Fitting in

Chapter 31

The darkness had faded the next day after Simon had read to Brett. And she had suddenly been brave enough to face the day with or without him. She’d even told him her thoughts, and he kissed her, saying he enjoyed the darkness more. When Brett had asked why, Simon replied by saying it was when she needed him most.

            Brett stirred and squinted, surprised to feel a warm soft bed below her instead of cool marble and water. She squeezed her eyes shut, and felt a tear roll out of the corner of her eye. She opened them to see her room, and was surprised no one was waiting by the bedside for her. Hadn’t she almost died?

            Brett got up, her body felt like lead, and she felt like she was moving through water to get to her bathtub. She filled the tub with water, and vowed to not end her life here again. It was a one time thing, a lack of foresight into the future.

            “Nope. No more baths for you.” Barbie said coming up behind her. Her older sister turned off the faucet, and unplugged the tub letting the water drain.

            “Huh?” Brett managed to mumble watching the water swirl down the drain.

            “Not after you fell asleep taking the last one.” Barbie said turning on the shower. Brett figured she must have floated to the top after attempting to drown herself, and had begun to breathe again. Barbie motioned Brett to get in the shower, and was fixing to walk away, but Brett didn’t want to be alone.

            “Barbie.” Brett said exhaling.

            “Yes?”

            “How is, how are?”

            “Don’t talk to mom or Blake.” She said smiling slightly. Brett nodded and entered the shower. She let the cool ribbons of water wash away all the grime from last night. Brett began to cry again thinking about Simon, and willed herself to stop but couldn’t. The memories were still too fresh.

            Downstairs, freshly showered, Brett walked into the kitchen surprised to see the mess of sleeping bags and wedding supplies already cleaned up. Jeff was sitting on the living room couch sulking, and Brett was even more surprised to see him there. Weren’t he and Blake supposed to be on their honeymoon? If he was here, that meant Blake had convinced him to wait. And if Blake wanted to wait, that meant—

            Brett’s thoughts were cut off as Blake slammed the statewide newspaper down in front of Brett’s face. On the front cover was a picture of her, Jason, and Simon in a circle. Simon looked frightened, and Jason looked pissed. Brett didn’t even want to look at herself, but she was pretty hard to miss.

             Prospective Senator’s daughter’s lies, cause catastrophe at wedding

            Brett’s fake nose was peeling in the picture, and she was covered in tears and cake, looking pretty pitiful begging in front of Simon. Brett’s stomach dropped knowing what this meant for her father. The election was tomorrow, and the article went on about how if Brett could lie as bad as she did, didn’t that mean her father could too. Her poor dad, he hadn’t done anything to deserve this. He’d lose his election all because of Brett’s stupid move.

            “Thanks to you, the publicity stunt meant to send dad into the winning polls will probably make him lose now.” Blake said glaring at Brett. She was toting a small suitcase, and Brett looked over to see Jeff getting up.

            “Your ruined my wedding.” Blake hissed with venom. She seemed to want to hurt Brett physically, but decided against it. Instead, she walked over to Jeff who wrapped his new wife in his arms. Jeff looked up and gave Brett a thin smile, before shuffling Blake out of the building.