Beautiful Mess(101)

Panicked now, Bri turned pleading eyes on Cole, begging him not to leave. He seemed unsure of what to do for a moment, until with a sigh, his shoulders slumped and he turned to go.

“Catch you later,” he said to no one in particular, and walked away.

Bri watched in shock as Cole left her alone with Trey.

Trey moved to Cole’s empty side of the booth and smiled. Bri’s stomach dropped to her knees.

“So, you’re tutoring Marra, huh? You know, I could use a little extra help with math, too. Any chance you could help me out?”

“Um,” Bri turned her focus from the jackass who just left her, to the jackass in front of her. “My scheduled is really full right now. If you need help, go talk to Mr. Tillman, and I’m sure he can find someone to help you.” She didn’t even try to keep the anger and impatience out of her voice.

“Oh, okay.” Trey was visibly disappointed.

“Look Trey, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve got a ton of homework, and your food is getting cold. I really need to get going.” So she could go kick Cole’s ass for abandoning her.

“Fine, let’s go then.” Trey grabbed her hand to help her out of the booth, and held on to it as they walked out of the restaurant. Bri finally managed to extract it as they reached his pretentious, way-too-expensive-for-a-high-schooler, car. The rain had stopped, but the clouds still swirled and rumbled, matching Bri’s mood.

Trey tried to start some conversation as he drove, but Bri refused to say anything, fuming in anger instead. After a few failed attempts, Trey’s temper got the best of him.

“You know, Bri, I don’t get you. I’ve been nothing but nice to you, since the first day of school. And all you ever do is give me the cold shoulder. What is your freaking problem?”

“My problem?” she replied incredulously. Trey picked a bad day to start a fight. “Oh, because I don’t instantly swoon the minute you flash me a smile or give me a bit of attention, I must have a problem! I guess my problem is that pompous, self-absorbed, egotistical jerks just leave me cold!”

Trey glared at her, and Bri felt a knot of fear form in her stomach. She could see the fury building in his eyes.

“No, your problem is that you’re just cold, period!” he replied venomously. “You’re nothing but a frigid bitch, who doesn’t feeling anything for anyone. Your heart’s as cold as your bed.”

She sucked in a pained breath.

“Stop the car!” she demanded, her heart pounding. “I’m getting out. Now!” She had to get out of there before she started crying. There was no way in hell she was going to let Trey see that he’d gotten to her.

Trey didn’t argue, or try to convince her to change her mind. He just pulled to the side of the road.

“Thanks for the ride, asshole!” Bri slammed the door and Trey sped off.

She stood there panting, desperately trying to fight the tears that wanted to come. A part of her couldn’t believe that Trey had actually dumped her on the side of the road like that. The other part of her wasn’t at all surprised. And all this just added to her anger at Cole, for putting her in this position to begin with. Furious, she turned and started walking down the sidewalk. She was still a few miles from home, and it would be dark soon. She hitched her bag up on her shoulder and quickened her pace.

Ten seconds later a familiar truck pulled up alongside her.

“Bri!” Cole called out through the passenger window. He sounded frantically worried. “What are you doing? What happened?”

“I’m walking home.” She turned her meanest, angriest glare on him. At least he had the decency to pale under her stare.

“Bri get in the truck,” he demanded. When she refused to look at him and continued walking, he added, “You’re mad at me, I get it. But at least be mad at me in the truck! This isn’t the best place for you to be walking by yourself. Please Ambria,” he begged. “Get in and let me take you home.”

Bri halted, fighting with her pride and her sense of self preservation. Finally, with a very angry groan, she climbed into the truck.

After a minute of silence, Cole gathered enough courage to ask, “Want to tell me what happened?”

“You mean after you abandoned me with your d-bag friend?” She fumed. “Well, let’s see. He hit on me, and when I didn’t fall for it, he called me a frigid bitch and left me on the side of the road!”

“He what?” Cole yelled.

“Don’t you dare get angry!” Bri seethed, her anger and hurt overcoming her. “This is your fault! How could you do it?” A tear slipped down her cheek. “How could you just leave me there? How could you DO THAT?” she screamed, tears falling full force now. The emotional weight of everything that had happened that afternoon was overwhelming her.