Life Of A Bitch

34

"Hey, did you see Brandon on your way out?" Aaron asks me while Brenna keeps on shouting at the top of her voice.

"No, I checked but he wasn't there." I say, checking the address Aaron gave me on his phone.

"I wanted to let him know that we're on our way home," he says, struggling to keep Brenna's legs still. I look at him gratefully.

"He isn't picking up his phone," he says, keeping his phone back into his pocket.

"Maybe, he just needs some time alone." I say helpfully.

"Yeah," he shrugs, patting Brenna's head as if lulling her to sleep. "Whatever happened today was very... it shouldn't have happened."

I nod, still confused about the whole incident.

"It's so sad, especially for Brandon," Aaron continues. "Because he genuinely cares for her."

"He does?" I ask him, stopping at a red light.

"Yeah," he smiles. "He would try to make her happy by joking around, bringing her chocolates and stuff. He was almost in love with her, you know?"

"Oh."

I'm very surprised at this. I never thought of him as a caring boyfriend. And knowing all this, makes me feel kind of sad for him. The disappointment he would've felt.

"Anyway, why am I telling you all this?" Aaron mutters, cradling a sleeping Brenna in his lap.

Does he like her?

So what if he does? None of my business.

There's silence in the car for a while.

"After we drop off Brenna, I'll drop you off." He announces suddenly, in the same cold voice I use with the Body members and vice-versa. "I'll take the car home and return it to her in the morning."

"Hmm," I mumble, stopping in front of Brenna's house.

*

"You're home early," Mom says as I enter, grabbing all the files and keeping them on the table.

"Yeah," I mumble, taking off my heels and collapsing into the couch.

Aah, my feet.

"It's still nine," she asks, looking at me from the top of her glasses. "You're never home from a party until eleven."

"The party was a disaster." I say, groaning. "There was a fight, then things started to get ug-"

"A fight?" Mom sighs. "Again? Between Aiden and Brandon? It seems that all you do is fight."

"It was between Michelle and her best friend," I say, wanting to see her reaction to this.

Mom stands up suddenly and grasps my chin, turning my head right and left.

"Why did you fight with Michelle? She's such a nice girl!" She scolds me, studying my face for wounds- or that's what I hope.

I brush away her hands. "Mom, what are you- oh, you're thinking I am Michelle's best friend?"

"You aren't?" She asks, taking her place back on the sofa.

"No mom, it was just a joke." I say, leaning back against the couch. "I'm not her best friend. The girl who picked me up today is her best friend."

"Oh." She says, nodding. "And you just stood there? Doing nothing?"

I widen my eyes and quickly blurt out a lie. "Of course not, Mom! I, along with some others, interrupted her before it got worse."

"Good girl," She says, nodding. "Now go wash. I assume you haven't had any dinner?"

"Nope," I say, walking towards my room.

"Then I'll set it up for you."

*

I burp and flop on the bed, tired. Grabbing my phone, I check it for any messages. Of course there are none. I hardly have any friends now. My finger hovers over Brandon's contact but I continue scrolling down. I'm not his friend: I'm just a less-disgusting acquaintance. Plus, even if I am his friend, what would I say to him? I'm extremely sorry for whatever happened to him today? That sounds so fake. And I'm not good at comforting people.

Lastly, I decide to send him an 'I got home' text.

My phone suddenly rings, startling me and it slips from my hands, falling on my face.
I groan and sit up, looking at the caller ID, which read 'Brenna'.

"Is everything okay?"

"I'm so lonely!" Brenna sobs loudly at the other end. "I've no friends, Michelle has abandoned me, and people hate me and think of me as some weirdo who tried to kill Michelle."

"Calm down," I try to pacify her. "You didn't try to kill anyone. It was just some hitting."

"Why would Michelle abandon me, Jennifer?" She keeps on sobbing, paying no heed to my words. "We were such good friends! I helped her in everything, I stood by her when she was in near trouble-"

"Because Michelle is a bad person," I tell her, cutting her mid sentence. "She shows that she's such a good angel on the outside, while plotting evil plans secretly."

"You hate her, don't you?"

"Uh," I pause a little, not sure how to respond. She may get offended; she's drunk after all.

"It's okay, she hates you too." She replies, sniffling. "She said once that you're the fakest person she had ever seen and that she hates your guts."

"Oh?"

"And," she stops, hesitating. "We used to make dirty jokes on you, how you sleep with each and every guy-""

"That's not true,"  I snap.

"-and how you earn extra money by selling your nu-"

There's silence on the other end.

"Hey?"

"Um, Jennifer?" She says abruptly, sounding stunningly sober. "Where exactly was Michelle on the night of the SQ Finale? Because, according to me, we were together until the announcement for the beginning of the programme was made, then she went backstage with the other participants. That's when I last saw her, apart from the celebrations after the Finale."

"Um, I can't say exactly because I didn't see her even once that day."

She laughs, scaring me. "Meet me tomorrow at 11 sharp. Got something to discuss."