Emerson Jenkins

Brooks hadn't shown up for classes the next morning.
Neither had Kai.

None of the boys —Callum and Rowan —had talked about what happened the previous night. To be fair, I didn't know they decided to leave campus until Callum knocked on Asher's door, struggling to hold up a blacked-out Brooks.

Ash helped bring him inside and lay him down in bed. It wasn't until ten minutes later that he woke up groggy and clearly confused. The scene reminded me of a picture he painted for me not that long ago.

Him blacked out drunk at some party.
His siblings having to come bathe and rescue him.

When Brooks told me that story, he seemed horrified about the fact that it had happened. If he had gotten that drunk again after that, I didn't know. But there was a little part of me that felt worried for him. Just in case he hadn't gotten blackout drunk again and he was trying to keep it that way or whatever.

It was more of a reflex too.
Seeing people blackout drunk isn't something I like to see.

They look...lifeless.
It scared me. Bad.

"What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?" Mina's voice pulled me out of my thinking trance. She side-eyed me while also writing notes being presented to us by our professor.

I looked down at my notebook.
It was blank.

"Nothing," I lied. Lying to Mina shouldn't even be an option for me anymore. She knows me better than anyone. Including myself sometimes. "Have you talked to Kai?" I asked her to avoid another question.

She nodded, continuing to scribble down words. "Yes, he's feeling a bit sick. I'm going to take him some soup from the canteen later." Callum mentioned both Brooks and Kai got so drunk that they both passed out. Kai had been drunk since they were at whatever club they ended up at and Brooks blacked out on the way back home. To think that it wasn't Cal and Ro getting fucked up surprised me.

"Maybe I'll take some over to Brooks too," she added, getting my attention. Wait, how does she know about Brooks being 'sick'?

"Why Brooks?" I questioned.

"Kai said they were spending the day together in his dorm since both of them were sick," Mina explained, picking up her phone. She scrolled before facing it in my direction. It was a picture of the boys, sitting next to each other in bed. Well, they both looked...alive. Rough but alive nevertheless.

"Oh," is all I managed to get out.

Well, there goes my idea of checking up on him.
And by checking up on him I mean going to his dorm and pretending that I'm looking for Ash.

"Want to come with me?" Mina asked.

My brows furrowed in her direction as I shook my head. "No thanks. I've got better things to do." That was a big fat lie. I had nothing planned but Kai and Brooks weren't exactly on my best friend's list. If it was Cal, maybe I'd go.

Mina kept me company for a bit longer before she escaped to be a mother to Kai. I had stayed in the courtyard for a bit longer. The silence was peaceful until an agitating voice cut through it. The way just the sound of her stupid accent could trigger me instantly was talent. Someone should give her a fucking reward.

I kept my head down, looking at absolutely nothing. Her presence was noticeable as she inched closer. Of course, she wasn't alone. My breathing stopped as the top of my eyes could see her pale, short legs. A pang of something I didn't want to admit hit my chest.

"What a loser."
"Stop."

Her words boiled my blood and lucky for me, I wasn't joined by my moral compass. "Shut the fuck up," I grumbled out without turning around. The sound of them coming to a halt hit my ears and a small smirk curved onto my lips.

"Speak up, love. I didn't quite catch that," she said. I turned around and both of them stood side by side. The brunette's posture was a lot more confident than her blonde counterparts. She avoided eye contact — like always — letting her friend do the talking.

I look over at her, standing up to walk in front of them. Her discomfort was evident and I enjoyed it. "I said, shut the fuck up," I bit out again, keeping my eyes on the blonde. She flinched slightly.

"Back up, bitch. I can smell the cock on your breath," the brunette cut in, pushing my shoulder lightly.

It made me stumble but I chuckled. "Sascha!" The blonde scolded.

Sascha whipped her head in her friend's direction. "Amelie. Stop letting this bitch step all over you!"

That was funny. Cause I'm damn sure I let this blonde idiot step all over me at one point.

Over and over again.

"I'm sure she's got a bark of her own. Let her speak," I said, getting both their attention.

Amelie shakes her head and opens her mouth to speak but words fail to come out.

Come on, say something. And please let it be mean.

"I don't want to fight with you, Emmy," she muttered.

Goddamnit.

"Why not, huh? I'm such a cunt to you, right? Fight. Back. For once, stop letting your dog do all the barking," I pushed, getting more in her face. Her brown eyes were a bit widened as she stared up at me slightly.

To my surprise, Sascha stayed quiet and I saw Amelie's jaw clench. "Just stop, okay? This is over. What happened between us is in the past and I thought us going our separate ways solidified that. Can you just leave me alone?" I heard the tremor in her voice and saw the way her eyes glossed.

It made me furious.
Just because she's moved on doesn't mean I have.

I pushed her shoulder with mine. "Try again, bitch!" I snapped.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

With my shove, Amelie stumbled back perfectly into the person I least expected to see right now.

Brooks.

She stood up quickly, regaining composure as he looked at her worriedly.
Why is he looking at her like that?

She wiped a loose tear.

"What's going on here ladies?" Brooks questioned looking between me, Amelie, and Sascha.

"Nothing," I rumbled, still glaring at the ballerina. Brooks was close to her. Too close.

She looked frantic, staring at the ground instead of me. "Amelie? Are you alright?" Brooks stared down at her, clutching her shoulder with a large hand. My heart dropped to my stomach as her name slipped from his lips. Did he know her? How?

"I-I-I-" she stuttered, shaking her head before running in the direction of the school. Sascha glared at me before looking at Brooks. She followed her blonde friend shortly after, leaving us alone.

A smirk tugged at my lips.

"What the hell was that? Did you just make her cry?" Brooks looked genuinely confused and despite my anger with the fact that he knew her name, I took pride in making her run off like a schoolgirl.

I shrugged my shoulders. "So what? She can fall off the face of the earth for all I care," I huffed. He looked at me in a way many had before. Like I was crazy.

"That wasn't nice, Emerson. She looked terrified."

"And? Why are you defending her? You don't even know what happened."

"Because she's my friend and she's a nice girl."

There it was. Those words made me see nothing but red and once again, the boy standing in front of me wasn't someone I wanted to be close with. Especially since he was friends with her.

"Go to hell," I mumbled, brushing past him toward my dorm.

"Hey! Hold on!" Brooks shouted behind me and my pace quickened. He was able to catch up with me quickly, grabbing my arm to stop me. I flinched away from his touch. "What the hell, Emerson?"

Obviously frustrated, I lifted my finger and flipped him off. Immature but whatever. He tilted his head, grabbed my finger, and dropped my hand. "Just talk to me. Talking goes a long way, you know? Help me understand what that was about."

I shook my head. "Why don't you go ask her?" I bit out.

"Maybe because you made her shit her pants. I'm sure Sascha will be good enough for now."

For now? Seriously?

The thought of him comforting her later bothered the fuck out of me. How wasn't I aware that they were friends? Was that how much we didn't cross paths in school? My heart began to bang against my chest more rapidly and I started to feel lightheaded.

The scene painted before me was way too similar to the one that occurred last semester. I knew I had a reason to be worried. It was so obvious.

"I need to go," I breathed, pushing past him again. Just like before, Brooks followed after me. His heavy footsteps were being drowned out by the sound of my breathing.

This isn't good.
No, no.

"Hey, gorgeous." A deep voice that didn't come from the boy chasing after me caught me off guard. I looked up and was met with brown eyes. His smile faded when he noticed my evident panic. "What's going on?"

"Emerson, calm down," Brooks said, finally catching up. He held my school bag in his hands.

Asher's brows pulled together as he observed the scene, pulling me close to him and away from the American Boy. "What do you want with her?" Ash asked, voice hard. He grabbed my school bag from Brooks roughly, putting it on my shoulder.

Brooks looked at his roommate with the same confusion. "I just need to talk to her," he replied more cooly. My instant reaction was to shake my head. I didn't want to be around Brooks right now.

My dirty hookup caught eye of my reaction, staring back up at the boy in front of us. "Well it's quite obvious she doesn't want to talk to you so kindly fuck off, mate." Asher offered him a fake smile before turning us around and walking away.

"You're gonna let him talk for you, Emerson? Never pegged you for that kind of girl," he shouted behind us. Asher hardened his arm around me and as much as I wanted to tell Brooks to fuck off, I didn't.

Once we were inside the building, away from Brooks' prying eye, I slipped out of Ash's hold. "I didn't need you to save me," I grumbled, walking in the direction of the dorms.

He followed behind me like a little puppy though. "What did that prick do? Do you want me to kick his arse?" I stopped abruptly in my steps, causing him to do the same. He looked at me but there didn't seem to be worry in his eyes. Even earlier when he saw my reaction, he just seemed like he wanted to make himself look all high and mighty by being my Superman.

He didn't care how I was actually feeling.
All Asher was looking for was trouble.

"No. I just used you as an excuse to get away from him and now I want to get away from you," I offered the same fake smile he gave to Brooks before walking away. Asher didn't make an attempt to follow me as expected. He didn't care that much. I was just another girl to him.

That boy truly had no feelings.

On my way back to the dorms, I passed a study room where I heard an obnoxious laugh that only I would recognize anywhere. My body halted and I peeked my head inside seeing Kai — who still looked disheveled, Rowan, and the culprit of the laugh, Callum.

Looks like Kai and Brooks had gone their separate ways.

I barged into the study room and felt all the attention shift to me when I angrily pulled out a chair and sat down. The room had quieted. "Where's Mina?" I mumbled.

"Her dorm," Kai replied.

My eyes shifted up and all of them had their eyes on me. "Well, I was right, lads. Brooks is a fucking traitor," I spoke bitterly.

Confusion crossed all their features then. "What did he do?" Cal was the one to ask.

"He's fucking friends with Amelie. Can you believe it? The one girl, the only girl, I dislike and he's friends with her! This is the same girl who fu-" I paused, taking a deep, leveled breath. "Never mind, not going to bring that up. Nope." If I do, I'll just be an even bigger mess.

The boys stayed silent and I saw Kai look away and scratch his neck. Cal tapped his pencil on the table with pursed lips. Ro wasn't looking in my direction anymore, face stoic.

Wait...

"Did you know?" I yelled towards Cal.

He jumped slightly and winced. "Yeah, I knew but I didn't know they were still friends! He doesn't talk about her to us!" Cal defended.

I looked over at Kai, "So you knew too?"

"Yeah," came his short reply.

My jaw clenched as I looked at the final traitor. His brown eyes met mine and he lifted his brows. Ro sighed, "Yeah, me too."

Fucking hell.

I chuckled bitterly. "And none of you thought to tell me? Someone who I literally loathe being besties with your guys' new bestie?"

Kai held up his hands. "Look, Emmy, the only time he mentioned Amelie was when we asked him if he had seen any bird that had caught his eye and he said her, that's it," Cal explained, shrugging his big shoulders.

My jaw clenched tightly.
My heart dropped to my ass.
And my pulse started beating quicker.

All at the same time.

He liked her?

"Seriously?" I choked out.

Callum nodded quickly but Kai huffed.

"Did you have to mention that he likes her, idiot?" Kai said tightly, glaring at our blonde friend.

"No," I said quickly, forcing a smile. "Thanks for that, Cal." I pushed my chair back with my ass and stood up. "See you later, boys."

None of them said a word as I made my escape, arms hugging my body as I rushed back to my dorm. To my surprise, Cora was there, knees pulled up to her chest as she watched something on her laptop. "You alright, Emerson?" she asked and I nodded quickly before rushing to the bathroom.

And this is exactly why I struggle to trust people. What are the odds that Brooks decided to befriend my ex best friend? The girl who I once loved like a sister and who made me feel like I actually belonged in this world. Before she hurt me, slowly killing all the love and respect I had for her. Seriously how hard can it be to be a decent friend?

Amelie was a big part of the reason I also hated him. The boy who shall not be named. Those two broke me into two and don't even seem to give a shit. Once I dropped her ass, she moved on and took her little puppy, Sascha, along with her.

At one point, my friend group consisted of ten individuals. Me, Kai, Mina, Rowan, Callum, Imani, Lacey, Amelie, Sascha, and the boy who shall not be named. When the boy who shall not be named decided to leave HP, everyone started falling out. Including me and Amelie. I decided I no longer wanted to continue my friendship with her.

Sascha, Amelie, and Lacey had been another pair of three musketeers within our friend group so I was sure the both of them would be gone, taking her side. Yet, only Sascha did. Lacey seemed to resonate with my reasoning and picked me. Or us.

I'm sure Amelie isn't going to waste any time telling Brooks how big of a bitch I am. Though he might already know that. She's going to tell him how I'm the worst person ever and explain all the harsh things I've said to her.

I don't even want to think about it.
I also shouldn't care that much.

Brooks is friends with my friends. We barely speak.

A lump in my throat forms but I push it down quickly. "You're okay, Emmy. You have Mina," I shuttered a breath. "That's all you need."