4. Brielle
Chapter four
Brielle
September
I received a text the moment I walked back into my dorm from my last class of the day.
Josh (Canada Boy)
Hey, I haven’t heard from you in a while. How are you?
I looked back at our messages and realized I hadn’t answered the last three messages he sent me.
Way to be a dickhead, Brielle.
Amani gave me a weird look. “Who’s got you smiling like that? I haven’t seen that one in a while.”
I looked up at her sitting on her bed and smiled. “Canada boy, of course.”
She wagged her eyebrows as I rolled my eyes with a smile.
Hey, im so sorry. I'm good.
I have been so busy with my internship and life in general. I worked through the summer. I am doing well, though. How are you?
Josh (Canada Boy)
I am okay. Missing my friend in Connecticut though.
Oh?
Josh (Canada Boy)
Yeah. Okay, so don’t freak out, but I will be in CT next week. I was hoping we could meet up for dinner or something.
My stomach fluttered at the thought of seeing him again.
You want to waste your time in CT seeing me? What are you coming here for?
My phone rang.
“Hello,” I said hesitantly.
“I was hoping for a little more enthusiasm, Brielle,” he joked. “Plus, seeing you would be the furthest thing from a waste.”
I smiled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it in a bad way; you just caught me off guard, that’s all.” I laughed. “What is bringing you to Connecticut?”
“My friend from high school is getting married in North Haven. Is that near you?”
“Yeah, actually. It’s about a half hour away. I could totally meet you another day while you are down here.”
He was silent for a moment.
“Josh?”
“I’m here. I actually have a proposal.” His voice was hesitant. “Will you go with me to the wedding? I will take you home right after. Promise. It doesn’t have to mean anything. It can be a friend's date.”
I smiled, but the thought of even going as friends scared me. Josh and I haven’t spoken much other than surface stuff. He doesn’t know any of the nitty gritty in my life. “Can I…can I think about it?”
“Yeah, of course.”
He changed the subject, and we talked for about ten more minutes. Before we hung up, his voice became a little uncertain.
“Brielle…I hope you say yes.” I could hear his smile and it made mine even bigger.
“Talk soon. Bye.”
“Bye, beautiful.”
Amani stood up from her bed, glaring at me.
“What?” I asked.
“Are you going?”
“Going where?”
She gave me a knowing look. “You know I have hawk ears. I heard all of that."
I smirked and gave in. “I don’t know. Isn’t it weird? We have only texted maybe ten times in the last eight months, and now he wants me to be his date to a wedding where I will know absolutely no one?”
“You have to go. As you said, you barely know him, and he is considering bringing you as his date. How sweet is that?”
I shrugged again before sitting on my bed. “What if something happens?” I said hesitantly.
She walked over and sat next to me, grabbing my hands. “I will find something to do nearby, and if you need me, I will be there immediately.” I looked up at her. “Brie, what if this is the moment everything changes? What if this is worth exploring?”
“Why are you always right?”
She shrugged jokingly. “It’s a flaw, really; I just got it like that.”
We both broke out in laughter. She grabbed my phone and typed something before handing it back to me. “Hit send and let's get you going on dates again.”
I looked down and smiled as I hit send before I could talk myself out of it.
I would love to go. Send me the details.
Amani and I went through all our dresses over the last week since I told Josh I would accompany him to the wedding.
I can’t seem to find one I feel best in.
I went out to the club a few weeks ago with the crew for Callie’s birthday, but even then, I wore jeans. I don’t do the dress-up thing anymore.
After trying on the first few dresses again, I went with one of Amani’s. The dress was navy blue with glitter embedded in it. It fell just above my knee and hugged my non-existent ass perfectly. I knew it was the one as soon as she zipped me up.
There was a knock at my door. I yelled for whoever it was to come in, but no one did. I got up from my bed to open the door. Aubrey was there with her arms full of bags. “You didn’t think I was going to let you go on your first date without helping you get ready, did you?”
“Hello to you, too.” I stepped back to let her in.
She threw everything onto Amani’s bed, then turned and gave me a stern look. “I called while you were in the shower. Amani said you had a date. Did you think you would get away with not telling me?”
I shrugged.
“Well, you aren’t. I am getting you all done up, and you have no say.” She smiled big. “Where is Amani?”
“She had to run to the library to work on a paper with her study group. She said she would be back in a few hours to help me get ready.”
“Perfect. I will do your hair, and she can do your makeup. Now put on some music and sit. Tell me about this guy.”
I laughed. “Yes, ma’am.” I grabbed my desk chair and put it next to my bed. “Please keep it simple. It’s just a wedding, not a prom.”
She scoffed. “Just tell me about him and let me work.”
“Well, we met in Canada when I went in January, as you know.”
“Oh, this is that guy? You don’t really know him, do you?”
“Says the girl who fell in love with someone after knowing them for five minutes.”
She slapped my head lightly with the brush. “Oh shush, you know what I mean.”
“I do. Just wanted to break your balls.”
She brushed through my hair. “Luckily, I don’t have those.” We both laughed. “Lincoln would be distraught if I did.”
We spent the next thirty minutes talking about Josh, and she told me how she was finally settled into her new place with Lincoln. She was packing up her stuff, and I got up to look at myself in the floor-length mirror before pausing and realizing she was staring at my back.
“What? Is the back messed up or something?”
She looked nervous. I turned to face her instead of talking to her through the mirror. “Aubs?”
“Are you sure about this?”
I walked over and grabbed her hand. “I love you. Yes, I am sure. I am nervous as fuck, but sure. Amani will be close if I need her.”
“I just worry about you, and I don’t want anyone hurting my baby sister again.”
I hugged her hard. “I am not a baby anymore. It is time I start acting like it. I am done letting what happened to me control everything.”
She pulled out of the hug and looked at me, surprised. “Who are you, and what have you done with my sister?” She chuckled.
“You and Amani made me realize I was missing out on things. Yes, something horrible happened, and I feel like I will always have issues and be healing from that. But if I continually let that stop me, then he wins. That piece of shit will never ruin another thing in my life if I can help it.”
She looked at me with unshed tears, then hugged me. “Not a baby anymore for sure.”
Elijah
The tour was going well except for one thing. I was miserable and lonely. I never fully understood why I feel this way because I am rarely actually alone. I’m either with the band or with a female companion. I don’t get a lot of “alone” time.
I love being with my band, but I can’t wait until we get a break at holiday time. I am planning to spend it with Link and that crew to hopefully lift my spirits.
Hanging with him seems to be the only time I can let go and be myself. I am not even that carefree around my brother.
Owen and I are half-brothers. He has a different mother, and we both have the same shitty, deadbeat dad. I guess that’s our only true point of connection other than music.
Link and I had a conversation about why I was even in the band a while ago, and I couldn’t give him an honest answer.
I joined the band officially a few years ago because my brother needed a vocalist. I took theater and choir classes in high school, but dropped out in my senior year when my dad left my mom.
She needed me to work full-time to help with the household finances.
If we wanted a place to live and eat, then I had to help.
My dad was a horrible drunk. I tried to steer clear of him as much as possible to avoid the beatings.
Luckily, he was in and out of our lives.
There would be months when we wouldn't see him.
He always sent money to Mom, though. It was his way of apologizing for putting his hands on all of us.
He stopped being around when I became bigger than he was.
The final time he left was different somehow.
My mom just knew we would never hear from him again.
I spent my senior year working at a gas station—that was until my mom met someone new. Once she met Robert, her life dramatically changed.
My mom was happier, which was great. Literally, all I ever wanted was for all of us to be safe.
The bad part, though, was that she had basically forgotten all about me.
She moved herself and my younger siblings into his home and never looked back.
It was like just because I was an adult, I didn’t need her or something.
Luckily, Owen’s band had just started taking off and needed help.
I toured with them as an equipment manager and helped out on the road until their vocalist quit a few years ago.
That was my opening. Now, the band is thriving, and I consider myself well off.
I wouldn’t say rich, but I no longer have to check my account before buying anything like I used to.
My mom hasn’t tried to reach out much, and she is still with Robert, as far as I know, although I haven’t tried to find out. She also added another sibling or two to the roster a few years after I left, but I’ve never met them.
I am guessing that my dad is either dead or about to be. Honestly, I couldn’t care less, even if someone paid me to. I left that part of my life and the people in it behind me. Whenever I think of them, I grab a beer and drink those thoughts away.