I Won't Let You Close Enough to Hurt Me

Chapter 17

     On Thursday morning, Paige ran into Brooke's room and jumped on her bed. "Brookie, wake up! Today is the day I go on my date with Thomas! Will you help me get ready after dance?" Paige practically screamed.

     Brooke thought for a moment. She was supposed to go get ice cream with Nick, but she figured that wouldn't happen after how she had treated him. "Sure Paige, I'll help you get ready."

     "Yay! Now get up, it's time for school!" Paige said as she skipped out the door.

     Brooke rolled over and grabbed her phone. It was only 5:45, which meant that she had barely gotten two hours of sleep last night. She went to bed pretty early, but she kept seeing Brandon's awful text message flash in her head.

     After Brooke showered, she straightened her hair and put on a small amount of make-up. When she looked in the mirror, she noticed that the bruises on her arms were getting worse. Even though it was still August and it was about 80 degrees outside, she threw on a light pink shirt with sleeves down to her elbows. She also put on white shorts and brown strappy sandals.

     Brooke trudged downstairs and walked into the kitchen. She wasn't really hungry, so she poured herself a glass of milk and sat down at the table.

     "Good morning, Brookie," Kelly said as she walked down the stairs. "Ready for school?"

     Brooke nodded. What she really wanted was to stay home all day and sleep, but she had missed half a day yesterday, so her homework was already piling up. Moments later, her phone buzzed. She knew that it was Claudia telling her that she was here, so she collected her books and walked out to the car.

     "Hey Brooke!" Claudia and Casey sang as she got in the car.

     "Hey," Brooke mumbled. She had no energy to carry on a conversation, so while they talked on the way to school, she slept.

     Brooke only made it through one period before she saw Brandon in the hall. She thought that he would approach her again, but all he did was shoot her an evil grin. In fact, that's what he did all day. No matter where she went, it seemed like he was there smirking at her.

     At lunch, Brooke made a special effort to find Ryan. She wanted to apologize to him so that was one less thing to worry about. When she saw him sitting at a table with some of his guy friends, she walked up and tapped him on the shoulder.

     "Hey, can I talk to you?" Brooke asked. All of the other guys at the table started to whistle, but she didn't care. She had to make things right with him.

     Brooke and Ryan walked into the hallway and found a quiet place for them to sit and talk. "Listen," Brooke started. "What I said to you was wrong. I do want you in my life. I know that you were just looking out for me, and that's sweet. I was just upset that you were putting down Nick. Whether I'm dating him or not, he's still my friend."

     "I know. I was being a douche bag. I just don't want to see you get hurt, because you don't deserve that. You deserve a relationship with a guy that will treat you like a princess, and nothing less," Ryan stated. A huge grin spread across Brooke's face as she pulled Ryan in for a hug.

     When the bell rang, Brooke and Ryan went their separate ways. She felt like a weight had been lifted off of her. Her friendship with Ryan was back to normal, and Brooke couldn't have been happier.

     By the end of the day, Brooke was completely exhausted. The first thing she did when she hopped in the car after school was close her eyes for a nap. Thirty minutes later, she felt Paige shaking her shoulders. "Brooke, wake up! We're here and we're late!"

     Brooke looked at the clock on her phone. They must have been stuck in traffic, because dance started in two minutes, and neither of the girls were dressed. They ran as fast as they could into the studio. When they turned the corner to head to the bathrooms, Brooke collided with someone.

     She looked up to see Nick laying on the floor. "Oh my god Nick! I am so sorry!" Brooke exclaimed.

     Nick rubbed his head. "Don't worry about it," he said quietly.

     Brooke reached for his hand. "Nick, I really think that we should ta-" Brooke said, but was interrupted by Abby.

     "Hyland girls, you're late! Get your butts changed and into studio A. Everyone else, start stretching," Abby announced.

     Brooke sighed. Her conversation with Nick would have to wait, but hopefully not too long.

     After Brooke and Paige were changed, they ran into the studio and began to stretch. "Alright everyone, listen up. We leave for the competition tomorrow. Our plane leaves at noon, so I need everyone to get to the studio by 9:30. The group dance is looking good, so we are going to rehearse that last tonight. First up will be the duets, then the solos. Brooke, Brandon, and Nick, you guys are up first. Everyone else can practice their dances in studio C," Abby instructed.

     After everyone had left the studio, Abby started talking about the duet. "Now, these past couple of days have been pretty rocky. Whichever boy does better in the duet today will be the one that comes with us to L.A., understand?"

     Brooke, Brandon, and Nick nodded, and got ready to rehearse.

     Brooke performed the dance about five times with each boy, and it was a disaster. Even though they all had the choreography down perfectly, she didn't have a good connection with either boy. When she danced with Brandon, she barely even put in an effort. She tried her hardest to connect with Nick, but he barely looked at her.

     Abby looked furious. "We have been working on this dance for four days now, and it looks hideous. Brooke, you don't have a connection with either boy. I don't understand what's happening! One day it looks better with Brandon, and the next day it looks better with Nick. I don't have time to teach the number to Maddie or Chloe, so I don't know what to do. I guess the only solution is to have both boys come with us and see who dances better on Saturday."

     Brooke, Brandon, and Nick walked into the dancer's den. The first thing Brooke did was get a drink, because she was parched. Then, she desperately looked for Nick.

     "If you're looking for Nick, he left right after our rehearsal was over," Brandon smirked.

     Brooke rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe that she had missed him. She decided to text him and see if they could get together later tonight to talk.

     When Brooke grabbed her phone, she saw that she had a message from Ryan.

Ryan: Hey Brooke. I wanted to tell you this today at lunch, but I chickened out. The reason that I didn't want you to date Brandon or Nick was because I want to date you. I've liked you since the day I met you, and I hope you feel the same way.