Highschool Sweethearts ~BWS~

Chapter 13 - Dream

I open my eyes. Everything is blurry. I see a face in front of mine but cannot make it out. My head is throbbing to the beat of the obnoxious music. My shoulder is being shaken. 

"Emily are you okay?" The person asks, worried. 

I rub my eyes, slowly nod and lift myself up into a sitting position. Their hand rests on my shoulder. I look towards them with my now clearer vision and discover that it is Brad.

I pull back from him. "What do you want? Have you come in here to make out with Sara some more?" I yell harshly.

He looks puzzled. "What? No. I came looking for you because you ran off. I was worried you had left or that you were going to do something stupid." His voice calm, reassuring.

I cast my eyes towards the bottle on the floor next to me. " I did do something stupid."

"No, you didn't," He comforts me. "You just drank too much, a little mistake that's all."

"That's not what I meant," I say. He again looks at me confused. "I kissed Lucy," I whisper.

Brad stays silent for a bit. "But your girlfriends, that's what people in relationships do." 

I exhale and mumble, "We're not together."

"What?" He asks bewildered.

"We were pretending to be dating so that Sara would stop being nasty to me. It was all fake." I continue to mutter quietly. "It worked, but then you stopped talking to me." I pause, drawing in a shaky breath. "But I've ruined it all now. Lucy hates me and you do too because I lied to you."

"No, no, don't say that," Brad comments. 

He shuffles closer to me, pulling me towards him. He wraps his arms around my shoulders, holding me tight to his chest. I let out a nervous sob, soaking his shirt. 

"Emily I don't hate you and neither does Lucy. If Sara was being mean you could have just told me. The reason I stopped talking to you is because I thought you and Lucy would want some space." He begins to stroke my hair, playing with the ends of the strands. 

I look up at his face with a weak smile. "Really?"

"Really," He responds. 

I lower my head back onto his shoulder, nestling into the nape of his neck. 

"You know, I'll let you in on a little secret." He pauses, breathing in. "Sara and I aren't actually dating either."

I look back up to him puzzled. 

"We were also pretending to go out... In Sara's last school she was bullied. She asked me out and I said yes, obviously. We went on a few dates and then one night she broke down in tears. I asked her what was wrong and she..." He hesitates. He lowers his arms from my shoulders to around my waist, holding tighter. "She told me that the reason she was bullied was because she's gay. She wanted to go out with me to see if she did like boys in any way but alas not. She was scared to come out in case people would tease her again so we decided that we'd pretend to stay together to protect her."

I stay silent, listening to Brads low voice over the thudding music from below. 

"She can become very defensive over me as I've helped her. That's why she can be nasty and why she's been horrible to you. We were becoming friends and she worried she would lose me. You're also extremely pretty so she probably was scared that she might like you."

I blush at the subtle compliment. I take in all of the information and think it over. I have so many questions. Why would Brad kiss her if they weren't together, do the boys know? "But if she's scared to come out why was she so happy when I was pretending to be with Lucy?"