The Buddies Rule | ✓

Chapter 19

"That doesn't make it any easier to watch," Alan muttered.

I rolled my eyes, "you want to know what wouldn't be easy to watch? My friend walking up and kissing me out of spite, right after I'd gotten done with another stage kiss."

"Oh please," Alan shook his head. "That was no stage kiss. I know I just caught the tail end of it, but I know a real kiss when I see one."

I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to go back and forth any longer. Alan had made it clear, even if he hadn't said it in so many words. He was upset that Chase and I had kissed, just as he was this past weekend. I could see the same look of pain flashing over his eyes now as when we were sitting in the booth at the pizza place. He hated the mere thought of Chase and I together.

I didn't blame him for that, though. He had feelings for me. But what I did blame him for, was acting like a jealous boyfriend when he obviously wasn't.

"Why were you late?" I asked, breaking the small silence that had fallen over the two of us.

Alan shrugged, keeping his sight trained in on the ground. "I had to help a friend."

"Astrid?" I filled in. When Alan gave me a short nod, I continued. "What was wrong, anyways? She seemed off when I ran into her at lunch."

"She mentioned that," Alan mumbled. "She was more embarrassed about that than anything. She didn't want anyone to see her crying."

I could feel the awkwardness setting in once again as we stood there, silently, just outside the auditorium. It felt weird that no one had rushed out and attempted to pull us apart yet. It was even weirder that Lewis wasn't peeking through the doors, either. The guy had some major problems when it came to butting in on situations like this.

He must have been an outcast as a child, got some pent up feelings of loneliness or something.

"Why was she so upset?" I ventured again, half expected Alan to brush the topic aside once more.

"It's nothing, really," Alan said. "She's just, she's got a pretty messed up family. I'm basically the only person she's confided in."

I took a step towards the small bench set up a few feet from the tree. "Well, every family has their secrets." I took a seat on the bench, patting the spot next to me for Alan to sit down.

"Her family doesn't have secrets, Bree. Their secrets got them all arrested," Alan sighed. He gave me a weak smile before taking a seat next to me, allowing his hands to rest neatly in his lap.

It took all I had not to make some twisted face at the revelation. "That would justify her breaking down at lunch," I thought out loud.

Alan merely shrugged, "the whole situation, it wasn't pretty. Astrid was the only one that made it out. Coming here..." He trailed off. I could feel myself leaning in, trying to anticipate what he would say next. "She needed a fresh start. Berkeley was that fresh start."

Astrid Free had always been a mystery to me, even for the short time that I had known of her. She had moved here from somewhere across the country, I had known that much, but I had never known why she had traveled so far.

At the time, I hadn't known that she was running away from such a troubled past. Now that I did, I couldn't help but to give her a little more credit. Astrid had guts to leave her own family behind, and to move on as gracefully as she did.

Astrid was respected here, which, was one thing she couldn't achieve if she went on and blabbed about her rocky past.

"Why did she confide in you?" I asked, regretting the words the instant they left my mouth.