My Dirty Little Secret

Chapter Thirty One

Brooke's POV

I was almost sure that the knock I heard on my door during my free period was Chelsea trying to escape math again - who else could it be?

"It's open," I called invitingly, expecting a gorgeous brunette to walk in. In lieu of her dark tresses, however, much to my surprise, I saw only blonde curls and a devious expression. She looked almost angry, but still somewhat cool. In a word, she looked suspicious.

"Hey, Tiffany," I greeted lightly, not letting on that I'd been expecting someone else.

"Hi, Miss Chandler," she replied, not maliciously, but without a smile.

"What can I do for you?"

She walked in further, until she was in the seat closest to my desk. "You can explain something," she said, cutting to her point. I felt my whole body tense. There was only one thing this could be about - the guilt was already eating me apart.

"Explain what?" I said, forcing a slight laugh, determined to appear nonchalant.

She lowered her eyes, sizing me down. "I think you know what."

I shook my head, fabricating some confused expression. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about," I said.

"I know you're hooking up with Chelsea Davidson," she finally said. I swear I felt my insides liquify. "Don't bother arguing," she said. "I know."

"Excuse me?" I asked, sounding slightly offended, and more shocked, though neither were true. "Where did you get that idea?" 

"You don't need to worry about it," she said suspiciously. "The point is that I know."

"I don't think you know anything," I said with a little bit of edge.

"Stop pretending," she said. "You're not fooling anyone. Now all I want is an answer. Do you treat her special because she's screwing you?"

"Tiffany!" I nearly gasped, sounding like a real live teacher for once, taken aback by her blunt language.

"Oh, please. If you can do it, I can at least say it."

"I didn't do anything," I argued, lying through my teeth. If she wasn't so convinced already, I could have won an Academy Award for this performance. It's funny how when it was so dire, I could lie. "And I treat all of you the same," I said, though outside of practice this was far from the truth.

"Bullshit," she said. "She's captain, she's a top girl, you're flirting with her all the time at practice."

"I made Chelsea captain before I knew any of you," I began to calmly explain, "based on her skill. I know you were a captain in the past, and I'm sorry, but you're on a different team now. Chelsea's been on Varsity since her freshman year, and she's been a top girl all her life, so she does have a leg up in those kinds of things. There's a lot of consideration that goes into these decisions, Tiffany, and it's not based on anything outside of cheering."

"Look," she said. "I just want to know which came first."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, not understanding.

"I mean, are you hooking up because you like her? Or do you like her because you're hooking up?"

"Tiffany, those are serious allegations you're making," I admonished, even though they were accurate allegations.

"And I'm making them seriously," she said. "Look, I'm not going to tell on you or anything. I'm just wondering how I can get ahead."

That stopped me completely dead. "Excuse me?"