Nowhere Kids

Trust me

*Brent's POV*

I walked out of English happy the day was over. So far, it was a pretty good day. I couldn't wait to see the guys and hang out at that place Eric was telling us about. I hurried down the hall, hoping to leave the school as quickly as possible.

I suddenly heard someone crying at the end of the hall. Student just kept walking by, ignoring it, so I decided to check it out.
"Everything okay?" I peeled behind the locker and sighed. It was only Courtney, curled up in a ball crying into her hands.
"Brent baby, you have to help me" she sobbed.
"Stop calling me baby" I said as I helped her up. She took up hand and stood up, looking at me with tears in her eyes. It was then I saw her left eye was black and starting to swell.
"Look what Jamie did to me" she whimpered.
"Jamie did that?" I asked, gently placing my hand on her check. I didn't want to believe it, she seemed so cool up until now. Courtney just nodded and held onto me tightly.
"Can you take me home?" I sighed and agreed. I couldn't just leave her like this.

I held Courtney's hand as we made our way outside. I saw Jamie and Zach chatting by the parking lot. Courtney must have noticed them too, cause suddenly she grabbed my arm and pulled me toward them.
"There she is babe!" She yelled out, causing Jamie and Zach to turn towards us. "She did this to me"
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Jamie gave Courtney a dirty look, causing her to start crying again. I pulled her close to me in hopes of calming her down.
"Well, did you?" I asked. I didn't want to believe she did, but Courtney did have to black eye, and I noticed a bruise on Jamie's check, so something must have happened.
"No man. She was with me" Zach said as he stepped forward. I still wasn't sure.
"Then why is she also hurt?" I asked, pointing to Jamie's cheek.
"She got hit by a dodgeball, we were in gym class" Zach explained. Maybe they were telling the truth.
"They're both lying Brently" Courtney sobbed into my chest, so I held her tightly. I didn't know who to believe.
"See you later Zach" I looked up to see Jamie walk away. Zach gave me a disappointed look as Courtney lifted her head to watch Jamie leave.

"Look, I have to drive Courtney home" I told Zach as I started leading to my truck.
"Whatever man. Hope you have fun with your girl. Clearly she's so important to you" Zach mumbled the last part as he started walking away. I shook my head and helped Courtney into the truck.

Courtney had stopped crying by the time we got to her house.
"Can you walk me in?" She gave me big sad eyes as she asked.
"I don't know if that's a good idea" I said, looking down at my lap.
"Why not Baby? I thought we were good again"
"I told you we were done. I was just trying to be helpful. Now stop calling me baby and get out of my truck, please" Courtney did not like that.
"Fuck you Brent Smith" she said as she hopped out and slammed the door. I took off before she could say anything else.

I drove over to the trail Eric told me about. Once I got the the area, I noticed two trails leading in opposite directions. I sat in my truck a while, pondering on which one was the one he talked about. He wasn't that descriptive, so there was no way of figuring out that's way. I decided to take my chances and start down one trail.

I made my way down the path, hoping I chose the right one. I kept my hands in my pockets as I walked, kicking the rocks I passed by. It was pretty quiet, and I didn't think I'd run into anyone. That was, until someone appeared ahead of me, yards ahead. As I got closer, I stopped in my tracks. That was Jamie. She got a few feet closer before looking up from the ground and seeing me. She also froze in her tracks.

We both stood there, staring silently at each other. I wasn't sure how to feel, I still didn't know who to believe. A few moments passed before she started walking again. She kept her eyes on mine as she got closer. I started to back away when I noticed the anger in her eyes.
"Don't move" she growled, making me freeze up. She got right in my face, making me nervous. "What the hell is wrong with you Brent?"
"I- I don't know" I dropped my head sadly, breaking the eye contact. "I guess she got to me again"
"You can't blame Courtney. You know better" she had a good point.
"So you didn't attack her?" I asked.
"Of course not! I understand why you'd believe her over me, we just met. But you believed her over your best friend!" She must be talking about Zach.
"Yeah, I wanted to apologize to him. And to you" Jamie crossed her arms and looked away.
"You can't believe everything"
"I know"
"You can't let her play with your emotions"
"I know"
"And you can't-"
"I know Jamie. I'm sorry. I want to trust you"
"And I want to trust you. It's okay if it takes time, just don't lose what we built over someone apparently known for lying"
"Yeah. She does lie often to get what she wants. I should've known. I just wanted to help her" I chuckled slightly and took Jamie's hands.
"At least you were trying to do the right thing" she smiled and looked up at me. It felt nice.

"We should probably look for the others" Jamie said, breaking our silence.
"Right. Did you check this trail?"
"Yeah, no sign of them"
"Alright, let's check the other one then. Before they leave" Jamie smiled and started back up the path. I followed close behind.

We made our way back to our vehicles and started down the other trail.
"Hey Brent?" I looked up at Jamie, who was still walking slightly ahead of me.
"Yeah?"
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but what did you see in Courtney? I mean, you had to have loved her at some point, right?" I wasn't expecting a question like that, but I didn't mind answering.
"I guess so. She seemed sweet when I first met her, and she was one of the prettiest girls I've seen. I had to ask her out.  But then after about a week together, she started to show her true side. I ignored it thinking it was just me, and by the time I realized how she treated me and everyone around us, I was too scared to leave"
"What were you scared of?"
"Her hurting me, or hurting my friends. I couldn't let her do that. I guess I was also afraid of being alone, I had gotten so used to having her around"
"Aw Brent, you'd never be alone. You have great friends who support you" I smiled as she looked back at me. She smiled back before turning back towards the path.

We knew we were going the right way when we heard Zach's laugh.
"I think they're this way" Jamie grabbed my arm and pulled me into the woods.
"You sure?" I asked as we pushed past bushes and branches. She just nodded and kept pulling me until we reached the river. Sitting by the banks was our friends.
"Bout time" Eric said as we joined them.
"Sorry, we got lost" Jamie said as she took a seat next to Barry. Zach gave me a look so I nodded to let him know all was good. He just nodded back and looked over at Jamie. She was already laughing and having a good time with everyone. I leaned against a tree as I watched them all talk.

"So, did you two kiss and make up?" Zach said as he walked over to me.
"We talked and made up, I apologized for taking Courtney's side. Don't know what you mean by 'kiss'. By the way, I'm sorry for not believing you at first"
"Nah man I get it. She can get to your head sometimes. At least you were smart enough to snap out of it" Zach was now leaning against the tree with me as we watched the others talked.

It felt good knowing everything was okay now, and I hope it stays that way. I just had to remind myself
'No more Courtney'