Spin The Bottle

47 | Anxious

"Okay, that's great." She had forced herself to say that before thanking him for the ride and getting out of the car.

Chris watched her enter her house before backing out of the driveway and driving home. He thought it was unfair that she chose Luke over him even though he asked first. He didn't mean to say what he did about finding some other girl to go with. He had just said it out of slight anger. He wouldn't be able to take another girl as his date. Damn, he wouldn't even be able to stand by and watch Luke dance with Steph. It would hurt too much. He'd prefer to stay back home.

That thought prompted him to decide at that moment that he wouldn't attend the formal. He'd just stay home and spend time with his mum and Emily. He also decided not to tell anyone about his decision. Whenever Jason and Max asked, he'd dismiss the topic; same with when his mum asked.

The night of the formal, he didn't go just as he had planned, though his mum tried to make him attend it. Some hours into the winter formal which was held in their transformed gym, everyone realised that Chris wasn't coming. They had initially thought that he was a little late or trying to be fashionably late; but later they realised that he wasn't coming at all. He disappointed a lot girls. Steph found Jason and asked him about Chris. He replied that he had no idea that Chris wasn't gonna attend. He never told anyone.

Steph began to feel bad. She had a feeling that her deciding to go with Luke instead influenced Chris' absence that night. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't enjoy her night. When she told Brooke what happened, Brooke said, "Of course it's your fault, you dummy."

After Brooke reprimanded Steph, she told her to come meet her at the snack table when she's ready to leave. Steph watched her best friend walk away and sighed.

Brooke hasn't been her usual self for about two weeks now. She even came to the formal with no date. You're wondering about Cole? Well, they broke up about two weeks earlier. To put it frankly, Cole was the one who called things off. And no, they didn't end things on a wrong note -- they actually ended it as amicably as they could.

Brooke had kinda seen it coming when they were assigned lab partners in their chemistry class. Cole got a cute timid girl with ginger hair as his partner while she had this guy that she still doesn't get along with. They were assigned a project and he had to spend more time with this girl. Somehow, he ended up having feelings for her and what she was afraid of, happened. He explained to her when he called things off and kept saying he didn't mean for any of it to happen. That Brooke kinda saw it coming doesn't mean it hurt any less. She honestly didn't blame Cole for what happened. It's life.

"Fate was just doing her job. I guess him and I weren't meant to be," she had told Steph after the break up. "It's not the end of the world. It's not like I was in love with him or anything. I'm too young to fall in love. And I don't need a man to make me feel good about myself."

After saying all that, she burst into tears and Steph comforted her. After about a week of sulking, Brooke went back to her everyday routine, acting like it never happened. Steph hated seeing her best friend like that and wished she'd never get heartbroken again.

After staying for a little longer, Steph told Luke that she was tired and wanted to leave. He offered to drive her home but she declined and explained that she was going with Brooke. She got home, had a little chat with her parents and got ready for bed. She got settled on her bed but instead of falling asleep, she picks up her phone and dials Chris' number. She knew there was a very high possibility that he was already asleep but she called him anyway. Chris answered on the second ring.