I Won't Let You Close Enough to Hurt Me

Chapter 20

     "I can't believe she's making us sit next to him," Brooke muttered. "It's a five hour plane ride, and I can barely stand to be near him for five seconds."

     "I know. I guess we can just try to sleep the whole way there," Nick whispered.

     Brooke nodded. She grabbed her bag off of the floor and pulled out a pair of headphones. She stuck them in her phone and offered one to Nick. He happily took it, and they spent the rest of the 25 minute drive to the airport listening to 'Turning Tables' and running through the duet in their heads.

     When they arrived, everyone filed off of the bus and grabbed their luggage. As they walked into the airport, Kelly wrapped her arm around Brooke's shoulder. "Are you going to be okay sitting next to Brandon, or do you want me to talk to Abby?"

     "Mom, I'm not a little kid. I can handle sitting next to him on one plane ride," Brooke huffed. Kelly sighed and walked away, leaving her alone with Nick. Even though she was too afraid to admit it, Brooke was a little scared of what would happen on the plane. She knew that the whole flight would consist of Brandon mocking her and Nick, and she didn't know how much more of his bullying she could take.

     As if Nick was reading her mind, he slipped his hand into hers. They stopped walking and Brooke looked into his eyes. Nick tucked her hair behind her ear and whispered, "It's all going to be okay. Not just the plane ride, but everything. I know that him picking on you all the time is tiring, and I won't let it happen for much longer."

     Brooke smiled. She didn't know what Nick could do to get Brandon off of her back, but she was happy that he cared.

     After everyone had made it through security, they walked to the gate. Getting through the airport had taken them a little longer than expected, so they were able to board right when they arrived at the gate.

     Brooke, Nick, and Brandon walked straight to the back of the plane and took their seats. Immediately after sitting down, Brooke took a small pillow out of her bag and positioned it behind her neck. She also grabbed her headphones, stuck them in her iPhone, and began listening to music. Before she had even gotten five seconds into 'Dark Side' by Kelly Clarkson, Brandon ripped the buds from her ears.

     "I think we should all talk for awhile. It's been so long since we've done that," Brandon said sarcastically.

     Brooke was fuming. She was sick of Brandon's evil nature and snippy comments. "Listen Brandon, I don't know why you think it's so fun to make me mad. It's not enough that you cheated on me when we were dating, but now you have to pick on me? What did I ever do to you?" she demanded.

     "Brooke," Nick started, trying to calm her down. "Just ignore him. He's not worth it. He's a jerk that's just looking for attention from you. Don't give him the satisfaction."

     Brooke took a deep breath. Nick was right, all Brandon wanted was attention. Every time she got upset with him, he won. That was exactly what he wanted. She was completely prepared to ignore him for the rest of the flight, until he made the comment, "Honestly Brooke, I don't even care if you talk to me. I have Ryleigh now, and she's twice the girl you'll ever be. Plus, she's a much better kisser."

     Without even thinking, Brooke grabbed her unopened water bottle out of her bag and hit Brandon on the side of the head with it.

     Brandon cried out in pain. "Brooke you bitch, why would you do that? Think of the bruise I'm going to have." As he clutched his head, he winced, but Brooke felt no guilt.

     "Do you really expect my pity? Look what you did to me!" Brooke exclaimed as she rolled up one of her sleeves to reveal multiple black and blue finger tip-shaped bruises.

     The moment after she had exposed her arm, she regretted it. She completely forgot that she hadn't told Nick about the incident at school. Brooke tried to roll her sleeve back down as quickly as possible, but it was too late.

     "Brooke, what did he do to you?" Nick gasped.

     "I'll explain later," she whispered.

     Moments later, Abby was standing in the aisle next to them. "You three need to quiet down now. You're all teenagers; act like it. I don't want to hear any yelling, fighting, or violence," she stated as she glared at Brooke. "I will not have you embarrassing my company."

     As Abby returned to her seat, Brooke laid her head back on her pillow and drifted off to sleep. With any luck, she wouldn't wake up until the plane landed.

*********

     About five hours later, Brooke heard the pilot announce that the plane was preparing to land. She felt her pillow laying next to her foot, so she had assumed that it had fallen there earlier.

     Even though she knew that she had to wake up, she didn't want to. Brooke could feel a warm shoulder underneath her head, and she was extremely comfy. She smiled to herself. Nick was so sweet; he was the only guy Brooke knew that would let her use his shoulder as a human pillow.

     After a few seconds, Brooke forced herself to open her eyes. Brooke looked up, and to her surprise, she was face to face with Brandon's devil-ish smile.