1999:
Bradley walked up the steps to her apartment, nervous. He knew what she was going to say to him, but he didn't want to believe. Not until he heard it for himself.
He had lost everyone, his friends, his team. He was the laughing stock on campus. She was all he had left. He remembers what she had said to him at the hospital, but he just couldn't believe it, didn't want to.
He tried to remain calm as he knocked on her door. He hoped she had changed her mind.
He was still wearing the hospital bracelet. He sighed.
She opened the door, wearing only a large t-shirt and shorts. She looked surprised to see him. She quickly pushed him and closed the door behind her.
"What are you doing here?" she whispered, angry.
"What do you mean? I'm your boyfriend, Jasmine," he said, his heart racing. This couldn't be happening.
"No you're not! You haven't been in a long time." she said, crossing her arms. "Max is inside and I don't want him to know you're here, so please, go."
"What? Why is he here? Jasmine, please" he begged
"What do you want from me, Brad? You ignored me ALL year! Not once did I see you. You were too busy with Max to pay me any attention! Remember that?" she spat. Her eyes were filling with tears.
"I'm sorry, Jasmine, please, give me time to explain," he begged her again, reaching for her hands. She pulled away.
"Just go, please, Brad." she said, wiping her eyes. "I'm with Max now, and he treats me well. He shows me off. He doesn't stick me in some corner."
Bradley didn't know what to say. He felt so defeated.
2002:
Bradley woke up, being able to open part of his eye again. The other one was still swollen.
He looked around. Jasmine was sitting in the chair by the window, reading. Besides her, there was no one else in the room.
He tried to sit up, but felt weak. How long had he been sleeping?
"Jasmine?"
She turned to look at him and placed her book down on the chair.
"You feeling okay?" she asked him. She went over and he noticed her pour him a cup of water. "Here, drink. You haven't had any fluids at all, besides that IV."
He drank, feeling so thirsty. Everything was a blur in his head. And that dream, it haunted him still. No not a dream, a memory.
"Thanks, where is everyone? Last thing I remember was hearing Max's dumb voice." he said, trying to sound like himself.
Jasmine giggled. "They left, you've been asleep for nine hours today."
"It literally felt like I took a five minute nap." he said. "Why are you here?"
He saw her look away.
"I wanted to be here for you. I know I wasn't the last time you were in the hospital." she said, taking another seat by the window. She looked up at him with her haunting green eyes.
"You okay?" he asked. He felt the tension that had built between them. This was all weird.
She nodded. "I found you, and well, you're better now and that's all that matters."
"I don't remember what happened." he confessed. "It's all mushed up."
"What do you remember?" she asked him.
I remember kissing you in the library, and waiting for you outside.
He cleared his throat. "I was studying with Cora, for our final. Oh shit! I didn't take it!"
"Calm down, the professor knows. He will let you take it after you get out of the hospital." Jasmine said. She wasn't looking at him anymore.
"Is there something else, Jasmine?" he asked her. He couldn't help but feel like she was keeping something from him.
"I know what happened. But I haven't told anyone." she said softly. "So please, don't say anything to anyone. Especially Cora."
"If you know something you better tell me." he said, his voice sounding rougher than he intended. "And I'll decide who I tell."
She looked at him, which made his body shake. Something had changed about her.
"Whatever Brad, I don't care." she said. He saw her pack her books into her leather bag. "Cora's going to be in soon. I told her she could watch you tonight. I have a date I have to get to."
Bradley let out a deep breath. A date? Jasmine? With who?
"You always seem to let her slip away from your hands, huh Bradley." Evil Brad teased as he reappeared in the corner of the room. Bradley looked away.
"A date? With who?" he asked, no demanded. She looked at him surprised.
"What do you care for?" she responded.
"Why are we arguing?!" he asked louder.
She walked up to him, their noses almost touching. "Why should I tell you?"
He could smell her perfume. Damn, how he wanted to kiss her.
"Because, because-" he started but was surprised when she cut him off.
"Cora's brother Mikolaj did this to you. Him and his friends. Cora doesn't know anything about it, but I took care of it. They won't be bothering you anymore."
He pushed himself up. Mikolaj?
"What are you saying?"
Jasmine sighed. "I took care of it. You cannot tell anyone, or else I'd get in trouble too. I'm just warning you. Cora knows nothing of this. I know she's your girlfriend but don't tell her."
"What? She's not my girlfriend. What did you do Jasmine?" he asked, surprised. He hadn't expected Jasmine to care so much about him.
"Let's say my friends took care of him." he felt Jasmine place a kiss on his forehead. "I have to go now, I'll be back tomorrow."
"I don't want you to go," he stated. "Why did he do this to me? What did he want with me?"
"It was because of me." Jasmine said. She bit her lip. "I was supposed to get you to fall for me again, and manipulate you into spilling all your secrets."
Bradley couldn't believe what he was saying. She was using him? Is this why he had fallen in love with her again?
"No, stupid, you were always in love with her." evil Brad said. He laughed. "I can't wait to see you destroy her. Tell her to leave! Don't be so weak. The old Brad would have never tolerated this!"
Bradley's head began to throb. This was all too much. He was a fool. A fool!
"Leave me," he said, trying to remain in control.
"Brad, listen to me." Jasmine begged, noticing his demeaner.
He shook his head. He didn't know what he wanted to do. Evil Brad was saying one thing while his heart told him another.
"Bradley Uppercrust the Third! You will LISTEN TO ME." she said forcefully.
She felt her pulse racing. What was it going to take for him to listen to her? She didn't mean to yell, but she was tired. When he didn't say anything, she continued.
"It's true. I had agreed to this in the beginning of the semester. Before all of this happened. I don't even remember if I was still with Max or not, but I was hurt and confused."
"Confused? How so? Sleeping from guy to guy huh?" Bradley said angrily.
"I'll let you know I did not sleep with Mikolaj." she said firmly, trying to remain in control. "It has only been you since I dumped Max, or Max dumped me, I don't even care how it was anymore."
"Right," Bradley said, rolling his eyes.
"What Brad? Don't believe me then! But never once did I report back to Mikolaj! Not about you, nor Max. I didn't know what to do. I felt Max slipping away from my fingers, and I couldn't save that relationship. Not that I was ever in it 100%."
"How can I believe anything you say?" he asked her. She could see this was hurting him.
"Brad, you don't think I noticed how you were using me this semester too? All those times you came over and stayed with me? For your own comfort? Didn't you think how that would make me feel?"
She raised her hands up to her mouth, shocked at what she had just admitted. Bradley stared at her, his eye wide.
"What are you saying, Jasmine?" he asked her.
"I'm saying to trust me. I didn't betray you. Not once. And that was why Mikolaj went after you himself. I hadn't done as he asked. That's it. There's nothing more to that story. Believe what you want. But believe me when I say I've only been with you since leaving Max. I have never cheated on you Bradley. Never."
He watched her pick up her bag and wave at him. "I'll be back if you want me, tomorrow. Like I said, I have a date."
He couldn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. He watched her leave.
Roxanne stood in line at the library, trying to return back her book. It was taking longer than usual. She had borrowed the book to help her write her paper, but she didn't need it anymore.
She knew Max was around too. He had told her he would be with Mona today, but that he would see her after.
What are you doing to yourself, she thought, moving her bang away. Max wasn't her boyfriend, but somehow, he belonged to her. It was complicated. She didn't want him to leave her again.
And that kiss last night in her room. What was she thinking? He was seeing Mona! Did he really love her?
She needed to talk to Stacey and Jasmine. Maybe just Jasmine, since Stacey was already gone with Bobby for the Thanksgiving break. She needed advice. She had to tell someone what had happened.
"Speak of the devil," she whispered to herself as Jasmine appeared through the doors. Jasmine had a way of always making an entrance.
She saw Jasmine walk towards the stairs. Roxanne couldn't lose her. She hesitated, but she could return her book later. She ran after her.
She caught up to her, but saw her staring at Max and Mona, who were both talking at the desk Mona was occupying. He looked up at her and quickly turned away. Mona smirked at her before going back to whatever she was doing.
"Hey, Jasmine." Roxanne said, wanting to ignore Mona. "I'm glad I caught you, have a second to talk?"
Jasmine turned around. "Oh, it's you. Yeah, I just came to meet up with Tony for a bit. We have this project due and we haven't even started it."
"Is he here now?"
"No, I came early." Jasmine said, walking away from them. Roxanne could feel Mona's eyes burning into her back.
"How's Bradley?" Roxanne asked as they took a seat in the back of the library, by the large windows. It was raining.
"He's doing better. He woke up, if that's what you mean." Jasmine said, a little irritated.
"Did something happen?" Roxanne asked her. "You seem tense."
Jasmine was shaking.
"I hate myself. I hate men!" she said. "He thinks I purposefully wanted to hurt him! Me!"
"Slow, down. What happened?" Roxanne asked, worried. "Why would he think that?"
Jasmine turned her green eyes toward the window. "I hurt him in the past, Roxy, and because of that he doesn't trust me."
"Can we start from the top?" Roxanne asked, confused.
"I guess we were going to have this conversation sooner or later huh?" Jasmine said. She sighed. "Fine."
1999:
"Who was at the door?" Max asked, grabbing another slice of pizza. He was only wearing boxers.
"No one, they had the wrong apartment." she lied. Her heart was pounding. "I think I'm going to take a shower."
"Okay," Max said, grinning.
"Could you come back tomorrow?" she asked.
Max stood up. "Is everything okay?"
She nodded, swallowing down the tears that were trying to escape. "Or not, whatever you want Max. I'll be right out."
"I don't want to leave if you're not feeling well." Max said, his brows worried.
"Okay, I'll be right out."
She walked away from him, her body trembling. She quickly got into the bathroom and locked the door. She turned the water on, and began to cry. She covered her mouth, not wanting Max to hear.
She had turned Bradley away, which is what he deserved, but why did it hurt so much?
She jumped into the shower, clothes and all. She felt the fabric stick to her skin, but she didn't care. She had to cry. She had to let everything out. She had to move on.
Why did he wait until now to show her that he cared? Now that she had chosen a good guy, a guy that made her feel like queen, who treated her right? She didn't deserve to be with Max. She knew she couldn't give him her whole heart. He was just going to be someone that was going to help her heal, help her forget Bradley.
Her tears came down like waterfalls. She didn't know how long she had been on her knees, the water drenching her.
Max knocked on the door.
"Jasmine, you okay? You've been in there for some time now." he said, concerned.
"Uh, yeah, I'll be right out." she said, feeling numb. Good. Numb was better than feeling anything at all.
Present day:
"So you were still in love with Bradley when you got with Max?" Roxanne asked. This was news to her.
"Yes, Bradley had ignored me that whole year, back when I was a freshman. He was more worried about Max." Jasmine said. "I need a puff."
"No, you don't." Roxanne said.
Jasmine smiled at her. "The only reason he came towards me was because I reminded him of you."
Roxanne caught her breath. She had known this, but the way Jasmine was looking at her made her feel guilty.
"Max did come to love me, for me, but not romantically. It's different. Whenever we were together I knew it wasn't me he was thinking of. A woman can tell these things."
Roxanne blushed. She didn't want to know this. It bothered her to think of Jasmine with Max, but Jasmine had become such a good friend to her, that she was willing to get past that part of her past. But she knew she had to hear it.
"I didn't start cheating on Max until he cheated on me. It was an innocent kiss to some girl at a party, but I knew I couldn't let him go. He was holding me down." Jasmine said, her eyes unfocused. "It was then he told me he didn't know what he was doing, and he was drunk. It was the first time I heard Max say your name outloud."
Roxanne gasped.
1999:
"What are you doing?" Jasmine yelled at him, grabbing his arm and pulling her away from the other drunk blond girl.
"Let go of me, Jazzz," Max said, drunk.
"Since when do you drink?!" she yelled at him. She kicked the girl out of her way.
"I thought she was Roxanne." she heard him say.
"Who?" Jasmine asked, her ears pounding. "Who the hell is Roxanne?"
Max fell to the floor, ears down. "Roxanne. Roxanne."
"What the hell, Max! Speak to me!" she yelled, slapping him.
"Roxanne?" he said to her, his eyes going wide. Then he closed them, passed out. Jasmine didn't know what to do. She sat there, defeated, afraid.
Present Day:
"I'm so sorry, Jasmine." Roxanne said, feeling for her friend. She felt responsible.
"It's the past. It's not your fault." Jasmine said. "Besides, it was kind of a relief for me. It didn't make me feel so bad about being with him, when part of me always belonged to Bradley."
"This is a lot." Roxanne said, glad she hadn't been here for all this drama. But how would it have played out though? Would Jasmine have still been with Max? Part of her didn't think so.
"It gets worse." Jasmine said. "I kept going back to Bradley. And he always took me in."
"So you cheated on Max with Bradley?" Roxanne asked shocked. Jasmine nodded.
"I was stupid, Roxanne. I had no real friends. Where are those bitches now? Nowhere. No one offered me solid advice. Max was my safety net. I loved two men at once."
Roxanne didn't know what to say. She had always been lucky to have Stacey. Stacey kept her grounded. Stacey had left everything behind to help her in France. She owed Stacey so much.
"And at the beginning of this semester, I felt Max leaving me. It was because of you obviously, but I wasn't scared of losing him, I was scared of Bradley not being there for me either, and then I'd really be alone." Jasmine said. Her bottom lip was trembling. "Mikolaj seemed like a way out of all that. I thought I could replace Max with Mikolaj and keep Bradley like I always did."
"Why didn't you just go back to Bradley?" Roxanne asked. "It seems less complicated."
"I didn't trust him." she said softly. "At least keeping him at a distance meant he couldn't hurt me. Or so I thought. Now he's in love with Cora and I have nothing. No one."
"You don't need a guy, Jasmine. You have me and Stacey. You won't ever be alone." she said. "I promise, I will try to lead you down the right path."
"Thanks, Roxanne. I'm glad we met. I can see why Max hasn't gotten over you." Jasmine said. She took out her books. "There's more, though. Mikolaj wanted me to sabotage Bradley and Max, and use Bradley to do it. I couldn't go through with it, so Mikolaj took matters into his own hands and jumped Bradley."
"No! Cora's brother? Does she know anything about this?" Roxanne asked surprised.
"I hope not. I don't think so." Jasmine said, hating that she couldn't find anything wrong with Cora. It would justify her hate for her. "It's okay, though. I took care of it. I got my dad's people on them. They won't be bothering anyone."
"What?"
"That is for another day," Jasmine said. "But I confessed it all to Bradley, and now he's mad at me."
"Well, it's a lot to take in, especially after being out for a whole day." Roxanne said, not knowing how to take it herself. It was a lot.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. But please, don't tell anyone? I told you because I trust you and I need advice. I don't know what to do. Should I go back to him? Tell him how I feel?"
Roxanne had come here for advice, but obviously now she had to help Jasmine. She thought for a moment.
"If him and Cora are actually an item, it's best to stay out of it, unfortunately. It wouldn't be fair to her." Roxanne said, hating how hypocritical she was feeling. She was doing the same with Mona.
"I know. I don't want to get in between that, I just don't want him to hate me." Jasmine admitted.
"Go to him, and talk again, after he's absorbed everything. It would help you too." Roxanne stated. Jasmine smiled.
"Thank you," she said, offering her a hug. Roxanne took it. "Now, what's bothering you?"
Roxanne sighed. At that moment, Tony appeared, holding his backpack and two drinks.
"Oh, I didn't know you'd be joining us," Tony said, a little awkwardly. Roxanne smiled softly, feeling out of place.
"I'm not, just saying hi to Jasmine," she said standing up. "I'll be going now,"
"It's okay, don't mind me," Tony said, taking a seat.
"I better go turn this book in anyways. I'll see you guys later?" she said. She waved at Jasmine, who winked at her. Tony waved back.
Max was still with Mona at her desk. Mona was on the phone. She diverted her eyes away, not wanting to see Max.
She had basically answered her own question back there. As much as she disliked Mona, it wasn't fair what she was doing. Max should know better than to try to be with her and Mona too. If he wanted her, he would have left Mona, right?
She stomped down the stairs with more force than she intended to. Why was she mad all of a sudden?
She walked over to the desk, where a handsome young man was sitting. His eyes were on the newspaper in front of him. At least the long line was gone.
She approached him and place her book on the desk. He looked up at her and smiled.
"Well, hello there." he said, his voice deep.
"Uh, hi." she said. "I'm here to turn this book in. That's all."
"Name?" he asked her, clicking away at his computer. His hair was so long.
"It's on the sheet." she said, annoyed. He gave her one long stare before looking down.
"Roxanne is it?" he said, showing his pearly white teeth. "Pretty."
"Yeah, I get that a lot." she said. She wished he would hurry up.
"I'm Lake. I met a girl that looked like you the other day. Her friend had been in some accident." he said calmly.
"Oh! Bradley? You saw him?" she asked quickly.
"Yeah, I called the ambulance for him." Lake said. "There you go. Good to go."
"Thanks for doing that, he's doing a lot better now." Roxanne said. She felt bad for giving him attitude now.
"Glad to hear it. Do you need an umbrella? It's raining cats and dogs out there." Lake said.
"That would be nice." she said.