My Dirty Little Secret

Chapter Eleven

Brooke's POV

By Friday night, I was getting exhausted by the mundane path the week had taken. Work, cheering, sleep. Work, cheering, sleep. Work, cheering, sleep. It seemed as though the only thing that interrupted the monotonous routine, was Chelsea. Something I could never do anything about.

I called up Kate after school because the two of us had had a rough week and it was usually on me to make it better. We'd made plans earlier in the week to go out tonight, but hadn't talked about it since. The first time, she didn't answer. The second time, she said she had to call me back. When finally she did, I asked her if she still wanted to go out, and she told me she couldn't. She had a meeting for work, she said.

It's not that I was upset, as much as I felt rejected. Kate had been driving me crazy anyhow, and one Friday night without her could only do me good. But for some reason it gave me pause that she wouldn't see me, after all we'd done for five days was argue. 

I was still in my classroom, alone, when we finished the phone call. "Okay," I'd said, nondescriptly. "I'll talk to you later then, I guess."

"Okay," she'd replied flatly. "Bye."

"I love you," I tried.

"Mhm," she said. "You too."

Then she hung up. I sighed, head in my hands, though no one could see me.

There was a knock at my door, minutes later. I found myself hoping that maybe for some reason, it was Chelsea, but it wasn't.

"Hey," Liliana said, walking in. A close second.

"Hi," I greeted, though my mind was somewhere else. The way Kate had ended our phone call had effectively worried me.

"What are you doing tonight?"

I looked at my phone, then back at her. "Nothing, anymore."

"Uh oh," she said, knowingly. "Kate?"

I nodded, wistfully, wet eyes ready to cry.

"Brooke," she said as if she was going to begin one of her lessons.

"Lil, I didn't do anything wrong. She blew me off. That's not my fault."

"It's your fault that you're letting this get to you. You know how she is, and you know it has nothing to do with you."

"How do I know that?"

"Brooke," she began again. "Do you know you're beautiful?"

I flashed back to the previous night, when I was upset over Kate once again. Right before Chelsea had left my car, she'd told me exactly what I needed to hear. And up until that point, I don't think I ever believed it.

"I didn't until recently," I said honestly. "Someone had to tell me."

"Kate?"

I shook my head. When was the last time Kate had told me I was beautiful? And would I have believed her if she did?

"Then who?"

I looked down at the ground, at my feet, anywhere besides her face. I couldn't begin to explain what I felt for Chelsea. I settled on, "It's kind of a long story."

She sat down in one of my desks. "I'm listening."

A/N: Kind of a short chapter. What do y'all think Kate is up to? And do you think it's a mistake for Brooke to tell Liliana about her feelings for Chelsea? Comment/Vote. :)