Maddie and Paige sat next to Brooke in the back of the bus. They were on their way home from the Energy Dance Competition. Brooke had just won first overall with her duet with Brandon. Brooke was crying and trying to catch her breath because right after awards were over, Brandon decided to break up with Brooke and completely crush her heart to pieces.
Brooke and Brandon had been dating for about a year. Everyone thought that everything was perfectly fine, the two had the image of a perfect couple, and apparently their relationship hadn't been good enough for Brandon.
Brooke wiped away a tear that was rolling down her cheek. "Don't worry Brookie, Brandon doesn't know what he lost." Maddie said, looking at the older girl who was wiping under eyes, trying to wipe away some smeared eyeliner. Brooke gave Maddie a slight smile, she had always been close to Maddie and thought of her as her second sister even though Brooke was going on seventeen and Maddie had just turned fifteen.
"Maddie I just hope you don't have to go through this." Brooke said, looking back down at her phone.
"Go through what?" Maddie asked, genuinely confused by the statement. All the other girls looked at Brooke also.
Brooke sighed before she began to speak. "It's just, me and Brandon used to be a lot like you and Nick. We started out as just duet partners with enough chemistry to when first overall. Then we started to develop feelings for one another and started dating, and our duets have never been the same since then." Brooke took a minutes to catch her breath and wipe away a few more tears the had fallen. " And now we broke up and we pretty much ruined our friendship." Brooke said, looking out the window of the bus as more tears fell.
As Maddie heard Brooke say this she thought about Nick. She thought about how Abby always said they were amazing on stage during their duets. Now hearing Brooke's story about how she and Brandon started out just like her and Nick are now. It worried Maddie a little bit.
She didn't want what happened to Brooke and Brandon happen to her and Nick. She loved Nick with all her heart, but only in a big brother type way. After thinking back to how Brooke and Brandon were like each other’s siblings she realized that her and Nick were almost exactly like them.
What would happen if what happened to Brooke and Brandon, happened to her and Nick? Maddie wondered. History really would repeat itself and their close friendship would most likely be ruined and it would always be awkward between the two of them.
Brooke saw Maddie's scared facial expression and put a hand on Maddie's shoulder. Maddie jumped and turned her head towards Brooke. "I didn't mean to scare you Maddie." Brooke said, having a look of guilt on her face.
"It's fine Brookie. I'm not upset." Maddie said with a smile, reassuring Brooke that she was fine. On the inside though Maddie's stomach was a mess of butterflies. She kept telling herself that her and Nick were only friends and that they wouldn't be the next Brooke and Brandon. Even if they did date and broke up Maddie was determined to not let history repeat itself, no matter what.
