Chapter 9 9| Secrets Between Us

I looked up at the stranger who had barged into my bedroom. In the faint light of the moon, I could hardly make out his face. He was staring down at me. I could feel it. My eyes widened in the shape of saucers as I realised who it was. I took a good look at his face, squinting my eyes to do so. His grip on my mouth loosened a bit and I opened my mouth to speak. Or rather to shout. "Bri-" I could barely get the name out? before I felt his palm slamming on my mouth again. I struggled under his grip but he was way too strong. But I was not weak to resist him. I wriggled out of his hands. I put my hands on his chest and pushed him back. He stumbled on my bed. If he hadn't barged into my room at the dead of the night, I would have actually laughed at him. I ran to my bedside table and switched the lamp on. And yes, it definitely was Brian. I crossed my arms over my chest, giving him a glare. "Hi. You look..." His eyes roamed up and down my body, "...beautiful." I suddenly became conscious about what I was wearing. I just had a short sleeveless top on and short shorts. "What are you doing here?" I asked, calmly although inside I was freaking out about him in my room at the middle of the night. "I'm not sure. I can't sleep," He said as if it was nothing. "And so you decide to just break in my house and not let me sleep?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Aw...don't be like that. I thought we could have a bit of fun," He said, plopping himself on my bed and waggling his brows suggestively. "Shut up. Get up and get lost." I whisper yelled. "Nope," He said and chuckled. "Brian, get out of my house!" "Why do people always throw me out of their lives?" He pouted. "They never care about the people they leave. How they'll feel. How much they'll be hurt," He said, rolling on my bed so his face was smashed against it. "Just like my so called mom," He muttered in the end, his voice muffled by my bed which made me doubt what I had really heard. "What?" I didn't have any idea what he was talking about. What did he mean by that? He sat up straight. I looked into his eyes. He was staring at nothing in particular. His eyes appeared unfocused. He suddenly chuckled maniacally which gave me the creeps, letting himself fall on my bed again. "Are you drunk, Brian?" I asked, slowly nearing him. I leaned down to him to check his breath. In an instant, he pulled my hand and I crashed down on his chest. His arms held my waist tightly against him. I struggled to get up but he just chuckled at my attempts. "Brian!" I shouted in his ear. He immediately released me and covered his ears with his hands. I immediately backed off. What the hell was up with him today?! He rose up from the bed too. "Jeez, you're so loud." He began walking towards me. I took a step back. "Brian, you're drunk. You don't know what you're doing," I said slowly, hoping he'd come to his senses. He tilted his head, "I think I do." He stepped into my personal space. I stared down at the floor as I felt his gaze on me. My breath hitched in my throat as he placed both of his arms around me. He snuggled his head in the crook of my neck, his nose grazing my collarbone which sent shivers down my spine. I was close to hyperventilating now. "B-Brian," I stammered. "Mmm," he hummed. "W-what're doing?" I asked, my hands resting on his back hesitatingly. "I don't know." He whispered into my neck. "Brian." I said as I started to push him away. "Brooke...just stay like this. Please," His hot breath tickled my neck. I swallowed hard. He continued. "You don't know how it feels when people you love push you away from their lives. I...I really need a hug. Just stay like this for a while," He tightened his arms around me. I didn't know what to do. My hands made its way around his body and I hugged him back. He tightened his hands around me even more and buried his face in the crook of my neck. After what seemed a very long time, he finally loosened his grip around me and pulled back. He stared into my eyes for a long time. Suddenly, he got up and quickly went over to the balcony door. Was he leaving? "Brian! What was that?" I followed him to the door. He didn't turn back. "Brian!" I grabbed his arm and tugged at it to make him face me. He immediately pulled his hand away from me. "It was nothing. I'm sorry, Brooke. I shouldn't have come here. I'm sorry," Saying this, he quickly jumped off my balcony and landed on the ground with a soft thud. He didn't look hurt at all as he landed on his feet, barely making any noise. I saw him walk away, with his hands in his jeans pocket. I stared at him until he was gone. ~ The next morning, my alarm clock rung at seven in the morning. I hurried out of bed to shower. After breakfast, I drove to Claire's place to pick her up. She was happy today. She talked about her visit yesterday to see her grandmother in the other town. Her grandma was happy to see her, of course. Which was enough to make Claire happy. Her granny was not doing fine lately. She was hospitalised last month as she complained of severe breathlessness. But now everything was fine. I didn't tell her about Brian. I was sure she'd jump onto silly conclusions about his visit. And I didn't want that at the moment. We pulled up in front of the school and got out of the car. "Hey, Claire!" A voice, which I was pretty sure was Jake's called her and we turned around to see Jake and Sam making their way to us. Claire waved back. "Hi Brooke," Sam greeted me. "Good morning, Sam. And Jake," I said. He wished me a good morning too. "So...you know we all are going to the beach tomorrow," Jake said. I had completely forgotten about our beach trip which was scheduled to happen tomorrow. "Yeah," Claire said. "Good. So who is coming?" "Everyone, of course. I mean me, Claire, Sam, you, Darren, Josh, Tyler and..." I paused. Was Brian still coming? "Brian," Jake finished it for me. "Um...yeah," Speaking of which where was he? I always saw him with his friends? They were always with each other talking about God knows what, until the class started. "But...where is Brian?" Claire spoke up, voicing my thoughts. "I don't know. We saw you both coming and we wanted to talk to you but Brian didn't seem interested. And he said he'll go to class. I wonder what happened to him," Sam said. He didn't come to talk to us. What? Was he trying to avoid me now? Because he knows that I'll bombard him with questions about early morning? Maybe he was emabrassed. After talking some more, we made our way to the lockers and after getting the books, I proceeded towards my class. I didn't see Brian till the time of going to the cafeteria. He wasn't with his friends either. But when we were all seated at our table, he strolled into the room and sat at our table. But...he didn't sit beside me like he used to. There was a seat empty between us. I tried not to mind it. Instead, I distracted myself by talking to everyone...except him. Five minutes into the cafeteria and I felt someone tap my shoulder. I looked up and saw a grinning Gemma looking at me. "Hi Gemma," I said, politely.?What did she?want?now? "Hi, Brooke. I hope you don't mind if I join you all today. Do you?" She asked. "Um...no," I said, after making sure nobody had a problem. "Thanks," She said and sat beside me. Between me and Brian. "Hi Gemma. I'm Sam," Sam said, extending his hand for her to shake. "I'm Gemma," She said, shook his hand and smiled at him, to which Sam winked at her. Such a playboy. "This is Claire, my best friend and my other friends, Darren, Josh, Tyler, Jake, Sam and..." I said, introducing everyone to Gemma "... Brian." As I said his name, my eyes flickered to meet his. He looked at me only for a tiniest portion of a second. And too soon...his eyes left mine and settled on Gemma. Gemma grinned widely at him and started talking to him about God knows what. And it didn't take Gemma long to flirt with him. "You know, I always had a thing for blue eyes," Gemma said, staring into his deep, blue eyes. He winked at her. I looked away and tried to focus on other things to distract myself, secretly hoping for the lunch break to be over soon. But that also meant that the next class will be Chemistry. The class I shared with Brian. The class I liked the most. I couldn't help myself, and I did glance at their way again. And they were still talking with each other, laughing, flirting and staring at each other. Or more like Gemma staring at him. At one point, Brian tucked a loose strand of hair behind Gemma's ear, and subconsciously my hold on my fork tightened. And then his eyes flickered to meet mine. I quickly looked away. And they continued with what they were doing. But I was confused. Why did I feel as if my heart sank? Why did I feel sad? And lonely? Does it have anything to do with him not talking to me? Finally, the bell rang signalling the end of lunch break and I stood up immediately to go to the lockers to get my books for Chemistry (or maybe, more like to escape from the duo sitting beside me). Chemistry...Ugh! Can't ignore him totally. I entered the class and took my usual seat beside the window. The students still hadn't come to class and the teacher had also not came yet. So to pass time, I started doodling behind my notebook.