Sunday was quiet and quick to pass. My mom had to go to work on that day too and I felt bad for her as it had been nearly three weeks since she last got a holiday. I had spent the Sunday reading books and watching movies and Sherlock.
I had not talked to anyone all day. Not Brian, not even Claire and most definitely not with Darren. I was not sure how to act when I saw Darren tomorrow. Would he remember what he had said to me in his drunk state? I was sure he was telling the truth. People always tell the truth when they were drunk.
What would I do tomorrow?
Monday morning came too soon and before I knew it, I was walking down the corridor towards my first class. Thank God I didn’t share this class with any of my friends. They would have known that something was up with me and I wasn’t ready to face their questions and looks. Especially Darren’s.
He probably doesn’t even remember that he came to my house that day. But if he does, then other than him, only Brian knew about that night, unless Darren went and opened his mouth in front of others.
Soon enough, lunch rolled around and I walked to the cafeteria dreadfully, hoping that everything would go normally as it usually did.
I saw the whole group huddled close to each other. Some were eating, some were chatting, some were… flirting.
Yes. Brian and Gemma were positively flirting with each other. I wondered what they did Saturday night before I successfully ruined it.
I pulled out a nearby chair and sat in the only available space between Sam and Brian. Darren sat opposite me and I completely ignored him and hoped he wouldn’t notice that.
Sensing my presence, Brian turned from his conversation with Gemma and slid closer to me, his cologne filling my nostrils.
“Hey,” He greeted.
“Hey,” I replied curtly.
“He remembers,” He said and my fingers froze around my spoon.
“What?!” I said, turning to him.
“He remembers what he did.”
“Oh no. How is that possible? He can’t!” I panicked.
Brian shrugged, “He just does. I think he’ll try to talk to you after lunch.”
My head hung low but I quickly recovered, not wanting to draw any attention from my friends, especially from Darren. I quickly gobbled up my lunch and without waiting for anybody, left the table as soon as possible.
Now I was sitting in my English class, doodling over the back of my book. The chair beside me shifted and I turned to saw Gemma sliding in the seat beside me, grinning at me as if she was going to burst any second.
“Hey,” I said dryly.
“Hey! I’ve got so much to tell you! So many things have happened since Friday! I-I just need to share it with someone.” She said, almost glowing from her glee.
“I’m all ears,” I said as perkily as I could manage. I was really uninterested in whatever gossip she was going to dish out.
“Oh thanks!”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Guess?!”
“Um… Makeup, hair, latest trends or something like that? Or who is the current famous couple in our school?”
“That would be interesting to talk about. But no, this is not about that. This is about Brian!” Sgw said, slamming her hand down in her desk as if that explained everything.
“Oh,” Was all I could say. “What about him?”
I should have known!
“Yeah so you know, Brian had come to my house on Friday, cause you know I invited him and we spent the whole day painting my room! It was so exciting. I never thought that a task as boring as painting would be so much fun with Brian!” She told me enthusiastically.
She continued on about how she spent the weekend with Brian and I haddn’t paid so much attention to what she was talking about more than ever before, “We talked about almost everything. We talked about each other and Brooke, I’m so happy that Brian is my friend! You know what, I want something more to be between us other than just a mere friendship.”
She tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and blushed crimson red as I impatiently waited for her to continue. “You already know I like him. I mean I don’t like him! I think I love him! I’m absolutely crazy about him.” My heart dropped in my stomach. I thought my stomach was starting to digest my heart because I felt nothing. Empty.
She’s ‘crazy’ about him. She ‘loves’ him. “I mean we spend so much time with each other and I almost know everything about him. Do you think I should tell him that I love him?” She asked, with raised eyebrows, her fingers playing with the pages of her book.
“Um… I don’t know. You like him, right? And are you sure he likes you back?”
“Yes! I’m damn sure he likes me back. I stare at him all the time and sometimes he also stares back at me.” She frowned. “But he quickly looks away. But if he didn’t like me then he wouldn’t have spent so much time with me. What do you think?”
“That’s great but don’t tell him that you like him. He should do that and not you,” Her face fell at this and she fell back in her seat, frowning.
“I know, Brooke but sometimes boys are so chicken. If I wait for him to tell me that he likes me, then I think I’ll have to wait for a few months! I can’t wait for so long!” She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air.
“Love is very patient, Gemma. If you truly love him, you’ll wait as long as you can. You will even be willing to wait for forever.”
“Huh… That’s so corny and cheesy. Brooke, these stories of true love only exist in fairy tales, not in real life,” She scoffed.
I shrugged, “I do believe in true love. I wish my life was a fairy tale. It would have been perfect with a perfect happy ending like most of the clichés. Simple and sweet.”
“Stop dreaming. You’ll never find a guy that way.”
I looked at her. She seemed like those typical bitches who only wanted a guy for his popularity, looks and fame.
“What do you like the most about Brian?” I asked and saw her eyes brighten with delight.
“Oh! You know he’s incredibly handsome and cute. He’s got a great fashion sense and oh my God, he is so popular in our school! Like seriously, I’ll be so popular myself for being Brian’s girlfriend, wouldn’t I be?! God, I can’t wait for him to ask me out. When is he going to do that?!”
I mentally scoffed at that. I was right. She was a typical bitch who just wanted to date the most popular guy of our school just to show him off to others as if he were a prize they won. I hated such girls. Why was being in relationship with a popular guy so important to them?
She blabbered on about how she loved Brian and how she thought he is the one she wasbeen looking for. Jeez, now wasn’t that cheesy?
By the end of the class, Gemma had decided to tell Brian that she liked him. I was tempted to mockingly ask her ‘desperate much’? But I controlled my tongue and silently nodded to whatever she was talking about.
“Wish me luck!” She squealed, her eyes full of hope.
“What? Luck for what?”
Her excitement dimmed a bit as she realised that? I hadn’t been paying attention to what she was saying. I smiled apologetically at her.
“I’m going to tell Brian that I like him!”
“Oh! Um… good luck with that then.” Not.
“Yes! I hope he says yes!” She said and pulled me in for a hug. I returned the hug halfheartedly.
I don’t know why but I really, really, really don’t like Gemma although she had been nothing but sweet to me but sometimes I felt like she just talked to me because I’m friends with the boys.
I walked to my next class which happened to be Chemistry, the class I shared with Brian. I entered the class and spotted him in his usual seat beside me. I took my seat too.
He turned his head to my side upon my arrival and gave me a cute smile which I couldn’t help returning.
“So what’s up? How are you going with avoiding Darren?” He asked, a slight smirk on his face.
“Fine. I haven’t seen him yet.”
“He’s aghast that he told you all those things in a drunk state. He was so scared to face you. He couldn’t even look at you in the eye at lunch. It was quite funny. I wonder whether he will ever talk to you again, he’s dying to apologise to you. But guess he’s just a chicken.”
“Hmm… speaking of chickens, you are one too.”
He raised his eyebrows challengingly at me. “Oh yeah? And how is that?”
“Gemma’s waiting for you to tell her that you like her.”
“What?” He said, frowning. Boys are so oblivious to the obvious.
“She has been waiting for you to ask her out for God knows how many weeks.”
“Hmm,” He hummed. “And what should I do now? Should I ask her out?”
I shrugged. Why was he asking me? “I don’t know. Do you like her?”
“Yes I do. I really, really like her. Very much,” He said and I met his eyes to see if he was serious. I saw that familiar smirk still plastered on his face.
Good.
He was not serious then.
“Don’t you know what to do? Gemma also asked me if she should make the first move. I said the guy should be the first.”
“That’s sexist.”
“I don’t care. Tell me if you’re going to ask her out or not,” I hated how desperate I sounded.
“Hmm… She’s hot, right? I think I should tell her I like her. What do you think?”
I narrowed my eyes at this. “You really like her?” I demanded, pointing an accusing finger at him.
“Yes. Very much. She’s just so cute and hot,” He said, still having that annoying smirk on his face which confused me.
He really liked her? Or not?
I couldn’t explain the sudden anger and the need to hit someone that coursed through me.
Bloody hell!
Why was I so angry? My fingers were itching to get deposited on someone’s cheek, preferably Gemma’s or that annoyingly cute boy sitting next me.
“Don’t you like someone, Brooke? No one you would like to make your boyfriend?”
“No,” I said dryly. “I’m happily single.” Not.
“Really? Why not make a boyfriend? You know you always have Darren as an option.”
“Irresistible but no thanks, I’m happy being single for as long as I can. And Darren, hmm… I’ll think about it.”
“Really? But I thought you didn’t like him,” He said, a slight frown on his face.
“I never said that. I don’t know… maybe I’ll have feelings for him once I get to know how he really is as a person,” If he thought only he can play the teasing game, he couldn’t be more wrong.
“Why are you still single then?”
“Why are you still single then?” I repeated the same question to him.
“Well, not anymore. I’ll have a girlfriend at the end of the day.”
I snorted, “Yeah right.”
“Sometimes I think you’re a lesbian. Are you?”
“What? No! I’m into boys, not girls.”
He shrugged. “You just don’t talk too much to boys… and you still don’t have a single boyfriend, I mean who does that? Except for lesbians maybe.”
“I’m talking to you.”
“That’s different… I’ve never heard of you having a romantic interest in someone.”
“I don’t go telling everybody that I like someone. I don’t even tell Claire.”
“That’s not fair! She’s your best friend.”
“We don’t see each other much anyway so…” I trailed off, hoping he would understand and drop the subject.
“Boys are not the only chickens after all.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re chicken too. Maybe you don’t have the guts to go and talk to a guy. And that’s why you don’t have a boyfriend. You just can’t do it.”
I swallowed. That was true. I didn’t have guts to do anything.
“Are you challenging me or something?”
“Nope. Just trying to figure out the truth behind your lack of dating history.”
I shook my head at him. “I’m not chicken.”
“Yes you are.”
“No I’m not.”
“Yes you are.”
“No I’m not!”
“Yes you are.”
“No I’m not! Fine! I’ll prove it to you that I’m not a chicken! I’ll get a boyfriend!” I stated, irritated at him.
He raised his eyebrows at me. “Oh really?”
“Really.”
“I doubt you’ll get one soon. I’m lucky. I’m getting a girlfriend today.”
I gripped my pencil hard, my anger reflecting in the death grip I had around the pencil which could have snapped if I hadn’t released my grip on it. I wanted to stick it’s pointed end into his hand which was sprawled on the table in front of me.
“You’ll see. I’ll have a boyfriend.”
“Um… Care to specify in how many years?”
I narrowed my eyes at him, “In one frigging day.”
He laughed at this and I gave him a death glare.
“Fine. I’ll see who your boyfriend is tomorrow.”
“Oh you’ll definitely see.”
He shook his head, “You’re not going to find anyone.”
“Let’s see.”
“We will.”