Oblivious to Him - Part II

Chapter 21 - Who Knew?

"Done with what?" 

"Done with being a bitch. I had resigned myself to riding this train out until graduation, but Austin... he... he just shattered my heart into a million little pieces." she picked at the frayed edges of her pink shorts. 

I placed a hand on her foot, giving it a gentle squeeze in comfort. 

"Do you want to know why I have stuck with him this long?" she asked, anger beginning to bubble up beneath the surface. 

"If you want to tell me, then sure, why have you stuck with him this long?"

"It's going to sound so shallow," she muttered, "but I deserve to sound shallow because I am, or at least I have been for the last 4 years." She took another deep, shaky breath, "I wanted to be popular, just like my mom. She was homecoming queen, prom queen, beloved by everyone, and is still married to her high school sweetheart. I wanted that. No, I needed that."

"Why?"

"Because, let's face it, outside of my looks, I don't have much else going for me." 

"That can't be true," I shook my head at her. 

"Oh, it is! I suck at school. My grades aren't great, and I have no idea what I want to do when I'm older. I know I'm just going to scrape by when it comes to getting into college. I'll be lucky if I can get into an online university at this point." She ripped off a loose thread from her shorts.  "That's why I have changed everything about myself to stay with him. Let's face it, he's a successful football player, good-looking, and is untouchable. If I am going to be successful, then I need him. I need him to drag me along with him out of high school, through college, and into the real world." 

She shuttered, "oh my god, I can't believe I just said that to you."

I chuckled nervously, "I'm um, a little shocked at the moment. I'm not sure what to say."

"Then don't say anything because that's not all," she smiled weakly, "it feels good to get this all off my chest finally." 

"I guess, cut loose?" I smiled nervously. 

She sat up a little and dabbed at the corner of her eyes with the wad of paper towels. "Screw it. Why not?" She took another shaky breath looked away from me, "I let him cheat on me."

It took a few seconds for her words to sink in before I asked, "what?"

"I let him freaking cheat on me. It's part of our deal," she looked up, clearly embarrassed by what she just told me. Her make-up was all over the place, but something was shifting beneath her flawless surface because there was a lightness about her starting to take over. 

"I grew up with Austin. Known him since we were in diapers practically. Around 9th grade, he started changing, becoming popular, athletic, and had a major glow-up. I realized then and there that if I wanted to have the high school experience my mom did, I would need him to get it. So we started dating, and for the first few months, it was amazing. I've always been in love with him, and suddenly, I felt like he actually loved me back." She smiled at the memories that must be flooding in. A few seconds later, though, her smile faded, "then he said he wanted to take our relationship to the next level."

She picked at the edge of her shoe, no longer seeking glances at me as she talked, "I told him that I wanted to wait till marriage. He laughed, he freaking laughed at me and asked why?"

Her cheeks flushed, and more tears began to roll, smudging the mascara even further, "so we made a deal. He could do it with any girl he wanted, as long as he didn't know the girl personally. He wasn't supposed to sleep with someone more than once, and especially not my freaking best friend!"

She finally looked at me, "how fucked up is that? How stupid have I been just because I love that idiot? I've hurt people just to keep him interested. I've let him tell his friends about all the "stuff" we've done over the years," putting air quotes around the word stuff with a grimace. "I've made a complete fool of myself, and for what? For him to just go behind my back, sleep with my best friend? Tell her that he loves her and not me?"

She let out a groan, her head falling into her hands. 

Dumbfounded by the flood of information that just spilled into my lap, I placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. I'm not going to lie; I did not understand the relationship she established with Austin. What I did know is that hopefully, he's messed up big enough this time that Brynn might finally let him go. 

The bell rang, snapping Brynn back into the bathroom. We looked at each other as the sounds of students filled the hallway. "What's your name again?" she asked.

"Lana." 

She nodded her head, "I need to break up with him. Don't I?" 

I chuckled, standing up and holding my hand out to her, "I don't really know you that well to feel comfortable giving you advice, but yeah. You really should." 

Her perfect, manicured hand grasped onto mine, and she stood up, brushing the back of her shorts. Someone tried to open the door to the bathroom, and she yelled, "go away!" 

She turned back to me and grimaced, "oops. It might take me a little bit of time to remember to be nice now." 

She let go of my hand and walked around the corner towards the sinks, "oh god, my face..." her eyes connected with mine in the reflection of the mirror, and she laughed. "You won't tell anyone what I've told you, will you?" She asked nervously. "Although, I'd get it if you did. It's not like I wouldn't deserve it after all this." 

"I won't tell anyone unless you say I can. Although..."

She raised her perfectly trimmed eyebrow, "Although?"

I took a deep breath, knowing that we needed Brynn on our side for the next part of Drew's plan to work. "Do you think you can pretend you don't know anything for a little while? Maybe hold off from breaking up with Austin?"

She turned to me, "Why?"

I squeezed my hands together, "It's a long story we can get into later, but I, I mean my friends and I had an idea to kind of get back at him..." I trailed off. 

She turned back to the mirror, wet a paper towel with soap and water, and started to remove the black ink stains from her face. Her hazel eyes connected with mine again, and she smirked, "I guess I can turn nice later. Whatever you have in mind, count me in."