Beautiful Mess(35)

As she was crossing the parking lot, she heard someone calling her name. She sped up, praying she’d make it to her car before he caught her. No such luck.

“Bri,” Cole was panting as he grabbed her arm and turned her towards him. “Stop, please!”

A small, idiotic, part of her was touched that he’d worked so hard to catch her, that he wanted to talk to her that badly. But she quickly squashed that gullible part.

“What?” she glared at him. Seeing how his grip prevented her from going anywhere, she had no choice but to stay.

“You have to listen to me,” he begged. “I have so much I need to tell you, to explain to you. But I need you to give me a chance.” His eyes, bluish-gray today, bore into hers, pleading.

Bri wasn’t swayed. “A chance?” she asked incredulously. “To what, rip my heart out again? No. You don’t deserve a chance, or anything else from me. Stay away from me, Cole. I don’t want to talk to you, listen to you, or even lay eyes on you ever again. Now let go of me!”

He pulled her closer.

“Ambria, please,” he whispered desperately. “I thought we were friends! Can’t you give your friend a second chance?”

Bri’s eyes narrowed. “You are not my friend. The Cole I knew this summer, he was my friend. But I see now that he never really existed. So now I’m left with no friend, just you.” She stepped closer, right into Cole’s face. “I don’t know you. And from what I’ve seen, I don’t want to,” she finished coldly. “Goodbye, Cole.” She yanked her arm out of his grip and stormed off to her car. Pulling out, she glanced in her rearview mirror. Cole stood right where she’d left him, his hands in his pockets, his head dropped in dejection.

Bri was able to stave off the tears until she got home. She rushed inside, right to her room, and locked the door behind her.

She stood there, her chest heaving, for a moment. But now that she finally could cry, she found the tears wouldn’t come. Deflated, she dropped her bag on the floor and pulled out her phone. She froze as she saw a text from Cole, sent about five minutes before. Going against her better judgment, she opened it.

Ambria, I’m so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, and that is the truth. I don’t expect your forgiveness, and I know I don’t deserve it. But I will do anything and everything I can to try and make this right. I hope you believe that. -C

PS- I meant what I promised you. Please remember that.

Reading that message, all of the hurt, anger, betrayal, and devastation Bri had repressed all day long came surging up like a tidal wave. She dropped onto her bed as the torrential downpour of tears began. She cried harder than she’d cried since her mom died. Indeed, she felt that same gaping sense of loss, and grief, and pain. Her heart had been broken all over again, and each time it happened the pain grew worse.

A while later, her sobbing began to slow, and the tears finally stopped. Bri was left feeling angry, at Cole for lying to her, and at herself for falling for it. But anger was a blessed relief from all of the other painful emotions she been feeling. Now everything else was just a dull throb, easier to push down and forget.

That night, as she lay in her bed, Bri vowed to never again risk feeling how she’d felt today. She vowed to never give someone the chance to rip her heart out and stomp on it, again. Because all that came from caring about someone was pain and misery.





Chapter 8




The rest of the week was excruciating for Bri.

The girls at dance practice were gushing the whole week about how much hotter Cole had gotten over the summer, and how he and Serena were definitely back together. Bri stayed out of it, telling herself she didn’t care who Cole dated, as long as it wasn’t her.

She managed to avoid him in the halls and in class, though he didn’t make any more attempts to talk to her. Apparently he’d gotten the hint and had backed off, for which Bri was extremely thankful. She no longer felt anything for him, and was glad he had moved on. She hoped if she kept telling herself this, she would eventually believe it.

Because the truth was she was miserable. She missed her friend. She missed the sweet, charming boy she’d spent the summer with. Her emotions were all over the place, so she decided to channel herself and focus only on school and dance. Which was good, because she had more than enough of both to keep her busy.

After Wednesday night’s practice, she and Layla stayed late, learning the routines that Bri had missed. Bri had always been a fast learner, and they had made it almost halfway through the military routine in an hour. The rest of her nights were spent doing the copious amounts of homework she had, despite it being the first week of school.