I called Emilee three days later. It rang once before she answered. "Hello?" Emilee said.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.
"Tell you what?" she asked, clearly confused.
"Xavier's in love with me, and you didn't tell me?" I asked.
Emilee sighed, "It wasn't my place."
I shook my head. "I broke his heart, and you're telling me it wasn't your place? I know how it feels to have your heart broken. I could've made it-"
"No, you couldn't have. Seeing someone you love with someone else, it hurts, Braelyn. It hurts real bad. I know. I watched you go through right before Jared left. There is no way you could've hurt less," Emilee said.
I clenched my fist, knowing she was right. She always was. Tears fell from my eyes. I felt like a terrible person. No, I didn't feel the same way about Xavier, but I sat there, blind, to the way he felt about me. I crushed him. I was no better than Ridge or Jared.
I not only got my heart broken, but I broke someone's heart. That ate at me. I was a terrible person. This was what I did to deserve this. I broke someone's heart.
"I know what you're thinking," Emilee sighed.
"Oh, you do?" I asked.
"That is what you did to deserve what you got," she said.
I wiped my tears away. "I feel like a terrible person," I said.
"You're not, Braelyn. You can't help you love, and you can't help who you don't. Not everything is meant to be," Emilee said softly.
A thought crossed my mind, and I sighed, "Mom said that, too. You're both right. Not everything is meant to be."
I played with the stray strings from my shorts. "It's true," Emilee said.
"Yeah," was all I said.
"Well, I got to go. Marcus is here," she replied.
"Okay," I said then the line went dead. I threw my phone beside me, and my door opened.
Nick popped his head in. "I have a question."
"Shoot," I said.
"How do you feel about going to get some pizza with me?" Nick asked.
I raised my eyebrows. "That's a first," I said.
"I need someone to talk to," Nick said. "So yes or no?"
"Yes."
××××××
Nick and I made our way into the parlor and took a seat in one of the booths. "Hawaiian?" Nick asked.I nodded. "Yeah, sounds good," I replied. "So, what's up?"
Nick looked at me. "I know you and I haven't really talked in a while. Scratch that, a really long time," he started.
A waiter came up to get our order, hitting pause on our conversation. Nick ordered then focused his attention back on me. "But I need your opinion," he said.
"I'm all ears."
He sighed, "Can people change?"
I nodded right away. "Yeah, everyone can change," I said.
"Do you really believe that?" Nick asked.
I thought back to Ridge, and I sighed, "Yeah, I do, but it's depends on how hard you work for it."
"I want to change. Hearing about what happened to you, made me think about all the girls I hurt. I don't want to do that again," he said.
I placed my hand on his. He looked shocked. I gave him a smile. "You have to work toward change. That's all I have to say."
He smiled. "When did you get so wise?"
"Since my life took a dive off a cliff for the second time," I admitted.
××××××
When Nick and I got home, I went into the living room, where Kyle and Mom sat. "Hey, guys," I said, sitting down beside Kyle."Hey," they said.
"Where did you go?" Mom asked.
"Nick took me out for lunch," I said, causing Kyle to look at me with shock written all over his face.
"Oh, okay," Mom said.
YOU ARE READING
It Started with a Dare
Genç KurguREAD AT OWN RISK One other version available. ×××××× It started with a dare. It ended with something so much more serious. Braelyn Sawyer was the girl who kept to herself. She was barely recognized at school unless one of her brothers' fangirls need...