Isaac and Nathan opened the doors to Cole's car, stepping in without asking. Cole sighed. "No. Come on, guys. Find another ride." He said monotonously. Nathan started to ramble about Skyler, making Cole give in.
Isaac started to play rap on the radio just as Danny, Alex and Jackie knocked on the windows, asking to come in. Before Cole could decline, Danny convinced him by reminding him that they had bought alcohol.
Brooklyn followed behind. "Room for one more? I don't feel like driving." She shot Cole a sweet smile. He sighed. "Get in the back." He mumbled, his soft spot for the girl was evident. She sat beside Alex in the middle row.
Danny walked to the passengers seat where Isaac sat. "Dude, please, just one time." Isaac asked, wanting to have shotgun. "You know the rules. In the back." Danny replied.
"One day, I'll be the oldest and you all can bite me." Isaac stated, stepping over the front row seat. "You won't be the oldest, that's not how age works." Alex corrected. "Shut the hell up." Isaac stumbled onto the second row, falling straight onto Brooklyn.
"Ew, get off me." She said in a joking manner, pushing him lightly. Isaac made a fake offended face, leaning further into her with his whole bodyweight. "Ow, you're suffocating me." Brooklyn complained, smacking his arm a few times in attempt to get him away. Isaac laughed, moving to the back beside Nathan.
She found herself smiling after the interaction, after many years they still had the same friendship they had before she left.
When they arrived there were loads of people scattered across the area, drinking, talking and making out. Brooklyn cringed at the last part. She sat with Isaac, Kiley and Nathan as they listened to Nathan overthink about a bunch of songs he'd given Skyler.
"If you really like him, just plant the seed and let him come to you." Isaac told him. Nathan nodded, agreeing with him until Isaac stood up and walked to Skyler's direction. He mumbled something about 'planting the seed.' as he walked over to Skyler who was talking to Grace.
Nathan followed him in a panicked manner while Brooklyn and Kiley stayed put watching the scene unfold. Though, they both had completely different reactions. Kiley couldn't contain her laugh while Brooklyn's face was unfazed, watching closely as Isaac flirted with Grace. She didn't realize but her face morphed into a slightly bothered expression.
Brooklyn got snapped out of her daze when Kiley suggests a game of beer pong. She noticed that someone had an awfully similar look on his face. Alex. Who was looking in Jackie's direction.
As Isaac and Grace teamed up, Brooklyn asked Alex to join her. "Hey Kiley, do you mind if me and Alex go against them?" Brook asked. "No, not at all. I was just gonna watch, didn't plan on playing."
Brooklyn made every shot she threw, while Alex took care of the drinking whenever a ball landed in one of their cups. Every time Grace landed a ball, she hugged Isaac and he picked her up from the ground.
'It's not even that big of a deal, she just landed one shot, I landed plenty.' Brooklyn thought to herself. She rolled her eyes, annoyed at herself for even caring. Why should she? They were just friends.
Each time they celebrated by hugging, it only riled her up more to win. The game wasn't even close. Brook and Alex won by a long shot and celebrated with their secret handshake. Brooklyn seemed to take note of Alex's stumble and put his arm over her shoulder to steady him.
"Okay, that's enough drinking for you." Brook giggled at Alex who was full of adrenaline. "You drank 5 cups of beer not including the ones outside of beer pong." She pulled him to Kiley's car, helping him into the passenger seat after getting her permission to drive them home.
"What about Jackie?" Alex mumbled. Brook looked around for the pink puff jacket that Jackie was wearing. She spotted that exact jacket beside Cole Walter.
"She's, uh. She's with Cole." She told him, buckling his seatbelt. Kiley got in the back, a bit intoxicated as opposed to Brooklyn who hadn't drunk tonight. So they decided Brooklyn would be the one driving.
Alex seemed to be disturbed by that information but didn't say anything. the ride was silent and they greeted Kiley goodbye as she was sober enough to drove away from the Walter Ranch.
When they walked in the house, Katherine hadn't come home from work yet and George seemed to be working outside in the farm. Brooklyn dragged the drunk Walter up the stairs and into his bedroom.
"Hey, Brook?" Alex called out, laying in his bed. "We're best friends, right?" The girl was confused at the obvious question but answered nonetheless. "Yes, why?"
"And best friends help each other with things, right?" He continued. "Where are you going with this?" Brooklyn asked, not getting any less confused. "I like Jackie."
"I know, I could tell since I arrived. The way you looked at her during Thanksgiving dinner." She replied nonchalantly. "The same way you looked at Isaac in the car." He said as an example. Brooklyn's eyebrows furrowed. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Come on, Brook. We've been best friends since we were three. You've liked Isaac before you even left to go to LA." Alex drunk rambled. She thought about it for a moment. Was he right? How would he be right?
How would he know she liked someone before she even knew herself?
"What if, we pretend to date?" Alex suggested. "Think about it. I want to get Jackie's attention and you want to get Isaac's attention. If it works, great. If it doesn't, we just say it was a big prank or that we decided we were better off as friends. Win-win." He smiled looking into Brooklyn's eyes innocently.
"Look, you're really drunk. We'll talk about this tomorrow when you're sober, okay?" Brooklyn told him. He simply nodded, getting comfortable in his sheets.
On her way back to her bed, she thought about it really hard. He was right. Jackie was jumping back and forth from Alex and Cole. If she saw Alex as off limits it might spark her interest, meaning she'd most likely want to get Brooklyn out of the picture. And the same for Isaac.
Plus, Brooklyn and Alex have the right chemistry for it. They knew each other like the back of their hands. It wouldn't be hard to fake a relationship, would it?
'Stop.' Brooklyn scolded herself. There's no way she was really considering this.
