Dreamcatching

Chapter 3

"Brooke!" Nora hollered after leaving math class. Running down the hall to her friend's locker, Nora bumped Brooke's hip with a laugh as her science text tumbled off the top shelf.

"Shi-"

"I got it, Babe," Nora said with a smile, catching the paper-covered textbook by it's spine. Little doodles covered the brown bag, along with various other tag marks. "Cala hearts Rudy, TLF" and "Brooke-n-Benjamin" were on the front. Five more couples names were grafitied onto the back. "No worries."

Frowning, Brooke turned. Quirking an eyebrow she twisted the corner of her mouth at her friend before joking, "Pain in my ass, you are, Nora Blaze."

"Oh, bringing out the big guns are we, Brooke dear?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatevs. It's just your middle name," she replied turning back to look into her locker mirror. A scraped up and faded One Direction band sticker was stuck on the old metal door next to it; a boy-band reminant from an earlier fan who'd long since graduated. "Are my lips too thin?"

"What?"

"My lips; are they plump enough?" Puckering up, Brooke turned towards Nora and made the duck face. "Khloe Kardashian just got more collagen injected into hers. Do you think I should do it, too?"

"Ewe, Brooke, stop," Nora whined, leaning her back against the wall nearby. Wrinkling her nose, Nora frowned. Someone needed to empty the hallway trashcan. Nora could smell something rank coming out of it; like sweatsocks and sour milk mixed together. Gross. "You know I hate it when you do that."

"What?"

"What do you mean, what?" Nora asked, pointing to Brooke's lips. "That. That stupid, vacant stare with the big lips thing. You look like an empty-headed, bubble-brain. Just stop."

"Bro, no," Brooke replied, dead-panning. "Seriously. Should I do it?"

"Bro, yeah. Ah, no. Not a good look on you," Nora continued, moving around to steal some mirror space. She had to make sure the swollen zit from the morning was going away. "Seriously, you're way too pretty to ruin your looks with that shit. Plus, you're super smart. Don't degrade yourself by making that dumb face. Truly. Just, no. Leave your mouth alone. Just be you. It's why we all love you, anyway."

Slamming the door to her locker in a huff, (so much for the shared use of the mirror), Brooke turned and smirked, catching movement behind them and grabbing Nora's arm.

"He's there again, Nora. I'm telling you, Donovan wants to Netflix and chill with you."

Rolling her eyes, Nora looked down the hall before whispering out of the side of her mouth. "Stop! We're just friends. Donovan's a good guy, Brooke."

Clearly not buying it, Brooke kept on. "Then why is he always lurking around you, huh?"

"I don't know. And he doesn't lurk around. He just-" Nora tried to whisper-explain, before being cut off.

"He does, too, Nora, and you know it!" Brooke exclaimed while Nora tried to shush her.

"Quiet, Brooke," Nora continued. "Why you gotta be so loud? He's gonna hear you!"

"He will not," Brooke brushed off the comment. "He's all the way down the hall, Nora."

Nora looked up and caught his stare before he turned to leave. "Ooh, he so heard you, Brooke."

"Quit your whining, Nor," she said. "Who cares? It's just Donovan."

"That's so not right, Brooke." Nora replied. "Why're you so mean to him?"

"I'm not mean," Brooke said.

"Yes, you are," Nora continued. "Everytime Donovan helps me or is nearby, you gotta say something about him."

"Well, why's he always gotta be around, huh? I mean, everytime somethin's goin' down, Donovan's there."

"I don't know, Brooke," Nora answered. "What I do know is that there have been so many times that he's helped me, so I don't care."

"Does that mean you like him, then?" Brooke asked.

"No," Nora said hesitantly. "Not really. I mean, as a friend and all, yeah, but not like...besides I don't think he likes me like that either. It's not like he ever tried to get with me or-."

"Yeah, well, then you should care." Brooke cut in while tugging on her ponytail. "Too many freaks out there these days."

"He's not a freak, Brooke," Nora tried to defend him half-heartedly. "Come on. Leave him alone."

"Yeah, yeah," Brooke said, sighing. "Whatevs. Come on. Let's get outta' here."

" 'kay."

As Nora and Brooke headed off to class, Nora couldn't help wonder if maybe her friend was right. Why was Donovan always there? Did he like Nora and was just too shy to do anything about it?

Or was there something else, something more sinister, going on?
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Chapter Photo Credit: By Tahoe at http://www.unsplash.com .