Cause and Effect

Part 34

~Brent~

Teenagers by My Chemical Romance roared in my ears as I desperately tried to shut out the memories of last night's fiasco out of my mind. I had worse nightmares than usual last night, due to Elizabeth so sweetly reminding me of how much my mother blames me for my sister's crash.

I turned my music up until they were at full blast and I couldn't hear a single thing besides the lyrics. Class today had been fairly bearable; Oliver had left me alone for the most part. I wasn't sure what he was being nice about, whether Elizabeth told him about Jake, or just the fact that we were friends in a way, now.

Actually, I wouldn't call it friendship- more like we didn't kill each other, just yell about how we would.

Yeah, that sounds about right.

The air felt cool and refreshing on my arms as I walked in Mag's. Nobody was inside, but as I walked deeper in the store, I heard voices. Not just any voices, though.

Jake and Mag's voices.

I wondered what Mag had to talk to Jake about and pressed myself to the wall to listen and find out. They were just mumbles at first, but as I strained my ears and controlled my breathing, I could hear them better, though they were still incoherent at times.

"I understand... can't believe she would do something like that... you poor thing... broke your heart." I heard, the voice belonging to Mag.

"Believe it... I just miss her... loved her so much... wish she hadn't done that... will you do?" responded Jake. Pieces of the conversation were missing, seeing as my ears could not listen when they got that low.

"Fire her... can't have tension here... you're a victim..." responded Mag. And that's when the puzzle pieces clicked; they were talking about me.

That bastard made up a story about me and fed the bullshit to Mag. Now she believes it and is going to fire me. Oh hell no! I am going to march right in there and tell her the real story! I peeled myself from the wall and walked the few steps into her office. Flowers in pastel colors coated the walls and I inwardly smiled, remembering the time we had painted these together.

"Jake! Are you done feeding her total bullshit or do you want to continue?" I asked, giving him my fiercest glare. He flinched and his eyes widened in the realization that I had been listening. Then, as if he had gotten an idea, a small smile played on his perfect lips.

"Brent, I am sorry, but I just had to tell Mag about what you did. It didn't seem right not to. And, in all honesty, you broke my heart, babe! I loved you so much and you went and slept with some guy at a bar?! Don't you understand how that made me feel?" he bellowed, faking hurt. I gaped at him, feeling my temper boil. I looked in the mirror Mag had in her office and was happy to know that my eyes were a scary shade of yellow-green.

"I CHEATED ON YOU?! I caught you in bed with a blonde whore! What the hell angle are you playing at, Jake? Don't be pissed at me because Daniel dumped water on you while you were having post-sex dreams! You know that I would never cheat on you and so does Mag, so just stop. You're embarrassing your-"

"Brent, you're fired. I will not hear you spout this rubbish after what you put this poor boy through." Roared Mag, her British accent strong and angry. I saw an angry fire in her brown eyes that I had never seen before.

"You... you actually believe him?!" I asked, incredulously, though I would understand if she would. He was very convincing and was displaying some very believable water works at the moment. Mag sighed and gripped her desk.

"Brent, I will not say it again. Get. Out." She growled. I fought a whimper and stormed out of the store, running the rest of the way home. I bolted inside and slammed the front door shut. Tears prickled my eyes and I cried in pain as if I had been struck, then slammed my fist into the dry wall. My fist, as expected, broke through and I ran into my room, throwing on Nike shorts, a sports bra, and running shoes.