I walked over to Gabriella and stood right in front of her. Her head is still down with her knees up and her arms wrapped around her legs.
"Gabriella?"
She looks up at me. Her eyes are red and tears are coming down her face.
"What do you want?" she snapped at me.
"Wow, okay. We're gonna start like this?" I asked.
Gabriella scoffed and sat down on the bed she was sitting next to. Crap, the bed was hers.
"I have nothing to say to you," she said.
"You know, Gabriella, my parents always tells me I shouldn't bottle up my feelings," I said
She looks at me. "Why do you care about my feelings?"
"Maybe because unlike you, I care about other people's feelings," I said, crossing my arms.
She glared at me for a moment, but then her face softened. She gestured me to sit on the other bed. I sat down and waited for her to tell me.
She sighed before saying, "My mom and I haven't had a good relationship ever since my dad left us. It gotten worse when she married Colin and we have to move here."
"May I asked how that happened?" I asked.
"How what happened?"
"You and your mother not getting along."
"I just told you, Chris. It was when my mom kicked my dad out of the house."
"How did you know she kicked him out? He could've left on his own."
"Layla and I saw the whole thing."
"Oh."
We both sat there in silence. She started to pick at her blanket. "That's when I got really pissed at her for kicking him out. I thought they would work things out like adults, that I thought my dad would come back and apologize for everything. But then she met Colin." She rolled her eyes after she said that.
"What's wrong with Colin? He's a nice guy," I said.
"I don't know." Gabriella shook her head. "I mean, they only started dating a week after my dad left us and Sophia's mom died from a terminal illness. Sometimes, I think to myself if Colin's ever going to end up like my dad and is going to leave her too."
"That's it?"
"Our relationship got alot worse when I started to hang out with Malcolm."
"Why do you even hang out with him?" I asked.
"Because I can," she snapped.
"Gabriella, I'm not in the mood right now," I said.
Gabriella scoffed. "Okay. Maybe it's because Ramona hangs out with him and Jarrod because their parents are friends."
"Okay. And the sneaking out on Sunday?"
"I kind of been seeing someone for a while."
"Tell me it's not Malcolm."
"No, it is not fucking Malcolm."
"Okay, I was just asking."
"Anyway, the only reason my mom found out was because Malcolm told her. I mean, he always does this: getting other people in trouble and telling their secrets. That's why I only wanted to hangout with Brian and throw him this party just to piss Malcolm off."
I leaned back on my hands. So Gabriella only wanted to hangout with Brian just to piss Malcolm off. That's a relief.
"And the fight you and your mom had earlier?" I asked.
"She had the nerve to tell me I'm just like him." Tears started to come out of her eyes. "I mean, to tell you the truth, I just want everything to be normal." She started to cry.
"Is this what the whole problem is: Your dad leaving you, your mom marrying someone else, and you hanging out with Malcolm?" I asked.
She nodded her head.
"Gabriella," I went over to her and kneel down in front of her. "There are some kids who I know have parents that left them, but they don't take it out on other people. Like my old friend Jackson, after his parents got divorced, he never saw his dad again. But he never took it out on anybody because he has his mom and friends who were always there for him. And you're worrying about Colin ending up like your dad? Gabriella, you should be happy for your mom for actually being with someone who actually loves her and treats her right."
Gabriella looks at me as I continue, "And honestly, I'm kind of happy you're trying to hangout with Brian just to piss Malcolm off."
"What?" She gives me a confuse look on her face.
"Uh, nothing. Forget what I just said. My point is, you can't focus on the past; you should be happy with everything-beside with Malcolm."
"Um, okay?"
"I just don't understand if you don't like him that much, then you should stop hanging out with him, and somehow get Ramona and Jarrod to stop hanging out with him too." What the hell am I saying right now? "Um, forget what I said about Malcolm right now. My point is, you should be happy for your mom. I think she's really happy with your stepfather."
"Okay," Gabriella whispered.
I stood up and walked over to the door. As I put my hand on the knob, I turned and looked back at Gabriella, who's now laying down on her bed.
"Can I ask you a question?" I asked.
"You just did," she said.
"Gabriella..."
"Just kidding. Go ahead."
"Why were you being nice to me when I came back to school after Malcom beat me up?"
She got up and sat down at the edge of her bed. "I was kinda hurt for what Malcolm did to you."
I took my hand off the knob. "You did?"
She nodded her head. Ramona was right: she does have a good heart deep down.
"Um, thank you." I put my hand on the knob again and opened the door.
"Chris?"
I looked back at her.
"Brian's lucky to have a guy like you. I hope he realizes that."
I stared at her in shock. How does she even know?
"What's the look for? Basically almost every person you know so far figured out about the both of you."
Almost every person? Who else knows besides my friends and Brian's friends?
I walked out of her room and closed the door. I walked to the kitchen to see Brian and Seth helping Mr. and Mrs. Hathaway, Sophia, and Layla cleaning up.
Seth looks up at me. "Hey, Chris. Everything okay?"
"Yeah," I said.
"Thank you so much for helping boys," Mrs. Hathaway said to Seth and Brian.
"No problem," Brian said.
I looked over at him. He been smiling a lot more, his eyes shining very bright. He looks over at me and smiled. I blush and push my hair away from my face. Jesus Christ, I need a haircut.
Brian walked over to me and wrap his arm around me. "Whatcha thinking about?"
"Nothing. Just glad that you're happy," I said.
Mrs. Hathaway took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm going to go to bed now." She walks over to us and gently pats Brian on the cheek. "Happy birthday." She walks into the living room and stops when Gabriella walks in.
"You got something you want to say to me, young lady," Mrs. Hathaway said.
Surprisingly, Gabriella wrapped her arms around her mom and pulls her into a hug. "I'm sorry, Mom," she said.
I couldn't see if Mrs. Hathaway is surprised or not, but she wrapped her arms around her too. "It's okay, baby."
Brian wrapped his arm around me again. "Let's go and have these two handle this by themselves."
As he, Seth, and I were about to walk out of the door, I heard Layla said, "Chris, hang on!"
I turned it her. Brian stood by me, still having his arm wrapped around me.
"Thanks for talking to Gabriella," she said.
"No problem," I said.
"I just hope she and my mom have a good relationship now."
"Honestly, me too."
"Bye, guys," Layla said.
I sat in the front seat next to Brian on the way home. He put his hand on top of mine. I looked over at him and smiled. He kept his hand there for the entire ride.
We got at my house and Brian stopped. "Thanks, Brian," I said.
"Chris, wait," Brian said.
"What?"
He leaned over and kissed me on the mouth. I blushed again and see in the corner of my eye, Seth's eyes are widened and his mouth is agape.
"Bye, Chris," Brian said.
"Bye." I got out of the pickup and I ran into my house. I went to my room and sat down on my bed. I can't believe Brian kissed me, and he didn't even cry. I wrapped my arms around myself as I think about us kissing, taking our shirts off, and him kissing my body.
I never thought I got to kiss him again. Honestly, I thought I would have to wait for a few months to a year for that to happen again. But I'm glad he did it now. I never, ever, wanted him to stop kissing me again.
I got off of my bed and put my pajamas on. I turned the lights off and went back to bed. As I laid there, I thought about Gabriella's words.
'Brian's lucky to have someone like you.'
I hope she's right.
♥️♥️♥️
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