FATE

20. Imperfect People

BROOKE

"So, what do you think?", I ask, studying his face for an answer.

Andrew or Drew as he had practically forced me to accept calling him, draws a lock of his hair away from his forehead before flashing an impressed grin at me, "it's perfect"

"Really?"

"Yeah", he smiles, "now I just need to go work on my already fluent Spanish", his expression is smug.

"Great, because I don't think I can do that", I hand him the notebook which contains my poem, "here, you can write it all in here"

"Cool", he says, collecting it, "so you want to tell me about how and where the inspiration to create that came from?"

"It just came to me, I guess"

It didn't just come to me. It had been hours of cancelled adjectives, online help and even Jonah help.

Jonah seemed to find my desperation to finish my part of the "love project" as I had begun to call it, before the weekend, funny. He said it wasn't as hard as I was making it seem and that it was just poetry.

Showoff.

It wasn't as easy as he made it look but I was just glad I was able to do it and more so, that Drew appreciates it. What he thinks about it, really matters to me.

"Nice", he says slipping the notebook into his backpack. As he does, I notice Carmen walk past us towards the lunchroom exit.

"I have to go now, I'll talk to you later?", I say to Drew and he beams. He always seems so excited about everything.

"No problem, Brooke"

I give a slight nod before grabbing my bag and following Carmen. She slips out of the lunchroom quickly and I go after her.

"Carmen", I call. She stops abruptly in her steps before turning back to face me.

"What?", she asks in a cold tone. She's still angry with me.

"Can we talk?"

"No"

"Carmen please, I don't like how we are right now"

It has been just Mandy and I since the argument at the library. She's been ignoring Mandy too because apparently, it's partially her fault that I'm "infatuated with Jonah Locke". Mandy told me Carmen would come around but I know she's too stubborn to make the first move so here I am, doing just that for her.

She walks towards me and stops only a few feet away. "I don't either but I can't be friends with someone who refuses to see the wrong in what they're doing. I thought Hailee was like a friend to you"

"She is and I'm not doing anything wrong"

"You're trying to steal her boyfriend"

"I'm not trying to do anything!", my tone is laced with anger. I shake my head and fight it back. Why is she even thinking this way? Why is she so bothered?

"Listen Brooke. You can pretend to everyone that you're just trying to be Jonah's friend but you're really just another addition to the list of girls that he will never leave her for"

I feel my heart drop.

"Everyone's known them together for years now. I doubt some blonde girl he met in the library is going to change that. So, do yourself a favor, forget him"

With that, she walks away and I regret going after her to try to reconcile.

I look around, a couple of students are roaming the halls. I can't go back into the lunchroom; Drew is probably gone and there'll be no one to talk to. I can feel tears welling up in my eyes.