Strange Tides [Bree Davenport]

Chapter Seven

Today has been a disaster. My girls and River have all been giving me attitude about their training all morning. It seems like they have gotten new personalities over the weekend and now they hate everything about this island. I heard them call me something at the start of the day, which has just made me be in a bad mood. It didn't get much better since then, and now they're not even listening to a word I've been saying to them.

"Okay, guys, I need to go get something," I tell them. None of them bother looking at me as I speak to them. That doesn't matter to me, though, because I'm totally lying to them. "Give me a few minutes, so you all need to continue practicing with the training dummies."

Before they can do anything else, I turn on my heel and head toward the cafe. I really don't know what I want to do in here, but I know that it's close enough to the training area to watch them while I hide away from them. It also gives me some room to be alone on this island without having to answer to anyone or try to get them to do their trainings. I can't really take it anymore.

I glance around the cafe, trying to find a good place to hide from everyone that lives on this island. The only thing I see is a table shoved in the corner of the cafe with a long tablecloth on it. That looks like the best place to hide for right now, so I quickly slide underneath the table, holding the tablecloth in front of me.

Letting out a sigh of relief, I lean against the wall, curling my legs against my chest. I wrap my arms around my legs and hold onto them as tightly as I can while resting my forehead against my knees. Everything is dark around me, allowing me to be able to finally feel comfortable enough to breathe. All the tension in my shoulders slowly dissipate, and the frown that lives on my face loosens up, allowing a more neutral look to appear. 

I don't know how long I sit here underneath this table in the cafe. I'm not sure if I fall asleep or I just sit there. I'm not really sure about much of anything right now. I only know that my life feels like it's falling apart. My students don't listen to me, Leo hates me, and Emmie ignores me. What else can go wrong?

I wish I didn't ask myself that because Emmie and Chase immediately step into the cafe. They both sit down at one of the tables close to the table I'm hiding under to eat a plate of Emmie's vegan food that she brought from the mainland with her. I usually see them do this every single day while I'm with my girls training, so it's nothing new to me. The only new thing is that I'm actually in the cafe with them instead of in the training area.

They chat together about how Emmie's internship with Davenport is going and how his trainings with his students are going. Their conversation is mostly boring and sounds very routine instead of personal. I'm not one to judge about relationships, though, because all my relationships have failed because I always choose boys who take too much from me. 

"I can't believe Bree's missing," Chase says to Emmie with a shake of his head. He crosses his arms over his chest, probably just to flaunt his muscles to his girlfriend. I roll my eyes and let out a soft sigh into my legs. "She is such a hypocrite, you know?"

My heart feels like it has shattered when I hear Emmie agree with him. I can believe that Chase would say that about me because he's my brother. But my best friend? She actually believes that I'm a hypocrite? I thought she actually cares about me and how I'm feeling. Apparently, I am wrong about Emmie. And that's what hurts my heart the most.

Tears prick my eyes and my throat burns as this deep hurt washes through my body, but I will not let them fall down my cheeks. I will not give Emmie and Chase the satisfaction of making me cry, even if they don't know that I can hear every single word they are saying about me. I knew Emmie has been a little different now that I'm spending every single day with her, but I didn't think she would turn on me like that. I never thought my first best friend would want to hurt me like she has now.

Though devastation is sweeping through my veins, overtaking everything in my soul, I keep repeating in my head this one mantra: better days are coming soon enough. That's the only thing I can try to hope for right now in the midst of this darkness and pain.

As Chase and Emmie turn away from the table I'm sitting under, I quickly pop out from underneath it. I brush my hands down the front of my shirt to try to get rid of all the sweat on them before I walk over to the two of them. The pain in my chest flares into something that burns when I see them both smile at me after they see me. They weren't happy with me earlier, so why should they even fake it now?

"Hey, are you guys looking for me?" I ask them. I wouldn't dare let them know that I have heard everything they said about me. They don't deserve to know that I know how they really feel about me.

"Yeah," Chase says with a nod. "Where have you been? Your students have been messing around with the training dummies, and we had to watch them for you."

"I needed a quick breather," I explain. That is technically the truth, but it's definitely not the full truth at all. I was planning on staying underneath my table for the rest of the day until I fell asleep. "But I'm back now."

"Are you okay?" Emmie looks so worried. I almost believe that she actually cares about me. I don't dare let myself get hurt again. "Was Leo rude to you again? Or was it something else?"

"I'm fine," I say. By the look on her face, I know that she doesn't believe me. "I'm fine, I promise."

"You should probably get back to your group before they do anymore damage," Chase says to me. "They're in the training room already."

This time, I don't have a retort on the tip of my tongue. I'm afraid that if I open my mouth, I will burst into tears. The only thing I can do is nod and turn on my heel as I start to head toward the training room. I can see my girls and River standing around a few training dummies. River's watching me with a strange look on his face, but I ignore it as I take a deep breath, trying to prepare myself for the onslaught of these people. 

Better days are coming soon enough.