~*~ Chapter 14: Dazed and Confused ~*~
‘Ok. Nothing could have been more embarrassing than last night. I was wearing my worst clothes and the most ridiculous scene happened. The problem is, I don’t actually know what happened. I was at this restaurant with Johnny getting our dinner and Seth showed up out of nowhere saying he and Summer were back together and that he thought Johnny was my boyfriend from New York who had moved in with me. I mean… How strange and confusing is that scene? I couldn’t even picture it in my dreams… It was totally surreal. I mean… he was jealous? He was trying to make me jealous? What was going on there? I wanted to talk to him today, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. It’s lunch break already and still no sign of him. Weird.’
Brandi closed her diary and looked around the cafeteria. No sign of Seth. She sighed and placed her diary in her purse and when she was about to stand up, Ryan joined her at the table.
“Hey.” he said with a big smile.
“Hey, Seth’s blonde friend.” Brandi also smiled. Ryan had a good vibe going on and she liked that. A lot.
“Ha ha. Funny.” he kept the smile until he took a sip from his latte “So, what are you up to?”
“Nothing. I was just writing and…”
“What were you writing?”
“Oh…” Brandi didn’t wanna say she was writing in her diary. It sounded so much like 5th grade! So she lied “An essay for English.”
“I see. What teacher did you get?”
“Mr. Simons.”
“Oh, he’s mean, isn’t he?”
“Yeah! What’s up with that?” Brandi asked.
“I have no idea. I don’t know what happened to him, but he sure is miserable.”
“I know. I really, really don’t like him.” Brandi said with an annoyed face and Ryan grinned “What?” she asked.
“Nothing.” Ryan glanced away and took another sip from his drink.
“Ahm…” Brandi wanted to ask about Seth, but didn’t know if she should “Have you seen Seth?”
“He didn’t come today.”
“Why?” Brandi frowned.
“Food poisoning.”
“Really? From the Crab Shack?”
“Yeah… I think he was lying just so he didn’t have to show up here, because we eat there all the time, he loves it there, and nothing ever happened. I think he just faked it to miss classes today.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Shame, maybe?” Ryan guessed.
“From what?”
“From last night.”
“What about last night?”
“Brandi, he told me what a fool he made of himself in front of you and your brother.”
“Oh… he did, didn’t he?” Brandi bit her upper lip.
“Yep. He really tells me everything, because he can’t shut up.”
“I know what you mean.” she grinned “But not coming because he was ashamed of what happened last night? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“He didn’t wanna see you right away. I bet he’s in his room, making up a story about what happened last night.”
“Why wouldn’t he want to see me today?”
“Well, because he likes you.”
“What?” Brandi frowned.
“Didn’t I tell you that already? He likes you. He’s always talking about you.”
“But why? I don’t get it.”
“Well…” Ryan shrugged.
“Can I be… honest with you, Ryan?” Brandi asked and Ryan nodded “I really don’t get Seth. I mean… he obviously is in love with Summer and…”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
“What? What do you mean? They got back together last night!”
“What?” Ryan raised his eyebrows.
“Well, that’s what he told me at the restaurant. That you were double dating, that he was sorta back with Summer!
“If sorta means not, then, yes, he is sorta back with Summer.”
“He lied?”
“I’m telling you, Brandi. He likes you. He would totally lie if it would make you jealous.”
“Really? Is Seth really that way?” Brandi was starting to get disappointed.
“It’s not really his fault. He doesn’t mean to do it, but he does. It’s like a way to protect himself. He is really afraid of girls, especially when he starts liking them.”
“I…” Brandi still couldn’t get it, so she just shook her head “It doesn’t make sense. And he doesn’t like me. He can like me as a friend, that much I believe, but he’s in love with Summer.”
“He’s not. And why do you keep saying that?”
“Because I’ve been in love before and I know how it is.”
“Brandi, Seth is way too complicated. You have to understand that before anything else. That’s the first thing you have to know about Seth. He’s complicated. If you really wanna clear some things, you’re gonna have to go and talk to him.”
“I see…” Brandi nodded “Thanks, Ryan.” she smiled sweetly at him “So… can we not talk about Seth anymore, please?” she asked.
“I thought you were never gonna ask!” Ryan chuckled.
“So… where’s your girlfriend?”
“At the library with Summer. Studying math.”
“I see. Have you two been together for a long time now?”
“I guess almost a year. It’s just that we’re constantly on and off. So I can’t keep track of it.”
“I understand.”
“Hey, do you wanna hit the mall after school?”
“What?” Brandi was taken by surprise.
“Well… Marissa is going to Summer’s to keep studying, for French this time, and Seth is in bed, so… we could do something together. Unless you’re busy or something.”
“Oh…” Brandi didn’t know how to answer to the request “Ok. Sure. What the hell? You just wanna hang or do you wanna go buy something specific?”
“I want to buy some CDs. And I see you’re a Guns & Roses fan.” Ryan pointed to the shirt Brandi was wearing that day.
“Oh…” she looked down at it “Yeah… I really like them.”
“That’s cool, me too.” Ryan smiled and they kept talking until the bell rang.
“Where were you, man? I’ve been trying to call you on your cell for hours, but it was off. I waited for you the whole afternoon!” Seth followed Ryan as he entered the house.
“I was at the mall.”
“Oh, Marissa called and asked you to call her back.”
“Ok.”
“But, wait…” Seth stopped at the kitchen as Ryan grabbed some fruit from the refrigerator.
“What?” Ryan asked and took a bite off the apple.
“If Marissa called asking for you, then you were not with her at the mall. Did you go to the mall by yourself, man? Because that’s pretty depressing.”
“I didn’t go alone.” Ryan opened the door to the pool area and walked into his room.
“Whom did you go with then?”
“Brandi.”
“What?” Seth asked in a high tone of voice when they entered Ryan’s room “You went to the mall with Brandi?”
“Yep.”
“But… why? Why would you… I mean… why would she… I mean… why… you two going to the mall… and… why?” Seth stuttered.
“Because we were talking over lunch and we had nothing to do this afternoon and I wanted to hit the mall, so I asked if she wanted to go with me.”
“You asked her out?”
“Oh, God.” Ryan rolled his eyes “I did not ask her out, Seth! I asked her to join me at the mall! I wanted to buy some CDs and she just joined me.”
“And where are those CDs, Atwood?”
“Didn’t buy any. There was nothing good to buy.” Ryan began undressing.
“I see…” Seth itched his chin “So, you guys are buddies now?”
“She’s really cool. Yeah, I think we could be buddies.”
“No, you can’t!” Seth sat beside him on the bed.
“Why not?” Ryan frowned.
“Because, Ryan. Then she’s gonna see how lovely you are, and at the same time you have this rebel look going on, she’s gonna fall for you. And you have Marissa. You can’t have a girl falling for you if you’re with Marissa. Do you want that, Ryan? Do you wanna a poor innocent girl falling for you when you’re with Marissa?” Seth got worried for some reason.
“First of all, Brandi is not a poor innocent girl. Second, she’s not gonna fall in love with me!”
“Why, Ryan? Why wouldn’t she? And how can you be so sure about it? She might! She might dig that soft on the inside and bad on the outside thing you got going on. We don’t know her. We don’t know what she likes in a guy.”
“She likes you. So she won’t like me because we are totally different.”
“What? She likes me? She said that? Ryan, did she tell you that?”
“No, but it’s transparent. She wanted to know why you weren’t at school today.”
“I see…” Seth itched his chin once again “What else?” he wanted more information about Brandi’s interest in him.
“I don’t know, man. We just talked about you at school. In the mall we just hung out.”
“So, there was no talk about me in the mall?” Seth looked upset.
“Nope…” Ryan stood up and tapped his friend on the shoulder “Sorry, man.”
“But at school, what else did she want to know about me?”
“She wanted to know where you were, so I told you weren’t there and then she asked why and I told her it was because you got food poisoning last night. And then we dropped the subject.”
“Who did?”
“Who did what?” Ryan frowned from the bathroom door.
“Who dropped the subject?”
“I don’t know! We just… dropped it.”
“Hm…” Seth was thinking again.
“What?”
“You said she likes me. That’s a good thing, right?”
“I don’t know. You said she might be falling for me and that was a bad thing.”
“But you have a girlfriend.”
“But you love Summer.”
“Yeah, yeah…” Seth nodded “But Summer wants nothing to do with me. So I can date Brandi, right? If Summer and I are on a break.”
“You can date Brandi if you guys are on a break, you just cannot date her if you still love Summer and just wanna be with Brandi because you’re on the rebound.”
“Why not?”
“Because I won’t let you do that.” Ryan stated and sat on the chair in front of Seth.
“What?”
“I won’t let you do that to her. I won’t let her be your rebound girl.”
“Why not?”
“Because she’s too nice. She doesn’t deserve it. I won’t let you. And that’s final.”
“Ryan… are you starting to like Brandi?” Seth asked, worried about the answer.
“No!” Ryan answered right away.
“Are you sure?”
“Seth, I won’t even answer that. I just got back with Marissa. Do you really think I’d jeopardize that?”
“Ok, so why can’t I date Brandi?”
“I didn’t say you couldn’t date her. I said I wouldn’t let her be your rebound girl, that’s all. If you have feelings for her, then of course you can date her!”
“Ok.”
“Ok, what? Do you?”
“Do I what?”
“Have feelings for Brandi?”
“I don’t know.” Seth answered and they both stayed unusually quiet for a moment.
* Thanx Hannah and Thea for reviewing and correcting the grammar errors *
~*~ Chapter 13 ~*~
~*~ Chapter 15 ~*~
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