Echoes of a Broken Melody

Chapter 9

CW // Under age drinking, and drugs

AN// THIS STORY IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!! TO CONTINUE READING MEANS THAT YOU AGREE TO ACCEPT THAT SOME PLOTLINES, NAMES, AGES, AND PEOPLE WILL CHANGE. THANK YOU FOR BEARING WITH ME AS I WORK TO MAKE THIS EXPERIENCE MORE VALUABLE TO YOU.

The rest of the week, Brook was pissed. It wasn't that Amber had gotten adopted, or that she had completely ditched her. It wasn't that she changed and suddenly became a bitch, which to Brooklyn's record, seemed to check out.

It was WHO she seemed to buddy up with.

Dan and Phil had noticed the apparent mood shift, and Brook wasn't too worried about masking anymore.

Her doctor's appointment had gone over fine. She was supposed to rest for the next two weeks, which would be pretty difficult considering school started next week.

There was no amount of writing poetry that could get Brooklyn out of this spiral.

When Phil had asked her how her evening with her friends was, she shrugged him off. Later, a worried Dan was at her door, beckoning a response from her. The next morning, the both of them.

Right now, Brooklyn was wishing she wouldn't have shrugged them off.

She was currently sat in the living room with a smaller, brunette-haired woman with a bob. Dan's mother.

You see, those questions weren't them prying into her social life. On the contrary, Brooklyn see's them for what they were now. Warnings.

It wasn't that Mrs. Howell wasn't kind! Actually, that was...kind of Brooklyn's whole problem. To her, this woman was a stranger. Somebody she's never seen photos of, let alone heard of her before.

'Maybe if i had taken the time to stop and listen' She thought to herself.

Instead, she was sat with, what genuinely might be the most kind wholesome person in the world. Brook was honestly taken aback at how understanding and accepting she was, and how quick she was to welcome her with open arms.

To call herself Brooks grandmother,

It made her skin crawl.

Dan was sat besides her, with Phil by his in-law's side. There was a sense of ease in the air but Brooklyn didn't seem to take the hint, her foot jiggling her leg as she fidgeted with a hair tie on her wrist.

The three talked, the topic flying past Brooklyn attention. Her train of thought was in a different place, like, why was she here anyway?

'JUST to meet me?'

Brooklyn's discomfort must have been visible because her attention was quickly caught by the older woman.

"Why don't you go ahead and get something to eat? We can't be entertaining you at this point!" with a smile on her face, she raised her hands up to the boys as an indication of what she meant.

"Could I go to my room?" She replied meekly, looking towards Dan.

"Of course, this is your house too!"

Brooklyn could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up in shame, or perhaps, secondhand embarrassment FOR herself. She could only imagine how stupid she looked just then.

Quickly a-lining it for her room, she locked the door and pulled her phone out. Her eyes flickered between the two numbers she had acquired over the two weeks she had been here.

The girl chewed her lip before putting them both in a group chat and hitting send on the message: "meet in 10 @ prk? bring a ride and a lite"

Tossing her phone on her bed, she turned and headed towards the closet, quickly removing her current outfit. She tossed her old clothes to a corner of the floor and slid on a red crop top before shimmying on a pair of black shorts.

She grabbed her purse from where she last hid it and slid the strap around her body. Closing the doors, she next headed towards her window. They lived on the second story of the complex, and there was a fire escape that rested right on the side of the window.

With a little manipulation, Brook could probably reach.

She pursed her lips at the idea, but it was feasible. She slid on a pair of trainers and threw her hair into a ponytail before walking back up to the window. She felt a pit of anticipation and fear in her stomach as she slid the window open, and she stuck half of her body out, leaning against the pane.

Brook took a deep breath before hoisting her lower half out the window and twisting her body in a 180 motion. She had her elbows braced against the window with her heels against the building, and the could feel the pulling of her muscles.

She steadied her feet against the wall before sliding one arm free and using it to fully grab the wall. Once Brooklyn knew she wasn't about to plummet 2 stories down, she slowly leaned her body towards the fire escape, her hand not getting a comfortable grip.

She could feel the air nip against her cheeks as the wind blew past her, reminding her of night's approach.

She skidded her foot against the wall, sliding and shimmying a bit until she could stretch her arm far enough to get a firm grasp on the bar. When she did, she slowly lifted one foot and placed it against one of the other bars. Her weight shifted towards the fire escape and there was an audible creaking of metal.

Brooklyn looked down, watching a few pebbles that were knocked loose drop down to the ground with a tiny 'clink'. Her heart pounded in her chest as her vision blurred and unblurred. She quickly blinked and threw her other hand on the bar and hoisting herself onto the platform.

She looked back at the open window before squeezing her way through the small, narrow opening in the floor which lead to a rusty, little ladder. The metal floor was jagged and left small scratches against her forearms as she eased her way down the ladder and hopped to the ground with a 'Thud'.

She popped her hood up, silently muttering about how there was NO way that would work in an actual fire. She grabbed the strap of her purse as she made her way to cross the street to put distance between her and the house.

The last thing she'd want is to make it this far and get caught. The thought of that made her heart jump. She dashed halfway across the street before quickly looking both ways and stopping.

She pulled out her phone and checked how long ago she sent her message. Before her eyes could even land on the numbers, she heard a car roll up behind her causing her to instinctively dart the rest of the way across the road.

"You trying to get hit, now?" A familiar voice rang out. Brooklyn let out a sigh before walking back over to the car, leaning against the passenger side window that had now been rolled down. "Hey, Sam."

"Don't just stand there, get in!" the midnight-haired girl mused, an inflection in her tone that was warm. She was the only one in the car, so Brooklyn popped open the car door and slid in. Sam slowly reversed the car before turning back the way she came.

"So, what brings you here?" She said, jokingly. There were a lot of ways Brook could answer that, and a few filtered through her head before landing on one she was comfortable with.

"In-laws are in town. Or, grandmother, I guess? I don't know! It's all so weird. I'm just supposed to.. what? Say hi? Bum some food and cash off her? I don't know who this lady is."

She ran her hands through her hair before noticing her seat belt and quickly putting it on.

"That's really rough. That's why I'm going to swing by Briars. She's hanging out with Jennie so it's bound to be a blast."

"Jennie? Am I supposed to know her?" Brook piped out, pulling her phone out to check the time. 10:12pm. "Well, you SHOULD know her, but no, you haven't MET her" Sam responded, turning down streets until the world around her became unfamiliar.

The two eventually pulled up to a house where the other girls were sitting outside. They were both dressed for what looked to be a party, and it made Brook feel under-dressed. They made their way into the back seat holding a backpack before making their introductions.

Jennie seemed sweet and shy. It was a clear juxtaposition to what she was wearing. She had dyed blonde hair which she sported in two space buns. Both the girls had their bodies filled with glitter, and a slight odor of fruity alcohol permeated the car.

When they started driving again, it was like the group had always known each other. They bantered as old friends would, and reminisced about some of the things they got away with at Brightside.