“Honestly, I don’t know if I’m ready. He cheated on me. I don’t think I can overlook that. What if he still likes Ella?” I shook my head, frowning. “It’s just all so complicated.”
“It’s not complicated. You still love him, and there’s no way he could have gotten over you so quickly.”
“Who knows?” I shrugged, laying back on the bed and looking up at the ceiling.
“Do you still love him?” Lena pressed.
I closed my eyes tight, sighing as I muttered a defeated, “Yes.” Before she had the chance to say anything, I added, “I shouldn’t though. He cheated and lied to me. How is it possible that he’s still the only person I think about day in and day out?”
She sighed. “I don’t know. It’s...” she searched for a word to explain the situation.
“Complicated,” I finished for her.
We drifted off into an easy silence. I opened my eyes, thinking about how happy I had been when Blake and I were dating. I didn’t want to be one of those girls who forgives her boyfriend for everything just because she’s blinded by love. I wanted to be strong, but I realized that it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. I finally understood why some girls take their boyfriends back so soon after they hurt them. It wasn’t because they were weak, or stupid. It was because they truly loved them, and were willing to give them a second chance to make things right. People make mistakes.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
I finally knew what I wanted to do. I was ready to forgive Blake, and give him another chance. I didn’t want to forget the past, but being away from him for nearly a month now made me realize just how much I loved him. He truly is a good guy, and everyone makes mistakes. If anything were to happen again is when he would run out of chances. Fool me twice, shame on me.
Suddenly the bed bounced as Lena hopped up. She smiled knowingly at me as she sashayed over to the light switch, flipping it downwards and enveloping us in darkness. The only light came from a street lamp outside my bedroom window, and my faint night light that was plugged in next to my bedside table.
Before I even had a chance to ask Lena what she was doing, she spoke. “It’s time! Now for the real reason that I came over.” I watched as Lena’s dark figure moved toward the window, as she reached it, the sound of a guitar began to play.
The music floated in through my window, followed by a male’s voice as he began to sing.
“I knew, from the moment that I met you, that you were the one. I couldn’t stop staring. I was hooked at first glance, but I knew that I didn’t have a chance. Dark haired beauty, that’s what you were to me. That’s what you’ll always be.” Blake’s voice beckoned me to the window until I was standing next to Lena. She smiled so hard that I could see her molars as she looked out the window at Blake and then back to me again.
He stood in the grass by the tree in our yard, clutching his dad’s guitar in his arms as he strummed away, singing so eloquently that I couldn’t help it when tears began to well up in my eyes. I didn’t recognize the song, but seeing him standing there, singing outside of my bedroom window, sure did bring a smile to my face.
“It's a shame that I didn't have the pride. I went numb inside, at the thought of approaching you. Unapproachable, dark hair beauty, that’s what you were to me. I was afraid, but who’s to blame, when you’re always on my mind? If I had my way, I'd see you all the time,” Blake’s voice quivered a bit as it rose at the end to hit a high note.
A tear slipped down my cheek as watched him sing. He had obviously been preparing this for a while now, and had even called upon Lena for help.
“I just wanna hold your hand, be your man. Dark haired beauty will you let me in? I’m tired of waiting. You deserve the best, and I know I can give you that if you let me try. Let me show you, what love can do, when it’s oh so right.
I don't want to be with anyone else. You make me take a good look at myself. One look in your eyes, and I can see a better me. Just trust me dark haired beauty, that my love is free. It’s a gift for you from me!” Blake looked up into the window at me, as he went into the chorus again. I knew that the end of the song was coming soon, and I didn’t want to be all the way up in my room when he finished.
Smiling hard, and swiping the few tears that had spilled from my eyes, I ran from my room and into the hallway. I pounded down the stairs, earning a scream from my mom about not running in the house, but I didn’t care. I threw the front door open, closing it quickly behind me and running into the side of the yard.
Blake was still singing as I came to a stop behind him. “Dark haired beauty will you let me in? I’m tired of waiting. You deserve the best, and I know I can give you that if you let me try. Let me show you, what love can do, when it’s oh so right.” He held the last note, strumming his fingers melodiously against the guitar’s strings as he finished.
Tilting his head upwards again, he looked at my window to see Lena pointing down behind him. Blake slowly turned around to face me. When he saw me, he slung his guitar over his shoulder and took a few steps closer.
“I honestly do love you, Violet. I made a mistake; one that I’ve been regretting since the day it happened. I didn’t want to tell you because if I said anything about it, it would become real, and I just wanted to forget that it had ever even happened. The past few weeks have been terrible without you. All I do is think about what you’re doing, and wondering what we’d be doing if we were still dating. I wrote that song for you Violet, and I think that it fits us perfectly. I want to know if you’d take a chance and let me make it up to you.” Blake’s blue eyes reflected in the light from the street lamps as he silently pleaded with me to give him a second chance.
I dragged my hand across my cheek, wiping away the water works as I stepped toward him. I smiled sweetly as I lifted my hand and smacked it roughly against his face. He recoiled, stepping away and rubbing his cheek, groaning.
“Okay, I deserved that,” he mumbled.
“Hell yeah you did,” I replied.
“So I’m assuming that’s a no?” His face fell as he regarded me.
I shook my head, stepping toward him again. “Don’t assume,” I whispered as I placed my hands on his shoulders and rose up onto my tippy toes, kissing him with everything I had in me. After a moment I pulled away to say, “I love you too, but if you ever hurt me again, you’ll get more than a slap.”
Blake nodded, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling my body to his. “I won’t be giving you a chance to get away from me again,” he spoke before he placed his lips back on mine.
Our bodies instantly molded together, his hands on my lower back and my arms twined around his neck.
At that moment, I couldn’t be any happier.
That is until Lena shouted, “Get a room! Horny teenagers these days.”
Chapter 30
“Why the hell do these chicken nuggets still have pink inside them?” Lena dropped one broken chicken nugget onto her foam lunch tray, scrunching her face up in disgust. “This food sickens me.”
Blake reached across the table, picking up one of Lena's chicken nuggets and pulling it apart into two halves. The inside of the chicken nugget was tinged a slight pink, but was better than the first chicken nugget had been. “This one's not as bad.”
Lena pushed her tray away from her. She had a sour expression etched onto her face making it look as if she was about to vomit. “I'll pass.”
Sitting in front of me was my brown bag lunch that my mom had packed me. For once I was grateful for her worrisome ways. Reaching into my lunch bag, I pulled out a plastic wrapped sandwich and handed it to Lena. “Eat this. No pink inside, and my mom makes really good sandwiches.”
Lena held the sandwich in both hands, staring down at it then back up to me as if she was poor and I was a millionaire giving her a fifty dollar bill. “Are you sure?”
I nodded my head, chewing on a carrot that I had dipped into my tiny tuba-ware that was filled with
hummus.
Lena's eyes travelled back down to the sandwich, not raising even when she spoke again. “But then what will you eat?”
I chewed up the rest of my carrot, reaching for another as I said, “I have another sandwich and plenty of snacks. My mom makes sure I have enough food to last me throughout the day, so seriously, it's no problem. Eat it.”
I didn't have to tell her again. Lena didn't waste any time as she ripped the plastic wrap off and took a huge bite. She closed her eyes as she chewed, sighing deeply.
Blake laughed at her. “It's good isn't it?”
Lena nodded furiously, her eyes opening wide. She didn't even speak once she had finished chewing, she just went in for another monstrous bite.
“I'm glad you like it.” I held my bag of carrots out to Blake who appreciatively took two.
“Thanks!” He leaned into my side, placing his lips on my cheek for a moment. Just as Blake raised a dry carrot to his mouth, an annoying voice spoke from behind us.
“Aw, look girls. Blake's back with his charity case!”
Lena lifted her head slightly to look at the person standing behind Blake and me, rolled her eyes and then flipping up her middle finger.
Blake and I turned to face Brianna, who had a black beanie pulled down on her head, so that all you could see where the frayed ends of her freshly dyed hair. Standing behind her where her crew of Barbie dolls and Ella.
“What the hell do you want?” The words were so rude that I was surprised they hadn't come from my mouth. I gave Blake a surprised look as he waited for Brianna to answer his question.
Brianna raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow, responding with, “Wow, Blake. I thought we were friends?”
“Friends?”
“Yes, you know, two people who share a mutual affection for one another.”
Blake feigned a smile and nodded. “Oh!” he sighed. “I wasn't aware of the fact that friends blackmail each other and ruin each other's relationships.”
Brianna shook her head. “No, but friends look out for each other. So if one of my friends was dating a low life loser, I'd tell him in hopes that I could protect him from getting some type of freak disease.”
Behind her one of Brianna's friends laughed. “Good one.”
Blake stood up. “What is wrong with you? Why do you have to be so mean to everyone? Maybe if you didn't act like freaking Cruella DeVille, you'd have some actual friends.”
“I do have real friends.” Brianna hooked her thumb behind her. “They're always here for me when I need them.”
I cleared my throat, shaking my head as I stood up. Everyone's attention turned to me as I brushed off my uniform shirt and took a step toward Brianna.
“Are they really?” I questioned knowingly, my eyes flicking to Ella for a moment, who smirked at me.
Brianna raised her chin. “Yep.”
A forced chuckle escaped my throat. “Well, let's see about that. Ella?”
Turning her head, Brianna watched as Ella walked over and took a seat at our lunch table, next to where I had been sitting. Brianna wasn't the only person who was surprised. Blake was currently staring between me and Ella with his eyes so wide they were in danger of falling out.
“You little bitch,” Brianna muttered, speaking to Ella.
Ella just shrugged and responded with, “Learned from the best.”
Before Brianna had a chance to respond, I continued to speak. “Anya?”
Standing behind Brianna's left shoulder, Anya's head lifted at hearing her name. Her eyes glanced around nervously as she said, “Yes?”
“You're such a nice girl, why are you even friends with Brianna?”
Anya shrugged her shoulders. “She gives me a ride to school every morning, and she made me cheerleading co-captain.”
“We're friends because we have the same interests,” Brianna corrected, tossing a glare at her co-captain.
“Whatever,” I spoke, rolling my eyes in annoyance. “I'm tired of you walking all over me like I'm some damn doormat.”
“A doormat looks better,” Brianna joked, smirking.
I feigned a laugh at Brianna's words. My laughter quickly turned into a stoic serious face as I spoke again. “You know what? Fuck you, Brianna. I'm tired of your complete and utter bullshit. I have never done a single thing to you that hasn't been out of retaliation to how you treat me.”
Ella laughed at my words from behind me, standing up to be next to me as she said, “Like how I dyed your hair that color.”
Brianna tucked her hair away as much as possible as everyone's eyes shifted to her head. By now we had the attention of everyone in the cafeteria.
From somewhere someone yelled, “Tampon top!” causing a ton of people to break out into loud laughter.
Once the laughter quieted down, I began to list on my fingers all of the things I did to her. “And like how I broke into your house, poured itching powder on your clothes, put blue dye on your toothbrush, wrapped your toilet in plastic, and put dead fish in your car.”
“Hey!” Lena yelled. “I put the fish in her car!”
Brianna's face was turning red with anger as she looked at the three of us. “You broke into my house?”
“Well, not really.” Ella smirked. “I let them in.”
That was when Brianna snapped. She reached for Ella and yanked her roughly by her shirt, causing Lena to jump up and practically dive across the table at her. I could feel the anger bubbling up inside of me, and suddenly, I was just ready for it to all end. I cocked my arm back and threw it forward with as much strength as I could muster up. Everything seemed to go into slow motion as my fist flew out in front of me, connected with Brianna's face, and causing a loud snap to ring out through the cafeteria.
Everyone froze where they were.
Lena on top of the lunch table, hands reaching out toward Ella and Brianna.
Blake standing beside me, his eyes wide and his mouth agape.
Ella leaning away from Brianna and back toward her sister.
Brianna with blood speckling her upper lip and tears welling in her eyes.
And finally, me with my fist still pressed against Brianna's nose.
Chapter 31
Silence filled the cafeteria for a moment before chaos broke out. There was loud ooing and laughter, and to my surprise, a few people were clapping.
I quickly yanked my hand back, shuddering when I saw that my knuckles were covered in a fine layer of blood; Brianna’s blood.
“Oh my gosh.” The reality of what I had just done finally had hit me. Brianna’s nose was slightly bent out of place with blood pouring down her mouth and dripping from her chin onto the hard tiled floors. Her blue eyes were wide, welling with tears as she reached up to cup her hands over her face. Her eyes flitted around the cafeteria, taking in all of the people who still sat in their seats, laughing at her. No one had come to help.
The tears spilled over, racing down her red flushed cheeks as she turned, and ran from the cafeteria. My heart ached as I realized what I had done.
“Damn, Forrester, who knew you had that in you.”
“Hulk smash!” an obnoxious jock screamed earning more laughter from around the room.
My hand was still clenched in a fist, held out to my side as I started to run. My feet carried me past all of the lunch tables, through the wide cafeteria doors, away from my peers, and into the hallway.
The hall was empty. No sign of Brianna anywhere, yet I knew exactly where she had gone. I followed my instincts, walking down the hallway, past the main office where the clinic was, and into the girl’s bathroom.
As soon as I pushed through the wooden bathroom door, I was met with the sound of sobs coming from one of the stalls. Pushing the bathroom door closed, I flipped the latch, locking it so that we wouldn’t be interrupted.
“Brianna?” I called out hesitantly.
My only response was the sound of a toilet flushing.
“I know you’re in here.”
The sta
ll door, swung open, and out walked Brianna, still cupping her nose. The blood that had been on her chin was smeared as if she had wiped it away with toilet paper.
Her eyes glared daggers at me as she made her way over to the sinks, choosing the one farthest from where I stood. After using the back of one hand to turn the faucet on, Brianna began to delicately wash the blood off of her face.
“Come to abuse me some more?” Her voice came out in a quiet whisper. I was surprised I had even caught it over the sound of the water pouring into the sink.
“No, I came to apologize.”
Her eyes regarded me for a moment in the mirror before returning to her own reflection.
When she didn’t respond, I continued. “I’m sorry that I punched you in the face. I should’ve aimed lower.”
“Some apology,” she muttered.
I shrugged, taking a few steps toward the paper towel dispenser and grabbing a few. I handed them to Brianna, who took them reluctantly, before beginning to dab them around and below her nose.
“You can’t honestly believe that you didn’t deserve it. After all you’ve ever done to me?”
Brianna scoffed. “Oh, and you’re such a victim, aren’t you?”
I pondered her question for a moment, before I nodded. “Yeah, you started all of this. Ever since we were kids you’ve always hated me for no reason. I could understand if maybe I had done something to you to cause it, but no. I’ve just always been the butt of all your jokes.”
“Oh really?”
I nodded.
“So you don’t remember ever doing anything to me?”
I shook my head slowly, exaggerating my silent answer of, “No”.
“Wow,” she stated. “You’re full of shit, you know that?” She turned to the mirror, tilting her head upwards so that she could look into her nostrils. “You broke my fucking nose.”
“I said I was sorry.”
“Do you really think that your stupid little two syllable apology is going to make up for the humiliation that I have to go through wearing a nose splint? I think not.” Brianna winced, hissing in pain as she pushed on her nose, setting it back into place. “I hope that it doesn’t heal crooked.”
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