Part 29

I was an idiot to think he would abide by his promise to leave me alone. Why did I think Dash would suddenly start being honest with me? I mean, this was the guy who sabotaged my investigation so he could protect his cousin. Dash was only honest and loyal to Lauren, nobody else. And the sooner I accepted this fact, the better it was. But my stupid heart just didn't want to let go.

"Bri? Come on out. You've been in there for half an hour!" Tracey hollered from outside the bathroom stall. I wiped my eyes with my fingers, but the stupid tears kept falling. It was all his fault. He just didn't know when to stop hurting me.

I was currently hiding inside the girls' bathroom, crying my eyes out because of what Dash did in class. I told him I would keep his secret if only he promised to leave me alone, because I wanted to move on. But Dash was making it impossible.

The moment I saw him when I entered the classroom, I swear I could hear my heart breaking all over again. He was so handsome and the way he was looking at me made me want to throw my arms around him and never let him go. But that was not possible anymore. He was no longer mine.

Why did he have to look at me like that and touch me like that when he couldn't even bother to tell me the truth? If he couldn't give me his trust, why did he still look at me like we were together when we weren't? It was not fair. Dash was not being fair.

"Bri! Come out already. Look, Dash is a jerk. He is messing with your mind so you don't move on. That's how guys like him are. They hurt you and then don't want you to heal. But you are stronger than that. You have me and Damien. Forget about Dash!" Tracey yelled. If she kept this up, the entire academy would know that Dash and I broke up. Who was I kidding, they already knew.

"Tracey, leave me alone. I just want to be alone for a little while." I told her.

"But I can't leave you alone," she replied.

"Please. I'll meet you in the cafeteria in a little while. Damien is going to worry about where I am; you distract him for me," I said.

I heard her sigh. "Fine. But if you don't come out in the next twenty minutes, I'm going to break the door open," she threatened before I heard her footsteps leaving the bathroom.

Once she was gone, I begun thinking about possible ways to keep Dash away from me. I knew his schedule, which meant that I would not see him when he would be in his classes which he didn't share with me. Also, I could try spending more time with Damien, that way Dash would know that I'd moved on. And since Dash hated Damien, he would avoid me as long as I was with Damien.

Satisfied with my decisions, I took a few deep breaths to regain my composure before stepping out of the bathroom stall. Relief settled in my heart when I saw the empty bathroom; I did not want to tell anyone why I was crying, mainly because everybody would know since the news of our break up didn't take long to reach the ears of every single student in Burswick Academy.

After quickly washing my hands, I made my way out of the bathroom and ran straight into Gemma. She smiled when she saw me, her bright, glossy lips catching my attention.

"Hi Gemma," I said.

"Hello Bri, how are you? Where were you, Damien's been looking all over for you?" She asked.

"I was in the bathroom. Did Damien give you a hard time?" I needed to tell Damien to relax a little. We'd just started dating and I did not want a clingy boyfriend.

"Not really? I'm not sure. He is weird, though, your new boyfriend. Dash was much better, but he is not yours now." Her words stung but I couldn't deny that they were true.

"How is Damien weird?" I questioned, not wanting to talk about Dash. Hearing his name from another girl's lips made me furious, I didn't understand why.

Gemma shrugged. "I don't know, he just is. I mean, he is going around telling everyone how you and him are going out; it's kind of creepy if you ask me. I mean, with Dash, everybody knew you were his girlfriend; he didn't have to tell anyone. But Damien...let's just say if my boyfriend did that, I would be seriously worried about my relationship."

I couldn't believe it. Was Gemma telling the truth? If she were, then I didn't understand why Damien was doing that. I was his girlfriend not his favorite toy that he was telling everyone about us. In my opinion, there was no need to tell anyone that we were going out. Our relationship was meant to be private and not the academy's newspaper headlines.

"Right, I'll talk to him." I told her, fully intending to walk away but she stopped me.

"Have you decided on what you'll be wearing to the Winter Formal?" Gemma enquired.

Her question threw me off. I'd forgotten about the Winter Formal. At first I was going to go with Dash but now, I wasn't sure I wanted to go at all. Even though he'd hurt me, I didn't want to see Dash with another girl. And now that he was single, all the girls would be asking him to the dance.

"I'm not sure if I'll even be going," I said, giving her a soft smile.

"Oh come on, Bri, you have to come. Just because you broke up with Dash doesn't mean you don't come to the dance. You have to come. It'll be no fun without you. Please Bri," she replied.

"I'll think about it." I paused, trying to think of what else to say. "Who are you going to the dance with?"

The usual cool and calm expression Gemma wore fell upon my question, and I just knew I wouldn't like the answer.

"Uh, it's a surprise. Trust me, you don't want to know," she answered, her voice a little too high pitched for someone who was trying to appear nonchalant.

"Oh come on, tell me. I really want to know. Is it someone I know?" I queried, trying to appear nonchalant.

"Uh, yes. But you'll see him with me at the dance," she responded. Just then, Dash sauntered over and stopped right next to Gemma.

"Hi Bri," he said to me before turning those blue eyes to Gemma. "Hello, baby." And kissed her on the cheek.

Shock and pain had me stumbling back as I saw Dash and Gemma standing together. Gemma didn't need to tell me that Dash was her date for the Winter Formal, I could tell by the guilt painting her face and the malicious smile on Dash's face.

"Uh, Bri, Dash is going to the Winter Formal with me." I couldn't speak, betrayal kept me frozen. Two days, it took him two days to move on from me and get a new girlfriend. And here I was, still crying over him. Dash lied to me yet again. He told me I belonged to him. I thought he would ask me to be his girlfriend again. But no, he'd moved on, and was now with Gemma.

"Bri? Are you all right? Say something." This was asked by none other than Dash who was eying me like I would pass out any second.

I wanted to slap him hard across his handsome, chiseled face. I want to claw at those sensual, blue eyes. I wanted to tell the whole world how he belonged to me and no one else. That's what I wanted to do. But instead, I nodded my head.

"Yes. I'm fine; just a little surprise, that's all," I lied, staring at them both.

"Oh good, you were starting to scare me," Gemma remarked, placing a hand on her chest and making a big show of sighing in relief.

"No, no, I'm fine. Uh, congratulations!" I grinned the best I could, while on the inside I was crying a thousand tears. I would make him pay for this.

"Thank you. Dash just asked me if I would be his date to the dance, and since you are with Damien now I said yes. You are okay with this, right?" She asked.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" No! I was certainly not okay with any of this. Why did Dash keep hurting me?

"Oh, you know...you guys were together and everything..." Gemma trailed off.

"No, don't worry. I have Damien now, and I must say, he is a wonderful boyfriend." I looked at Dash as I said this, watching his face for a reaction. And just as I hoped, his blue eyes flashed with fury the likes of which I'd never seen before.

Serves you right, jerk!

"That's good to hear," Gemma replied.

I nodded. "Yeah, it is. Now I must go, Damien will be looking for me. Bye." I didn't wait for their response, I just turned and jogged towards the cafeteria, telling my heart to stop crying for the boy who was no longer mine.

Once I entered the cafeteria, I spotted Damien sitting at the table in the corner with Tracey. I smiled before walking over to them and sitting down on a chair beside Damien.

"Hello," I greeted with a smile. I couldn't let Damien know what happened outside of the girls' bathroom.

"Hey, where were you? Tracey and I have been waiting for you for so long," Damien asked, covering my hand with his.

"Sorry, but you don't ask a girl what she is doing in the bathroom," I joked. Damien and Tracey laughed before Damien leaned forward and brushed his lips over my cheek.

"Alright, guess I'll just have to ask you something else then," Damien responded.

"Ask me what else?" I questioned.

"Whether you'd like to go to the Winter Formal with me?" His question shouldn't have surprised me but it did.

"Uh, you are going to the dance?" Instead of answering him, I decided to ask him this. What was wrong with me? This was the perfect way to show Dash that I'd moved on.

"I wasn't at first, but now I want to, only if you are willing to be my date," he answered, sincerity shimmering in his eyes.

"Alright, I'll go to the dance with you." I grinned at him. However, my grin turned into a frown when I heard a chair being smashed. I turned to look at who'd done it only to see Dash standing at the table behind ours, a chair fallen to the floor, its legs twisted at odd angles. I could see him breathing heavily, his chest expanding and relaxing, as if he were trying to control his temper.

"What happened to him?" Tracey asked, her voice soft.

I shrugged, feigning ignorance. "I don't know. He's probably angry because he didn't get pizza for lunch."

Damien chuckled. "Forget him. Let's talk about something else."

Easy for you to say, I thought as I glanced at Damien and then at Dash. I couldn't forget Dash even if I wanted to. He was the first guy who my heart fell for. Yes, he lied to me and betrayed me, but no matter how hard I tried to hate him, I couldn't.

"Bri, we still need to buy a dress for you. Tell me when will go shopping," Tracey demanded.

"Tracey, we can't go right now. Exams have started, we need to focus on them. We'll go after the mid-terms are over." I told her.

"The Winter Formal is right after the mid-terms; we won't have time," she argued.

"Well I can't compromise my grades for a silly dress," I shot back.

Damien held up his hands in front of us, willing us to calm down. "Calm down, both of you. I think I have the perfect solution for your little problem."

"What?" I queried, glancing at Dash every now and then. He had found a new chair and was now sitting with his back ramrod straight, as if on high alert. Could he hear what Damien was saying? Did he care?

Why would he care? He is with Gemma now.

My heart shed a few more tears as it tried to mend itself from what Dash did to it. Gemma was so much better than me. She was pretty and everybody loved her. Maybe Dash played this game just so he could get rid of me and be with Gemma. The thought made me want to cry all over again.

"Earth to Bri, can you hear me?" I snapped back to reality at Damien's words.

"Sorry, what did you say?" I asked, feeling guilty, wondering if Damien knew I was thinking about Dash.

"I was saying that I can get a dress for you since my aunt is a designer," he said.

"Oh no, you don't have to do that. I have a dress; I'll just wear that. Tracey is being weird," I replied. I didn't want to admit it, but now since Dash was no longer my boyfriend, I didn't feel like dressing up for the dance. And I hated myself for feeling this way. It was not fair to Damien. If it weren't for him, I would still be holed up in my room and crying over my broken heart. He deserved a good girlfriend because he was trying his best to be a good boyfriend.

"It's not about Tracey. I want you to dress up. I know that you will be the most beautiful girl at the dance. And my beautiful girl deserves the most beautiful dress." As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of glass shattering filled the air. Every student in the cafeteria was staring at Dash's table, as glass shards surrounded his sneaker clad feet. What was wrong with him? Why was he acting this way? First the chair and now the glass, something was seriously wrong.

"What is the matter with him today?" Tracey asked, voicing the question I was sure was swirling in everybody's mind.

Then, without saying a word to anyone, Dash stood up and stormed out of the cafeteria. Leaving a crowd of questioning face and curious minds in his wake, while taking my attention and mind with him.

Dash, I wish I knew what you were thinking.

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Author's Note.

Hi guys,

Here is another chapter, I hope you all like it. I'm really sorry for not updating last week, I was busy with college. Thank you for being patient.

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Thank you for reading.

Until next time.

Take care.

Ciao.