IMMORAL
— 1. Bad Reputation
"Have you ever been surrounded by people, yet you still felt alone?" was the first thing Brielle had asked as she climbed into the backseat of her mother's car while her brother Tyson sat in the front seat.
Their mother was still inside, searching for her wallet. Brielle knew at the rate the older woman was going, they were going to be late for their first day of school. Not that Brielle cared. She wanted nothing more than to never set foot in that place again.
The summer was over and reality had finally come to haunt her. Everyone knew the reason for her absence during the last semester of sophomore year and she knew they'd constantly remind her of it just to taunt her. She didn't blame them, though. The reasoning just proved to everyone who the mysterious Brielle Westbrook truly was.
"Sometimes," Tyson admitted as he shrugged his shoulders and turned to glance at his sister, "You?"
"All the time," Brielle admitted in a whisper, "Mom...She doesn't get it. She doesn't realize the type of shit I'm going to have to go through now that I'm back at school."
"I get it," Tyson replied and nodded his head, "But you don't have to worry. I got your back."
Brielle couldn't help but smile at Tyson's words. He wasn't her biological brother, but they still treated each other like biological siblings. They had been living together for almost four years now but had known each other since they were six. They were the same age, too. They shared the same backstory and Tyson was the only reason Brielle was even living with Kendra and Christian Owens.
"And I got yours," Brielle replied, just before Kendra got into the driver's seat and started the car.
"You have everything you need?" Kendra asked, smiling widely as she glanced between the duo, "Pencils, notebooks, binders?"
"Yup, yup, and yup," Brielle nodded, forcing a smile onto her face.
"Good, because we're already running late and we don't have time to turn around and come back to the house," Kendra admitted, which earned an amused look from Tyson and Brielle.
The drive to school was one filled with laughter and chatter, as it always was. By the time she arrived at school, though, Brielle's happy smile had faded. She had gotten out of Kendra's car alongside Tyson, the two of them exchanging a look with each other before they walked into school.
When they walked in, everyone's head seemed to turn to look at Brielle. She held her head up high, though, not daring to show anyone she cared about the judging looks she was receiving.
"What class do you have first?" Tyson asked Brielle, who rolled her eyes.
"That stupid behavioral class Mom signed me up for," Brielle informed him and Tyson laughed, "There's no point. Why couldn't she just sign me up for art or something? I would've even taken another gym class over this dumb class!"
"Think about it like this," Tyson began to tell her, smiling widely, "You behave in that class and it's an easy A."
"An easy A that is worth no credits toward college," She reminded him and Tyson scoffed.
"Since when did you care about college?" He asked her, looking puzzled.
"I've always cared about college," She complained, looking almost offended, "I just never talked about it."
Tyson opened his mouth to respond, only to be cut off when the bell rang. They shared an annoyed look, knowing they'd have to finish their conversation later. "See you third period in history?" He asked her curiously and Brielle smiled, nodding her head.
With that, she walked off and in the direction of the behavioral class, trying to fight the urge to just skip it.
As she walked into the class, everyone's head turned. They didn't seem to care that she was there, though. It was somewhat expected. Though some of them smiled in amusement, recalling a time not too long ago Brielle seemed to act as though she was better than them, yet here she was.
"Do you mind?" Brielle suddenly spoke up, noticing two girls staring at her.
They rolled their eyes at her and immediately looked away, causing Brielle to smile in satisfaction before she sat at an empty table.
It was the only high school class she knew of besides art class where there were tables for the students instead of individual desks.
She knew some students were still not there, which meant she'd be forced to share the table. It was the last thing she wanted. She wanted to stay clear of everyone that year, in all honesty. She wanted her junior year to be calm and to be without any drama.
But it was high school. There was no chance that was going to happen, no matter how much she hoped for the opposite.
It wasn't long before the teacher, Mrs. Powell, entered, and when she did, class began. The class was mediocre and many students made snarky remarks after whatever she said, which led to Mrs. Powell surprisingly making a retort that made everyone laugh.
She ended up finishing the intro to the class by assigning a project that had to do with problem-solving and getting to know their peers. The first part of the project was to interview another student in the class. The second part was to work with that said student to solve the problems assigned to them. The problems were real-life ones, problems like peer pressure, drug abuse, and how to get out of toxic and abusive relationships. They had to work with their partner to list steps on how to resolve the issues in their "lives".
As she sat in her seat, Brielle sighed and leaned back. She watched as the students around her rushed to partner with each other while she was left on her own. She hoped it would stay that way. Perhaps Mrs. Powell would allow her to work alone. She did work better that way. She didn't really get along with her peers. Not anymore, at least.
"Mrs. Powell?" Brielle spoke up, raising her hand, "Can I just work alone? There are no more people to partner up with and I work better alone, anyway."
"Ms. Westbrook, this assignment is not to be done alone. It's about teamwork and learning to work with people you might not get along with," Mrs. Powell informed her in a calm tone, "In life, there are many situations where you'll have to work with people you don't particularly like. It'll be good practice to start experiencing it now."
"But there isn't anyone to work with, anyway so—" Brielle began to argue, only to have her eyes widen at the sight of a familiar person entering the class.
The sight of him made Brielle feel a pang in her chest. It was as though she was seeing a ghost. He looked different. He changed a lot since she last saw him, which was around Christmas last year when she was forced to leave school.
"Well, look who decided to show up," Mrs. Powell commented, wasting no time handing Drew the paper that listed what they had to do for the assignment, "Good of you to join us, Drew. You're going to be partners with Brielle. Have you met Drew, Brielle?"
Walking toward Brielle, Drew smiled at he stared down at her while Brielle looked both shocked and uneasy about seeing him.
"Yeah, we have," Drew replied, smiling as he sat down beside Brielle, "Brie and I go way back."
Brielle sighed, staring at Drew for a long moment before she finally spoke up. "What the hell are you doing here?" She asked him in a low tone after Mrs. Powell had walked away to speak with another group.
"What are you talking about? I go to school here," Drew answered and Brielle glared at him as she leaned forward in her seat.
"No, I mean here, in this class. You don't belong here," She complained, and Drew shook his head at her.
"Who are you to say where I do and don't belong?" Drew retorted with an attitude, his smile fading, "You've been gone for almost a year, Brielle. You know nothing."
"I know you," Brielle replied softly, trying to contain her sadness, "And I know you don't belong in this class. You're good. You're a good guy. You always have been. What the hell happened?"
"My past and my demons finally caught up to me, I guess," Drew admitted as he shrugged his shoulders, "It happened to you. It was bound to happen to me."
"What happened in our pasts don't have to define us, Drew," Brielle argued in a calm tone, "Just because I let it take over my life, it didn't mean you had to let the same happen to you."
"It didn't have anything to do with you," Drew snapped at her in a cold tone, glaring at Brielle, "Shocking, I know. Things are different now. You left. I changed. Everything around here changed. So don't try to scold me for who I've become because you weren't here. You know nothing of what I've been through."
Drew scoffed and stood up. He shot Brielle a glare, just before storming out of the room.
Brielle sighed in defeat as she watched Drew flee the room, a part of feeling guilty.
Anyone witnessing the scene probably thought Drew was just overreacting, but Brielle knew. She knew he had every reason to be pissed at her. She broke his heart and then left without explanation. Now, she had returned, practically acting like last year never happened.
She assumed she was at fault for the person he had become, but she was wrong. There was far more to the story. Far more than she could ever know.
When class ended, Brielle walked out of class, and just like when she first arrived at school, everyone was staring at her. All but two. Drew and a girl she knew all too well. Isabel Collins. Her former best friend.
Their falling out was nearly as bad as her and Drew's. But what made it all worse was that Drew and Isabel stood together, looking cozier than Brielle ever wanted to see. They must have been dating and even though she had no right to be angry after the shit she pulled the year before, Brielle couldn't help it.
Her ex-best friend and her ex-boyfriend. It broke her heart to see. How could they?
"Hey," A voice suddenly spoke up, causing Brielle to close her eyes and sigh in frustration. She didn't even bother turning to face the unknown boy, knowing he was probably going to make some remark before walking away, laughing like a hyena.
"So like..." He trailed off and Brielle could almost hear the smirk in his tone, "Do you only bang your foster brothers or do I have a shot?"
Unable to control herself, Brielle balled her hand into a tight fist. She whipped herself around, swinging a punch to his jaw.
The swing was so hard that he ended up stumbling before hitting the ground. Brielle gasped in pain and clutched her right hand, not expecting it to hurt as much as it did.
The hallway had fallen silent and Brielle looked around to see all eyes on her, even more than before. Even Isabel and Drew were staring at her. Isabel looked annoyed while Drew looked concerned. He knew no matter how much of a troublemaker that had the tendency to be, there was no way she'd pull something like that on the first day after what happened last year.
"Ms. Westbrook!" A voice called out, causing Brielle to turn to see her assistant principal standing there, "In my office. Now."
Brielle sighed in defeat and nodded obediently. She watched as two teachers rushed over to the boy she had punched while Brielle was forced to go to the assistant principal's office.
"Dad, I can explain—" Brielle began to say as she stood before the man, a pleading look on her face.
"How can you explain this, Brielle?" Christian asked, sighing as he shook his head in disapproval, "Your mother and I gave you a pass all summer, but you're back at school. Things must change. You can't just punch anyone that pisses you off. What did your therapist tell you? You just have to breathe—"
"You think taking deep breaths and counting to ten is gonna help me?!" Brielle exclaimed, staring at her foster father/assistant principal in disbelief, "Everyone here thinks I'm a slut. They think I'm a slut for..." She trailed off, glancing downwards as tears filled her eyes, "I don't want to go to this school anymore. I don't want to be here. Why can't you just transfer me to some other school?"
"No other school will take you," Christian responded, causing Brielle to sigh as she wiped her tears, "You know that. I'm sorry, but it's true."
"I didn't ask to be a magnet for trouble. I didn't ask to be a foster kid that is the first one to be blamed for everything that goes wrong when I'm near. And I didn't ask to..." She trailed off, letting out a deep sigh as she tried to hide her shame, "I didn't ask to be known as the girl who hooked up with her foster brother."
"That wasn't your fault," Christian argued in a calm tone, "You were manipulated, you were taken advantage of. Jace was—"
"Stop saying that," Brielle demanded in a stern tone, "Of course it was my fault. I never said no. I let it happen. I..." She trailed off and sighed, "I was stupid and naive, but I was the one who even initiated it. So it's my fault. And I've been paying for it ever since. But no one is to blame for that but me," She paused, trying to contain her tears, "But we're not here to talk about that. We're here to talk about what I just did and the consequences for it."
"Two weeks of detention and you will serve three Saturday detentions as well," He informed her and Brielle nodded her head in response, "I can't let anyone think I'm going easy on you because you're my daughter."
"It's fine. I understand," Brielle admitted in a whisper before turning on her heel. She wiped her tears and with that, she walked out of her dad's office.
"Did little Brielle get off with just a slap on the wrist 'cause her daddy's the assistant principal?" A familiar voice spoke up, causing Brielle to scoff as she turned to face Isabel.
"No, I didn't, actually. So why don't you just fuck off?" Brielle snapped at the girl in a cold tone.
"How was juvie?" Isabel asked, ignoring what Brielle had said, "I hear you had some girlfriend in there."
"Juvie wasn't bad," Brielle admitted truthfully, "Wasn't my first time there, but you already know that. As for the girlfriend, that's none of your business."
"So it's true?" Isabel asked, beginning to laugh, "So less than a year ago, you were dating Drew, then you cheated on him with your foster brother Jace, and then you had some random girlfriend in juvie? So you really are a slut."
"Isabel, I'm not in the mood for your shit right now," Brielle argued, sighing as she shook her head in disapproval, "Especially when you have the audacity to call me a slut when I know you've cheated on, like, every guy you've ever dated and have a thing for my sloppy seconds."
"Shut up," She snapped at Brielle with an attitude, "You know nothing."
"I know everything about you. You forget we were friends once. You told me everything, but thank God I didn't tell you everything, now that I know you're a backstabbing bitch," Brielle explained, shooting Isabel a glare before she pushed past her and walked away, "Have fun with my sloppy seconds! I know you always do!"
Brielle smirked in satisfaction as she walked down the hallway. She turned the corner, only to sigh as she came face to face with a familiar person.
"Thank God," Brielle sighed in relief, tears filling her eyes as she hugged Tyson tightly, "I can't deal with this, Ty. I can't be here. Everyone hates me. Everyone thinks I'm a slut."
"Who cares?" Tyson asked, letting out a large scoff, "Screw them. Who cares what they think about you? The only thing that matters is what you think about yourself, no one else. Don't let them get to you. You'll be giving them what they want. And you don't want that, right?" He asked and Brielle shook her head, "Good. Then keep your head high and ignore them. Don't let them get to you. Show them you don't give a crap and they'll stop."
Brielle remained silent as she stared up at Tyson. She sighed, nodding her head in response before a smile gradually found its way onto her lips.
"Now come on," Tyson encouraged her, wrapping an arm around his sister, "We have lunch and I don't want to be late. I'm hungry."
Hearing her brother's words, Brielle turned and gave him a disgusted look. "Who the hell eats school lunch willingly?" She asked him as she practically cringed, "It's trash."
"Well, you know me. I eat anything when I'm hungry," Tyson replied, causing Brielle to laugh and shake her head.
Brielle knew her junior year was going to be hell, but the fact that Tyson was going to be there at her side made everything feel less unbearable. For years, Brielle and Tyson had no one, but at least they had each other and always did, for as long as they could remember.
That was all that truly mattered to her. Not being alone. She hated the feeling and never wanted to feel it again. But she would. More times she could bear. And that was her greatest fear.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
First chapter! It's ass but I promise it gets better. 😂 everything will start to make sense.