Becoming Queen Bee

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Brandon!" I helplessly called after him as I chased his retreating figure down the hallway.

I knew we were causing a scene but did I care? Not at all. I needed to straighten things out with him. I knew that he couldn't stay mad with me forever. At least that's what I was hoping. How could he remain angry with me after our heart-to-heart earlier this morning. He had poured out all of his feelings about his torn family.

"Brandon, wait!" I called out one more time as I struggled to get through the sea of bodies in the crowded hall.

I was running to try and catch up with him and when he abruptly stopped I collided with his solid back. After recovering from the shock of my nose being flattened against his toned body I put my hands on his shoulders and spun him around so that we were facing each other.

He looked impatient like as soon as I blurted out what needed to be said he would turn on his heel and stalk away to his next class. I wanted so badly for this to work out though, so I needed to say something and not just stand here like an idiot mesmerized by his perfect features.

"Why are you mad at me?" I pleaded.

That probably wasn't the best thing to say. I watched his jaw tighten and his hands form two fists by his side. I took his hands in mine and tried to loosen the grip but he only snatched them away like I'd burnt him.

"You're asking me why I'm mad at you? Are you really that blind? You're turning into Katie! You chose being Queen Bee over me, you want everyone to bow down at your feet. I don't want to be with you if you're going to be some stuck up clone of Katie. I loved you for you, not for who you've turned into."

I was left speechless at what he'd just said to me. Brandon was about to walk away. He was growing even more outraged when I didn't respond. As he took the first step away one detail clicked in my mind. I grabbed his arm and forced him to face me again.

"You said you love me." I whispered, fearing that if I spoke any louder my voice would crack.

"No, I said I loved the old you."

With that he broke his arm from my grasp and disappeared into the crowd of teenage bodies, leaving me standing dumbfounded in the middle of the hallway. I didn't care that people were probably staring after our little fallout. Heck, it wasn't a 'little fallout'! Brandon had just broken up with me. As the seriousness of his words formed a meaning in my brain hot tears began to stream down my face for the second time today.

I discarded the thought of attending my next class as I dashed towards the girls bathroom. I had already ditched once today, what's one more time?

I was a mess by the time I reached the bathroom. There was a freshman in there who glanced at me nervously before scurrying out the door. I let out a loud sob as soon as she exited. I let myself cry for a while before my tears ran dry. I don't think I could have cried any longer if I tried.

Daring to look in the mirror I discovered that my mascara had run all the way down to my jaw line and my cheeks were flushed. All traces of makeup had disappeared except for a few messy smudges here and there. No wonder that freshman had looked at me like that. I looked like a dramatic girl who ran into the bathroom and cried because her boyfriend broke up with her. Then I realized that that is precisely what I am.

A cross between a sob and a moan escaped my lips as I cradled my head in my hands. I tried to pick out anything I had done to cause Brandon to break up with me. He wasn't bothered with the idea of me being Queen Bee when I first told him about it so what had changed his mind? I guess I might have been acting slightly different from when we first got together. I have to act the part though. I can't act like an innocent girl who would never hurt a fly when I'm becoming so much more than that.

The question that kept nagging me was which one is the real me.

I splashed some water on my face, removing the last specks of makeup that were still clinging on. Deciding to go for the natural look for the rest of the day I only applied a bit of concealer around my red and puffy eyes. I smoothed my hair out a bit and put on some clear lip gloss.

Everybody probably already knew about Brandon and I breaking up so who cares if they knew I was crying. They should know that he broke my heart. Any sadness that was left in me was slowly turning into fury directed at Brandon. It's his fault that I'm a mess hiding away in the bathroom and ditching class. It's his fault that everybody will think I'm pathetic now. Everything is Brandon O'Connor's fault.

I hiked my bag up onto my shoulder and stomped out of the bathroom. All traces of sadness were long gone as I held my head high and made my way to class. Who cares that I'm late, the worst they can do is give me a detention.

I knocked once on the door and entered before anybody even had the chance to say anything. I avoided making eye contact with any of the students. Once I sat down the teacher continued with the lesson. I guess I wasn't even going to get a detention today.

I was pleased with myself that I was at least appearing more pulled together than I actually was. I could feel curious eyes boring into my back. I tried to focus on the unnecessary lesson about something that happened 100 years ago, half way across the world.

That class couldn't have ended fast enough and I snatched my textbook up and bolted out the door. I didn't even bother to go to my locker, I just wanted to get out of this horrible building. I was almost home free when a large hand engulfed my slender wrist.

"What?" I snapped and whipped my head around.

Riley was standing uncomfortably close to me. He was wearing a bone chilling expression. I tried to squirm out of his grasp but he was relentless.

"You better get your act together. You already lost Brandon and if you do anything to hurt Sarah, I will hurt you."

"Are you kidding me? Sarah is my best friend and you think I would do anything to hurt her?" I spat and glared straight into his eyes.

We stayed in this position, him clutching my wrist and me glaring at him until Sarah skipped over. She was oblivious to what was going on between us and we immediately took a step away from each other.

"Hey!" she chipped and stood on her tiptoes to kiss Riley.

I stood there awkwardly and realized that I no longer have a boyfriend that I can kiss. I wasn't about to let myself break down in front of them though. That was for tonight when I was alone in my bedroom.

"Let's go and get ice cream!" Sarah suddenly squealed like it was the best idea ever.

She grasped both of Riley's hand in her petite ones and looked up at him with big puppy dog eyes. He didn't really need to be convinced, she had him wrapped around her little finger. Riley immediately agreed to taking her to Dairy Queen.

"You wanna come, Kylie?" she smiled at me.

I glanced at Riley and his expression made my mind up for me. He looked like he would strangle me if I said yes.

"That's alright, you guys go on your date. I'm just gonna catch up on some studying." I gave a weak smile.

"Okay, don't work too hard." she wrapped her arms around my neck in her signature embrace before bouncing off with her boyfriend.

I wanted to tell her what he'd said to me. She was just so oblivious. In her mind he was so sweet and caring, he would do anything for her. I used to have to same opinion about him but after our little incident I was starting to change my mind.

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Hi loves!

I'm on a roll these past few days :) Still looking for feedback! Somebody's Heartbreak by Hunter Hayes on the side.

-mbookwormj