Suddenly Popular

Chapter 11

   "Tell us everything, what happened!?" Jasmine asked.

Brianna had just returned from her little talk with Rowland - which she refused to call a date - when the three girls who shared her room rose to their feet in excitement.

"He surprised me. I expected him to be some type of bad boy which he did not deny he was but he said that he's willing to change."

"This reminds me of someone," Jasmine joked, looking at Cassandra.

"Do you believe him?" Cassandra questioned, ignoring Jasmine's comment.

"I don't know but I would like to give him a chance. I also want to change. Ever since my ex and I broke up, I've forbidden myself to ever trust anyone but the only person I'm hurting is myself. I'm incredibly lucky to have met you girls and Rick," Brianna replied.

"And Terry?" Lei grinned.

"I don't know him well enough to say that but I'd like to say so. I don't want to be one of those people that flirt with multiple people at once and after today's conversation with Rowland, I'd be more inclined to continue getting to know him."

"Just be careful, okay? I don't want you to be left heartbroken because of a guy. You're so much more worthy than a bad boy." Jasmine worried.

"I've got to say that I agree with Jazz. Best friends before boyfriends, right?" Cassandra added.

"Of course, girls! Now, let's get ready. We don't want to miss our second night, do we?" Brianna said.

"Nope but I'm going to need your help," Lei begged.

She pulled two dresses out of a drawer and walked around the room. She modeled with both dresses while the others cheered.

"Woo, you go, girl!" Jasmine cheered.

"What do we think? Dress 1 or dress 2?" Lei bit her lip.

"Both look amazing but dress 2 might be better for tonight," Brianna answered.

"I agree," Cassandra added.

"Thank you, girls! Now, whose turn is it?" Lei smiled.

***

The sound of crackling fire and cheerful laughs flew to their ears, as they joined a large group of teenagers sitting by the table of drinks. As soon as they noticed the girls, the boys stood up and beamingly smiled.

Rowland pulled Brianna in for a quick hug, which surprised her. The gentleman she had talked to earlier had been respectful of physical boundaries but, all of a sudden, it was as if they had known each other their entire lives.

Brianna's body tensed up as she tried to pull away from the hug. Finally, Rowland let go and smiled at her.

"I'm happy to see you tonight," he grinned.

"Oh really?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Of course! We had such a great time earlier today and I want to get to know you better. You intrigue me, Bri."

"I guess we'll have to see how things go tonight."

"I'll take it as a challenge."

Brianna froze at the sound of the words. Memories of pain flew to her mind as she remembered simply being a "challenge". She looked away, hiding under her hair that was let loose.

Rowland turned her around so that they faced one another and at the sight of Brianna's eyes filled with pain, he rubbed her shoulders.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I'm an idiot, I should have known that saying this was a mistake, it's really not smart of me. Can you forgive me?"