*Harper*
Half an hour after I hung up, I hear tires roll up my driveway. The engine turns off and I hear the gravel crunch under someone's feet.
Half a minute later, I hear my front door open.
"Hey girl," Brit greets as she walks into my living room.
"Hey," I greet back as I crease the page of my book and stretch my legs out.
"How are you?" She asks cautiously as she takes a seat on the couch beside me.
"I've been better," I reply honestly as I sit up straighter on the couch and readjust my blanket.
"I get it. Oh, I have a couple things for you. One requires you to get dressed," Brit informs me as she digs around in her purse.
"Do I have to?" I whine as I kick my blanket off at the same time Brit throws a piece of paper at me as well as a lanyard.
"The fuck is this?" I ask surprised as I pick up the paper.
"No. Fucking. Way," I think to myself as I look at the Brantley Gilbert concert ticket in my hand.
I pick up the lanyard and look at my friend who's wearing a shit-eating grin. I look at the lanyard and see a back stage pass hanging at the end of it.
"Oh my fucking God! Brit you didn't have to do this for me," I exclaim as I throw my arms around my best friend.
"Sure I did. And I got myself one as well, so we're going to the Brantley Gilbert concert in a couple months," Brit says as she hugs me back.
"Now I remember why we're best friends. So what's the other thing we're doing?" I inquire as I release her from our embrace.
"I'm taking you shopping dumbass. You need a new concert outfit," She responds.
"My clothes are just fine," I retort, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Your twelve year old flannel and ripped jeans are not gonna cut it," Brit responds, raising an eyebrow at me.
"Fine. Whatever you say," I reply in defeat and drag my feet to my bedroom.
Just out of spite, I pull on my twelve year old flannel and ripped jeans. I pick my black UGGs to go with my outfit and run a brush though my unruly hair. Nodding at my reflection, I saunter out of my room to the waiting Brit.
She takes one look at me and shakes her head. She dismisses me with a shake of her head and walks out he door. I run to catch up with her.
"Oh, sweet. You brought your truck!" I say excitedly, skipping up to the black jacked up Ford F250 parked in my drive.
"Duh. What else am I gonna drive since my car's in the garage?" She askes.
"Old Glory's in the garage again?" I say casually.
"Yeah, but I think this is the end of her," she admits, a hint of defeat and sadness in her voice.
She fires the beast up and tears out of my drive, and I settle in for the drive.
For the first half of the half hour drive, I think about the elephant in the room.
"What am I gonna do about Jasper?" I mumble to myself as I play with the diamond on my left hand.
"Maybe you don't have to do anything about it," Brit states, obviously hearing me.
"What do you mean?" I ask, a bad feeling lodging in my gut.
Brit gives me a sympathetic look, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
"Didn't you hear? Jasper is breaking off the engagement," She answers, her voice barely above a whisper.
I stay silent for a few minutes, the shock of the news effectively silencing me. Brit shoots a worried look my way out of the corner of her eye.
"Why?" Is all I can manage.
"I don't think..." She starts.
"Spare me. I'm already upset," I cut her off, not wanting to waste time.
Brit takes a minute to compose herself, breathing deeply before letting out a huge sigh.
"The woman he was cheating on you with is pregnant."
That's the moment I start seeing red.
"Pull over," I command, my hands shaking.
"But," Brit begins.
"Unless you want me to be the reason you can't hear."
Brit pulls over to the side of the road, but I'm already out of the truck before it stops. I kick the first thing I see, which happens to be a plastic water bottle, and scream. I rake my angry hands though my hair, pulling at the roots.
Then I take a deep breath and climb back in the truck. Brit gives me a worried look as I slam the door.
"Do you want to go back home?" She asks.
"Nah. Let's keep going. Home is the worst place to be right now," I say, my voice flat.
I can't go back to that house. That house is the first thing Jasper bought me as one of our first steps into growing into a strong couple.
Now it's just a black hole sucking all my energy and emotions into it.
Fifteen minutes later, we reach the mall. I get out and slam the door behind me, still fuming from the news. Brit closes her door gently behind me and looks at me cautiously, reading my expression.
Shit I'm ruining this for her. My anger dies in a flash and guilt replaces the hole in my gut.
"Damn it. I'm sorry, Brit. You were trying to cheer me up, but I ruined it," I apologize, my fingers going to the back of my neck to scratch an invisible itch. I quickly drop my hand.
Stupid nervous habit. I've gotta stop that.
Brit breaks into a smile, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes.
"It's okay, Harper. I think I'd react the same way if you told me the same news," she quickly responds as she links her arm with mine and drags me into the mall.
After a few failed outfits put together by me, Brit finally finds me a new concert outfit. It contains a black lace tank, a pair of light wash daisy dukes and even a new pair of black boots.
(I had originally said no to the boots, but Miss Princess insisted with saying that my boots were so out of date the my grandma could wear them.)
As we walk down the hall of the mall, my stomach decides to mimic the sound of a dying whale. Brit shifts her gaze to my stomach then up to my face.
"Hungry much?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Just a little," I admit as my eyes wonder around the halls looking for food.
Suddenly, I see a soft pretzel place that offers cinnamon sugar pretzel bites with a cream cheese dipping sauce. My mouth instantly floods with saliva with the thought of how delicious the bites would be. Brit catches me looking at the pretzel place and looks back at me with a smile. She takes my elbow and drags me over to the counter.
The associate behind the counter greets us with a warm smile, which we both happily returned. We tell him what we want and he happily got us two orders of the cinnamon sugar pretzel bites. We paid, thanked him, and sat down to eat. We engage in a very interesting conversation until a particular person caught Brit's eye.
"Hey, your friend's here," she whispers as she lifts her chin in his direction, which so happens to be right over my shoulder. I tilt my head back and am met by his green eyes looking amused as they stare down at me.
"Never thought I'd see you here, darlin'" his deep voice resonates pleasantly down to me, and I smile up at him in response.
"Brit made me come here for a new concert outfit," I explain, my gray eyes captured in his.
"Oh," is all he responds with.
I quirk my eyebrow at him, allowing my confusion to show clearly through my eyes, but he quickly lightens up.
"Who are y'all gonna go see?" He inquires innocently.
"Brantley Gilbert," I respond.
We hear somebody yell Cole's name, and we all look over to see his best friend waving him over. I hear Cole sigh deeply before turning his attention back to us. Well, back to me specifically.
"Well, y'all have fun. I gotta go," He states as he waves to us and walks back over to his friend.
When I look back to Brit, she's wearing her shit-eating grin again. I give her a questioning look before she chuckles and sighs.
"He still feels for you, ya know," she says almost sadly.
"You know we ended a long time ago," I shrug, ending the discussion before it even started.
We finished our snack in silence and threw our trash away. As we walk back out to the truck, I see Cole again and wave to him as we walk out the door.
*TBC*