DECEPTION; Bradley Simpson

16.

I make my way back to the others, fighting my tears back as Brad leans against his car, watching me intently.

"Can we go? Please," I look up at James. The tall boy looks down at me, then at Brad and back at me.

"Yeah," he nods. We say goodbye to the others and sit in James' car.

"Come on Ashley," Brad says.

"I don't want to go just yet," the dyed haired girl whines.

"Sit in the damn car or I'll leave you here," the curly haired boy threatens before James leaves the parking lot of the small diner. I sit in silence the whole ride, leaning my head against the window and trying my best not to cry. I thank James for driving us and climb out, not waiting for Maggie to follow me towards our dorm.

"Eve, wait!" she calls after me, but I keep walking, shutting door behind me. I collapse onto my bed and immediately start crying, small sobs leaving my mouth.

"Eve, what did he say?" Maggie enters the room and closes the door behind herself. She drops her bag onto her own bed and sits down next to me, caressing my arm. "Talk to me," she pleads.

I take a deep breath and try to calm down enough so I can tell her what happened. She listens to me in silence as I tell her what Brad said to me in the diner's parking lot and my feelings for him.

"I'm so sorry," she pulls me in for a tight hug, caressing my back. I cry into her shoulder until I finally fall asleep.

-

I wake up with a headache from all the crying I did last night. When I look into the mirror, I want to puke, because I look so bad. My eyes are red and puffy, my hair is a mess and everything about my face is just disgusting, thanks to crying.

I use some makeup to cover the redness of my skin near my eyes and brush my hair, braiding it. The result is more appealing after I finish with everything.

I walk back into the room and search in my drawer. I decide to wear a pink dress with black flats.

"You look pretty," Maggie says, rubbing her eyes sleepily, a smile plastered on her face.

"Thank you," I smile back at her, throwing my bag over my shoulder.

"Are you going somewhere? It's Sunday," she sits up on her bed.

"Yeah, my brother wants to take me somewhere," I shrug. He sent me a text earlier this morning.

"Oh, okay. I'll be inside this room the whole day, so just call me if you need me," the dark haired girl says, standing up and walking into the bathroom. I leave the dorm and climb inside my car, driving towards the park my brother wanted to meet me at.

I lock my car and start walking around the park, looking for Timothy, but I can't see him anywhere. I sit down on a bench and wait patiently, watching all the kids running around. My mind travels back to last night and Brad's words are playing over and over again, making my eyes watery. I fight back my tears as I finally spot my brother hurrying towards me.

"Sorry for being late. I had to make Sasha some breakfast," he says out of breath from running.

"It's okay," I force a smile onto my face. Tim sits down next to me and starts talking about his and Sasha's plans. They are going to move back to Birmingham, so they can be closer to everyone. Tim and Sasha met here in Birmingham way before we moved here.

"That's great to hear," I try to sound excited, but fail.

"What's up? I can tell something's bugging you," Tim turns to me.

"Nothing, just... Nevermind," I shake my head, turning my attention away from my brother.

"You know you can talk to me, Eve. I'm here whenever you need me," he smiles softly at me.

"I know," I nod, reciprocating his smile, "but I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, okay. Do you wanna grab some breakfast?" my sibling asks and I nod in response. We get up and into my car, driving towards a café to have some breakfast there.

-

I spent the whole day with my brother, and it was quiet exhausting. I lay back on my bed and stare at the ceiling. Maggie decided to visit Lucy and Kirstie when I came back. She invited me, but I was too tired to go anywhere else.

Just as I close my eyes and drift off to sleep, I hear some sounds coming from the hallway. I try to ignore it, but it gets louder, then a pounding on the door is heard. I groan and stand up, lazily padding over to the door and opening it. My mouth falls open as I see Brad standing there, with a bottle of vodka in his hand. His eyes are red and he leans against the doorframe to keep himself steady.

"What are you doing here?" I cross my arms in front of myself.

"Let me in," he chokes out between two hiccups.

"No. Why are you here?" I completely block the doorway, so he can't enter the room.

"I missed you," he smirks, stepping closer to me. I can smell the alcohol on his breath as our faces are only inches apart.

"Leave," I say harshly, taking a step back. It was a mistake, because Brad easily walked past me and fell on my bed.

"I want to be here," he points at my bed and puts the bottle down on the desk, nearly knocking everything over.

"Brad, just leave me alone," I roll my eyes, closing the door behind me. I stop next to my bed and look down at him, my arms still crossed in front of my chest.

"Don't be like that, baby," he reaches for my hand, but I quickly pull away.

"Don't baby me. You were mean last night, really mean," I remind him.

"I'm sorry," he apologizes, looking into my eyes. I scoff, leaning my back against the wall.

We stay in silence for a few minutes. I'm thinking about ways to get him out of my room, but I can't seem to find any. I know I shouldn't be mad at him because of what he said last night. After all, I was the only idiot here to ever think we could be together. I'm snapped out of my thoughts by two arms placing to either sides of my head. I look up to see Brad staring at my lips as he moves closer and closer.

"What part of leave me alone you don't understand?" I try to pull him away, but he's much stronger than me.

"I want you," he starts kissing my neck. I try to pull him away from me multiple times, but he just won't let go.

"Brad, stop! You're drunk!" I yell at him. He finally stops and takes a few steps back. His eyes are sad as we exchange glances and I quickly look away. What should I do now?