Begin Again

TAKEN

It didn't take Brooklyn long to realize that her current boyfriend wasn't exactly the-number-one-boyfriend material. Suspended for two weeks? As much as she liked his bad boy moves, the first and most important rule was always to make sure that they never get caught. Ever since the Oscar-worthy assembly that morning, almost everyone tried to interview her. Some asked if she helped Austin, some thought that she was sad, and some even asked to date her. But none of them asked if she had known it in the first place. And the answer was, she didn't. 

Brooklyn made an excuse to visit the washroom during her last lesson and escaped from school to the closest club she could find. While she was in her expensive gray blouse and a checkered mini-skirt, she totally fit in to the crowd. She moved towards the bar and sat down by the counter. 

The bartender got up from his seat and asked for her order.

'Long Island Iced Tea,' She said with a low grumble, and left the bartender to his work. Minutes later, she was literally gulping down the drink like it was some kind of soda, ignoring the fact that she was already feeling giddy. 

Two muscular men approached her and tried to get her to dance with them, but she still had a little consciousness inside of her to struggle from their grip. 

At the other end of the bar, Zeke was showing Delano and Fletcher around. It was his father's club after all. 

'And this is our country-famous bar. That's my favourite bartender...' Zeke pointed to the guy who was shaking a drink. '...Pablo.'

Delano caught a familiar shade of brown and blonde hair beside the bar, and he squinted his eyes to look closer. 

'Isn't that...' He pointed to the girl struggling between two large men. '...Brooklyn?' 

Without hesitation, the three of them rushed over and pulled the men of her. She was sweating but her skin was cold from the touch, and when they helped her stand up, her knees went weak and she slumped against Delano. He was taken by surprise as she threw her arms around him and started touching his face. 

'Austy? Is it you? No...' She frowned, her breath reeked of alcohol. '...your skin is so smooth...Delano? It's you, right?' Her words were hardly audible but Delano answered her anyway. 'Yes, it's me.'

She muttered something which they could not figure out, gave him a peck on his lips and fell into unconsciousness on his shoulder. He carried her on his back and they left the club in a cab. Along the way, Delano looked down at the girl in his arms. He could imagine that high ego of hers crumbling down when everyone in school looked at her differently because of her boyfriend's misdoings. None of the guys knew what to say so they just looked out of the window. 

'Where does she live?' Delano asked. His friends shook their heads. It's quite understandable. How would they know where Brooklyn lived? They've never even been invited to her parties, let alone visit her house.

'Let's take her to Sydney's,' Fletcher suggested, and started texting. 

The cab pulled up in front of Sydney's house a while later and they brought her in. 

'Drunk like this?' Sydney said. 'Something's definitely wrong.' She led her friends to the guest bedroom and left the head cheer leader to sleep. The guys offered to stay the night. 

'It would be useful if she were to puke all over the room.' Fletcher had explained. 

The moon was shining less bright than usual, Delano noticed. He had been so used to looking at the moon with Belle that he could easily tell the difference between each night and the night before. He stretched his legs on the grass and closed his eyes to feel the cold breeze. 

'Hey,' Sydney sat down next to him. 'What are you thinking about?' 

'Not much. I was trying not to fall asleep.' He joked. 

'That day...' Sydney started. Delano looked at her questioningly. 

'You asked what happened between Brooks and I. Well, it was just a childhood misunderstanding.' 

'You don't have to tell me if you don't feel comfortable.' Delano said, giving his friend a pat on her shoulder.

'It's alright, I think you should know about it.' She smiled and continued.

'Brooks and I, well, we used to be besties. We play pretend together, we prank our friends together, we even have sleepovers together. Just the two of us,' She said, her mind drifting off to the wonderful memories that had been buried deep in her mind. 

'But... when we were in middle school, there was this boy that she had eyes for. His name was Brandon. On the last day of school, Brandon brought a huge bouquet of flowers and a beautiful card. Everyone thought he was going to give it to Brooks because, well, she's the most beautiful girl in school. But...' she paused.

'Let me guess, Brandon gave it to you.' Delano finished off the sentence. Sydney's soft smile told him that his guess was correct.

'And she thought it was my fault,' her voice faded into a whisper. 

'Well, you can't control who you like, or who likes you,' He said, looking up into the night sky. 'It was never your fault, Syd.'

'Thanks. It means a lot to me.' she closed her eyes and tried to stop the replaying scene in her head with Brooklyn's eyes filled with tears of disbelief. 

They sat there in quietly, while the silence of the night whispered into their ears. 

***

The sun came up again and the earth was happily enjoying its bath in the warmth of the morning rays. There wasn't much to say when Brooklyn left the house hastily before any of them could wake up and ask her questions she didn't even know answers to. After all, she didn't really belong in their group. Delano understood the sense of insecurity that's winding up in her heart when he noticed the empty guest room and a messy bed. 

He bid his friends goodbye and decided to stop by his house to get a new change of clothes before heading to school. As soon as he reached home, he received a text from Brooklyn. It read: Meet me at my locker before class. He pursed his lips. Did she remember what happened the last night?

Delano took as little time as he could to wash his face and pack his bags, then he grabbed an egg sandwich and went off to school. Along the way, he tried to think of over a hundred different ways to dodge Brooklyn, but she was the Queen Bee, and there was no place he could hide from her in school. 

'Hey,' he greeted. 

'Hey, thanks for last night,' Brooklyn said, giving him a genuine smile, and asked suddenly. 'You like me, don't you?' 

Delano was stupefied. 

'I...' 

'It's okay, you don't have to say it out loud.' She lifted her index finger and put it on Delano's slightly-opened lips. His eyes widened in shock.

'I've been thinking, ever since I walked out of the house this morning,' she continued. 'That it's time for me to have a little change.'

'What change?' He asked slowly. 

'I just broke up with Austin and --' 

'What?' Delano's jaw dropped in confusion. Austin would definitely kill me. He thought.

'Yes,' Brooklyn cleared her throat and kept talking. 'And you would fit into the blank space just fine.' 

'Wait,' he frowned. 'What you mean is...'

'Be my boyfriend,' She said it as if she was telling her stylist to give her a manicure. 

'But-'

'It's an order, not a question, Delano.' 

He blinked his eyes as she proceeded with glossing her lips. 

'Walk me to class, boyfriend.' 

And she starting walking down the hallway with sass, leaving Delano standing in front of her locker alone, watching her back and thinking about what Austin has to say when he finds out.