Mind Games.

chapter 52: Betrayal and other lies.

"Alice, this is Brana. Brana, this is my girlfriend, Alice." He stepped aside to let us associate. I mustered up my best smile and stuck out my hand.
"It's nice to meet you, Brana."
"Likewise, Abby."
"It's Alice." I corrected.
"Oh, my goodness, I apologize." She giggled. Her voice was smooth and confident. I didn't like it.
I cleared my throat and asked,
"So, how did the two of you meet?" They both halfway laughed and Connor spoke up,
"We met in middle school. She didn't have friends and I thought maybe she would like a friend."
"Oh, I was such an awkward little thing! Do you remember that time I fell out of that tree in my yard?"
"Yes! Your mother was furious!" They both burst out laughing. I stood there silently watching them, feeling an inflammation in my stomach. When they finally stopped, Brana took a deep breath and said,
"Well, I suppose I'll go talk to your mother, I'll see you soon."
"Ok, by Brains."
"By, counter." She said, sauntering off in the other direction. I watched her walk away.
Look at that smug look on her face.
I looked back at Connor with a frown.
"Counter?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Brana and I gave each other nicknames in 7th grade. Isn't she something?"
"Yeah, she's...something." I replied, watching he doorway she disappeared out of. Connor looked down at me and tugged on my arm.
"Are you ok?"
"Hmm?" I asked, snapping out of my trance.
"Are you ok?" He repeated.
"Yes, I'm fine." I replied, smiling up at him. Even if I didn't like Brana, I wasn't about to ruin Connor's evening. He smiled and offered me his arm. I took it and we started out to the yard.
The whole sky was colored purple against the calm sea. All around us, there were people in cocktail dress mingling among others. Some people danced. A waiter in a white tuxedo approached us.
"Care for a sample?"
"Yes please, I'm starving." I replied, taking what looked like a piece of chicken on a stick. It tasted absolutely amazing. Connor smiled and said,
"Let's get some food."
"Ok." I said, mouth still filled with chicken. He pulled me over to a table filled with foods that looked amazing, but couldn't recognize a single dish. Some of the food had pasta and rice in it, others had beef with something that looked like chocolate sauce. Connor stared at me and smiled.
"Are you going to pick something?"
"I don't know what these are." I stated, looking back to him. He rolled his eyes and handed me a plate.
"Follow my lead," he walked down the table, piling food onto his own plate. I just put on what ever he got and we walked towards a vacant table. After we sat down, Connor cleared his throat.
"What did you think of Brana?" He asked, looking up at me with hopeful eyes. I stared back for a moment. Then, I shook my head quickly and shrugged.
"Fine. I think she's great." I took a bite of some salad stuff. It tasted like a bag of lawn trimmings.
Connor tilted his head and smirked.
"Great?"
"Yeah...great." I looked up at him. We stared at each other, his eyes boreing into mine. I knew that he didn't believe me, but I couldn't say that I didn't like her...what reason did I have to?
Connor set his head in his hands and smirked while slowly shaking his head.
"You're a bad liar."
"I know." I said back, chewing on my bottom lip. He smiled and sat back.
"It's fine, Alice. You don't have to like her just because I do." The fact that he said he liked her made my mind race with thoughts. I put my fork down and nodded.
"I just want to try and like her before I judge her." My tone was more on edge than it should have been. Connor noticed and he clenched his jaw.
"She really is a good person, Alice." His sudden defensivness made me sorry about my tone.
Don't fight with him!
I relaxed myself and took a deep breath.
"I didn't mean to sound sarcastic." My voice was incredibly soft. Even I couldn't hear it very well. I looked down. Connor relaxed his jaw and sighed.
"And I didn't mean to get angry." I smiled and took his hand in mine. Connor smiled at me.
"Would you-"
"Connor! There you are!" Brana came and interrupted him, pulling out the chair on the other side of him. A girl in a short pink dress with red hair and blue eyes sat next to her. Connor turned to Brana, letting go of my hand. My skin shivered at the sudden air that replaced his warm, soft hand. I set my hands underneath the table on my lap.
"You remember Paisley, of course."
"Paisley, it's been a while."
"Hey, Connor." The girl in pink replied. Brana smiled and said,
"So...guess what?"
"What?"
"I'm being transferred to Princeton next semester!" Even though I knew we wouldn't be going back for the next semester, her words struck a cord deep within me. I felt pure jealousy swell up inside. Connor smiled and took both her hands in his.
"That's wonderful, Brana!"
The song, "Hello," by Adele came on. Brana's eyes lit up and she squealed.
"I LOVE this song! Will you dance with me Connor?" She stared at him. My heart seized up.
And it broke when Connor said without asking me what I would say,
"Absolutely!" They got up and ran to the dance floor, both smiling.
I froze completely. My muscles tensed, and I felt tears well at the brim of my eyes.
The girl in the pink dress scooted to the chair Connor was sitting in.
"Are you Connor's girlfriend?" Her voice shocked me at first, but then I nodded.
"Yes. I'm Alice."
"Hey. I'm Paisley." I turned back to the dance floor. Connor and Brana had their arms intertwined at a respectable distance. I was still not ok with it. I turned back to Paisley and pointed my thumb at them.
"Do they have a history?" Paisley looked at them and said,
"Brana and Connor? Yeah. They've been friends since middle school."
"But what about a romantic history?"
"Yeah. They dated for a couple years in high school. She broke up with him right before college, but they're still good friends." Paisley smiled at me. I bit my lip and looked back to them. Brana whispered something to Connor. Connor looked concerned. She started walking back towards the house. He followed closely behind her.
I stood up and excused myself from the table. I waited behind some people until the coast was clear. I walked inside and asked a nearby maid,
"Have you seen Connor?"
"Yes, miss. He went to the drawing room, two hallways down. Second door to the right." The maid walked off. I'll followed her instructions and came to the door. It was slightly cracked. I peered in and listened to them.
Brana was sitting on the couch, sniffling. Connor had one of her hands in his.
"He said he's not going to be with a loser like me!"
"You are not a loser, Brana. You are an amazing human."
"That's sweet of you to say, Connor. I'm glad you're here to console me."
"It's no trouble, really."
"You're a terrific friend." She paused for a moment. The tears stopped flowing from her cheeks, and a look came over her face. Some might see it as genuine concern, but I knew what it was. An act.
She tilted her head and tightened her grip on his hand.
"And I wouldn't be a good friend of I didn't bring this up."
"Bring what up?" He asked, scooting closer to her.
"Alice...she's bad news." That got his attention.
"Why do you think that?"
"She has secrets, I can tell."
"Everyone has secrets, Brana."
"I know, Connor, but I just have this weird feeling about her..." She trailed off, watching to see if her prying had worked. It had. Connor frowned, his face contorted with thought. All of a sudden, Brana smiled and bit her lip.
"Has she kissed you yet?" Her question made him pause.
"Yes."
"She has? Don't you know she probably does this with every guy she's with?"
"She hasn't been with anyone else..." Connor trailed off. Brana shook her head.
"It's sad that she can't be honest with you...but not me." Then, she reached up and set a hand on his cheek. I felt my heart ripping out of my chest. She whispered,
"I will never lie to you." She slowly leaned towards him. But that wasn't what killed me.
What killed me, what really stomped on my every hope and dream, was when Connor leaned too. He leaned towards a woman who was trashing me. He leaned towards her.
The second their lips connected, couldn't take it anymore.
I stomped down the hallway, struggling to see through my tears. I ran into a vase that shattered. The door behind me burst open, and Connor looked around for the source of the noise. Brana peeked her head out too.
I didn't care if Connor saw me or not, I just wanted to get away. Away from the party...Away from Brana...Away from him.
But Connor had spotted me and was now following me.
I ran as fast as I could to my room, but Connor caught up to me right in the hallway outside my room and set both hands on my shoulders, spinning me around.
"Alice, are you alright-"
"Get away from me!" I shouted through my tears. My fury rung out above my sadness, and I wiped the tears away as best as I could. Connor frowned and said,
"Tell me what happened-"
"You know what happened! Don't pretend like you and Brana weren't alone in there!" He finally realized what I was upset about.
"Alice, it just happened-"
"No! You believed her! You believed that I would lie to you!"
"No-"
"Don't say you didn't believe her! I saw the two of you kissing!" I pushed on his chest so he stumbled back a step or two. He had his hands out.
"I'm not saying we didn't-"
"I cant believe you!" I crossed my arms and turned away from him. He was now getting frustrated with me. So in turn, he became angry.
"It's not like you haven't kissed another person!" The thought that he brought up Mr. Marsh made me go into defensive mode.
"Excuse me?"
"What about you and that pompous asshole?!"
"At least he wouldn't break my heart like this! And that was a long time ago!"
"Oh, what, two weeks? Wow, Alice. That's real long."
"Don't take that tone with me!" I said, getting more and more angry. He clenched and unclenched his fists.
"I can talk any way I want to!"
"Why?! Is it because Brana would let you talk to her anyway you want?!?"
"At least Brana wouldn't lie to me!"
"Oh, you really want to go there, Connor?! I couldn't tell you because it was a life or death situation!"
"It was still a lie!"
"You know what?! I don't like Brana! She's too perfect!"
"At least she knows how to dress, Alice!"
"Yeah, from Sluts R Us!"
"Don't talk about her that way!!"
"Or what? You gonna hit me, Connor?!?"
"Shut up Alice!" He shouted. I clenched my teeth and shook my head. I stomped past him to my room. Connor spread his hands and yelled after me,
"Oh, so you're just going to walk away?!? You think I can't live without you?!?"
His words echoed in my head as I sat on my bed.
Since our fight, I had taken a shower and was now dressed in jeans and the sweatshirt Mr. Marsh had given to me. The smell of him faded, but I still felt close to him. I closed my eyes and thought about where he might be.
France...Switzerland...Belgium.

(3 hours later, Connor's P.O.V...:)

I sighed to myself as I looked at the bruise on my lip Brana had given me when I told her I wasn't in the mood to talk.
Way to go, stupid...
I thought about what I said to Alice.
Maybe that was too harsh...
Thoughts started going through my mind.
What if she took it literally?! What if she's still mad?! What of she leaves!?!
I shook the last thought from my head and took off my dress jacket, setting it on my bed.
I chewed on my lip and felt myself being pulled down the halls to where Alice's room was. I cleared my throat and knocked twice on the door.
"Alice?" No answer. I twisted the knob and walked inside. The room was empty except for a figure in the bed. Alice. She looked to be sleeping.
Am I really apologizing? Was I wrong...
I sat down on the bed next to her. She was incredibly light as my weight made the bed dip. I took a deep breath and started.
"Alice, I'm sorry I kissed Brana. It wasn't supposed to happen, and I promise it won't happen again." I finished and waited for her response. Nothing.
"Alice?" I reached over to her shoulder. But when I touched it, I realized something was wrong.
I don't remember her arms being this soft...
"Alice?" I asked again. I pulled the covers back, revealing a pile of pillows and a note. My mind started flailing, but I managed to grab the note.

Dear Connor,
I won't bother you with my presence anymore. Please know that I really do have feeling for you, and that it breaks my heart to leave. But it's what is best for both of us.
With love,
Alice.

I let the note flutter to the ground. My heart felt like it was being slowly torn.
She's gone.

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Hope you liked it, enjoy the next one, bye! :D.