“God damn it Brody, why is this so difficult?” I exclaim, throwing my hands up in the air with frustration. I let out a low groan, throwing myself backwards onto the bed. Brody chuckles quietly, dropping the text book from hishand so that it falls onto the desk. He stands up, wavering slightly as he regains his balance.
Every day is slow progress but progress none the less.
“Come on now Bella, you can do this. How about we take a break?” Brody says, his tone suddenly becoming suggestive as he makes his way over to me. I prop myself up on my elbows, watching him. I can’t help but smile and Brody mirrors it, his positivity is simply infectious. He crawls onto the bed over me, pushing all the textbooks out of the way so they land with a soft thump on the floor. I feel my stomach tighten in excitement, tingles cursing through my skin as he grows closer. He never once breaks eye contact, the green shimmer in his eyes has me transfixed in place.
“What do you have in mind?” I ask him confidently, my lips twitching up into a smile. Brody’s eyes flash with amusement and a smirk settles upon his lips. He drops his gaze down to my mouth before it flickers back up to meet my eyes. I breathe in as his fingers curl around a loose strand of my blonde hair. My eyelids flutter closed and I feel him lean closer, his warm breath tickling my cheeks. . .
“I have a few suggestions,” he murmurs before dipping low and kissing me.
*****
Tia is the kind of person who is always bubbly and positive. Lately, I haven’t seen her go by her day without a smile so when I walk in the toilets at school, I’m surprised to hear her sobbing behind the stall door. I pause, unsure whether it’s Tia I’m hearing. I glance around quickly before ducking down and inspecting the girls shoes from under the stall.
“Tia?” I call out, my heart beat beginning to increase. The sobbing immediately silences followed by a sniffle.
“Tia? What’s wrong? Let me in,” I say softly, knocking on the door. A frown takes over my features as I begin to worry about her. Moments of silence pass before I finally hear a soft click and the door is pushed open. I step inside, my eyes landing on Tia sat on top of the toilet seat. Her eyes are bloodshot and red from all the crying and I’ve never seen her look so distraught. Immediately, I’m by her side, wrapping my arms around her in an effort to soothe her.
“What happened? Are you okay? Did someone hurt you?” I ask question after question, the worry inside of me increasing by the second. Tia sniffles and clutches onto my arm, her chest rising and falling as she attempts to calm herself down. She begins to hiccup, her face contorted in sadness and pain.
“Oh Bella, you won’t believe what’s happened.” She whimpers, closing her eyes and breathing in deeply. I remind myself to stay calm because even though I want to freak out with her, it won’t do anything to make the situation better.
“You can tell me.” I say to her, crouching down and looking up at her. Her large eyes are brimmed with tears that haven’t fallen yet and I feel my fists clench tightly from the sight. I hate seeing my best friend upset.
“Trent told someone that we slept together and now the entire school knows!” Tia cries, tears spilling over her cheeks.
“I’m going to kill him,” I say angrily, standing to my feet. Tia immediately shakes her head, grabbing onto my arm. Her eyes are large and pleading and all the anger I feel completely vanishes.
“Please don’t Bella! I just want to forget it. I want to forget him. It was a complete mistake.” Tia pleads, her voice cracking. I nod slowly, knowing how raw and painful heartbreak feels. Instead of storming off and confronting Trent, I wrap my arms around my friend again and allow her to cry on my shoulder, just like she did when I was breaking apart.
“Look Tia, what you did with Trent is nothing to be ashamed about. If everyone else wants to make a big deal out of it, that’s their problem. You always walk with your head held high so don’t let them change that. Show them that it doesn’t bother you.” I say to her firmly, wrapping her hand in mine. She sniffles, glancing up at me from under her lashes.
“What if it does bother me?” Tia asks, her voice quiet. I give her hand a squeeze — “Don’t let it.”
“Thanks Bella.” Tia says, the slightest of smiles on her face. I beam back at her, making a mental note to confront Trent later. I can’t believe he hurt her, going against her trust in a way she never would have imagined.
“Food?” I gesture towards the direction of the canteen and Tia nods, reaching up to wipe at her eyes.
“Yeah, after I clean myself up. I’m an absolute mess right now.” She chuckles dryly, signalling at her face. I smile at her and shake my head, pulling her in for a quick embrace.
“You always look amazing, tears and all.”
*****
“Where’s Brody? I haven’t seen him all day,” I ask Tia, heading for the table at the back of the canteen. It’s crazy how comfortable I’ve grown, being able to sit alongside my class in a canteen without experiencing a panic attack.
“Geez, can’t you guys go like two minutes without seeing each other? It’s becoming a problem,” Tia teases me, playfully rolling her eyes. I nudge her gently with my elbow before taking a seat. Tia sits down next to me and I quickly scan over the crowd, looking for the dark strands and piercing green eyes I love so much. My heart sinks when I don’t spot him and I let out a small sigh —
“He hasn’t replied to any of my texts either.” I murmur under my breath, sounding like a disappointed toddler. When I glance up, there’s a small knowing look on Tia’s face and I immediately know she’s up to something. I place my fork back down, raising one eyebrow in her direction.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing is going on, why do you say that? Gosh, you’re so paranoid Bella.” Tia says quickly, her cheeks flushing a slight shade of pink. She’s the worst liar.
“Is this to do with Brody going AWOL?” I ask her, narrowing my eyes suspiciously. Tia shrugs, the same smile plastered across her face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She spends the remaining hour of lunch dodging my questions and eventually I give up, digging into my tomato and basil pasta.
*****
When the bell rings signalling the end of the school day, I immediately pull on my jacket, running my hand through my hair to straighten it out. I bounce down the stairs, heading for the exit where I planned to meet Tia. I promised her we’d both go get Toffee Popcorn flavoured ice cream after school to forget about Trent.
I push open the school doors, dodging out of the way of herds of students desperate to get home. Outside, I scan the area for Tia and my eyes land on her in the car park. She’s leaning against a brick wall, her face contorted with anger and frustration. I know she’s angry because she’s waving her hands in the air as she yells at Trent who’s stood in front of her. I make my way over to them, stuffing my hands in my pockets to try and stay warm.
“I can’t believe you would do that to me!”
“It’s no big deal, we officially leave this place in a week! Everyone will forget about it.” Trent argues back and I feel the anger inside of me bubbling away at his words. When Tia’s eyes land on me, she blows out a breath of relief. I walk over to her and stand by her side, crossing my arms over my chest.
“It is a big deal, it’s a huge deal. You don’t go around telling people you slept with my best friend! You’re an asshole.” I tell him firmly, shaking my head in disgust. Beside me, Tia sniffles and I know she’s composing herself so that she doesn’t break down in front of Trent.
“I don’t see what this has to do with you Bella.” Trent says, his eyes flickering over to me. I can see the regret filling his eyes but I know his pride is too strong to back down and apologise.
“She’s my best friend and you hurt her. I think you should leave.” I respond. Trent chuckles under his breath, taking a small step forward. The action has me surprised and I frown at him, subconsciously taking a step back.
“I want to speak to Tia, alone.”
“That’s not going to happen.” I argue back firmly however my voice wavers and I curse myself for sounding intimidated. Trent doesn’t like my answer and his eyebrows crease together in frustration and anger.
“Go away Trent.” Tia says from beside me, her voice cracking. Trent barely glances in her direction, his eyes narrowed firmly on me.
“You don’t want me to go away! You’re only saying that because Bella is here now, right? Lets go to my car and we can talk.” Trent continues, his voice growing desperate. He finally looks at Tia and reaches forward with his hand. Once he places it on her arm, she yanks it away, a disgusted look on her face.
“You really should leave Trent.” I repeat myself, taking a step closer to Tia. She gives me a small smile however I notice her hands shaking by her side. Trent turns towards me, his eyes flaring with anger.
“This has nothing to do with you Bella!” He yells, his booming voice completely taking me by surprise. I suck in a deep breath, an invisible hand suddenly finding its way to my throat. I open my mouth to say something but my eyes flicker to the right where I notice dark hair and green eyes making their way over to me, Brody.
His eyes darken as they land on Trent and quick as a flash, he’s by my side.
“Is there a problem here?” Brody says darkly, his voice low. Behind us, a crowd of students are watching us intently, picking up on the confrontation and Trent’s defensive stance. Trent scoffs, shaking his head as he gives Tia one last look.
“No, there’s no problem here.” He says, finally admitting defeat. He turns around to walk away but Brody’s hand shoots out, landing on his arm. Trent glances down at it slowly and Brody takes the chance to lean in.
“You ever speak to my girl like that again and we’re going to have a problem. You got it?” His words are laced with the truth of his threat and Trent nods, his jaw tensing.
“Don’t come near either of them again.” Brody says firmly, releasing his hand from Trent’s arm. He grunts a response before turning and storming off, disappearing into the crowd. Once he’s gone, Brody turns towards me, his eyes masked over with worry.
“Are you both okay?”
I nod my head, my right hand finding it’s way to Tia’s. She clutches onto it tightly, intertwining our fingers together.
“Yeah, we’re okay,” she mumbles, blowing out a breath of relief. Brody nods slowly, his eyes quickly drifting down my body to make sure I’m fine. A warm feeling fills my heart as he wraps a protective arm around my shoulders, pressing a firm kiss to my temple. I’ve missed his warmth all day and I lean in, breathing in his alluring scent.
“I guess I’m third wheeling, once again.” Tia says unhappily from beside me. I laugh at her words and Brody chuckles, his body vibrating against mine.
“You deserve someone better than that Tia, know your worth.” Brody says to her, flashing her one of his show stopping smiles. I don’t know how anyone can resist one of his smiles. The corners of her mouth twitch up and she chews on her bottom lip nervously.
“Yeah, you’re right. Thanks Brody.”
“You’re welcome. How about we all go get some ice cream? I’m paying.” Brody says to Tia and I and we immediately perk up. I reach up on my tip toes, pecking his cheek. His arm drops from around my shoulders and I feel the warmth of his hand greet mine.
“Maybe third wheeling isn’t so bad after all,” Tia grins as we all head for Brody’s car. I can’t help but smile from ear to ear, feeling like I’ve won the jackpot. With one amazing boyfriend on one side and an equally amazing best friend on the other. . .
What more can I ask for?