Fifteen

Chapter 24: Blind Mary

Brooke felt like she had been hit by a bus and then drug twenty miles by a pickup truck. Who knew mean girls grew up to be meaner college bitches? She thought as she plopped down onto her bed. She had such a great night staring at the stars and talking with the girls and then Avery had to ruin it.

When she woke up to the sunrise with no one else to share it with, Brooke decided to go for a walk. The gardens were even more beautiful during the daylight and as she noticed people volunteering in the kitchen for breakfast, she opted to follow suite. She was in a good mood and just wanted to help. Rookie move!

Everything was fine until the Bitch Brigade cornered her. At first, she knew they just targeted her because she was blonde, pretty and didn't march to their tune. Then one of them recognized her and it was downhill from there. At least Jaden seemed to have made up this morning by catching up briefly, talking about school, likes and dislikes, and the occasional reality show guilty pleasures. He seemed to give her the space to not pry about her family, despite him knowing and being a part of their world. It's no longer your world!

"I'm on to you Brooke Davis!" Daisy stated walking into the room. Brooke was shocked despite her lowered voice. The headache she had was building at too rapid a rate. "As wonderful as it is to be compared to the great Brooke Davis – what do you think I'm up to? And how did you get in here?" Brooke sighed falling back onto her pillow. "You clearly lost a few brain cells last night. I live here, silly." Daisy laughed.

The confusion on Brooke's face lessened as she scanned her surroundings. Brooke was late checking in, so she didn't get to meet Elsa and Daisy when they arrived. They didn't find out that they were roommates until the bonfire. "Now, are you going to tell me why you hauled ass like someone who owed money and skip out on helping us clean up?" Daisy scolded as Brooke sighed.

"Why so serious?" Daisy asked as she lay beside her. "We all had a blast last night! I saw you getting chummy with Mr. Sex On A Stick too, so what's with the pout?" Where should I begin? Shall we start with the fact that I'm the child of two notorious criminals and the butt of everyone's joke or that I like a guy who seems to hate the ground I walk on because I was too afraid to reach out.

The scowl grew on Brooke's face causing Daisy to sit up. "What exactly happened, Brooke?" Her jaw was clenching and Brooke knew that despite how they met, Daisy would inevitably become her P. Sawyer. She filled her in on every mean word the girls said, the made-up errand, her past and run-ins with Avery and eventually the mad dash routine she did to get away from everyone.

The seriousness in her voice alerted Brooke that Daisy meant business. She was NOT in the mood for bullies. "What did they look like? Did you get their names?" Brooke smiled as she pulled Daisy in for a hug. The feeling shocked Daisy into stillness. "Thank you." Her voice was calm, but the splash of wetness on her shoulder let Daisy know Brooke just needed her to be there.

She let her cry it out for five minutes and had enough. "Okay, B. Davis, I'm going to tell you like my stepdad tells me and my brother, Damon. 'You get five minutes – cry it out...scream if you have too, but that's it. After five minutes, you decide whether you're going to back down or face your problem head on.' So, what's it going to be?" As she wiped her tears, Brooke sat up and looked back at her friend. "Head on, P. Sawyer. Head on."

As she spoke, pieces of last night's events came back to Elsa. The smell of Jagermeister hit her with a vengeance, while Chlöe's 'Light Flex' began playing in her head. Only in an alternate universe would Elsa drink as much as she did, but here were the memories flooding back proving that she had in fact partied like a rock star.

Hell, you even did molly! The thought snapped her anger back into high gear. "When I get my hands on JT – I am going to kill him!" Elsa said through clenched teeth, apparently still trying to piece the night's puzzle together.

She was so caught up on giving JT a piece of her mind that she didn't see Preston walking towards her. She smacked right into him. "Hey, watch where you're –" Elsa couldn't figure out why her face was wet until she looked at Preston's wet and naked body. He wasn't paying attention, so when they collided, he let go of his towel. Stop looking, you idiot! Move – run – HIDE! But Elsa's feet felt like lead and her gaze rested on a specific body part that made her blush incredulously.

"Preston!" She cried backing up in hopes that her face didn't look as hot as it felt. "Like what you see," he said posing. The smile on his face grew when she refused to make eye contact with him. Elsa was trying hard to stare at everything and anything besides him. "Can you please cover yourself up? People are staring!" He laughed loudly. "Let 'em!" Elsa sighed turning to leave. She would have to give JT a piece of her mind at another time. For now, she was going back to her room to hide for the remainder of the week.

"Dude, I just saved your life!" Preston laughed entering his dorm room. JT, Tyler and Stefan looked up at him. "What are you talking about, little bro?" Tyler chuckled, knowing it had to be something ridiculous given his facial expression. Preston filled them in on his run in with Elsa and Stefan couldn't stop laughing. "Are you kidding me? She's probably having a heart attack right now!" His laughter was contagious.

"Yeah, well I'm sure she was so focused on killing JT that she didn't see me coming. Have you figured out how you were going to make it up to her? I mean you did drug her unwillingly." JT was getting tired of everyone's criticism and constant reminder of his mistake.

Yes, I fucked up royally. I shouldn't have given that mix to Elsa of all people, but I wanted her to have fun. Even he couldn't swallow that lie. Stefan was right – I wanted her to dance to my own tune. I wanted to hide behind the cool guy exterior with the drugs and booze. I could have hurt her.

"I just need to talk to her. She'll kill me, for sure, but I didn't mean for it all to go down like that." Stefan really disliked some of the dumb shit JT did, but even he couldn't deny the sincerity in his eyes. He feels bad, which is a step in the right direction. Let him attempt to fix it, while Elsa hands him his ass. He smiled to himself. I will definitely be in attendance to that death match.

Stefan was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn't hear Tyler talk to him. "Earth to Stefan! Man, where are you at?" He asked. "In Aria land," Preston retorted in a singsong voice. "Quit it!" Stefan said pushing Preston's hands out of his face. "Stefan and Aria, sitting in their dorm...F-U-C-K-I –" Preston was immediately hit in the face with a pillow. "Don't be a pig!" Tyler retorted.

"Sorry, someone clearly has it bad." He responded raising his eyebrows towards Stefan. "Too bad my boy Caleb is interested in her too." The room fell silent for a minute too long. "What? Was I supposed to pretend that they're not into the same girl? Man, y'all better figure that out! Aria seems cool, but BROS before ho –" He was hit with another pillow. "Where the hell are y'all getting all these damn pillows?" He huffed throwing on a pair of shoes.

"You know I'm right, Stefan. I think we all lucked out with our group. Avery, Caleb and even Jaden's rich ass are really cool guys. You can choose whether or not you want to see that. All I know is, you fools were the main ones saying that we'd focus on making our families proud and having fun. So far, all I see is a recipe for disaster if you or Caleb pursue a relationship."

You choose this moment to be honest and serious, Preston! Thanks a lot. Stefan thought knowing every word he said was valid.