Crush (18+)

Chapter 30

My body was trembling as I let Mia's words sink in. My best friend saw me as nothing more than a lying, self-centered and manipulative bitch, how do I react to that? I don't think there were any words left to say. Mia had made her point and it was clear what she thought of me. I don't think anything I could say would change her opinion of me.

I'd be lying if I said Mia's words didn't hurt. But did it hurt because my best friend thought so incredibly low of me or did it hurt because it was the truth? I did lie a lot and it wasn't only because of Noah. I started lying way before that. I lied about my brother and about the rest of my family. I lied a lot about my life but it was mostly to protect my family. I couldn't bare seeing my brother go to jail, even though he deserves it.

And besides all of that, I would never want my mom to be forced to go back to Mexico. She has built a life here for herself and Rafael and me. Going to Mexico would change everything and that's why I couldn't tell anyone the truth about us. Not even my best friends. So maybe I have been a liar and self-centered but I never meant to hurt anyone in the process. It was too late now though, relationships have been broken and friendships have already been ruined.

I tried to keep myself together because the last thing I wanted was to break down after what Mia just said. I couldn't hold back the tears that were streaming down my face though and I just stared at the ground, waiting for someone to say something. After a moment of silence, Tina finally scratched her throat and spoke up. 'Er.. Mia, maybe it's best if you go,' Tina mumbled and she didn't have to say that twice since Mia literally stormed out of the flower shop.

The second she was gone, I let out a loud sob. Tina threw her arms around me not much later and let me cry in her arms for what felt like forever. I didn't want to let go of her. I just needed someone to hold me and make me feel like there's still someone out there who loved me. I needed Tina to tell me everything was going to be okay, even though it felt like everything was falling apart. I just didn't want to feel like this anymore.

'Hey.. Easy, okay? Mia's just mad, I'm sure she'll come around,' Tina mumbled into my hair. I knew she was just trying to be nice and right now I didn't even care that her words were probably nowhere near the truth. Hearing someone say it kind of made me feel better and I finally found the strength to let go of Tina.

She was looking at me with pity as I wiped the remaining tears from my face and I shook my head at her. 'I don't think she will come around Tina. I heard it in her voice, she meant every word she said. Maybe it's just best if I let her go, she clearly hates me.'

Tina quickly shook her head and grabbed my hands. 'No.. Don't say that! She doesn't hate you Val, don't give up okay? She knows how you feel now and all you can do right now is giving her some time. You guys have been best friends since forever, that has to mean something right?'

I nodded and grabbed my phone to see what time it was. It was getting late and I was starting to get hungry. Tina and I both decided to grab a bite here in Santa Monica and I quickly sent my mom a text that I won't be home for dinner. I felt bad because this was the first night in days that she wasn't working during dinner time but before the time that I took the bus and got home, it would be already an hour later.

'You got everything?' Tina asked me. I grabbed my bag and keys from the counter and nodded, 'yeah, let's get out of here.' We exited the flower shop and I locked the door behind me before we started strolling along the boulevard. There were enough restaurants here and since we didn't felt like walking a whole lot, we sat down at the first restaurant we saw.

As Tina was checking out the menu and trying to decide what she was having, my eyes fell on a boy and girl who were cuddling on the beach. They were sitting on a big towel and couldn't stop smiling at each other. I sighed softly and couldn't help but think about Brandon. There was once a time when we were this happy, when we could spend hours on the beach and the only thing that we needed was each other.

'Brandon, don't you dare!' I laughed as I ran away from him. He had a grin from ear to ear on his face as he wiggled his eyebrows at the water bottle in his hand. There was no way I was getting wet right now, not without a fight. He ran up to me and of course he was faster than I was. What did I expect? He played like three different sports and me... Well, none.

He threw his arms around my middle and lifted me in the air. 'Please, I'll do anything. Please Brandon!' I tried to sound serious but it didn't really work since I couldn't stop laughing. Brandon's grin still hadn't disappeared and instead of soaking me with water, he put me back on the ground and threw the bottle behind him.

'Anything?' he asked.

I nodded. 'Anything. Except for cleaning your messy ass room. I'm definitely not doing that.'

A laugh left his mouth and he pressed his lips on mine. 'You won't have to clean my room. Just promise me that it'll stay like this forever,' he mumbled against my lips. 

My eyes found his and I softly smiled at him. Instead of answering him, I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him as tight as I could. I didn't want to let go, ever. I was surprised he even had to ask me this, I thought this promise was already made without any words. Of course it would stay like this forever, why wouldn't it?

He loved me as much as I loved him, why would I ever do anything to ruin what we had? Brandon made me feel things that I never felt before. I felt safe in his arms and when his lips were on mine it was the best feeling in the world. Why would I ever let go of that? Why would I ever let go of Brandon when he was the one who made me truly happy?

We were so happy and I ruined everything. 

I wondered if Brandon and I would still be this happy if I never met Noah. Of course I'd never know since Noah was always going to be in the picture. There would be no Brandon and I without Noah, since he was his fucking dad. I just wish I had the discipline to stay away from Noah. I wish I could see him just as Brandon's father and nothing more than that.

But I knew myself and I also knew that I would have never been able to resist Noah. Even if I could do it all over again, I would still crush just as hard on Noah as I did now. I never wanted to hurt Brandon or Mia or anyone else but maybe that's just what I do. Maybe I simply was a bad person who hurt people she cared about. But that didn't mean I ever wanted any of this.

My phone buzzed on the table and it brought me back to reality. Tina was still looking at the menu and I wondered for how long I dozed off. I grabbed my phone and frowned at the missed call I received. It was from an unknown number and I wondered who would even be calling me considering no one really liked me. What if it's from the same company who asked me to come work for them? Tina noticed that something was up and she frowned. 'What's going on?'

I sighed and opened the email on my phone before handing it over to her. 'I received this email from some guy named Richard. He asked me if I'm interested in an internship at his company. I don't know if I should take it serious though,' I shrugged.

Tina's eyes scanned my phone and when she seemed to be done with reading the email, she looked up at me with raised eyebrows. 'Val, do you know what company this is?' she asked slowly and I shook my head. 'No, that's why I showed it to you. I thought that you might know more about this stuff.' 

The expression on Tina's face changed as she gave me back my phone. 'Val, this is Brandon's dad's company. Noah Adams literally owns this company and he's asking you to work for him.'