Write Me A Letter

10 | monster

/ CHAPTER TEN - MONSTER /

"XANDER TEXTED ME."

It was already late in the afternoon. They were walking toward the parking lot with Ollie, Brie's shadow was soft and mellow, and her skin felt warm. She was unsure how to feel about this new information, but truth was, she was never sure with anything that had to do with Xander.

A part of her jumped at the mention of his name as if there was a cord that connected her body to the idea of him, but the rest of her soul was just so exhausted. Was this the price she had to pay for loving someone so much?

Ollie, impatient with her lack of response, nudged Brie with his elbow. She almost stumbled, the slow and steady rhythm of her footsteps coming to a halt, then accelerating into a uncoordinated frenzy that got her holding onto him for support.

She turned to him with a glare. "What?"

"He's headed here."

Her heart pounded. "Could you repeat that, please?"

"I said, Xander's headed here," Ollie uttered each word slowly this time, pressing each syllable with extra stress from his tongue. "I just got his text. He wants to speak with you about what happened back at your place."

"How did he know that we're here?"

He blinked, dark blue eyes widening a fraction before looking away. "I don't know. Maybe..."

She pushed his shoulder. Her arms felt weak, her entire being felt as if it was being sucked into a drainage of hopelessness and exhaustion but she still managed to push him enough to make him stumble. "You told him."

She knew, she knew, damn it. There was no other way Xander would've known where they were.

When Ollie didn't say anything, Brie shook her head and laughed. The irony of the situation she was in now was really baffling in more ways than she could ever be okay with. "Wow," she said, fighting the tears that were starting to blur her vision. "I should've fucking known! I couldn't trust you—any of you!"

Ollie grabbed her elbow, trying to make her stay but she was having none of it. "Brie, I didn't mean to. I thought he just wanted to know if you were okay so I answered him when he asked about where we were."

"That's a fucking lie! You cornered me and made me defenseless so he could come and hound me the minute he's free from comforting his girlfriend."

"I'd never do that to you." There was a frown on Ollie's face, his lips pursed. "You're my friend."

She stared at him, at his crestfallen face and scoffed. She wanted to get rid of the feeling that was gripping her chest. "But not as much as you're friends with him."

And she left again. She was back where she started. If only she could easily leave what she felt for Xander as well.

-

Xander was at her doorstep when she arrived home half an hour later. He was still wearing the same clothes, hunched down and alone. Brie took in the sight of him, of the boy she have loved for awhile now and tried to figure out what she saw in him to make her this miserable.