My Dirty Little Secret

Chapter Thirty Five

"You came," I nearly whispered as she sat down next to me.

"Of course I'm here for you," she said encouragingly.

Liliana mordantly muttered something to the effect of "That's new," and Marco dug an elbow into her side. She shut up and I ignored her.

"I thought you weren't going to," I explained honestly. "I mean I wasn't expecting you to, because...I mean, everything with Megan, and..."

"Why do you keep explaining yourself to her, Brooke?" Liliana questioned, this time speaking loudly enough to be heard. "You were making so much progress, and now you sound just like you sounded a month ago."

"Liliana," I said, somewhat hocked that she would be so blunt in Kate's presence. She'd always felt the same way about Kate, but usually she kept it civil for both of our sakes.

"It's fine," Kate said. "She's right. You don't have to explain anything to me. I came, because I care about you, so let's leave it at that."

Liliana muttered something else, but I ignored her once again. "Thank you," I settled on. "But why didn't you bring Megan?"

"Shh," Kate urged. "Your girls are up."

All five of us, as well as the rest of the crowd, remained silent against the loud music that we'd set. The routine was captivating; they'd remembered what I gave them, and executed it flawlessly. The stunt Chelsea did in the end went through seamlessly, ankle or no ankle, and altogether, it couldn't have gone better. They even rivaled the Sanfield cheerleaders. They might have even outdone them.

My friends were all praise when finally the music came off and the girls started to clear off the field to socialize for the remainder of half time. Apparently, the routine had looked good to them as well, and that made me feel better.

Some of the cheerleaders walked by, and I made sure to commend them all as they did so. Even as scowling Tiffany made her rounds, heading certainly for the ever-growing cluster of obnoxious high school boys behind me, I made sure to tell her "You were great, Tiffany."

She didn't accept the compliment, but instead retorted, "As if you were watching."

"Excuse me?"

"Well, we all know where your eyes were the entire time."

"Where were they, exactly?" Liliana questioned, getting defensively heated.

"Oh, do you not know about her girlfriend? She likes to think she's good at keeping it under wraps."

"Tiffany," I warned. "Not now. Not here."

"What, are you intimidated?"

"By the things you're suggesting? A little bit."

"Hm," she said. "Then maybe you shouldn't have done them."

I wanted to swing a fist into her jaw at that point, but I knew better, and moreover knew that even if I tried, I would probably miss. I didn't know how to deal with her anymore, or what else to say, to make her stop, to save myself. I couldn't do anything. I was paralyzed. Wouldn't anybody stop her?

That's when Kate stood up to meet her face to face. I didn't know what she was doing, or why. "Hi," she said almost flippantly, extending her hand. "Kate Westfall, paralegal."

"Okay," Tiffany said, sounding annoyed and giving one of those teenage looks. "So?"

"You're aware that Miss Chandler is working right now, right? That her presence here is mandated by the regulations described in her job description?"