Girlfriend's Best Friend
CHAPTER 50
x x x
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“I know you’re probably not
going to want anything to do with me after this, and if you
never talk to me again I would completely understand. I just
need you to know this, Kelli: I love you. More than I’ve
ever loved any girl and—”
“HAHAHA!” she burst out laughing.
“You’re so full of sh.i.t, Cody. If you
‘loved me more than you’ve loved any girl,’
you wouldn’t have gotten with Brooke.”
“You don’t get it,
Kelli!”
“No, I completely get it.
‘Don’t worry about Brooke, don’t worry if
guys love her. I love you so that’s all that matters,
Kel.’ Yeah, okay. That was just your way of getting me
not to suspect anything. Every guy loves Brooke, it’ll
always be that way. And you’re just like every guy,
so—”
“I don’t love
Brooke!” I yelled at her. “Okay, Kelli, I DO NOT
LOVE HER! I’m not going to lie to you and say that she
meant nothing to me, because at one point she did. But never
more than you. There’s a lot of differences between you
and Brooke, I’ve tried to explain that to you for a
while. And I think the biggest difference is that she can
capture guys’ attention, but not their love. You can do
both. You’ve had my love for a while now and it really
f.ucking sucks that I f.ucked it all up because I wanted to get
with Brooke because honestly, I felt bad for her. Okay, I know
I sound like a d.ouche saying it, but I felt bad for her. She
has a hard life, and there’s stuff she hasn’t even
told you. She needed someone, the way you needed someone at one
point, the way that I needed someone at one point. I tried to
be that person because you stopped being there for her once you
got me. But Brooke is too broken for me! I can’t help
her, and I’m not going to try anymore. She’s toxic,
breaking everything and everyone around her too so everything
matches with her. I’m not sure if I’ve lost you
completely, but just know I’m completely done with
Brooke, and I’m going to go on acting as if nothing ever
happened between me and her. The only good thing Brooke has
ever done for me was make me realize how much I actually love
you, and how sorry I am, and how much I need you still. Kelli,
please, I’m sorry.”
She stood there for a moment, and I
couldn’t tell what she was going to do. I couldn’t
take these unreadable expressions anymore—I needed some
answers. She got into the car after a moment and just started
crying. Seeing her cry made me cry, no matter how bad I
didn’t want to show it.
“I still want to be with you,
Cody,” she said. “But you have to promise me
something: you can never hurt me as bad as you just
hurt me today.”
“I wouldn’t, Kel. All I
want to do is make you happy. I’m sorry about everything
with Brooke, Honestly, she was always a good friend to me so I
do care a lot about her. I just didn’t want her to feel
as worthless as I once felt—”
“Stop talking about
Brooke,” she cut me off. “Don’t talk
to her either. You’re not allowed to have any
connections to Brooke, and if I find out you are, I won’t
even hesitate to tell everyone how she got her scar. I know you
care about her still, and I know that would ruin her life. Am I
right?” I swallowed nervously and nodded, realizing how
serious she was. “And if I find out you hook up with her,
we’re completely done, forever, with no chance of getting
back together. This is your last chance, so make it a good
one.”
“Okay,” I agreed. She
kissed me, and for a second, it was like everything was back to
normal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first day of school rolled
around, and I picked Kelli up at exactly 7:20, just like she
told me. Kelli acted as though nothing ever happened with
Brooke, so that’s how I acted too. Many people in our
school already figured out what happened—I don’t
know how, but I got a bunch of texts asking if it was true, as
did Kelli, and as I’m sure Brooke did too.
I carried Kelli’s books and
held her hand as we walked into the school together and to her
locker, which was right next to one that had huge Sharpie
letters spelling SL.UT on it, which Kelli told me was
Brooke’s. I told her I had to go to my locker but to meet
me there.
When I got closer to my friends, I
could see a girl standing in front of them. As I got closer, I
could see her long, brown, curly hair and her perfect profile
as she turned to the side: Brooke. My friends nodded their
heads at me and it was too late to turn around, they’d
already seen me. I nodded my head back, and no matter how much
it hurt me, kept walking to ignore Brooke completely.
Like nothing. Ever.
Happened.
The End.