The next three weeks were busy and eventful, you spent almost all of your time in study groups and with friends. By the time the semester ended you realized you'd not only never spoken to John again, you'd hardly noticed him in class either. You'd gratefully accepted your B in English 102 and felt happy to close the door on that class forever. Professor Long had given you a perfect score on your presentation and you knew that had probably saved your grade.
Sitting on your bed a few days after your last class of the semester you were looking over your final grades, pleased to find you'd aced accounting when your phone rang. You answered without even looking down at the screen, comfortable because you'd long ago blocked him.
"Hello?"
"Hey sweetie, how's your day going?" Your mom's bright voice came across the line. Since your dad came home two weeks ago she'd been in a much better mood. He'd recovered remarkably well and was just waiting for his leg to come out of its long hard cast so he could move around better.
"Really good, looks like I got all As this semester except for English but that's a B, and honestly I wasn't expecting even that high." You breathed a sigh of relief and she excitedly congratulated you on your grades. She didn't mention John, no one mentioned him, not your dad, friends, Kasey, or even Robbie, and you'd worried he might. The excitement over your dad had erased his memory of John you guessed.
"I was calling because Dad has a physical therapy appointment this evening and Robbie has a basketball game, do you think you could take him?" Since your aunt and uncle had left several days ago your mom was juggling a lot of responsibility. You'd felt bad because you'd virtually not seen them at all for over a week studying for finals. You smiled thinking time with your brother was exactly what you needed.
"What time? I'll take him for dinner afterward if you and Dad want to have a quiet evening." She thanked you and told you the details.
Later that evening you pulled in front of the gym at Rankin High School and frowned. This was the gym you'd come to with John when you'd met his brother. You turned to Robbie and forced a smile on your face, John wouldn't be attending a basketball game for special needs adults, this was going to be fine.
In the gym you ushered a very enthusiastic Robbie to his coach and grabbed his jacket, then made your way to sit in the stands. They were mostly empty given the early hour, the high school team not playing until later in the evening. You'd been sitting only a few minutes when you heard someone greet you.
"Y/N, hey I thought I recognized you!" Jordan, Jonrick's girlfriend greeted you hurrying up the steps.
"Oh hey, Jordan, yeah I'm here with my brother." You vaguely gestured to the boys warming up on the sidelines. You tried to smile but you felt uncomfortable, you willed yourself not to look around for John.
"I'm working the concession stand tonight and I'm on break, how are you?" Her tone changed and sounded sympathetic, so she must know you and John had broken up.
"I'm good, how are you and Jonrick?" She laughed and shrugged. "You know, it's good sometimes and it's bad sometimes." She laughed again. "Boys are so confusing right?"
"Yeah I guess, maybe just Tan brothers." You didn't even smile at your own joke.
"I thought for sure you'd still be together, John looked at you like you were the only person in the world. It was really sweet, but I guess he just likes to be alone." She frowned and shrugged again. Had she said alone? Why would John be alone?
"Wait I thought he was back with Bree?" You raised a brow, hating yourself for quizzing this teenager on her boyfriend's brother. You sounded way too involved and interested and you winced trying to look and sound as though the answer didn't matter.
"Are they? If they are he's not brought her around, at least not when I've been there, or mentioned her at all." Jordan looked confused and glanced back at the concession stand, maybe she would go and you could slam the door shut on thoughts of him again.
"We barely dated a couple weeks, it wasn't even that big of a deal, I'm sure he's fine either way." Jordan shook her head slowly.
"I don't think it was no big deal to him, Jonrick spent a lot of time with him after the break up. I haven't seen them that close in a long time." You didn't want to hear this, he was probably torn up over Bree and tearing his own heart out because he wanted her but didn't know what to do about her leaving.
"I wish him the best, have a good night at work, it was nice to see you Jordan." You didn't want to be rude but you forced yourself to look at your phone like it was fascinating until she mumbled a goodbye and walked away.
Robbie's game has started and it was easy after that to push away the thoughts and watch him. He played well, dribbling and weaving his way through other players. His shots to the basket made points more than they didn't and by the end of the game you were on your feet cheering. These guys, despite their differences played with their hearts and you felt really proud of them all.
After Robbie said goodbye to all his friends and you'd managed to get him back to the car you asked him what he wanted for dinner.
"Pizza!! Pizza! Pepperoni!!" He cheered and wiggled in his seat eagerly. You knew where he wanted to go, the popular hang out with pizza and basketball memorabilia but you worried on a Friday night it would be too packed. Feeling guilty knowing that you'd asked him what he wanted and if you didn't deliver he'd be upset you started your car and headed to the busy pizza place.
When you arrived the wait wasn't as bad as you thought and you were able to distract Robbie with looking at the pictures of famous basketball players. You weren't surprised when he knew all of them and could tell you which position they played. Finally your name was called and you took him by the hand to follow the waitress to your table.
Halfway to the table you saw a girl with pink hair leaning across the table, clearly in a passionate kiss with a very attractive athletic looking guy. The hair reminded you of Bree and you resented that she was still taking up space in your head. You couldn't even really see the girl, the pastel waves of hair blocking her face. You took your seat a couple rows away and tried to focus on your brother.
After the waitress took your drink orders you opened your menu, already knowing what you'd order when you heard a familiar voice. You turned slowly to look over your shoulder, you'd never forget that voice. You still heard her calling after you 'you know he'll never choose you right?' in your weaker moments all the time. It was Bree, pink hair and manicured nails, only this time dragging those digits across the jawline of the handsome dark skinned athlete and not her actor ex boyfriend.
She was still lovely and petite like the last time you'd seen her, doe like eyes with fake lashes batting up at the guy, a giggle on her candy pink pout. She was teasing him and he was laughing at something she said, leaning in to kiss her again. She obliged and you looked away, feeling angry for yourself, and even John. You'd lost everything you wanted over this girl who only a few short weeks later was publicly making out with someone else.
The waitress came back and you tried your best to focus your attention on her and ignore the anger heating in your stomach. You ordered a pepperoni pizza and garlic knots and Robbie bounced in his seat with excitement. You sipped your drink and listened while he told you about a part of the game he'd just played, but your mind kept wandering.
Had Bree played you both with no intentions of being with John at all? Had she only toyed with you both for her own amusement? You wondered how long she'd been with this guy, you glanced over your shoulder again. She was feeding him bites of food and laughing at everything he said.
Wait, you had to remind yourself that Bree wasn't the issue here. Like you'd told Kasey, John had his own free will, he got to decide what he did and didn't do and he'd chosen to allow her to ruin everything. He had been the one to let her into his dorm and slip that bracelet into his wrist knowing you'd be walking to class any moment. He'd said he loved her and didn't know if he would stop. John hadn't chosen you, he let you walk away and all he felt was sorry he hurt your feelings.
If he was sad right now because he'd gotten played then that was the hand he'd been dealt. You couldn't excuse everything that happened just because Bree had shown her true colors and they weren't the ones he'd thought. She had broken his heart and left him to deal with his feelings the first time, if she did it again, it wasn't unexpected, at least not to you.
You turned back to Robbie and shook your head, she wasn't getting another instant of your attention. Maybe being alone was exactly what John needed, time to resolve his feelings and not lead on the next girl that fell for his kind eyes and deep sexy voice.