I Won't Let You Close Enough to Hurt Me

Chapter 8

     Brooke decided to open Nick's message first.

Nick: Hey, sorry I was acting so weird at rehearsal today. I guess I just didn't expect you and Brandon to have such a strong connection.

Brooke: Yeah I understand. I didn't expect us to either.

Nick: Well I think we should hang out tomorrow after dance. :)

     Brooke thought about it for a second. She really missed hanging out with Nick, but for some reason, she thought that he wanted to do more than just 'hang out'. She had been getting vibes like this from Nick since the middle of the summer. Even though she was a little skeptical, she replied, "Sure :)".

     Then she moved on to Brandon's message.

Brandon: Hey Brooke, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what happened on my birthday. And I'm also sorry about what I said to you this morning at school. I was wrong. But I'm really glad we get to dance together again. I still feel like we have a lot of chemistry. ;)

     Brooke rolled her eyes. Of course Brandon would bring up the connection that they had in the duet. He was never very good at being subtle. But she was surprised that he actually apologized to her. Even though it was through a text, it felt sincere. As much as she wanted to forgive him, she couldn't. He cheated on her, and then had the nerve to blame their problems on her. Every time she thought about it, it made her eyes well up. All she said in reply to Brandon's message was, "Whatever."

     After she sent the message, she heard a knock at her door. "Who is it?" Brooke asked.

     Without responding, Paige walked through the door looking upset. "Brooke, I know that you're having some problems of your own right now, but I could really use some advice."

     Brooke smiled. She was always willing to help Paige. "Sure Paigey, what is it?"

     "Well you know Josh's best friend Thomas? He asked me to the movies and I don't know if I should go. I really like him, but I'm afraid that Josh will get mad. He doesn't like it when I hang around his friends," Paige said.

     Brooke pulled Paige in for a hug. Even though Paige was only three years younger than her, she had always thought of Paige as a little kid. But she was growing up so fast. She was going to be twelve soon, and that's about the age Brooke started dating. "I absolutely think you should go Paige. You want your first date to be with someone you really like, so it will be special. You're Josh's sister and Thomas is his best friend. Once he realizes how happy you guys are, he'll be happy too."

     Paige let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks Brooke," she said with a smile. "Do you think mom will let me go?"

     "We'll see. It took awhile for her to adjust to the idea of me dating. But I'll try and help convince her," Brooke said.

     Paige laughed. Brooke was glad that Paige came to her with this; it took her mind off of everything else for awhile.