Drowning

Chapter 19:

I was halfway home when I realized I was still in Ezra's clothes and I didn't even pause long enough to put my shoes on. His scent clung to the fabric filling me with the memories of lying in his bed and him leaning over top of me. There was no way I could walk into my house looking like this. My parents would freak out on me. I weighed all my options and finally settled on calling Brynn.

"Hey, girlie." She said, picking up the phone on the third ring.

"Hey, can I stop over?" I asked, hoping she wouldn't say no.

"Of course."

"I'll see you in about 10 minutes." I replied.

I pulled up in front of Brynn's house and got out of the car. Her neighborhood was terrible. I could feel eyes on me as I opened her gate and made my walk of shame up to her house. I knocked on the door and could hear her shuffling around inside. Brynn opened it and her mouth dropped open when she saw me.

"What did I miss?" She asked with wide eyes. I shook my head, not ready to spill my night to her. She turned her head and looked at me with slight amusement. "You'll tell me, you always do."

"Can it wait until after I take a shower?"

"I'll get the popcorn." She winked mischievously.

I spent almost a half an hour wiping the dirt I felt was covering my body. My body didn't feel like my own. Brynn's floral shampoo was too strong and I almost vomited as I washed my hair.

I came out of the shower feeling no cleaner than when I went in. My skin was raw from the heat and continuous scrubbing. I opened her medicine cabinet and found some baby lotion. Brynn loved her baby lotion and said it was the only thing that made her skin soft enough. I put some on my hands and applied it all over my body. The lotion stung the areas where I scrubbed too hard. I pulled the towel from my head and brushed my curly hair. My hair immediately started curling and I pulled up my wet hair in a messy bun on top of my head. The only clothes I brought to change into were a pair of Bermuda shorts and a light blue tank top. The leopard print was visible under the tank and swore when I realize I didn't pack a backup option to wear, poor planning on my part.

Brynn was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed and a large red bowl of popcorn in her lap. She wasn't joking about the popcorn.

"Really?" I asked her, annoyed. She looked like she was getting ready to watch a movie.

"Spill it, Ry." She said with eager eyes. She was enjoying this too much.

I sat down on her bed next to her and wrapped my arms around my knees, pulling them into my chest. Taking a deep breath, I opened the floodgates of my newly chaotic life. Her eyes were wide the whole time as I filled in the details from our graduation night she was passed out. I told her about meeting Ezra and how rude and arrogant he was. She covered the smile on her face when she found out about the little show I gave him at Bannon's. It all came pouring out of my mouth and I couldn't stop it. I hid my face between my knees when I told her about the kitchen and how Ezra and Aiden had to come to my rescue. My body was relieved to be telling someone the truth, even if it was Brynn. She was not judgmental, which made all of this easier to confess to her.

"No, shit." Her eyes were sparkling with excitement. She continued to shove handfuls of popcorn in her mouth. "Ezra sounds hot and I told you Aiden wants your ass."

Brynn didn't comment on the part about the guy who tried to have sex with me while I was blacked out. Brynn always chose to ignore the bad things. It was her coping mechanism from years of neglect from her parents. Her reaction was the exact reason I wished I could talk to JD about all of this. My head and heart needed someone to tell me that I didn't deserve what happened to me last night even though I made a mistake.

"Are you going to go back and try to hook up with that Ezra guy?" She asked me. Brynn already knew the answer to that question, but she wanted to hear me say it out loud. We have been doing this song and dance since we discovered boys back in middle school. This wasn't the first time Brynn had asked me if I was interested in someone for her own selfish reasons. She wanted to make sure my feelings wouldn't get hurt when she swooped in and sunk her claws in someone.

"I think I'm done with that scene for a while. Besides, JD would go crazy if he thought I was trying to hook up with one of his friends." I didn't come straight out and say I wasn't interested in Ezra. I was hoping she would read between the lines.

"Hook a girl up then." She said with a wink. She didn't get it. I should have known better than to let Brynn know about Ezra. Talking to her didn't help as much as I hoped it would, but it was my only option.

I stood up and thanked Brynn for letting me stop over. She smiled at me and said she would see me at work later. Thanks for the reminder Brynn, I didn't feel like working tonight.

I walked out of her house and sat down in my car. I glanced at my green eyes in the rearview mirror. What was going on with me? I barely recognized myself.

I turned the ignition over and backed out. I just wanted to go home and hide in my room.