The Complication

~Chapter 17~

Drake POV

        Drake and Leslie were enjoying the dance.

        “There is only a half an hour left!” Leslie cried.

        “Then let’s make the best of it!” Drake exclaimed. He screamed ‘woo hoo!’ and the two of them danced like fools across the floor. Leslie started laughing and Drake joined in.

She playfully hit him on the arm, “stop! You’re embarrassing me!”

        “Nah, no one is noticing,” he shrugged nonchalantly then laughed.

        “Of course they are looking! You’re screaming like a fool!” Leslie gestured to all the people staring.

        “Okay I’ll stop,” Drake said between laughs.

        “Good. I’m hungry, let’s go get some food.” Leslie rubbed her stomach and it grumbled. They both laughed and made their way to the snack table.

Sadie POV

          I smiled, Leslie and Drake looked so happy together. Everything was turning out alright. The last song was coming up next. I sighed, not wanting this night to end. Jay came up to me, smiling. He held out his hand, “would you like to dance?” he asked in a bad impression of a British accent.

          “But of course,” I replied in the same accent.

          He slid his arms around my waist and we swayed back on forth to the slow beat.

          Neither of us was talking but it wasn’t an awkward silence, it was a comfortable one.  It was the type of silence that allowed you to just stare into the others eyes and not feel the need to ruin it with words.

          The song ended and Jay leaned down and kissed me. We broke apart and just stood there looking at each other for a few moments. Standing there, looking into Jay’s warm eyes being held by his strong, yet gentle arms, it felt surreal. It was almost to perfect to be happening. For a minute I could forget about my mom, Bridgette, and even Miranda.  But, all good things come to an end. I found that out the next day at school.

Brendon POV

          Enough was enough. Sadie and her friends were nice people and he decided that he and Bridgette weren’t going to pick on them anymore. Brendon took a deep breath and met Bridgette at her locker, “hey.”

          She looked up and smiled, “hey, what’s up?”

          “I think we should stop being mean to Sadie and her friends,” he blurted out.

          Bridgette looked surprised. She didn’t say anything for a few seconds then finally slowly said, “I agree, but we don’t have to be friends with them do we?”

          “No, I just don’t want to be a bully anymore.”

          She nodded.

          Brendon breathed a sigh of relief that went a lot better than he planned.

Sadie POV

          After the dance, reality hit me hard. My dad was still upset about my mom’s visit, which reminded me of the visit. Then, to make things worse, my mom emailed me this morning. She said she was sorry about the way she acted and wanted to keep in touch. I managed to get to school and to the girls bathroom before bursting into tears.

          I was so unsure about my mom. Most of the time she acted like she couldn’t care less about what happened to me and then she did things like this. It was so confusing! I managed to get myself cleaned up and ready for first period. I knew people would be able to tell I’d been crying, my eyes were still red and puffy.

          My suspicions were confirmed at break when Madison ran to my locker.

          “What’s wrong? What happened? Is it Jay? Did you guys break up?” She fired questions at me.

          “It’s not Jay, and I don’t want to talk about it,” I muttered getting my books.

          She looked at me accusingly, “you have ‘till lunch to tell me or I’ll force it out of you,” and on that happy note she went to get her books.

          Time seems to move faster when you want it to slow down. Periods three, four, and five went by in fast motion and before I knew it I was in the cafeteria surrounded by my friends.      

          “What happened?” Leslie asked

        Jay sat next to me holding my hand. He rubbed his thumb in slow circles, trying to comfort me. It helped, but not enough.

        I was just about to blurt out the whole sad story when Bridgette and Brendon walked up and sat down.

        “We wanted to apologize for the way we act-“

         “Not now,” Jay cut her off.

        She looked offended, but one look at my face and told her she came at a bad time. Bridgette let it rest but didn’t leave.

        “Hey, just tell us okay?” Jay asked softly, “no one here is going to judge you, we just want to help.”

        I looked into his sweet, caring face and felt calm for the first time since the dance. I told them the whole story.