I groaned and paced around my room frustrated. I couldn't believe it. I honestly couldn't.
"Donovan," I whined. "You're leaving me alone with Brianna again?"
"Sorry, my parents need me to go to a cousins house with them," Donovan said gently. "It's not like anything will be different. You'll work, she'll be there."
"Yeah, but you won't be there."
I sighed. I really didn't want to be alone with Brianna, especially not now. Right now I was angry at her for being with my guy. The guy who she didn't deserve, but got to date due to his stupid parents. Everything about the situation was frustrating.
"Aw." Donovan grinned. "You love me."
"No," I huffed. "I'll just be bored without you."
"So, you've been using me all this time?" Donovan asked, pretending to be shocked.
He placed a hand on his heart, pretending to have a heart attack. I laughed at his lameness. He was such a weird person sometimes.
"No, I will actually miss you," I said shyly.
He smiled sadly. "I will too, but it's just for a day. We'll see each other tomorrow."
"That's if I survive a day with Brianna," I sighed.
"You will, she won't bother you. Trust me."
"Fine," I said, still unconvinced.
Even though Brianna and I were fine the last time we were alone, I still wasn't happy. I hated the girl right now, so the last thing I wanted was to spend more time with her. Also, I had to admit I didn't want to see the vulnerable side of Brianna again. Back then it drove me into a guilt trip, and I had a bad feeling it would again. That was the last thing I needed right now because Donovan and I were happy. In my opinion, that was all that mattered right now.
I hugged Donovan and told him to have fun. He told me the same thing and kissed my head gently. I gushed, but played it cool as I grinned at him sheepishly. Sometimes I felt weird showing Donovan how crazy I was about him.
Donovan soon left, leaving me alone. I sighed as I thought about what would happen today. After what happened two weeks ago, I hadn't talked to Lea. It wasn't that I was hurt anymore, but I just didn't feel like talking to her after the way she acted. I wasn't sure why.
That wasn't a good thing today though because now I had to deal with Brianna all alone. How fun.
*****
I heard a knock on my door as I finished putting on my maid uniform. My outfit and hair were placed correctly, so I quickly rushed to the door wondering who it was. Donovan was gone and Lea and I weren't talking.
Turned out, it was Lea. She stood at the door in her maid uniform, staring at me expressionless. Her lack of expression made it seem like she didn't want to be here, which meant I wasn't getting an apology. I wasn't surprised.
"Ms. Rose wants you," Lea said, still expressionless. "She's in hall that Brianna's room is in."
"Okay, I'll go now," I said as expressionless as her.
Two could play at this game, so that was exactly what I was doing. If Lea was going to act like she didn't know me, so would I. That was how I ran.
Lea suddenly sighed. "Alanna, I'm sorry."
My eyes widened. I didn't expect that. Definitely not today either.
My eyes then softened as I realized this was a good thing. "I'm sorry too. I never meant to snap at you back then."
Lea shrugged. "I kind of deserve it. I wasn't being a good friend."
I didn't reply to that because it was true. No good friend would give their best friend crazy ideas of their guy cheating on them. I think that was the thing that actually hurt. The fact that she - my best friend - would do that. Even though I knew her intentions were to help me, it still hurt.
"Can I ask you why you told me what you did?" I asked curiously.
Lea sighed once again. "I want to tell you, but I can't. It's so complicated and I will tell you. When the time is right."
I frowned. "When would that be?"
"A month from now?"
I nodded. That was somewhat reasonable. Everyone needed time, so I would definitely give her that. Despite us not talking for two weeks, I still loved her. She was amazing.
"Okay, I'm going to Ms. Rose now," I said, smiling softly.
"Okay, I'll see you soon," Lea replied.
We then went our separate directions. My heart felt lighter as I walked to the hallway Brianna's room was in. I was glad to be back on speaking terms with my best friend. She wasn't someone I wanted to lose.
In two minutes, I reached the hallway Brianna's room was in. Ms. Rose stood alone, mopping the floor. I swear that was the first time I saw her doing actual maid work. Usually she had the freedom to just boss other maids around all day.
As I reached Ms. Rose, I asked, "What do you want?"
"It's not me who wants you," Ms. Rose replied tiredly. "It's Brianna."
"Okay," I said, hiding my disappointment.
I didn't want to talk to Brianna, but it seemed like I was going to have to. That lead to me having to take deep breaths in. The sight of her always made my blood boil, so I needed to stop the boiling before it would overflow.
I walked down the hallway for a few seconds and reached her door. It was shut, so I knocked on it. I was thankful that Donovan wasn't here. I wouldn't know how to react if I caight them kissing. My reaction would probably - defintely cost me my job.
The door soon opened and Brianna stood in front of me. Like the last time we were alone together, she looked solemn. My heartbeat began to quicken with nervousness. I didn't know how to deal with this Brianna.
"Hey," she said quietly. "Come in."
I obeyed her and followed her into her room. We walked to the centre of it and stood in our places. I was confused by the situation because it didn't seem like the room needed any cleaning. But then again, Brianna always made me clean without purpose.
"Can you help me with something?" she asked.
"Sure," I replied. "With what?"
"I lost a ring. It's silver with a heart in the middle of it," she said tiredly.
My throat constricted as I thought of who must of gave it to Brianna. It must of been Donovan. I hated how he had given her so much when I thought about it sometimes.
"Okay, so do I just look around for it?" I asked nervously.
She nodded.
Without another word, she began looking for the ring. Frowning, I began to look for it at the other side of the room as well. The side where her bed was.
Brianna's attitude made sense today at least. She was upset over a ring her beloved gave to her. Knowing how much she loved Donovan, I was surprised she wasn't bawling her eyeballs out right now. If I were that type of girl, I would be as well.
As I looked for the ring, I thought about how fast five weeks had past. Five weeks since we had confessed our feelings to one another. I had to admit these five weeks were pretty good if I forgot about my guilt and jealousy towards Brianna. Those were the only things preventing my romance with Donovan from being perfect.
Smiling to myself, I thought about our latest date. We had gone to the park - Donovan's favourite place. Obviously, we had to during the night though, but that made it all the more fun. The night had some sort of mystery to it and I always felt nocturnal because I loved darkness. That made the date splendid. Also the fact that we made out on the lovely fields of the park passionately.
"Alanna," Brianna said, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"Yeah?" I asked, stopping my search at her shelf.
"Why are you smiling?" she asked curiously. "Did you get a boyfriend?"
Before I could stop myself, I began to blush. My heart accelerated at the thought of Donovan and in fear. For some reason I felt like she could see right through me.
"No," I replied, trying to sound casual. "I was just thinking about a joke Lea told me."
"Oh." Brianna shook her head. "I don't know why you're single. You're really pretty."
My eyes widened as I stared at her in shock. Never, never did she ever call me pretty. Actually, Brianna had always called me ugly. I began to wonder if she was slowly growing insane throughout my job here.
She suddenly laughed. "Only from afar though."
I smiled awkwardly. That was the Brianna I knew.
"Thanks I guess," I said. "But nobody interests me."
She raised an eyebrow. "No one?"
I tried to stay calm. I tried to stop myself from blushing as I stood straighter.
"Yeah, no one does," I lied.
Brianna shook her head tiredly. "You're lucky."
"Why?"
"I was thinking about what you said a while back," she said. "You're right, relationships are a hassle."
I had to physically stop my jaw from dropping. I couldn't believe it. She wasn't happy with her relationship. That stemmed hope within me as I realized she could break up with Donovan soon.
"Why?" I asked once again, trying to seem sad.
"Have you ever loved someone so much that you can't let them go, even if you know you can do better?" Brianna suddenly asked.
I shook my head. I never had.
"Well, I guess that's how I feel." Brianna narrowed her eyes at me. "Don't tell anyone."
I nodded vigorously. "Of course."
I fought back a smile. Finally, finally I could tell that Brianna and Donovan would end soon. This felt like a dream come true. A dream that I had always wanted and here it was finally happening. I felt on top of the world.
"I love Donovan," Brianna said. "I just don't know what to do with him."
"What do you mean?" I asked innocently.
Brianna sighed. "It's complicated. I'll tell you when the time is right."
I nodded. For some reason a lot of people had been telling me that these days. First Lea, and now Brianna. I began to wonder why life was so complicated.
Brianna quickly broke me out of my thoughts again as she demanded, "Go back to searching."
I nodded as I quickly went back to searching for her ring. Right now I felt happy, but also nervous. First off, this seemed way too good to be true. I didn't expect Brianna and Donovan to end their relationship for quite some time. Second of all, life was too complicated for all of us. That gave me a bad feeling as I thought of how everything could fall apart. Brianna could find out my secret, Lea could get fired for some bizarre reason, and I would be murdered before my nineteenth birthday.
Taking in a deep breath, I decided to remain positive. Life was definitely too short to be worrying, so I smiled to myself once again. There was a chance they could break up. I would hold onto that hope because that was all I wanted right now.