14. Brielle
Chapter fourteen
Brielle
March
E lijah and I hadn’t spoken much except for catch-up texts here and there.
He told me all about his talk with his mom, and how he had been seeing his family every time he got a stretch of time off.
The band’s current mini tour will end in May, a few days before the engagement party, so he will be spending a few weeks here after that.
I was definitely looking forward to seeing him.
My dorm room door opened abruptly, and I looked up from my easel, paintbrush in mid-air. Amani walked in all dressed up.
“Ooolala, where are you off to all dressed up?” I asked.
She pulled a cute, black strappy top out from behind her back. “ We are going out to celebrate your birthday.”
“Absolutely not,” I sputtered in protest.
She smiled and nodded while I shook my head no. She threw it at me. “We are going. You have no choice. I made plans, and everyone is going.”
“Who exactly is everyone?” I asked.
She checked out her ass in our full-length mirror. “Guess you will have to come in order to find out.”
I shook my head in disbelief with a playful smile on my face. “Can I at least know where we’re going?”
“Nope. You have to trust your bestie.” She plopped down on the bed beside me and gave me a pouty face.
I narrowed my eyes in jest. “Fine. But if I'm not having any fun, then I'm leaving.”
She jumped up. “Yas bitch!! Give me one hour. Then if you want to leave, I will leave with you.”
I put on the top, some ripped black jeans, and my pair of light pink ballet flats. I threw my hair into a ponytail and grabbed my bag.
Just as we walked out the door, Amani turned to me. “Oh, and you are wearing this.” She held up a red blindfold.
I cocked a brow, giving her a nervous, unsure look.
“I will be the only one with you while you have it on. I promise.”
I hesitantly gave in. “I am not putting that on till we are in the car.”
She jumped up in excitement again, linking her arm in mine. “Fair.”
We drove for what seemed like an hour. She helped me out of the car, and I couldn’t see or hear anything.
“Amani, can we take this off now?”
She ushered me forward while still holding onto me. “A few more steps.”
She opened the door, stopping me after only one step inside.
She leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Happy birthday, babe.” She pulled the blindfold off me, and an abundance of “Surprise” rang out coming from different directions, and they all were in different voices.
Once my eyes adjusted, I found that I was surrounded by everyone I loved.
Aubrey and Callie came running up to me first.
“Happy birthday, Bean,” Callie said as she hugged me.
“Happy birthday, favorite sista,” Aubrey joked.
I rolled my eyes playfully. “I am still your only sister.”
“I resent that,” Callie quipped.
Nick and Link both came up and gave me side hugs. Shane and a few other people from work and school were there, too.
I looked around. I still didn’t know where we were. “Where the hell are we?”
Amani gestured around the building with her arms spread wide. “We rented out this entire trampoline park for the next five hours.”
I smiled so big my cheeks started to hurt. “What? How could you guys afford this? This is ridiculous.” I squealed. “Why would you waste this kind of money on me?”
“Nothing for you is ever a waste.” An overwhelming rush of warmth flowed through me at the sound of that voice.
Elijah.
I turned to face him and immediately hugged him tight. He pulled me in closer and he smelled like cedar and apple. Very different from the smoke and whiskey smell I’ve gotten from him in the past.
“What are you even doing here? Aren’t you guys supposed to be in California?”
“You’re here. Where else would I be?”
I pulled away, surprised at his admission. “What?”
He began to stutter. “Well, I mean… I’m here for your birthday. I wanted to see you. I wanted to thank you for getting me to go see my dad.”
“So you rented out a trampoline park?” I smiled.
He shrugged. A slight blush crept up his cheeks. “I knew you would like it, so I did it.”
I pulled him back into the hug once again. “Thank you, Eli. This is exactly how I want to spend my birthday.”
He whispered into my hair. “Anything for you, MP.”
After jumping around and hours of fun, we all drove to Aubrey and Lincoln's for food. Seeing twenty-plus adults jumping around, and racing each other like children was pretty comical. I haven’t had this much fun since I was fifteen.
Nick and Elijah had to pull me out of the foam pit several times. I kept sinking through the little pieces and falling to the point that I couldn’t crawl back up.
I grabbed a plate of food and sat down with Callie and Shane at the table. I motioned for Elijah to come join us. He smiled from the kitchen and held up a finger to signal he would only be a minute. I smiled and Callie nudged my knee with hers under the table.
“What’s that smile about?”
I looked at her with a big, beaming grin. I shoved a bite of pasta in my mouth and spoke with my mouth full, “What's what?”
She continued to stare at me knowingly.
I shrugged and shoved another bite into my mouth. “He is just thanking me for helping him when I was in Tennessee.”
She wagged her eyebrows up and down. “What exactly did you help him with?”
I kicked her. “Oh, stop it. You know nothing like that happened. I would have told you.”
“Would have told her what?” Elijah questioned as he sat down next to me.
I sat up a little straighter. “Oh nothing, she’s just being fresh.” I gave her a look of warning with a smile to cut it out.
Elijah and Shane both chuckled. “Well, I like being fresh, so count me in,” Eli joked.
“We know,” Callie and I said at the same time.
Shane and Callie drifted into a conversation about art therapy, which Shane was using his degree to pursue. She seemed very amused, so I turned my attention to Elijah.
“So, how long will we be blessed with your presence this time?”
He looked a little sad, but his usual suave persona fell back into place quickly.
“You, MP, can have my presence anytime you want,” he chuckled.
“But if you are asking how long I’m staying, my answer is that I have to fly back to California on a redeye early tomorrow morning. We have a show tomorrow night.”
I tried my best not to show it, but that saddened me. I changed the subject even though I was the one who had asked.
“How are things with your parents?”
He pursed his lips a little but didn’t look up at me this time. He started twirling the pasta with his fork. I put my hand on his bicep. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”
He shook off whatever he had been thinking about and sat up straighter, turning toward me. “No, no, it’s fine. Things are okay. I haven’t been talking to them as much since I've been so busy, but I know Mom did donate some of her liver to Dad, and they are both recovering well.”
“That’s great. I am glad things are looking up for you.”
He nodded. “Yeah, me too.”
I saw Aubrey eyeing Elijah and me curiously. A moment later, she got up and pushed between us. “Are you staying here tonight?”
I turned my head to look at her. “Why would I, when my dorm is only ten minutes away?”
“I don’t know, ‘cause you love me and miss me.”
“Aubs, I see you all the time. You don’t give me a chance to miss you.” Elijah and I both laughed.
“You guys suck.”
“No, I think that’s your job.”
Beer came spraying out of Lincoln’s nose and went all over Nick.
“Dude, what the fuck?” Nick laughed.
Link grabbed a few napkins and wiped his face. “Me? Did you hear what Pip said? That shit was funny.”
I let out an annoyed huff. “Jesus, Link. They have you calling me Pip now too.”
“Pip?” Elijah said curiously.
“They used to call me pipsqueak. Then, as we got older, it was shortened to Pip.” I raised my voice a little. “And Mr. Nicholas over there won't stop telling people.”
“Sorry, Pip.. fuck. I mean Brie.”
Everyone laughed. Elijah leaned into me and whispered, “I like my name for you better.”
His breath on my ear gave me goosebumps. I held up my finger to my mouth and shushed him. “That’s our secret.”
When Elijah pulled away, I looked at Link and his eyes were wide. “What was that?” he asked.
“What was what?” Elijah responded.
He waved his hand at us. “That. The whole secret telling and giggling thing.”
Callie joined in. “They like each other, you dingbat. Leave them alone.”
“The hell I will,” Link told her.
“Moving on,” Aubrey declared, changing the subject. Conversations broke out again, and Aubrey stood and dragged Link into the next room. I could hear her scolding him, but I couldn’t hear exactly what she was saying.
“And on that note, I have to pee.” I excused myself because I could tell how red my cheeks were from the heat radiating off of them.
When I walked by my sister's bedroom, I heard her whispering to Link. So I leaned on the wall to eavesdrop.
“Let her flirt. She doesn’t ever get to do it, plus it’s cute and harmless. Elijah doesn’t like her like that anyway.”
“Elijah likes anything with a vagina,” Link added.
She scoffed. “He knows I’ll kill him if he even thinks the wrong way in her direction.
You know what she’s been through. She doesn’t want a relationship after what that Dax guy did to her emotions.
Let Brie have her schoolgirl crush. It will fade.
When she is ready to seriously date, I will help her. ”
A schoolgirl crush?
I opened the door and walked in. “I am not a child, ya know?”
My sister looked completely mortified. “Brielle. Shit. I’m sorry. You were not supposed to hear any of that.”
I crossed my arms smugly. “Clearly. Since I am such a baby. Someone like him could never want to be with me, right?”
Aubrey stepped toward me. “That isn’t what I said.”
I stepped back. “You might as well have,” I said a little louder.
She turned toward Link. “Can you give us a second?”
I held up my hand to stop him. “Don’t bother. I am leaving.” I looked back at Aubrey. “Just because I don’t date and I am not a hoe like some other people we know, doesn’t mean I don’t know what I’m doing or what I want.”
She looked burned by what I said. I instantly regretted it, but my anger outweighed the guilt. “Brielle, come on. This isn’t us. We need to talk. I’m sorry I—”
I left the room and exited out the back door so no one else would see me leave. I had Amani's keys in my pocket, so I got into her car to stay warm and texted her. I told her I would be waiting for her whenever she was ready. A moment later, Elijah came walking out with my jacket instead of her.
I got out and leaned on the car with my arms crossed. “Hey.”
“Hey. What happened in there?” he asked, while putting my jacket over my shoulders. I leaned forward, and he helped me put it on the rest of the way.
I hesitantly looked up at him and grinned. “Aubrey basically called me a prude child, and then I called her a hoe bag.”
He winced. “Ouch, that’s rough.”
“Yeah. I regretted it as soon as it left my mouth, but I was too mad about what she was saying, so now she can be mad for a while.”
“Okay.” He moved next to me and leaned onto the car.
I looked up at him. “You can go back inside. I am gonna wait out here for Amani.”
He smiled sheepishly. “She’s the one who sent me out here. She and Nick are in a heated game of Gin Rummy.” I laughed and shook my head. “There’s that beautiful smile.”
I looked down at my feet with an embarrassed smile. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?” he asked.
“Compliment me. I know you are just doing it because you feel bad for me just like everyone else.”
His look changed to a questioning one, and he turned to face me. “I came here from California to spend your birthday with you. I don’t feel bad for you. I wanted to spend time with you. You think I came here and did all this ‘cause I felt bad?”
“No. I just…I don’t know. I know you wanted to thank me for helping with your dad, and now you have. So that’s it, right?”
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. I realized at that moment, I sounded like an ungrateful asshole.
He looked at me with disappointed eyes. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t sure what else to say.
We were both quiet for a moment. Then I felt his stare on me again. “Want me to drive you back to your dorm so you don’t have to sit here and wait?”
“Sure. Can you bring these back inside to Amani? Tell her to stay here if she gets too drunk.” I handed him the keys.
“Sure thing. I will only be a minute.”
Five minutes later, he came back out and opened the door to his rental car. We drove in silence. As we pulled up to my dorm, I unbuckled my seatbelt but didn’t make a move to get out.
I spoke without looking over at him. “You didn’t drink.” It wasn’t a question. It was an observation.
Staring out the front window, he answered, “Sober three weeks now.”
I turned to him excitedly. “Eli. That is amazing. How do you feel?”
“Honestly,” he looked over at me. “My energy is better. My memory is better, but I feel like shit. I feel like I don’t know who to be without the alcohol numbing me. I feel…everything.”