Breaking Walls (Lauren Cimorelli)

Chapter 8

Coley's POV

I locked my car as I walked in the front door of my house. I slowly walked up the stairs, opening the door to my room. Before I could close it, someone stuck their foot in the door. I looked up to be see my older brother. He gave me a small smile. I ignored him and walked over to my bed.

"What's got you all grumpy?" He asked.

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "Everything."

"Define everything." He said. Sitting down beside me, he put his hand on my shoulder. "Seriously, what's wrong?"

I looked at him and noticed how concerned he was. I looked down at my hands. "I messed up."

"How?" He asked.

"Amber hates me." I told him.

"Why does she hate you? What could you have possibly done to make her hate you?" He asked, taking his hand off of my shoulder.

"One of my friends spent the night last night and she wasn't too happy about it, and we got in an argument." I fell back on my bed.

"I thought you told me she was fine with Katie sleeping over."

"She is, but only because Katie's straight. Katie didn't sleep over last night, another friend did." I sighed again.

"Oh... right. I forgot. Mom told me about her sleeping over when we were on the phone earlier." He told me.

"Wait, you talked to mom?" I asked him. "She never picks up the phone at work when I call her."

"She wanted me to let her know when I got home. She seemed fine when we talked."

"Ugh, whatever."

"Okay, forget about mom for a second. Back to your friend. Is she not straight? Is that why Amber got mad?"

"Apparently. I didn't know what her sexuality was. I didn't even really think about it until Amber brought it up." I told him.

"Ah... so she's jealous?" He asked.

"Apparently so. She keeps telling me to stay away from her, but she claims it's because she wants to keep me safe, not because she's jealous."

"Why wouldn't this girl be safe?" He asked.

"Something happened with her a few years ago apparently, I don't know. I didn't want Amber to tell me. I wanted Lauren to tell me herself."

"Her name is Lauren?" He asked.

"Yeah. Why?" I asked.

"Lauren Cimorelli?" He asked again.

"Yeah... you know what happened, didn't you?" I asked him. He nodded and I groaned in response.

"Coley..." He started.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, she's not safe, I need to keep away from her, blah blah blah."

"No... I mean, I don't know her personally, but I can see why Amber's scared of you being around her. I don't think Lauren would do anything intentionally to hurt you, but you might wanna ask Lauren what happened. I think it's best if you know." He told me.

"Why is it so bad? Was she arrested for drugs or something? Why is she so dangerous?" I asked. "Don't tell me, ugh." I told him when he started to open his mouth.

"Coley..."

"What?" I asked, annoyed.

"You like her, don't you?" He asked me. I opened my eyes wide in shock and started to defend myself.