Alex explained.

"What do you mean 'went off'? Come on, let's go talk to Brendon about this," I said.

He nodded, grabbing my hand and following me into the living room. "Pause that, we need to talk. Alex is having issues at home," I said, the seriousness prominent in my voice.

"Ok, what's going on?" Brendon asked as Alex and I sat down.

"Ever since I turned 15, my mom's been very abusive and way more prone to explode. It'll be the littlest things, like tonight. We got in a little fight over one missing assignment. I didn't want to be there when she finally blew her top, so my dad said I could come here. After I asked Chloe, of course. So, when she finally blew, my dad called and told me to stay. But I doubt it will last long. She'll probably be at the door soon screaming for me to come home with her. Just like every time. And she refuses to go to counseling for anger management. I just wish she would so when I come to school with bruises my friends don't pester me about it anymore," he said before breaking down into tears.

My arms immediately surrounded him in a gentle hug like he had given me earlier. "It's ok, we're here for you. You can stay as long as you want, right Brendon?" I said.

Brendon nodded. "Of course. I can already tell that in a few months you two will be as close as Panic! was when we first started."

I smiled into Alex's shoulder. "True dat. I can't wait," I said before I heard a knock at the door.

"I'll get it. You two stay in the moment," Brendon said.

He got up and walked to the door as Alex and I also got up and walked to the kitchen to get the popcorn out of the microwave. I grabbed the parmesan cheese out of the fridge and sprinkled some on the popcorn. I put the parmesan cheese back and Alex grabbed the bowl and followed me up the stairs to my room. Just as we sat down, I heard someone on the stairs. It sounded too light to be an adult, but not light enough to be a young kid. I didn't mind it, so I hit play just as Queen Snob (aka Darla) burst into my room. "OMG, Alex, I finally found you! I've been looking everywhere for you! Who knew you were only a few houses away! And I never knew I lived this close to my favorite sin... oh hi Chloe! Why are you here, breaking into Brendon's daughter's room. That obsessed?" Darla said with her totally fake valley girl accent.

I just gritted my teeth. "Oh hi Darla! Why are you here, in my room without knocking? That obsessed?" I mocked.

"Oh come on, cut the act. I'm sure if I went downstairs and told Brendon there was some random new kid in his daughter's bedroom, he would freak," she shot back.

"Go ahead and try. Oh, and can you ask him to bring two Cokes please?" I said. I had won, even though Darla didn't know it yet.

"Fine. Be right back. With the POLICE!" she called back to me as she started to walk downstairs.

Alex and I laughed before pausing the movie and getting up to watch this from the doorway. "She's gonna be so surprised," Alex said.

"Yeah. Wonder how she'll handle it then," I said with a smile.

"Mr. Urie, there's a girl in your daughter's room that's not your daughter. She's too... new," Darla said.

"Oh, you mean my recently adopted daughter Chloe that moved here from Ohio about three days ago? That one?" Brendon shot back.

"I... uh... wow look at the time. Better be going. Bye!" Darla said, rushing out the door.

After she the closed door, Alex and I hobbled downstairs, laughing our asses off. "OMG, her face was priceless! I should've gotten a picture!" I said.

"You may not have, but I did. This is gonna go on Instagram!" Alex said, showing me the picture.

"What was that all about? She came in here fangirling, which I can handle, but then she asked where Alex was. I told her he wasn't here, but she just barged upstairs anyway," Brendon said with a confused look on his face.

"No big deal. Just this girl that basically stalks me 24/7," Alex explained.

"OMG, I'm not a big fan at all. She's a bully, and you know how I feel about them," I said.

"Ok," Brendon said.

"Let's go back upstairs and finish the movie," Alex said and I nodded, following him back upstairs.