The New Romantics

Chapter Thirteen: Haunted

I was sitting on the bed. He hasn't come in yet and I was tired of standing, so I was sitting on the bed.

It had been four minutes and thirty-six, no, thirty-seven seconds since Martha left the room. (The clock was right in front of me. I was bored, not paranoid.) I was trying not to think about what was taking Branden so long, but it was really hard since there was nothing better to do.

I could read.

Maybe he was refusing to talk. Or they were all arguing over who should also be in the room, that way he didn't have a chance to do anything. Maybe they were flat out fighting. Maybe he left and Martha forgot to tell me.

I'm in the middle of a series right now.

What will we talk about when he comes in here?  Will he stand by the door? He'll probably sit on the bed. What if he tries to kiss(still haven't thought of another word) me again? Do I do the same thing I did earlier? What if I kiss him back? Would Benjamin totally hate me? Would he forgive me like he did when he found out about my going to parties? Probably not.

It's a really good series.

Will I  forgive me? Seriously, kissing my ex-boyfriend on the one-year anniversary of my current boyfriend is a really terrible thing to do. It's the kind of thing they write books about. I don't want a book written about me.

Speaking of books, the one I'm reading doesn't sound too bad.

I stood up to get the book off my desk, but Branden came in before I could even take a step.

He shut the door behind him as he walked further into the room. I suddenly noticed the lack of escape routes in this room.

What did Martha say? Scream if he did anything. Got it.

I sat back down on the bed, trying super hard not to look scared. He walked the few steps to my bed and sat next to me- not right next to me, but he was definitely in my circle of safety.

I took a few silent breaths and waited for Branden to say something. When he didn't I glanced at him.

My breath caught when I noticed he was already looking at me. Our eyes locked for a moment.

I'm pretty sure we both started doing the same thing at the same time- looking over each other and noticing things we didn't while we were dating. We were seeing how different we both looked, how we held ourselves differently.

Branden wasn't all tough and puffed up right now. He was slouching and he looked sad. He never looked sad.

I wonder if he really is sorry.

+++

BRANDEN'S POV

The girl that went in Elizabeth's room with her- Margret?- Came out and told me to go talk to Liz in her room. The other guys- Tweedle Tall and Tweedle Tough- glared at me, and I swear one of them growled. Mary told me Liz was giving me a chance to talk, and only talk. I could tell no one trusted me alone with Lizzy.

Tweedle Tall argued with Maranda, saying someone else has to be in the room, otherwise he wasn't going to let me in. She defended me though, and after two more minutes of arguing, I had opened Lizzy's door. She was standing- like she was about to get something, but she didn't take a step.

I shut the door as she sat down. I noticed her dress as it bubbled around her. She looked so beautiful in it. Who am I kidding? She looked beautiful in anything. No. Stop it Branden. She's taken.

I walked over to the bed and sat- not really close to her. Maybe a foot or so away.

I looked at my hands and tried to think of something to say. Clearly what I said earlier today was way too direct, so I would had to try something different.

I turned to her and opened my mouth to say something, but stopped.

She had changed so much since I last saw her. Why wasn't I there when she changed? Why did I do what I did? Why didn't I just talk to her instead of teaching her my own lesson. It crushed her, I noticed the last time we met. The fact that I can tell is absolutely terrible.

She looked at me. Was she waiting on me to say something? How long have I been staring at her? She's gonna think I'm a creep or something.

Wait, she's was doing the same thing I was doing. She's noticing how I've  changed.

I wonder if she can tell I've changed a lot.

I wonder if she knows I really am sorry.