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Brooke was getting a little bothered by Alistair's sudden curiosity. Normally, she would be fine with it if there wasn't a blackmailer threatening her and quite possibly stalking her as well. It bothered her because she wanted to hide away from everybody and everyone, she wanted to be erased from everybody's mind in case the photos spread. She just didn't want to be a disappointment or a disgrace to her school or family.
She has always been the polite girl who follows the rules and never step out of the line so being on the edge of the line is nerve-wracking to her.
And although she likes to pretend that she doesn't care about what people think, deep down she does, because she seeks the attention that she gets from being a goody-two-shoes, it kind of rewarding to her to be spoken about in a good matter.
But at the same time, it rises conflict in herself. It makes her doubt if her kindness is really just for being kind or it is just for attention, for people to praise her and she hates that part of her which does that. That it is kind just for the praise, she despises it and she is trying her hardest to get rid of it, because being kind is being selfless but that makes her the most selfish.
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The squad has gotten familiar with Mason Kennedy, the girls totally shipped him with Sully. It was becoming clearer that he was good intentioned, that he wasn't expecting anything from Sully because he understood what he is going through.
Mason is a fresh man in a community college, he is studying computer science. He was in a bad place when he applied to colleges when it was the time so he never got accepted into his dream school but he's working on a transfer for the last two years of college.
He is quite the nerd, he is good at maths, coding and obviously computers. He also was great at fixing phones and other devices and could hack some small websites and weak security cameras, like the high school one for example.
It was alarming to the girls how easy it was. Particularly scary for Brooke because she realised that anybody with basic hacking skills could watch her every move in school that if the blackmailer wasn't already a fellow student. Brooke suppressed a shiver.
"So...would you girls like to join us for a movie night at my place?" Mason grinned charmingly. He has nature charisma and easy personality that just made him seem so open and truth worthy.
"If Brooke comes then I will, too." Izzy glanced at Brooke. She understood that Brooke wasn't in the best place to be visiting a stranger's house but Mason wasn't a stranger anymore and Sully trusts him enough.
"I think I can make it." Brooke smiled softly and Sully shot the girls a grateful smile. He was so happy that his best friends were getting along with his boyfriend. They have always been so supportive and it never failed to warm Sully's heart.
Suddenly, the bell to the local diner that they were at rang. It caught Brooke's attention.
A few teenagers from Brooke's school came through, they were laughing obnoxiously that it was hard to miss them. Orion Grey seemed to be the cause of it as he was in the center of the group chatting them up. His football jersey had some blood on it which caused Brooke's eyebrow to furrow, her eyes travelled down to his knuckles to see if they were cut and they were.
He must have been in a fight, and by the looks of it very recently.
She looked back to his face to find him already staring at her. Her heartbeats picked up as she continued to look at him. At that moment, he looked far away from the beloved golden boy, he looked...sinister. He was smirking at her with an unreadable glint in his eyes that sent shivers down her spine. She quickly averted her gaze elsewhere but tried her hardest to eavesdrop despite it being rude. She needed to know who he had beaten up.
Her heart hammered in her chest as his friends kept praising him for his punches and how the other guy has it coming for being a creep. It only piqued her interest more.
She just has to know.
And as if her heart had already known, she heard them say Alistair's name.
It couldn't be a coincidence, she thought. It was known fact around their school that the two didn't see eye to eye ever since Alistair defended a guy from being bullied by Orion. It had to be him who got the punches and suddenly Brooke couldn't stomach the food she just had. She almost hurled over as a bile rose to her throat.
"Did you hear that?" Izzy whispered. Sully and Brooke nodded. Brooke has visibly paled and concern filled her eyes.
"I- I have to check on him," Brooke said. Worry started to over ride her logic and senses as the worst possible scenarios started filling up her mind.
"Oh my gosh, what if he's seriously injured?" Mason started quizzically at the trio as they talked upon themselves about Alistair. Sully took a second to explain what was happening. Mason doesn't know about that blackmailer thing, Sully agreed the Mason didn't have to be involved.
Brooke fumbled around for her phone until she found it in her backpack small pocket. She searched through her contacts for him and quickly called him.
"Please answer." She murmured to herself. After what felt like an eternity, someone finally picked up the phone.
"Alistair?" Brooke asked in an panicked voice.
"Yeah, Brooke. Is everything alright?" His hoarse, deep voice hit her ear and her body managed to relax a little but it didn't fail her notice that he did sound tired and there was a slight wince in his voice.
"I'll explain later but I heard you got in a fight, are you okay?" She wouldn't even let him answer before she pampered him with questions. "What can I do to help? Can I get you anything? Is it serious?" Alistair chuckled softly and Brooke's heart expanded a little because of his voice.
"I'm okay," He sighed. "Well, not really but I'll be. It's not so serious, a few bruises here and there. I got punched in the nose, it bled a little but it isn't broken, thank God." Brooke released a small sigh of relief.
She decided then and there that he needed a visit from her. All rationality flying out of the window. She couldn't even be bothered to think of him as her potential blackmailer or doubt him, all she needs to do is see if he is okay or not.
She asked him for his address, bid her goodbye before turning to her friends to fill them in on the news.
"I'm going to visit him." Brooke said, her voice never wavering. She stated it like a fact, like there is nothing going to stop her from doing that.
"But we haven't ruled him out completely yet!" Sully whispered harshly as he grasped her wrist. Brooke knew that but at the moment she really didn't care.
"I trust him," It wasn't a valid reason as to why he wasn't the blackmailer but it was good enough for her.
