Chapter 49
1630words
*Two Years Ago*
"Kimberly, thanks for what you did yesterday, I don't know what would have happened to him if you hadn't showed up."
"It's okay, Lydia, I'll always be there for Brandon."
She smiles sadly and blinks back tears.
"Are you okay?" I take a step closer then place my hand on top of her shaking one.
She looks up at me and wipes the tears with her other hand.
"I got so scared when he refused to open the door,Kim. It took me back to the darkest times of his life."
"The darkest times?"
"Yes, you see, there was this girl in Bran's life, they literally grew up together, it was obvious they both had a crush on each other since childhood ,but when they grew up,they still refused to admit it. They got into so much trouble, Bran would scare off boys who liked her and she would make other girl's lives miserable."
I listen to her attentively as she tells her son's love story.
"At fourteen, they finally got together and they were so cute. As they grew older, they fell in love with each other and it was as clear as day that they were meant to be, untill Christmas eve, the year before he crossed to eleventh grade. She just became cold towards him and started hanging out with his best friend. Word got out that she slept with, Brandon was hurt and so angry, but he chose to forgive her, the surprising thing though,is that she didn't want his forgiveness."
I frown.
"But why?" I ask.
"I don't know, she was just so hell bent on hurting him but he kept fighting, until.."
"Until what?"
"I think you need to sit down for this."
She takes a seat and I do the same.
"She left him, her family moved out and we never heard from them again, Brandon tried to reach out but never got anything. He was depressed, he started drinking and doing drugs, until life lost meaning to him."
Her hands shake and something tells me I won't like what she's about to say one bit.
"He shot himself with a gun in the right side of his chest."
"W-what?" I stutter.
She briefly closes her eyes, when they open, they look haunted.
"I watched him do it,Kim. I watched him try to take his own life and it was the scariest thing I'd ever been through in my entire life."
"What was her name?"
"Marisa."
* *Present* *
My hands shake and tears keep flowing down my cheeks.
"Kimberly!"
"Kim! Please say something."
"What's happening to her?" I hear Sam's panicking voice.
Suddenly, my voice comes out in sobs. I cry out all my emotions.
Sam hugs me tightly and brushes her hand over my hair.
"Shhh, it's okay, it's going to be okay."
"We're here for you,Kim."
Nao squeezes my hands in comfort.
I'm not sure how long I cry my eyes out, but Sam helps me up and I lay down on the bed, then i cry myself to sleep.
* *Later* *
I wake up feeling my throat dry and eyes burning.
"Uh," I groan and then sit up. I check my phone and find a message from Jonathan, he sent it three hours ago,I can't believe I slept that long.
Jonathan: Please tell me you didn't bail on me at the last minute.
I close my eyes and let out a sigh. I totally forgot about his barbecue, a paper on the bedside table catches my attention, I grab it and read.
~Incase you don't want to touch your phone, I'm writing it down. Don't worry about Jonathan, Nao and I will help him out, just rest and take all the time you neef to yourself. Love you!~
I open messages and send a text to Jonathan.
Me: I'm so sorry, I'm not doing too well today, Sam and Nao promised to help out, I'll make it up to you later, have fun.
I send another to Sam and Naomi.
Me: Please don't tell him I'm here, just make up something, anything.
Then I turn my phone off and head to the kitchen to get some food.
Hours later, I hear chattering outside, I rush to the bed and cover my head with the duvet then close my eyes, pretending to be asleep.
"Do you think she's okay?" Sam asks.
"I don't know," Naomi sighs. "It took so much to keep Brandon away tonight."
"Yeah, well, it's pretty late and I'm tired, we should go to bed."
Naomi slides in next to me and I can feel her stare on my face, then she turns away and switches the light off.
* *The Next Morning* *
"The guys are coming over," Nao says.
She pours herself a glass of milk and leans against the cupboard. I open my mouth to speak but she beats me to it.
"Don't worry,he's not coming."
"Good," Is all I say.
She looks like she wants to say something else but stops herself.
I turned on my phone this morning because my mom always calls to check up on me. Brandon kept calling and texting me too but I didn't pick up, I'm not yet in the right space to see or talk to him right now, i just need some time to process things and calm down.
After taking a bath, I decide to make a homemade lunch meal for everyone.
Sam rushes to the kitchen in a panic.
"What is it?" I ask while chewing on an apple.
"He's here, Brandon's here."
"W-what?" I almost choke. "You can't let him in, Sam. You said he wasn't coming."
"Who wasn't coming?" His voice reaches me, I briefly close my eyes then slowly turn around, the same moment he starts walking towards me.
"I've been calling and texting you, why weren't you answering?"
"I haven't been on my phone since yesterday."
He just looks at me, unmoving, unblinking.
"Uh, I'll just go outside," Sam clears her throat.
She almost takes a step and I don't take time to think,i hold her wrist and she stops, Brandon's eyes move there and then back to my face, I let her go, realizing what i just did and she walks out.
"Are you ignoring me?"
"No, I'm not, what reason do I have to ignore you?" I move around the kitchen, busying myself.
His cologne fills the room and I can't help but breathe it in. It's become a part of him, a part that I have learnt to live with and love for the past three years.
A hand gently wraps around my arm, stopping me in my steps.
"What's going on?"
Everything comes rushing back and I feel the tears coming, I try to blink them back but it's too late, I quickly wipe them away.
"Hey," he turns me to face him.
He wraps his fingers around my jaw and lifts my face.
His eyes fill with worry at seeing my face.
"Are you crying?"
"No," I move away from him and walk to the fridge.
"Hey!" Lenny walks in and then comes to a halt. "Ohh..did I interrupt something?"
"No, you're just on time to help me take...this," I hand him a bow of salad.
"You're heaven sent, I actually came here in search of something to eat."
I smile and call out to Sam, I can feel Brandon's eyes watching me but I ignore him.
"What can I help with?" Sam comes in and I hand her the mushed potatoes.
The day goes by swiftly, i do my best to keep a distance between me and Brandon, I don't flat out ignore him, i just avoid being too close to him, the others might not notice it but Brandon sure does, Sam too, because she keeps mouthing "Are you okay?" From time to time.
It's 7pm and everyone is settled down watching a movie on Netflix, I'm two people away from Brandon, he's been watching me the entire night as if trying to figure out what is wrong with me, I try as much as possible to ignore his burning weight.
When the movie is done,it's 9pm and everyone is heading out.
I stand near Lenny's car as i listen to him making stupid remarks.
"Want to switch sides Nao? I'm still open for some hot half Asian quickie."
"Shut up!" She hits him with a fist on the shoulder.
"Geez, that was a hard pass, I'm wounded. I wonder what it takes to find love like Bran and Kim's out here."
Everyone laughs except me, my eyes meet Bran's, well, that makes the two of us. I look away and find Nao holding her smile but I can see it in her eyes, she's not genuinely smiling.
"We'll get going now," Jonathan says.
Brandon straightens from his car.
"I'm sleeping over," I say softly.
Everyone's attention moves to me.
"Uhh.. well, goodnight ladies."
Lenny gets into Michael's car and Jonathan gets in his.
"Come on Sam, we should tidy up." Nao hooks her arm in her's and they go back inside.
Brandon comes to stand in front of me.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on?"
"Nothing is going on."
"And you expect me to believe that?you've been ignoring me the entire night."
"Brandon, I just..I just need some space."
"What?" He asks slowly.
I place my hands in the back pockets of my jeans.
"I just want to hang around with the girls, that's it."
"Okay."
I look up and meet his eyes, he walks to me and leans down, i move my head back and there's deafening silence between us.
"Goodnight Brandon," I step away from him and walk back to the apartment.
