Stupid Love

Chapter 11

"Well," Amy eventually said. "This is a tough situation, isn't it? On one side we don't want you depending on Bryce too much, since of course our stay here won't be forever. But if there's no other way to stop your nightmares..." She trailed off.

My eyes glanced at Bryce for a small second. Why hadn't he said anything in the past few minutes? What was he thinking? Why did I care, again? Ugh, I really needed to snap out of it!

"Maybe therapy?" asked my mom. Just the thought made me cringe.

"How about this?" Amy started again. "Us adults will talk it over and then let you two know. Until then, go enjoy your break."

I didn't have to be told twice. My legs stood me up and quickly took me to my room where I changed, slipped on my shoes, and grabbed a small bag. I threw my phone and my wallet in it before leaving. Jesse was still in the same position as before, and when her eyes met mine I signaled her with a small nod to follow me. She had already changed prior to the incident of finding me in my crush/ex-crushes bed.

As we left the house, I said goodbye to Amy and my mom, not even daring to watch Bryce, watch me leave.

"Talk about awkward," Jesse said when we were headed down the street. A car would definitely have been nice, but of course, my mother refused to allow me to have one until I graduated. Oh well, there were worse things, I supposed.

"So where do you want to go?" I asked her, not wanting to continue on the subject we had just discussed not even five minutes before.

"Are you okay Caroline? You're looking a little-"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just bored. Now, where's our destination?"

"Um, Target?" Her voice was filled with worry and confusion, but I ignored it. A break, that's all I wanted. Luckily my house was near everything my town had to offer: the movie theatre, a McDonald's, and a Target. Etc, etc.

It took a little under thirty minutes to reach the entrance, and in that time I rambled on and on about random stuff, such as the day I'd get my cast removed and how much I was looking forward to our annual beach trip we took every summer.

Jesse contributed to the so-called conversation, but the real fun didn't start until we actually went inside of the store.

After grabbing a buggie, we headed off to every section, just looking for something to buy. The toy aisle, the music aisle, the clothes section, we went through them all. The only thing was... we had no money. None, zip, zilch. We were just there for the heck of it. There was nothing like window shopping at the local Target.

An hour later we pushed the buggie back to the entrance, but just as I was about to turn around and walk away, my body smacked into something hard. Except, from my view on the floor, it seemed as if that something hadn't been a thing at all. More like a someone. A very cute someone.

"I am so sorry," he said, reaching down to help me up. I allowed him to do so, staring at his face. He had sandy blond hair and green eyes, with a jaw line that would put other guys to shame. He was wearing a red uniformed Target work shirt, informing me of his employment. 

"No, don't be," I started nervously. "It was my fault anyways." 

"No, I should've been watching where I was going. Are you okay?" he asked, as my eyes shifted downwards to his name-tag. It read Bradley.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you?" I could feel Jesse staring at me and the stranger I'd run into. She must have been admiring the way he looked because she had yet to pull me away or complain that I was taking too long.

Bradley chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand, before saying, "Yeah, it seems that I'm still completely intact."

"Well," I said nervously. I wasn't very great around strangers. Especially good-looking guy strangers. "I guess I'll see you around."

I turned to walk away, Jesse folding her arm into my elbow when we heard him say, "Yeah, see you around."

-----

"Where've you been?" Bryce asked from the living room couch when I walked in several hours later. Jesse had already left, claiming her parents would be upset if she stayed out too late.

My heart skipped a beat at his voice and my palms got sweaty, but I pushed the anxious feeling I felt in my stomach and simply asked, "Why do you care?"

"Why wouldn't I?" This caused me to stop and stare at him. His eyebrows were raised, his legs crossed as if he was a guest on some talk-show, and his arm draped over the back of the love-seat.

"You never have before," I finally said, moving to sit beside him. Sighing, I plopped down and leaned back. was exhausted. 

"What if..." Bryce paused, causing me to snap my gaze over to him. He seemed perplexed about something, and sitting up straighter, I waited for him to finish what he wanted to say.

"What if what?" I pushed.

His eyes traveled to mine, and I nearly melted. Ugh, stop it! You are not supposed to feel this way about him anymore! Get over it!

"What if... I do care about you?" It was a whisper, and the second the words were out of his mouth my face lit up like a fire cracker.

"Uh..." Good reply, Caroline. Any other genius words in that head of yours? 

"Listen," he said, coughing and turning to face me. "I've been thinking lately, and I honestly thing being with you is the best thing for me. So... what do you say?" 

"What?" I swallowed. Was this another nightmare? What had gotten into him? Had he taken something? 

"Come on Caroline," he said, scooting closer. I leaned back. 

"This is just too sudden for me," I finally spat out, shoving him away. Or trying to, anyways. "I mean, I've never even dated before, and you spring this up on me out of nowhere? No, no, no! I like you, but-" 

Laughter cut me off. Glancing up, I saw Bryce clenching his sides, his eyes crinkled at the edges. What in the world was going on?

"You didn't think I was serious, did you?" he choked out as he struggled for air. "I mean, really? I would never say anything like that!"

My face flushed even more than before and angry tears threatened to fall. "You jackass!" I screamed, reaching for a pillow and slamming it onto his face over and over again.

"Hey, stop it," he said, covering his face. "Ow, Caroline! I said stop!"

"No! You suck! That was so mean!" Finally, after nearly two-dozen more whacks, I stopped and stood, standing over his cowering form.

He sat up a second later, glaring at me. "I was just messing around with you, calm down, will you?"

This only made me angrier, and in one last attempt to cause him physical pain, I took off both my shoes and threw them at him. "It wasn't funny!" And then I stormed off to my room, his laughter reaching my ears as I slammed the door shut.

Dumb jerk.

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Yay! Another chapter!

This one is kind of a filler if you couldn't tell, but I hope you guys like it. Sorry it took so long! I did NaNoWriMo and won! Woot woot! :D . To those who read Love and Lines, that wiill be updated soon as well. I'm already half-way through with the chapter.

Anyways, new character. I'm sure those who have all read the manga or watched one of the dramas (or all of them haha) know what his role will be in this. It'll be a tad different, but yeah.

Until next time! Please vote, comment, and thank you all so much for being so patient! I honestly love you guys! Your support has been amazing! :D .