Only The Goode Spy Forever

Chapter 74: The Girl Thing

("Watch and pray do that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." -Matthew 26:41)

  Chase entered his Protection and Enforcement class. Another day of showing the girls up. Easy. He noticed Bree. Her hair was in a high pony and it was swaying as she walked. Morgan was hot on her heels.
"Alright," the instructor began. "Today we're going to practice ax stomps and the nutcracker choke. Pair up." Chase watched all of the girls pair up quickly. Bree looked around. No one wanted to be her partner. Chase sighed, it was the same everyday. He walked to her and paired up. She smiled gratefully.
"Sorry you got stuck with me," Chase said as they began fighting. Bree shrugged.
"I'm glad you're here. Now I'm not alone. I used to have to practice by myself because no one wanted to be with me," she replied.
"Why don't people ever want to be with you?" Chase asked.
"I don't fit in here," Bree said with the smallest trace of something sour in her tone. "I never have."
"You have my sister and the girls," Chase countered. Bree scoffed.
"Juniors don't hang with freshman. Besides, they all have their tight little group. They would always pick each other before me. And they always leave me out of the loop. I don't fit in with them," Bree said sadly.
"I know what you mean," Chase said quietly. Bree looked him in the eye. He saw something on her expression change. It was like she was seeing him for the first time.
Not for the first time, Chase desperately wanted to kiss her. He always held back from doing so. Things had been different between them lately. They weren't comfortable with each other like they had been. Things were somewhat awkward. He actually debated whether or not to kiss Bree. He suspected that in front of the class was not a good plan.
"I have to go," Bree said suddenly. Chase furrowed his brow.
"What?" He said. Bree turned around. Morgan leapt to her feet and began following her.
"Where are you going, Ms. Morrison?" The instructor asked. Bree was practically running.
"I don't feel good. I'm gonna go lay down," she said. The instructor looked ready to protest, but Bree was already out the door with Morgan on her tail.
Chase thought about their conversation and tried to think of what he had said wrong. He didn't think he had messed up. He sighed and moved to the punching bags instead.
Chase got worried when Bree came into the next class. She couldn't have been sick if she was already back at class. He knew he had to have said something. He tapped his pencil on her desk.
"Hey," he said. Bree turned. Her face was pale. She cocked her head at him. "Why'd you run out today?"
"I didn't feel good," Bree replied. Chase cocked an eyebrow.
"That was 30 minutes ago, Gallagher Girl. Somehow you automatically feel better?" Chase questioned.
"I had things to do," Bree huffed. Chase didn't understand why she was so moody.
"What type of things?" He asked.
"It's none of your business," Bree snapped. Chase jerked his back like her words could hurt him. She had never snapped. Bree was always so kind to everyone. Something had to have been seriously wrong.
"What's wrong with you?" Chase asked. He cursed himself as he realized that his tone was harsher than he'd meant.
"What's wrong is that you can't mind your own business," Bree replied with raised eyebrows. Chase was very confused. Bree suddenly smiled. "I've really missed you." Chase's mouth dropped. One minute she was pissed and the next she missed him. Girls were so confusing.
"What is going on?" Chase wondered aloud. Bree shrugged.
"Do you want to do something tonight? We could dance in the P&E barn again," Bree said dreamily. Chase looked at her like she was crazy.
"You were just pissed at me and now you want to go dancing. Are you sure you're not sick?" He asked. Bree wasn't acting like herself. His face dropped as he watched her eyes well up with tears.
"You don't want to dance with me," Bree said as her voice cracked. Chase wanted to slap himself in the face.
"No! That's not it! Of course I want to dance with you! I just want to know why you suddenly like me after you didn't like me," Chase explained. Bree glared at him.
"I didn't want to go dancing with you anyways," Bree snapped.
"Okay! Jeez, you could at least tell me what I'm doing wrong," Chase muttered. He had thrown his hands up in exhaustion. Bree had never acted this way. He may have been a genius, but he would never understand girls.
He hit the showers after his last class. There was no need to, he hardly worked up a sweat in P&E. He barely even got to practice. He was still extremely confused from his conversation with Bree. She was acting crazy. Chase wiped his face with a towel and then wrapped a towel around his waist. He walked into his room and saw a blonde girl sitting on his bed.
"You shouldn't be here, Gallagher Girl," he said as Bree jumped. He grinned as her eyes bulged at the sight of him in nothing but a towel.
"I'm sorry!" She said. Her hand flew to cover her eyes. Chase rolled his eyes. He had a towel around his waist, it wasn't like he was naked. Bree must have given up resisting his rock solid chest, because she took her hand away.
"I'm going to guess that you were looking for me?" Chase asked. He tried not to laugh as he noticed Bree having a difficult time keeping her eyes off of his chest.
"Oh, um yes!" Bree remembered. "I was going to apologize for my behavior earlier. I wasn't myself. It's kind of hard for me to control my emotions right now." Chase eyed her pursing her lips. She looked like she was trying not to drool.
"Why's that?" He asked as he studied her.
"It's a girl thing," she explained. "All of my emotions are stronger. I'm feeling them all way more than I normally would and I can't control them." Oh. That's what this was. Chase was no stranger to girl things. He was currently living eight about a hundred of them. Plus, he had a mom and 2 sisters. He knew what she was talking about. Chase grinned as he walked closer to her. He still had water from his shower dripping down.
"All of them?" He asked as he closed the gap. He could practically hear Bree's heart pounding. He leaned closer to her. Her eyes were wide as she began to lean back into him. Chase knew that at that moment she might have thrown herself on him, so he pulled back at the last second. Bree opened her eyes and shook her head.
"Oh," she said as she snapped out of her trance. "I should get going." Chase nodded.
"That would probably be best," he agreed. Bree stood up quickly.
"Nice chat," she said and started for the door.
"Hey, Bree?" Chase called as she got ready to exit. She turned back and looked at him. He smiled. "Next time you need to run out of P&E to grab a tampon just tell me. It's a lot better than thinking you stood me up." Bree's mouth practically dropped to the floor.
"How did you?" Bree began. Chase started laughing.
"Spy," he said as he pointed to himself. Bree still looked shocked. He laughed harder. "I'm not an idiot. It's cool, I've got a mom and sisters. You could have told me." She finally smiled back.
"Noted," she said with a grin. "See you later." Chase gave her a slight wave. He grinned wildly as she left. Bree could be so goofy. Once again, what he had known all along was confirmed. He loved her.