BROOKE DIDN'T SPEAK TO LIZ NOR HER MOTHER ON FRIDAY. Liz was less of a choice, more of collateral damage; by refusing to talk to her mother, she shut out Liz in the morning and on their way to school, their mother driving them, and there was no time to talk during school itself. She had wished her sister goodbye when she was heading to the bus to leave for Decathlon, but that was it, really.
"Good luck," she said to Ned who was wearing a bucket hat, leaning against the side of the bus, "I should probably get going soon, but you...try your best, and I hope you remember everything. I don't know how this works."
He shrugged. "That's pretty much it." The two laughed for a moment before she nodded, turning to Liz who smiled, holding out her arms.
"Good luck hug!" Liz squealed, and Brooke couldn't help the shriek of joy that escaped her lips as she hugged her, shocked that her sister even remembered their old tradition at all; maybe the fact she was applying to colleges was making her nostalgic.
"You remember the time?" Liz asked, pulling away, going right back into business mode, "And the venue? And you can't really ask for Bea, 'cause she doesn't give the same name to most people, so ask for either Sabine Kawahara or Matthew Mitty, they're her friends and they'll watch you."
"Matthew Mitty?" Flash called out, turning away from where he was chatting with Diana Smith, Brooke's lab partner, shoving his hands in his pockets as he took a step towards them, trying not to seem too curious, "You-you guys know Matt?"
"I'm friends with the drummer in his band, Bea," Liz said, and Flash nodded in understanding.
"It's Rhea for me, but cool. Brooke, you're going to their concert tonight?" he asked, turning to address the younger of the Allan sisters who never really had the opportunity to be met under his rather strong gaze.
"Yeah," she said, nodding, "Do-do you want me to tell him something?"
He opened and closed his mouth, glancing over towards the others who were all, for the most part, listening in. They all glanced away immediately after being caught, and Brooke watched as Flash scrambled for a piece of paper, sighing with relief when Diana handed a paper and pen over with an exasperated smile.
He scribbled on it quickly, mumbling to himself as he did, before folding it up into a star and handing it to Brooke, patting her shoulder. "Thanks, Brooke. Have fun tonight, they're a good band."
Brooke nodded, pursing her lips as she glanced over to Liz who gave her a tense smile before leaning over to whisper, "I'm about eighty percent sure they're in love, but I need you to do some reconnassaince for me to get the other twenty percent."
Brooke fought back a smile, giving her a mock salute. "You got it. I should probably get going now."
"Can I get a good luck hug?" Ned asked quickly, just as she was about to walk away, and Brooke turned on her heel, nodding.
"Sure," she said, slightly surprised, but she smiled as she reached up to hug Ned, which wasn't too hard as he was only two inches taller than her, giggling as he hugged her tightly, squeezing her, ignoring Liz who was taking pictures in the background, "Good luck, have fun, don't do anything dumb."
"I'll try," he said, laughing as he pulled away, giving her the same dopey smile he always did, "Have fun at your concert! And buying all those markers you wanted, those are really expensive."
"They are, but at least now I'll be able to do more stuff," she said, smiling as she nodded, "I'll see you guys when you get back! Good luck!"
With that, she turned on her heel and practically ran away, catching sight of Peter who was running towards the group, nodding towards her in greeting as he went, looking utterly terrified; she figured she must look the same, she wasn't used to being around a large group of people, though she figured it would be good practice for the concert she would have to go to.
She sighed at the thought. But first: markers.
º º º
She stood in the aisle of the art store with a smile that could only be brought about at the sight of the open stock Copic markers that she had never had the guts to ask her parents for. But her father had texted her that morning to let her know that the offer still stood and had left his card for her on the kitchen counter. So she was going to take him up on it; she figured that, if she didn't, it would hurt him a lot more.
At the thought of her father, she paused, fiddling with the edge of her phone in her left pocket. It was the afternoon, so he would probably still have the necklace on, if he had even put it on, and there was no harm in at least testing it so she could get back to Ned on whether or not it worked.
Pulling out her phone and earbuds, she plugged them in, opening the app Ned had set up for her, pressing the button that would tune her into the audio transmitter hidden inside the necklace she had given her father.
She tried not to think too hard on the ridiculousness of it all, not to mention the underhandedness of the entire manipulation tactic she was pulling; if anything, she was the one lying the most to the family.
Pushing all that aside, she listened to the sound of background noise that she couldn't quite decipher as she continued to choose markers. It was almost soothing, though she put unnecessary strain on herself to try and make out the words shouted in the background.
"Everything set?" her father asked, and she couldn't make out the kind of tone he was using, as she'd never heard it before.
"You sure you wanna do this? I mean, it's risky," a man said, sighing, and she heard her father sigh as well.
"Look, we're a family, remember? And this could be great for us and all of our families. We have to take risks," her father said, and she frowned, unsure as to what he could be talking about.
"But your wife doesn't know about us," another man's voice called out, and she froze, eyes wide.
"Because she wouldn't understand," her father sighed, using the same light tone he did when he was trying to stop her mother from being angry with him, and she felt bile rising in her throat as she thought of her father using that tone with anyone else, with multiple people.
She yanked her earbuds out and turned off the app, shoving everything back in her pocket and pressing her hands against her cheeks. She hadn't heard anything incriminating, but she didn't want to, she didn't want to hear any of it.
She sighed, rubbing her eyes and shaking her head. Groaning, she dropped her arms and let them swing at her sides, exhaling loudly. Looking left and right, she found herself still alone in the marker aisle. Just her and the markers.
She missed being alone. With no one to mind her business and no one's business to mind. She liked having friends and she liked being aware, but the cost was too great. But at least she was getting markers.
The markers would be worth it. Hopefully.
º º º
The sun was starting to set earlier as fall began to approach, but there was still enough sun out to not terrify her. She had a strange feeling about concerts from what she saw in movies and tv, she always felt as though, once the sun went down, danger lurked in the grimy corners of whatever venue she was about to step into, but with the sun up, she didn't have the same feeling.
People were already starting to enter the venue and mill about, chatting idly, and Brooke bit her lip, her heart pounding as she pulled out the letter from Flash, making her way to the side where Liz had instructed her to go, hoping that it would go as smoothly as her sister promised.
"Excuse me," she whispered as she pushed past a couple who were talking, stumbling forward as she reached the door towards the backstage.
"Hold on," a security guard called out from where he was setting up the perimeter by the stage, "Where do you think you're going?"
"Uh..." she droned, all instructions from Liz evading her as she searched for what she was meant to say in the exact situation she had been prepared for.
"This is only for bands and people either invited by the bands or authorized personnel, are you any of the first two, 'cause you're certainly too young to the third," the man asked, coming to stand between her and the door, crossing his arms loosely; he held an air of authority, but also a welcome understanding and willingness to accept accidents, so she felt intimidated, but not wholly terrified, which was a small mercy.
"I-I'm supposed to meet with, um, with-with Sab-Sa—Matthew Mitty, I-I his friend told me to—" she stammered, trying to show him the letter Flash made, her hands shaking worse than when she inked her drawings with people watching.
"Brooke!"
Brooke whirled around to catch sight of a girl in a crop top and short shorts with a loose white cardigan thrown over her shoulders rushing towards her, grinning brightly as her hair flew back behind her.
"She's with me," the girl said, grabbing her hand and nodding up at the security who shrugged and stepped aside, letting the two in, Brooke yelping as she was dragged around, unsure of what to say.
"I'm Liz's friend, you can call me Bea for clarity's sake, your sister said you're not really into the concert scene, so you can hang backstage so you don't have to worry about the crowd, our friend Matty doesn't like crowds either, we get it," the girl—Wyatt, despite what she said—rambled, continuing to pull Brooke along as they made their way to the rest of her band, seemingly unfazed by anything and everything.
"O-okay," she said, pausing when the two slowed in front of two teens who were chatting, one giggling uncontrollably while the other desperately tried to remember how to breathe.
"Yeah, we're a mess," Wyatt said, and Brooke couldn't help but laugh, covering her mouth when she caught the attention of the other two.
"Hi," the girl giggling madly said, "I'm Sabine! This is Matty, you must be Liz's sister, it's so good to finally meet you, she talks about you a lot."
"Does she?" Brooke asked, but stopped before she could receive an answer, digging out the star Flash had folded, "Oh, Matthew, this is for you. It's from Flash."
Matthew, who had looked ready to pass out at any second, perked up at the sound of his name, then brightened at the mention of Flash's, wheezing out a thanks as he unfolded it easily to Brooke's surprise, scanning over the words, grinning brightly.
"Thanks," he said, taking a deep breath, seemingly more calm, smile unwavering, "Hey, so what kinda music are you into, we'd hate for you to not enjoy ours."
"Oh, I listen to anything really, and Liz says I'll like your music," Brooke said, nodding to all of them in turn, and they all shrugged, smiling.
"Well listen," Wyatt said, squeezing her shoulder, "We're front act and the guys we're fronting for tend to have intense crowds, so just stay back here, enjoy the snacks, plug your ears if you don't like us, and once we're done we'll get some late night ice cream and chit chat, okay?"
Brooke opened her mouth to reply, only for the three to rush to get to sound check. She pursed her lips, nodding towards them as they gave her waves and smiles, mouthing apologies and promises to be back.
She sighed, grabbing a chair and moving to sit at the table, pulling out her new sketchbook and markers. At least she knew she could do this.
º º º
"Your music was actually good!" Brooke said, genuinely shocked as she and the trio made their way out the stagedoor of the venue.
"Thanks," Matthew said, his cheeks flushed and eyes bright. He had surprised her the most, what with how free he was on stage yet how shy and unsure of himself he was off stage, "I saw you were drawing when we were on stage."
"Yeah, I drew you guys, Liz had sent me pictures of you so I would know how to look out for," she said, unsure as to why she was so boldly proclaiming her hobby and future career outlet.
"Oh, wait, can we see?" Wyatt gasped as they made their way into the brightly lit ice cream parlor, "Or is that not something I can ask, Liz mentioned something about that."
"It's intrusive to ask, and some people aren't good at saying no, so we put them in an uncomfortable situation," Matthew said, handing over his money to Wyatt who nodded, heading to the line to order for him.
"It's okay, I can show you," she said, choosing to stand next to Matthew, as Wyatt had offered to buy her an ice cream as well.
She didn't understand why she was so calm around these people. Maybe it was because she didn't have to see them daily, so there was no need to please, and they were fine if she didn't speak, but worked hard to make sure she felt comfortable, and maybe it was because they knew Liz and were nice to her, but she felt safe around them, if not a little tired.
"Is this me?" Matthew asked, and she nodded, looking up to find him staring at it with wide eyes, "You-you made me look cool."
"You are cool," she said, remembering Liz's extensive description of Matthew and his personality, "And Flash Thompson makes it a point to only hang out with cool people, so..."
Matthew laughed at that, leaning back against the wall, sighing softly. "You're really good at that, though, that's really amazing."
"I wanna see," Wyatt sang, carrying over the ice cream, "Here, we can walk and talk, I've been meaning to say something to you since you showed up."
Brooke's stomach dropped at that, but she nodded, following the older girl as they made their way out of the ice cream parlor and out into the chilly night air, walking along the dimly lit sidewalk, Sabine and Matthew walking ahead of them to give them space, eating each other's ice cream.
Brooke sighed as she held onto the strap of her bag, walking alongside Wyatt who was talking all about how she met Liz and how great it was that Liz had a little sister who was so different than her, but just as great.
Brooke had tripped over her feet when she said it.
"You mean that?" she breathed, looking over at Wyatt with wide eyes and a sudden urge to cry.
"Of course, that's what Liz is always talking about," she said, nodding, "'Cause you know your sister, um...she's not always okay, you know? I mean, she's super ambitious and it's amazing, but she's not the best at handling it? You're her sister, you know."
Brooke nodded, thinking back to when she and her mother found Liz cleaning the kitchen in the middle of the night because she couldn't focus on her homework, but needed to be doing something, and how Liz had taken to covering the crack under her door at night with her blanket to hide her room light from her parents who hated finding their daughter working on leadership work instead of sleeping.
"Liz likes that you like art," Wyatt said, and Brooke could only listen, "She likes that you want to pursue that, because no one else in the family is doing something creative. She likes that you don't have too high ambitions. She doesn't like that your parents ignore you, and she doesn't like that your mom doesn't know how to talk to you without being on your case. She doesn't like that for all the articles and TEDTalks on public speaking, she doesn't know how to talk to you, and she doesn't like that it's her problem and not yours, because we all know how much Liz hates failing."
Brooke pursed her lips and nodded, looking down at her shoes. "Yeah."
"What I'm saying is," Wyatt sighed, reaching out to link their arms, "Liz talks about you all the time, but doesn't really spend time talking to you. So I figured I'd just tell you myself. Save me from the drama."
Brooke giggled, pausing as she looked over to Wyatt who was grinning up at the streetlights, looking loose and free and happy. She hadn't thought about Liz's confession in a while, but now that she had met Wyatt, it wasn't too much of a reach.
"Liz really likes you," she said, unable to help herself, eyes widening as she held her breath.
Wyatt only smiled, looking down at her shoes, looking shy for the first time since Brooke had met her. "Yeah, I know. It's pretty great."
They paused for a moment, turning to look at each other, before bursting into a fit of giggles, Brooke laughing softly while Wyatt threw her head back, free and open and living. No wonder Liz liked her, she was her balance. Brooke liked her, she would be good for Liz.
"You know," Wyatt said, once she calmed down, continuing to eat her ice cream, "Liz worries about what's going on with your dad too. But sometimes, you don't want to see the truth, even if it's staring right at you."
Brooke nodded in understanding; that was exactly how she felt. "But why? Why hide from it when you could find out and you'd have all the answers you're looking for?" She asked more at herself than anything, but Wyatt still sighed and replied.
"Because, deep down, you don't want to know."
AUTHOR'S NOTE
( 07.31.18 )
This chapter was strange to write for me because I didn't know what I wanted to happen, so...sorry it was literally nothing but you know, we get some bonding between Liz and Brooke inadvertently so yeah. Also, Wyatt, Sabine, and Matthew are from my Liz, Michelle, and Flash fics respectively.
I could go on and on about Liz Allan and what's she's like and how her own ambitions can cause her to crumble but it's her own self pressuring her no one else like god damn it people's perceptions of Liz sometimes grind my gears, not gonna lie.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!