Breaking Point

Chapter 06 // Jesse

[BEFORE - 1 Year and 6 Months Ago]

Kennedy never turned up to my birthday celebrations.

Chantelle had gone above and beyond to invite everyone, including my parents though they arrived, spoke briefly with everyone and left, stating that they didn't want to "cramp my style" considering Chantelle had also invited my group of closest friends. Honestly, my friends seemed more interested in Chantelle than me, but I didn't blame them. Chantelle was stunning and she appeared even more radiant with her hair more grown out and the ends dyed blonde, donning a dark skirt that ended several inches above her knees, black tights, knee-high black boots and a dark red, long-sleeved shirt tucked into the skirt.

And you guessed it: Chantelle was my official designated driver once again. I was starting to believe she didn't drink alcohol period because I had never spotted her even sipping on the champagne.

She had also invited Kennedy, and though Kennedy had told her she would "of course be there", she was a no-show. We'd been together roughly four months already, albeit it was an on-off relationship in a short amount of time.

There were only ten months left with my current contract and my second album had been released, though it had been delayed by a month, so only a month ago did it hit the shelves. The time had flown by so incredibly fast that it felt as though I had blinked that time away. It was astonishing just how much I had accomplished, having even won a few awards for my debut album. I'd been interviewed in neighbouring states with Chantelle accompanying the whole team and I to each and every event. Even Kennedy had stopped by and joined me on certain interviews, surprising the audience. Lewis was delighted that we were together, though I had my suspicions he had hoped it would work out this way. He would never confess it outright though.

At the moment, Lewis was engaged in a discussion with Tyler, Claire and Lee, his spirits high and his cheeks tinged red from the champagne we had been drinking tonight. There seemed to be an endless supply on the tables along with some basic party snacks. Chantelle was laughing at something Jason, one of my closest friends, had said, while Adam and Ed chuckled with barely controlled smirks on their faces.

Then she turned to me, a smile lingering on her lips. "You and Dec were pretty close when you were little, huh?" she teased.

I blanched. "Guys," I spluttered. "Bro code?"

Our group of four coined the term "bro code" during sophomore year of high school to not inform a potential girlfriend or hook-up of anything utterly mortifying until it had been deemed safe territory (several months into the relationship). Normally people used the bro code as not hooking up with ex-girlfriends of yours, but we were tight. We'd never do that, but mostly considering my friends didn't typically do girlfriends, and when they did, they fell helplessly head over heels and found themselves completely detached from the girl when they broke up. The ex-girlfriends never wanted to even be around our group, never mind when the relationship would end.