My Brothers

Chapter 35: Misunderstandings

C A T H Y

Alex.

How do I describe him?

He's basically like a little puppy who wants all of my attention. I've learned the difference between Andrew and him. They're really different once you get to know them.

Alex was different from the boys I've dated. Well, I've dated a few guys and some of them were real trash. Abusive and toxic.

That's why I fear relationships. I'm scared something bad will happen. But Alex promised he'd look out for me and protect me.

But that's what the other two said, so I didn't know what was true. Alex is... strange. It feels like he just throws around the word "I love you" all the time. We've only been on maybe 5, 6 dates, and we started dating, but I wondered if his "I love yous" had any meaning.

Maybe they did and he said them because he truly did. But isn't that too fast, though? People have different timing, I guess, but I've never met anyone who says those words that quickly while actually meaning it.

So i was wondering why he did that.

And then I found out.

A girl dmed me on my Instagram, saying to meet her at Alex's school tomorrow. I asked who she was and she told me it was his ex-girlfriend. She didn't tell me anything else, so the next day, I rode my bike to his school.

It was a beautiful Saturday morning on the 15th, school finally over for me. Now I get this whole summer to myself. I saw a girl watching me as I tied my bike to the rails. She smiled at me and I walked over to her.

"Hi, I'm Cathy," I greeted, a bright smile on my face.

"I'm Alicia. So you're the girl Alex is going after," she said, shaking her head. The way she said it made me a little upset.

"Come follow me," Alicia said, walking behind the school. She led me to the outside tables where other girls were. About 15 of them.

"These are all of Alex's ex," Alicia said. "I don't think you know, but you're his next target, I feel like."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Alex is a player. He's been on and off with girls, played them, broke their heart, and left them," she replied.

"But Alex is like that," I defended him. "He's sweet and caring and—"

"We've all said that about him," another girl spoke up. "But he's just like Brandon. He doesn't give a shit about his girls. He just asks for a date, hang out, kiss, then all of a sudden he's throwing around "I love you" and we all believed it."

Shit.

"He's said that to every single girl," someone else scoffed. "What an asshole."

"Oh fuck, she's crying," a girl said, hugging another one. "It's okay, Kenz, don't cry. It's only been like two weeks since he left her... she's still not over it."

"He t-told me he would give me e-everything and then..." she burst into more sobs, crying into her friend's shirt. "He only w-wanted me for his r-reputation and his stupid fucking game!"