Eastwood Academy

Chapter 34: Turning Point

I step out of River's arms and go into the bathroom to change back into my dress because I can't go traipsing through the campus wearing his boxers. Once I'm done I give him what's intended as a quick kiss goodbye, but ends up turning into a much longer one. If Tyler wasn't blissfully asleep snoring a few feet away, River would have me back in his bed in a minute. Finally I manage to pull myself away from him and head back to my dorm. Thankfully, River's room is on the first floor, so I can go out the window.

As soon as my feet hit the ground, I start to run, continuously yanking my dress down when it rides up my legs. It's cold out. Really fucking cold. But despite the weather, sweat runs down my back in freezing rivelets. I'm panting hard by the time I arrive at my dorm and burst through the doors into the heated building. I streak through the lobby and use the stairs instead of the elevator. The last thing I want is to run into a dorm monitor right now.

Jessica is curled up in bed when I open the door to our room. At my arrival, she turns to look at me blearily, then sits straight up in shock at my disheveled appearance.

"Oh my God are you okay? Have you been with River this whole time?" She asks me, clearly concerned. I give her a warm, glowing smile, and her expression becomes incredulous.

"Yeah, but I'm fine. Better than fine, actually," I inform her as I take off my shoes. Even though I'm tired, my feet are killing me, and I'm covered in a layer of freezing sweat, I feel better than I have in years.

"What happened?" Jessica asks wearily, and my good mood plummets a little. Convincing her that my being with River is a good thing may take a little while. And then there's the whole Gavin situation to figure out.

I give her a hasty explanation of what happened after I left, being honest about everything with Gavin and the fact that I instigated most of it. I also tell her what River said to me, but I leave out the fact that we almost went to second base and might have gone further if Tyler hadn't interrupted us. I also leave out River's admission of guilt over liking me because of Imeria. It seems too personal to discuss with anyone.

Jessica listens to my explanation without comment, letting me get it all off my chest. When I repeat River's declaration of affection for me and inform her of our relationship status, her eyes widen in disbelief.

"Do you think I'm a terrible person?" I ask her. Jessica has been in love with Tyler for years, but I have yet to see her use anyone to try to get over him. Once again, I wonder how far her promise not to judge me will go.

"No, you're not a terrible person, but using Gavin like that was a really shitty thing to do," she says. I feel a pang of guilt go through me, but I'm also grateful for her honesty. She's right to call me out. It was a shitty thing to do, and I deserve to feel bad about it. Which I do. I feel terrible. Or would if I wasn't so happy about River being my boyfriend. Just calling him that in my head makes me giddy.

"I know, I know," I groan, putting my head in my hands. "What do I do now? Do you think Gavin is going to hate me?"

"I don't know Brooklyn. He won't hate you, but I don't see how things can just go back to normal after this. Gavin and River never got along great, and the last year, it's only gotten worse," Jessica says.

"Why?" I ask, unsure if I want to know, and Jessica looks reticent to tell me.

"You know how River can be. He has a reputation for a reason," she says tentatively.

"A slutty reputation?" I clarify as my hands clench into fists.

"Yeah. Among other things..." Jessica replies, looking at me with concern.