Chapter 11
Ella
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” Charlotte says, before taking a sip of her latte. “Why would I even think Briggs Chadwick was asking me out?”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” I say. “When Briggs turns on the charm, it’s hard not to fall for it.”
Actually, it’s not, at least not for me, but Charlotte is easily swayed by a guy’s attention.
If he smiles at her or even looks her way, she gets all dreamy-eyed and thinks she’s in love.
Well, maybe not in love, but she starts falling for the guy before she’s even gone out with him.
I’m the total opposite. No amount of smiling or flirting will win me over unless I trust the guy.
And in order to trust the guy, I have to know him really well, which never happens because guys aren’t big on opening up.
It explains why I don’t date much and why I’ve never had a boyfriend.
The few dates I’ve been on haven’t been with guys at my school. They were guys my dad hired to help with landscaping projects. I never told my dad I dated them. He’s too protective of me and probably would’ve fired them for asking me out.
One of the guys was Brandon, a really hot college guy. We worked together last summer and went out a few times. By the third date, he wanted sex. Maybe college girls are okay with that, but for me, it was way too soon. I’m still a virgin, which I didn’t tell him, but I’m guessing he figured it out.
Before Brandon, I went out with two other guys — Leo and Jax.
Leo was a nature lover. He loved being around trees, and loved planting them even more, which is what he did for my dad.
He planted a hundred trees around a new office building.
After the job was over, we went out and dated for a month.
I liked him, but he was too timid. He wouldn’t even kiss me.
I had to kiss him , and even after our first kiss, he still wouldn’t make a move.
He was more comfortable with trees than with girls.
As for Jax, he was a gym rat who did landscaping jobs because it was a way to work out and get paid.
His body was amazing, which is the only reason I dated him.
I didn’t care that we didn’t have anything in common other than our attraction for each other.
I didn’t need him to be my boyfriend. I just wanted to make out with him, which I did.
I’d even decided to lose my virginity to him, but then changed my mind.
It just didn’t feel right. I told him that and never saw him again.
I also went out with this guy, Ian, but we only went out once, so it doesn’t really count.
I met him at the gas station. He works there, and one day he asked me out.
I hadn’t been on a date for a while, so I told him yes.
We went to a park to take a walk, and he kept putting his hands all over me.
When I told him to stop, he wouldn’t listen, so I got in my truck and left.
That’s the history of my love life. It isn’t great, but it’s not bad considering I haven’t put much effort into dating.
“I should’ve known he wasn’t actually interested in me,” Charlotte says, pulling her hair up in a messy bun.
Why she thought Briggs, a guy who, up until last week, either ignored her or made fun of her, would suddenly want to date her, is a mystery to me.
It took some convincing, but I finally made Charlotte realize Briggs’ invite was just a ploy to lure her to the party to do whatever it was he planned to do.
“I guess I just got caught up in the idea that a guy like him would ask me out.” She shrugs and shoves up her glasses.
“Why would you want an asshole to ask you out?” I pick up my tea and take a sip.
I don’t drink coffee, but Charlotte’s addicted to vanilla lattes, so I agreed to meet her at a coffee shop.
It’s rare we meet like this, but her cello lesson was canceled, so I suggested we get together, knowing it would give me another chance to convince her that Briggs can’t be trusted.
I can’t believe she seriously thought he was asking her out. She’s far too trusting.
“He’s not always an asshole,” she says. “Remember when he helped those kids with their fundraiser?”
“That was a thing the rugby team did. Briggs only helped because he was forced to.”
Charlotte sighs. “Yeah, I guess.”
I set my tea down. “I know you want to see the best in people but some people, like Briggs, are just plain evil. You can’t trust them, no matter what they say or do.”
“But people change.”
“Some do, some don’t, but most don’t. And as long as we’ve known Briggs, he’s been a self-centered, attention-seeking, power-hungry asshole who’s only interested in people who can benefit him in some way.
And if they don’t agree to his demands, he goes after them.
He threatens them. A guy like that is never going to change. ”
She sets her cup down. “What are you saying? Did Briggs threaten you?”
“Not directly,” I say, not wanting her to know the truth. I almost told her last night what was going on, but then changed my mind. This is between Briggs and me, and it’s going to stay that way. “It doesn’t matter if he threatened me or not. He’s a bully and he can’t be trusted.”
“But he hasn’t done anything to you in over a year. Maybe he’s changed.”
“He hasn’t changed. He still makes fun of me, calls me names, lets his girlfriend be a bitch to me. Why would you defend someone like that?”
“I’m not. I just think there’s more to him than what we see at school. I think there’s another side to him.”
“And you think this about Parker and Finn too?”
“No, just Briggs,” she says in a dreamy tone, a faraway look in her eyes.
What the hell? When did she get such a huge crush on Briggs? And how did I not notice this?
“Charlotte.” I reach over and grab her shoulders and shake her a little until she looks back at me.
“What?”
“Repeat after me. Briggs Chadwick is evil. And always will be.”
“He’s not evil. He’s just . . . misunderstood.”
I sigh and sit back. “Okay. If that’s what you want to believe.
But I’m telling you, you’re going to regret it if you keep letting Briggs play you the way he did yesterday in the parking lot.
” I pause, wondering if I should tell her some of the stuff Briggs has done to me since we got back from break.
She already knows about the drugs, but she blamed Finn for that, even though I told her Briggs was behind it.
“It’s not like I’d actually go out with him,” Charlotte says. “It’s just nice to have a guy like him notice me.”
“Not when he’s only doing it to—” I stop, realizing I almost told her what’s going on. I don’t think I should. It’s better if she doesn’t know.
“He’s only doing it to what ?”
“Make fun of you. He wants to see if you’ll believe he really likes you and then he’ll turn it into a joke. If you’d gone to the party last night, he would’ve made fun of you in front of everyone.”
She slumps down in her chair, looking down at the floor.
“Charlotte, I’m not saying this to make you feel bad.
I just want you to know the truth about him.
I know deep down you do, but there’s a part of you that doesn’t want to believe it.
And I get it. Briggs is really hot and really popular so when he gives you attention, you want to believe it’s because he actually likes you, but we both know that’s not him.
He doesn’t work that way. I mean, look who he’s dating.
Aubrey is one of the meanest girls at school and he chooses her as his girlfriend.
Evil attracts evil. The evidence is there, Charlotte. You just need to accept it.”
“You’re right,” she says, looking back at me. “I guess I just got swept away by those blue eyes and that perfect smile. And the way he looked at me. There’s something about Briggs that when he looks at you, it’s hard to look away. It’s like you’re drawn to him, even if you don’t want to be.”
It’s true. Briggs has this energy to him that draws people in. It’s why he’s so popular, and why people want to be around him. I’m one of the few people not affected by his so-called charm and allure because I know it’s all an act. I just have to keep convincing Charlotte of that.
“I should go,” she says, getting up. “Dinner is at six and I have to get ready.”
“I’m glad I don’t have to go to fancy dinner parties,” I say, walking to the door with her.
“They’re not that bad.” We go out to the parking lot. “And after dinner we’re all going to a movie. The guy hosting the dinner party rented out the whole theater for us.”
“That sounds fun. I haven’t gone to the movies in forever.”
We stop at her car. “What are you doing tonight?”
“I’m not sure. Probably just watch TV and then go to bed.”
“Sorry I’m never around to do stuff.”
I shrug. “It’s fine. I don’t need to go out. See you on Monday.”
“Yeah, have a good night.”
I’m not actually spending the night watching TV.
I’m going to spend it coming up with ways to defend myself against Briggs.
God only knows what he’s going to do next week, and I need to be prepared.
He’s not going to want to drag this out.
He’s going to start with the worst possible thing he could do to me.
I’m just not sure what that’ll be. Will he try to go after Charlotte again?
If so, I’m prepared. I’ll tell her what he did to me behind the school.
How he trapped me there and touched me and almost.
.. I don’t want to think about that. I don’t want to think he’d take it that far, but I don’t want to believe he couldn’t either.
I need to be prepared for anything and everything.
When I get home, my dad’s out back working on the lawnmower.
“What’s wrong with it?” I ask, walking up to him.
“Hey, honey, I didn’t know you’d be home so early.”
“Early? It’s after six.”
“I guess I thought you two were having dinner.” He wipes the sweat off his forehead.