It's Not Cool | Jonas Brothers

Chapter 35

Pippa's P.O.V.
I've found a place to stay. It isn't cosy or anything, but it works. I've been forgetting to eat and am not getting a lot of sleep.

I've got to be cautious with everything I do. People can recognize me easily if they look closely and I'm sure they are trying to trace my steps and are on the lookout for simple slip ups I might make to reveal my whereabouts.

Wondering the streets, I hoist my backpack farther up my shoulders. I pass a store with tv's. I glance at them and stop when one of them is showing the news.

It talked about a nature disaster, an armed robbery until it got to the famous people gossip.

I hate the famous people gossip, because I know at least half of it is untrue, if not more. I wait and wait. They talk about Shawn Mendes' new song with Camilla Cabello called Señorita.

After that news, my breath hitches. My photo. Right there. Big on the screen. I'm missing. They're going to involve the fans to help find me. It shows how worried my family is. I almost feel guilty. Key word; almost.

They're showing tweets my brothers posted and are basically begging everyone to help look out for me. They even recorded a message in the hope I'd see it. They literally spend 5 minutes of the news on me. Why? I'm not worth that much.

I ran away from the store, not wanting to see more. I need to hide out, because they will find me and they will recognize me.

Tripping over a rough, slightly lifted tile, I fall to the floor. My arm stings and I realize I scraped my arm. I turn onto my back and feel the back of my arm.

It's all covered in gravel and blood. That's not good. I curse under my breath and get up. I retrieve my bag from a few feet away and start making my way down the road again. This time in a slightly slower pace.

"Are you okay?" Someone walks up to me. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you. I wasn't watching where I stepped." I keep my vision to the ground and want to walk further.

The girl grabbed me by my arm and I flinched away. "Don't touch me." The girl, who looks slightly older, puts her hands up in surrender, showing me she doesn't want to harm me.

"Let me at least take you to the bar over there to clean your wound. It's going to heal ugly if you don't tend to it." I sigh, knowing she's right.

I agree and walk with her to the bar across the street. She asks me if I'm hungry, considering it's lunch time and offers me something to drink. I hesitantly agree and she orders herself a lunch and a drink before ushering me to do the same.

She walks me to the bathroom and grabs a few paper towels. "This is going to hurt, but I'm doing this to help you and not hurt you." She explains. I nod, knowing the pain, having three older brothers and one little brother who hurt me occasionally. Always unintentional, apart from the few intentional ones.

"What's your name?" I ask the girl. "My name is Molly. What's your name?" She asks me. "Pippa." She looks at me.

I hiss when she cleans the wound. "Keep it under the sink and I'll go get a first aid kit from the bar to get some gauze to bandage it up for a little until we're sure the bleeding stops." I nod and she walks off.

As promised, she returns with a first aid kit. "Let me take a look." She gently takes my arm from under the sink and studies the wound. "It doesn't look deep or horrifying, so that's good. It's better to let it heal in the open air, but we'll have to bandage it up for a little to wait for the bleedings to stop." She explains again.

She sounds like my mom. I miss my mom. I can't help but think about home. Why am I here in this bar? I don't even know what I'm doing with my life besides ruining it all and everything I have. I only cause pain. Why am I still here?

Molly had already bandaged up my arm and guided me back to the bar and made me sit down at a table where our lunch has been served.

"You look like you haven't eaten in years." She jokes, trying to lift the mood and probably to get me to talk.

"I've been missing out on a lot of food lately." She looks concerned. "Why?" I think for a minute before answering. The whole world knows I'm already missing anyways. Might as well talk about it.

"I ran away from home." She studies my movements and expressions. I think she figured I don't want to talk about it and changed the subject.

"How's the food? Taste good?" Molly asks me. I nod in response. "Why are you doing this for me?" I ask her. She shrugs. "You looked like you could use some kindness and you don't look much of a threat to anyone." Molly explains.

Molly continues. "If you need a couch to crash on for some days and catch up on some sleep, you are welcome." She offers.

I shake my head. "I can't intrude on your life like that. You're already giving me too much. I can't return the favour." I tell her.

"You don't have to return the favour and you're not charity case, alright. I really want to help you. You seem unhappy and I can see that the running away took a toll on you. You have to take care of yourself. So let me help you take care of yourself. At least for a couple of days." She offers.

"My boyfriend can even help you settle down through the company he works for. They help out a lot of teenagers and young adults with no one to rely on. Not that I'm implying.." She cuts herself off, not really knowing anything about my family. Does she know who I am?

"It's okay. Ever heard of the Jonas Brothers?" She nods unsurely, like she knows them, but doesn't know where I'm heading with this.

"I'm Pippa Jonas." I explain.

She looks shocked and I think it clicked. "So you've been out there for five weeks? How did you survive?"

Wait, what? "Five weeks?" I ask her. "Yeah, I heard on the news. They said the exact date you ran from your home. That day is about five, maybe five weeks and a couple of days ago." She explains. "What day is it?" I ask her.

"October 24th." Molly answers.