Breaking Brielle

E I G H T

Breaking Brielle

Chapter Eight

Not Edited

~ Brielle Clark's POV ~

"Brielle. It's none of your business" He sighed.

"I just don't understand why you wouldn't want to stay here. It's one of the best places to live in my opinion. It's small and quiet. Everyone knows everyone-"

"That's the point" Matthew snapped. "Everyone knows everyone. Everyone knows me"

"What?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"I hate that when people see me, they either see the football player I used to be or the emotionally screwed up kid that I am now. I just want to go somewhere where nobody knows me" He vented. "Do you know how that feels?"

"A little bit. But not that extreme" I gave him a sad smile.

"How?" He ran a hand through his hair.

"In Chicago, everyone knew me as the girl who's mother died of cancer. Here, when people realize who parents are they think of me as the girl whose dad died when he was 21" I explained.

"I hear what people say about me" He mumbled after a few minutes of silence. "I'm the scary kid. The broken kid. Nobody should come near me because I could snap at any minute and hurt them"

"I don't believe that" I whispered.

"Everyone else does. Adults are the worst though. Whenever they think I can't hear them they talk about how sad it is. How sad that I can't play football anymore. Is that all I'm worth?" He leaned against his bike. "Football was fun. I got to spend time with my brother, my dad was happy. Everyone was happy. But after the accident... A few months after I realized that I didn't care that much. Football wasn't my life. It didn't matter"

"Is that why you were fighting with Coach Kenneth?" I asked and he shook his head.

"No. I- I was trying to get back on the team" He mumbled.

"I thought you didn't care?" I asked.

"I don't, but everyone else does" He whispered. "Nobody cares about me anymore"

"That's not true" I frowned at him and he gave me a half smile.

"Yeah it is. My family... we're not close anymore. At least I'm not. My dad... he always was close to us. He's still close to my brothers and sisters. But when he looks at me. His eyes change. He looks like he regrets me. I'm not the son he wanted. I'm the black sheep" Matthew spoke with such... carelessness. It's like he came to terms with the way his dad feels about him.

"I'm sure he doesn't regret you" I sat down next to him.

"You don't know us. Everything was about football. Summer never enjoyed  football or cheerleading the way we did. But she was his first daughter. So he loved her no matter what. I guess it's different with your third child"

"Matthew..."

"Stop. Just stop it Brielle. You don't know my family. You don't know my parents. You don't know me. You're just saying this stuff because in your mind all parents love their kids. But that's just not true. It just isn't" He sighed.

I didn't reply because he was right. I had no idea if his parents actually loved him. I just wanted to believe that all parents loved their kids. He was so hurt. What do I say to someone who feels this way?

"Brielle, it's fine. I've come to term with this. It's not as bad as it seems" He pulled himself up off of the floor and stumbled a bit.

"Are you okay?" I asked and he nodded.

"Yeah. Yeah. It's just my leg" He grumbled. "Do you need a ride home?"

"Um" I looked towards where Faye had parked earlier and her spot was empty. I obviously didn't know what kind of car Jackson drove so I nodded. "Yeah I do"

"Afraid of motorcycles?" He joked and I frowned. He felt guilty for yelling at me. Faye would do this after we fought. She would try to joke around but that wasn't her personality and it's defiantly not Matthew's.

"I'm not afraid of anything" I cracked a small smile.

"Oh yeah?" He raised an eyebrow while climbing onto his bike. "You look like you would be the type of girl to be afraid of spiders"

"Spiders?" I laughed as he helped me get on. "I have a pet spider"

"Really?" He asked while handing me his helmet. "Put that on"

"Well, not really. I just talk to this spider that lives in my bathroom" I buckled the helmet on. "What about you?"

"What?" He snorted.

"A helmet I mean" I shook my head.

"I'm not going to be responsible for hurting you if we crash" He responded. "Don't worry, I'll drive slow. Hold on"

Even though he said he was going to drive slow, he was still going pretty fast. I clenched onto his shirt as he drove down the road. He seemed to be avoiding the main roads so I could see the blurs of houses.

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly as we pulled up at a red light.

"Mhm" I hummed.

5 minutes later we pulled up to my house.

"Be careful getting off" He said as I climbed off the bike.

I stumbled a bit and cracked a smile.

"Here's your helmet" I put it on his head and he breathed a laugh.

"Thanks. Uh I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier" He put his helmet on.

"It's okay. You weren't really yelling at me. You were upset" I smiled at him and he nodded.

"See you around I guess" He turned so he can start his bike.

"Be careful" I called as he drove off and he raised his arm to show that he heard me.

"Brielle Anastasia Clark" Faye yelled as soon as I walked through the door.

"What?" I laugh.

"I leave you on a date with the beautiful man that is the football captain and you get dropped off by a motorcycle driving loner" She crossed her arms.

"You're so dramatic" I grinned at her frowning face.

a u t h o r s   n o t e

I hope you guys enjoyed! There was a little reference to You Don't Know Me in the chapter!

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