After: a Maxerica Story

Part 14

"No, Brooke, what the hell are you doing?" I yell, quickly throwing my shirt back on. "You can't just barge into my room!"

Brooke's eyes widen in fury. "I didn't just barge in! I was calling your name for a while, and I was worried something was wrong?" Her eyes land on Gwen, who is still only in her bra, seeing as her shirt was thrown across the room.

"That gives you no reason to come in here," I shoot back, not knowing what else to defend myself with.

"If I thought someone who I care about was hurt? Yes, I find that a good enough reason!" she shouts, tears filling her eyes. "But little do I know that you're sleeping with this little princess bitch. Exactly when were you going to tell me that you didn't care about me at all?"

I shake my head, trying to find words. "I- well..."

"You know what the funny thing is?" she says, throwing her hands up. "I thought you had the decency to be honest with me. Actually, I came here to tell you I knew you were playing mind games with me. The way you look at her is the same way you looked at Breanne. Who knows why, but you love this one as much as you loved Breanne. And now my suspicions have been confirmed." She runs a hand through her hair, taking a deep breath.

"Brooke, please wait. I..." I start, looking over my shoulder at Gwen, who's eyes are wide with terror. "I, uh..."

Despite everything, Brooke laughs. I tilt my head to the side, as I always do when I'm confused.

"Are you trying to defend yourself? Because you have nothing left to defend yourself with, okay? I mean," she says, swallowing, "you've lead me on all this time. I can't believe I just realized that tonight. I could've saved myself a lot of pain if I had just admitted that you don't care about me at all." Her chest heaves with the effort of throwing these harsh- but not false- accusations at me.

"That's not true," I reply, getting out of bed. I can feel Gwen's gaze burning holes in my back. "I do care about you, Brooke."

"Then what's this?" she asks, pointing a shaking finger to Gwen. Gwen freezes. This isn't like her. Why isn't she saying anything? Defending me?

"This is being totally confused and being at the point where you're about to explode!" The words seem to tumble out of my mouth before I can stop them.

"Confused about what? Whether to tell me you've picked Gwen or just let me live in my own beliefs that you're better than that?" She wipes a tear away angrily. "Before the Selection, I thought you were a hopeless idiot that was lucky to be born into the royal family. When I got to know you, I realized you weren't as bad as I thought you were. And yet, I'm now rethinking that change of thoughts. Someone who would do something like this isn't the person I thought you were."

"I'm sorry," I mutter, shaking my head. "I was going to tell you. And this was nothing," I add, gesturing to Gwen.

Apparently that was the wrong this to say.

"This was nothing?" Gwen asks, her voice now firm, the look of terror on her face long gone. "I thought this was significant, especially since this was when you told me you picked me and I was about to agree."

I'm lost for words. Brooke's face is still red with anger and now Gwen was starting to heat up, too. 

"I didn't mean it like that, Gwen. Please." To my surprise, Gwen gets out of bed, still with no shirt on, and walks right up to me, our faces inches apart. 

"If you didn't mean it like that, you better show me that it actually meant something to you." Her eyes glisten; whether it's from tears or a mischievous look, I don't know.