Today is my exam.
I sit at the kitchen table and read my notes over and over. Once I reach the last page, I restart at the beginning. I've been practicing myself on everything I need to know and I'm confident that I will pass this test.
It's been a week since my night out and I haven't seen Zayn or Chase. I've only seen Bren and Sophia a handful of times but most of my time has been devoted to studying.
I head into my bathroom and put my hair up in a high ponytail and pin my bangs back. I'm not wearing any make up and I feel as if it makes me look more professional. I put some lotion on my face and head into my room to change.
"Good luck, sweetie." My mom calls as I grab my bag and head for the door.
"Thanks," I smile and continue on my way out to the car. The drive to the location doesn't take very long and I am forty-five minutes early. I take five minutes to sit in the car and calm my nerves before heading inside and checking in.
The exam takes a while and I manage to keep myself calm and collected through most of it. At the end of the test, I am told that I will get my results in the mail or I can check online in a few days. I let out a sigh of relief as I walk out to the car and sit inside, my hands reaching up to rub my face as I recuperate from my long session of staring at a computer screen.
I start my car and exit the parking lot, not completely sure where I am going. I did know that the last thing I want to do is be alone. I would end up overthinking and start to feel like I could have done better on my test.
I let out a sigh as I pull into Brenden's driveway, hoping Chase isn't home even though his car is here. Maybe he went out and his friends picked him up. Or hopefully he will stay in his room if he is here. I should have known that a relationship with him would forever affect anything I ever did with Brenden. Now it was weird for me to come over and I hate that feeling. I hate feeling like I should just stay away in order to avoid my ex. Was he even my ex? We were only together for a little over a week and I didn't feel any sadness that the relationship was over, only anger that he would cheat on me.
I turn my car off and step out, beginning to walk up to the front door. I'll just put it all behind me and act as if him and I never even happened. That would probably be the smartest way to get things back to how they used to be.
I open the front door and step inside. I usually felt uncomfortable just walking in to their house but Brenden always made it a point to tell me that I could. He also never got off his ass to open it for me when I'd come over so I've just gotten used to the uncomfortable feeling.
I shut the door behind me and stop when I hear loud laughing. Sophia must be here, too.
When I walk around the corner, I stop dead in my tracks. I was expecting to see Brenden and Sophia but it's Chase.. And Sophia. They're sitting next to each other on the couch, laughing. Chase's arm rests along the back of the couch and his hand is gently rubbing her shoulder.
I cough awkwardly and both of their heads snap in my direction. "Alivia," Chase says as he abruptly stands up as if I didn't just see them sitting close.
I stare at the ground and think about how a normal person would react to this. Should I be upset? I mean, it's kind of annoying but I'm not mad at either of them. I decided to let my anger for Chase go about five minutes ago when I was sitting in my car. It's been five minutes since I let go of that anger and I wasn't ready to open it back up yet.
"Do you know where Bren is?" I ask as I look between the two of them.
"His room," Chase says lowly as he looks at me with his eyebrows furrowed. He's probably confused as to why I'm not screaming at him. I take one last glance at Sophia who is refusing to look at me and I wonder if she feels like she's doing something wrong. Regardless of how I feel which seems to be the least of her concerns, she's a big girl and she knows the type of guy Chase is. Just like I did.
I bite my lip and nod in response, turning towards the stairs. Once I reach Bren's door, I push it open and immediately flop down on his bed.
"I was wondering if you were ever going to show your face around here," Brenden laughs. He's sitting at the top of his bed with his reading glasses on and a newspaper on his lap.
"Why are you reading the newspaper?" I giggle and prop myself up to look at him.
"Have you ever looked at one?" He raises a curious eyebrow at me while removing his glasses and I look at the ceiling as I think about his question. I don't think I've ever touched a newspaper in my life other than in 8th grade art class when we'd use pieces of them to make sculptures.
He chuckles at the look on my face and tosses the newspaper aside, "Well since you didn't come to read the newspaper with me, did you come to save me from Sophia and Chase?"
"What's going on with them anyways?"
"I dunno," Bren shrugs and I stand from his bed at the same time he does, "All they do is flirt and it's kind of disgusting."
I raise both my eyebrows and he immediately frowns, "I'm sorry, Via. I know you guys didn't work out an-"
"No, it's okay. I just don't want to see her get hurt." I say quietly while looking down at the floor.
"When she does, I'll tell her the same thing I told you."
I roll my eyes at him and he smiles at me sarcastically. "If you're such a relationship guru, where's your boyfriend?"
Brenden's features go from playful to serious, "I'm saving myself for marriage."
We both stare at each other with straight faces for a few seconds until I burst into laughter, knowing that he's joking. He laughs along with me as we walk downstairs and towards the front door. This was the first time we were leaving without Sophia and it felt odd.
"Don't fuck on the couch," Brenden calls as we walk out the door and I press my lips together, unable to process my thoughts as I continue walking towards my car. It's not that I was angry about the two of them, but I wasn't happy with them either. I had mixed feelings and I had no desire to sit down and figure them out.
