“How do I get her out of there?”
“Our professors don’t like interruptions, but it’s not like they’re going to stop Brooke from just walking out of class.Free will and all. I could go in there and ask if she could come out, but it’s going to cost you.”
I sighed. “What do you want?”
“Actually, I’ll do it for free because I smell drama, and I’m eager to hear Brooke complain about you for once.” That said, Rina opened the door again and headed inside.
The classical music I heard a minute earlier stopped, exchanged by a voice that sounded almost mad. Man, was I glad I didn’t walk in there.
Another couple of minutes passed until the door opened again, and Rina came back outside, followed by Brooke.
Brooke had her bag swung over her shoulder, and when her eyes laid on me, I suddenly wished I never showed up here. She’d never looked at me with this much anger in her eyes before. Sure, she’d been mad at me before, but this was like she was about to burst into flames.
“Could we talk somewhere private?” I asked.
“Uh-huh.” Brooke grasped my wrist, holding me tighter than ever before. I could swear my wrist was about to snap off as she led me down the hall.
Every door that stood remotely open, Brooke peeked inside until she found one empty room. She pushed me inside the room, closing the door behind her as she followed.
“What the fuck, Reece!” she snapped. Brooke dropped her bag and then took a few steps away from me to bring some distance between us. “You know they’re already giving me a hard time, despite the year having barely begun, yet you’re pulling me out of class?!”
“I’m sorry…” She never used to care when I pulled her out of class in high school, but I supposed college was different.
“You’re sorry?” She laughed. “Do you know what you just did? I should be in class until shortly after twelve, it’s noteven eleven yet. How am I supposed to prove to my teacher that you’re not a distraction when you’re quite literally making me miss class?”
“You could’ve told Rina you weren’t going to come outside.”
Brooke shook her head, taking a deep breath as she turned around and walked toward the windows. “I was kicked out because she interrupted.”
“I’m sorry.”
“But even if Ms. Dubois hadn’t kicked me out, I still would’ve left and you know it.” She pulled on her hair tie, letting her hair down. “When Rina told me you were outside, asking to speak to me, do you know what went through my head?”
“No.” I wanted to walk up to her, but I wasn’t sure if she wanted me to, so I remained in one spot.
Brooke turned around, tears pooling in her beautiful green eyes. “I thought somethingreallyhorrible must’ve happened, like… I don’t know. You were going to tell me my dad died or something. You never showed up here before, and if you had, it was only to pick me up. You’re supposed to be at school yourself. The only reason for your presence here could be that you have awful news to share with me.”
Screw standing in one spot. With long strides, I made my way over to my girlfriend and cupped her face with my hands, forcing her to look at me. “All I wanted was to see you.”
“So look at a picture of me!”
“I should’ve waited, okay? I know that now, and it won’t happen again. But I just… Brooke, I just really needed to see and talk to you.”
A heavy breath drew from her lungs as she relaxed into my touch; the anger in her eyes slowly draining. Her handscovered my own, but she didn’t remove them. “What happened?”
“Why do you think something happened?”
She leaned into me, sneaking her arms around my torso as she rested her head against my chest. “Because you never skip hockey unless you have a great reason to do it.”
“Something so ridiculous, it honestly shouldn’t even have bothered me enough to get you in trouble for it.” I wrapped my own arms around her body, holding her close without having plans of letting her go again.
“Tell me.” Brooke sounded much more like herself now, her voice no longer radiating anger.
“Fynn said he wanted to fuck you. Well, he said he’d take you if I didn’t want you, which is basically the same thing.”
“That’s gross.” Her fingers clutched around the material of my shirt. “Reece, you know I’d never sleep with anyone but you, right?”
“Yeah.” The word left me in a whisper. I really tried to fight the question that was lingering in my head, but after a minute of silence, I couldn’t do it anymore. “You’d tell me if you were getting tired of it, right?”