I lost track of time, but Maria was the first to get drunk, then Judy, Sophie, Carter, Mike, and then Christopher.

  Ty and I were tied there for a while. We always drank together, and it was how our bodies react to alcohol. We can handle our liquor but when we get drunk, there was no stopping us. That was the point Ty was at now. Every one of us was wasted, except me. I won.

  I decided not to get completely wasted so I could have a clear mind around my lovely intoxicated friends. I cut the game off once I was the last mostly sober one.

  “Ty, did you have sex with Judy?” I asked, lying on the coffee table.

  “Yes. I needed something to happen to little Ty this vacation,” he mumbled.

  “Little Ty?” I started giggling and rolled off the coffee table with a bang.

  “Fuck, are you alright?” Chris stumbled towards me.

  “Perfectly alright.”

  “I can’t believe you had sex.” Ty shouted at us, suddenly extremely angry.

  Ty happened to be a funny drunk, but he could an angry one when provoked.

  “Why does it matter?” I asked while Chris attempted to help me to my feet.

  “Because you’re supposed to be with me, Brooke!” he yelled, tears leaking down his cheeks.

  “I’m sorry Ty.”

  “You’re sorry for breaking my heart? This has to be punishment for what I’ve done in my past.” He punched the wall.

  I jumped, and a yelp escaped me. “Ty, maybe it’s time for you to go lay down. I’ll take you.”

  He sniffled and nodded his head.

  I glanced over at Chris. “I will be right back.”

  “Be careful with that prick,” he said, heading back to our room.

  I shook my head and helped a wasted Ty into his room. I helped him lie on his bed and pulled the covers over him.

  “Good night Ty,” I murmured softly bending down to kiss his forehead. “You’ll always be my best friend.”

  “You too Brooke. I love you,” he slurred, cuddling up in a ball.

  “Sleep tight,” I told him before walking out and locking the door behind me.

  I wandered through my dancing friends and into my room. When I got into the room, I locked the door behind me. Christopher was already fast asleep on the bed, cuddling my pillow.

  I smiled to myself and turned off the light, getting into bed and replacing the pillow with myself.

  “I love you,” he murmured, pulling me closer.

  “I love you too. Good night,” I said, shutting my eyes and waiting for sleep to claim me.

  Chapter 19

  I

  sat in the rigid uncomfortable chair, tapping my pencil on the wooden desk. Psychology interested me, but my teacher was reviewing from last semester, information I was well-versed in.

  Cliff was dozing off beside me, and it was only the first day back. I couldn’t blame him really. Maria and I stayed up most of the night gossiping about Christopher and Mike. She grilled me for details about mine and Chris’ first time together in which I favorably discussed.

  The bell rang, signaling us to go to lunch. Cliff and I rushed to the cafeteria and seized our food, making a beeline to the table.

  I ate my food in peace—for once.

  Everyone was worn-out, so nobody was in a very talkative mood, not that I was complaining. After I finished my food, I told my friends that I was going to the bathroom before class started and Maria had said she would just meet me in journalism.

  I pushed open the bathroom stall, walking over to the sink and washed my hands thoroughly. I regarded myself in the mirror for a moment; analyzing my brown hair that was in a ponytail, my pale white face, and my icy blue eyes that stood out against my skin. I wore a baby blue crewneck sweatshirt with a white scarf and leggings today simply because I wanted to be comfortable.

  “You need to stay away from Ty.” I glanced over and saw Kristen along with two of her friends trying to look intimidating.

  “You can’t order me to stay away from my best friend.”

  “I can, that’s what I’m doing now. And while you’re at it, stay away from Mr. Daniels as well. If he won’t be with me, what makes you think he will be with you?”

  “No. You can’t. Also, unlike you; I am not interested in being with Mr. Daniels. He is our teacher. It’s not like you care though. You clearly don’t have any morals.” I shrugged, taking a step forward to leave but one of the girls she was with stepped in front of my path. “I suggest you move.”

  “No. You shouldn’t insult Kristen. She could destroy you.”

  “If she could she would’ve done it a long time ago.” I forcibly moved her out of my way. “Now if you’ll excuse me.” I rolled my eyes at their immature actions and walked to class.

  I slid into the seat next to Maria and groaned once I was in class.

  “What’s wrong?” Maria asked.

  “Kristen just stopped me in the bathroom and told me to stay away from Ty and Chris.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Ty I get, but why Chris?”

  “I don’t really know.” I furrowed my eyebrows.

  “Well, just be careful.” She patted my shoulder.

  “I can handle her.” I turned my attention towards the article I was given to annotate.

  AFTER THE SCENE IN the bathroom, the rest of the day went on smoothly. School finally ended, and I was sitting on top of Chris’ desk talking to him about all the events in the day.

  “She really cornered you in the bathroom?” he asked with one eye brow raised.

  “Yes, her and her friends.”

  “She needs to stop while she’s ahead. That’s considered harassment”

  I raised my palm up. “I can handle Kristen.”

  “I hope so.” He ran a hand through his hair.

  I hopped from his desk and strolled around to him, wrapping my arms around his neck and smashing my lips to his. He responded quickly, picking me up by my butt and sitting me on his desk. His lips left mine and traveled down my neck.

  “God, I love you.” His breath tickled my neck.

  “I love you.” I giggled, lying back on his desk and pulling on his tie to bring him down over me.

  The shutter sound of a camera caused him to jump off me and for me to roll of the desk fast and look at the direction of the sound.

  Kristen was standing at the door frame, phone in hand, smirking at me. A felt a wave of dread washed over me, and I was nauseous. I had never desired to rewind time so much in my entire existence.

  “Well, look what we have here.” She pursed her lips, twisting the phone around for us to see the picture of us in a very compromising position.

  I was lying on his desk with my legs around his waist and his lips were on my neck as I was running my hand through his hair.

  “You are aware that this is illegal, right Brooke? I thought you said you’d never go after a teacher.”

  “Please, just give me the phone.”

  “And let you delete my proof? No way.” She flipped her hair.

  “What do you want?” I crossed my arms.

  “This is what is going to happen. You are going to get Ty to be with me. Also, you two are going to stop seeing each other.”

  “No,” I said automatically, in sync with Chris.

  “If you don’t then I’m just going to show this picture to the principle.”

  “Kristen, I’ll get you a date with Ty, no problem, but you are asking me to break up with the love of my life.”

  “I don’t care. I’ll be watching you both very closely. If I see one action that suggests more than a student and a teacher relationship, I will be showing the principle.” She smiled at us and walked away.

  I considered running after her and smashing her phone into the ground and her face as well, but I knew that wouldn’t get us anywhere. She still knew.

  I felt the tears well up in my eyes and I glanced at Chris. His jaw was clenched, and his lips were pressed into a very thin line.

  “Christopher...” My lips quivered.

  “I don’t need this job anyway. I have plenty of money to live off. I’m quite a wealthy man. I get to take over my parent’s restaurant anyway. You’re eighteen so it’s not illegal, per say.” He pinched the brim of his nose.

  “Christopher, you’re not giving up this job. You love teaching. We just have to go along with what she says, at least until graduation.”

  “I don’t want to. I love you; I won’t be without you for any amount of time.”

  “I love you, you know that. I don’t mean that we should break up, I couldn’t bare that. We just shouldn’t be around each other at school or anything like that, at least until we figure out what to do with Kristen. I don’t want you to lose this job.” I smiled, getting on my tip toes and pecking him softly on the lips, lingering there for a while.

  “Okay. I guess I can handle that.” Though, his eyes told me something else.

  Chapter 20

  (Ty’s POV)

  “Please help me Ty,” Brooke’s voice pleaded desperately with me.

  She had just finished telling me about what Kristen had said and done to her today. I did not understand that girls’ problem. She had been like this for as long as I could remember, and I tried to overlook it, but she had gone too far this time.

  You don’t mess with my girl; simple as that.

  “I told you I would do anything for you Brooke. I’ll help.” I held the sobbing girl in my arms.

  I had been in love with her since the day I met her, and she helped me get adjusted to the school back in sixth grade. I wish I would’ve told her sooner, maybe then it would’ve made a difference.

  “I can’t risk him losing his job.”

  “Let’s devise a plan then, shall we?” I asked, making her grin from ear to ear.

  God, I loved her smile.

  “You’re the best Ty.” She hugged me tight.

  “Okay, so here’s the plan.” I told her, going over the possible scenarios that could happen.

  “THANK YOU SO MUCH TY. I really can’t explain how much this means to me.” Brooke smiled.

  “You’re welcome Brooke.” I felt a pang in my heart as I watched her leave.

  I grabbed my phone and called Kristen.

  “Hello?” she purred into the receiver.

  “Hey, Brooke just came over and told me she talked to you today,” I said gruffly.

  “She did? What did she say?”

  “Just that you guys talked and that I should try to give you another chance.” I wanted to vomit at the thought.

  “And are you?”

  “Yeah. Can I come over now?”

  “Of course! I’ll see you shortly.” She squealed as I hung up and reluctantly drove over to her house.

  I walked up to her door and before I could knock she opened the door and practically dragged me into her room, locking the door in the process.

  “So, what do you want to do baby?” she asked, biting her lip as if trying to seduce me.

  To think that I fucked with this slut bothered me. Was I really that desperate?

  “I was thinking we could do something stimulating.”

  “I was thinking the same thing. I will be right back. I just need to... freshen up.” She winked, kissing my mouth.

  “Don’t rush.” I hollered truthfully as she shut the door.

  I scanned the room and easily spotted her phone on her dresser. I grabbed it and unlocked it. I knew her password because I’ve seen her type it in a countless number of times.

  It was: 1234.

  I went into her camera roll and found the picture Brooke must’ve been talking about. They looked like they were about fuck.

  I felt a rush of jealousy shoot through me, but I ignored it and deleted the picture. I went into her photo vault app and unlocked it as well. She used the same password for everything.

  Sure enough, I found the same picture in the vault as well. I deleted it quickly, ignoring the naked photos of her.

  “What are you doing with my phone?” Kristen asked.

  “What does it look like?”

  Chapter 21

  (Brooke’s POV)

  “What do you mean she caught you?” I asked Ty who was currently hovering over the stove, sniffing the pork roast I was cooking for dinner.

  “I mean, she caught me going through her phone, figured out that I deleted the pictures, and then she started crying saying she loved me and when I didn’t return the feelings she swore she was going to expose you two.” He shrugged. “This smells amazing.”

  “You’re about to lose your chance of eating it. Why are you so calm about that? That’s exactly what I want to prevent!” I was beginning to get light-headed.

  “Brooke, chill. She has no proof. I deleted the back-up photo too. If she tells the principle, or whatever, who are they going to believe?” he asked, leaning against the kitchen counter.

  “I don’t know. They’ll probably do a full investigation though.” I fell back against the counter beside him.

  “Okay, your point? Who cares? The people that know about it will cover for you; the people who don’t know won’t even think it’s true. He’s a well-respected teacher, and you’re a good student. He is our next-door neighbor, our parents have invited him to dinner, and you are friends with Carter; who just so happens to be his best friend. Even if you weren’t dating, you would have more of a relationship than just student-teacher. Just play it out like you are friends.”

  “I really can’t express to you how happy I am that you’re my best friend.” I shook my head, feeling the jitters of the situation ease up slightly.

  “I love you Brooke. You should know that by now.” He smiled.

  “Sorry we’re late!” Maria barged into the kitchen with Mike in tow.

  “You’re not late. Nobody is even here yet.” I

  “Good. This idiot.” She jerked her thumb towards Mike. “thought it would be a good idea to stop and try to help a cat out of the tree only to find out that it was perfectly capable of getting down itself.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

  “But what if it was stuck!”

  “Oh, what if the world ended right now? You don’t see me ducking and covering—just in case.”

  It was really amusing to sit back and watch these two argue.

  “When are Chris and Carter coming?” Ty asked.

  “Probably any second now. Carter has Sophie with her.”

  “Awesome!” Maria grinned.

  “I know! We haven’t seen Sophie since New Year’s. I miss her crazy ass.” I nodded.

  Two arms snaked around my waist and hugged me from behind.

  “You’re here!” I cheered, twisting in his hold and kissing him on the lips.

  “Maria! Brooke! I’ve missed you two!” Sophie cheered, stealing me away from Chris and pulling us into a group hug.

  “We missed you too!”

  “How’re you?” She asked Maria as they launched into a conversation to catch up.

  “Brooklyn, what happened?” Chris asked with uneasiness still clear in his eyes.

  “The picture is deleted but she’s telling the principle regardless,” Ty said, walking into the living room to watch a football game.

  The room fell silent. “We’re just going to go watch the game.” Carter spoke up, ushering everyone out of the kitchen and leaving Chris and I to talk.

  “What’re we going to do?” he asked me.

  “Well, Ty told me something that actually made a lot of since. He said that the people who know about us won’t say anything to get us in trouble and that you’re a well-respected teacher and our next-door neighbor. Our parents have invited you over to dinner, and we are both friends with Carter. Even if we weren’t together, we would have more of a relationship than just student-teacher.” I repeated Ty’s words from just a few minutes ago.

  “He’s a smart boy.” He paused. “He really does love you.” He licked his bottom lip.

  “He’s a great best friend,” I said, hugging him.

  “I hope that’s all he’ll ever be.”

  “Christopher, I love you.” I slapped the back of his head. “You’re who I want. I have proved that enough times. Shut up now.” I kissed his cheek then wandered over towards the stove and continued cooking.

  “You’re such a good cook.” He groaned, standing behind me so close that I could feel his breath on the nape of my neck.

  “There is this little thing called personal space, you know?” I bumped my butt out into his front.

  He grabbed my hips, making me squirm against him. “I don’t believe in personal space with you.”

  “Christopher, I’m cooking.”

  “Brooklyn.”

  “Stop it.” I whined. “Our friends are in the other room and the foods done. Go get them.”

  “You’re no fun.” He pouted, walking into the living room and carrying on my message.

  I pulled the roast out and set it on the counter, making my own plate as everyone surrounded me doing the same.

  We all ate our food and made small talk the whole night.

  To be honest, I feared what awaited us at school.

  “BROOKLYN KEMPS TO THE principal’s office immediately.” The woman’s voice from the intercom bounced off the walls of the library.

  It was study hall and I had been anticipating this all day. I stood up, said goodbye to my friends, and wobbled to the office. My stomach held butterflies and not the good kind either. I felt woozy.

  “Hi.” My voice shook as I stumbled into the office.

  “Brooke, take a seat.” The principle, Mr. Golding, motioned towards the chair beside Chris.

  “What’s going on?” I asked as I sat down. I ignored the dizzy feeling in my head.

  “There has been an accusation that needs be taken care of.”

  “Look, if this is about spiking the water for the football players tonight, it was just to get back at them for-” I started rambling.

  “You did what?” His eyebrows raised.

  “I uh, what?” I scratched my head.

 

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