The Player

Chapter 24

Brielle

2:58 PM

My blood ran cold. "What are you doing here?"

He smiled at me. "I knew that you would be here."

"There was no reason you could have known." I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why are you really here?"

He dodged the question, placing his hand on my arm. "How have you been?" I quickly recoiled away

from him.

"Don't touch me." I seethed. He ignored my gesture, leaning into my ear. "We might as well get down to

why you're here. We can go to my place; my parents aren't home."

My jaw dropped. How dare he think that I would ever go anywhere with him after what he did? What he

threatened to do?

I pushed him away from me. "I would never go anywhere with you." His face dropped, the warmth

leaving his eyes.

His fake kind exterior was replaced with his usual cold demeanor. This was the Derrick I knew.

"Cut the crap Brielle, I know that you want me back. You wouldn't have come here if you didn't." The

smile on his face made my skin crawl.

"No, I don't."

"Then why did you come here?" He said, as if it was obvious.

I paused. Why did I come here? I knew that Sam, Scott, and Christopher would never come here to

look for me but, maybe subconsciously I did want to see him.

I shook the thought out of my mind. This is why I avoided him like the plague. He was always able to

screw with my head without even trying.

I gathered up my courage. "It doesn't matter why I came here, what matters is that we are over. You

don't deserve me." I was always unable to stand up to him, but with everything that I've been through,

Derrick was the least of my worries. His lip curled into a snarl.

"You start dating this Christopher guy and suddenly you think that you're too good for me?" He gripped

his hand around my arm, tighter this time.

"Let go of me!" I demanded, fruitlessly attempting to yank my hand from his grasp. He held me in place.

"Just remember what might happen if you don't do what I say."

The color drained from my face. "You- You wouldn't..." I stammered.

He flashed me a smile. "I would. I'll meet you here at eight."

Before I could protest, the bathroom door behind us opened, revealing a tall blonde walking towards

us. She wrapped herself around Derrick, placing her head atop one of his shoulders.

"Who are you talking to?" She asked, only focusing on him. She seemed to forget that I was even

there.

"Just an old friend baby, don't worry about." They turned around and sat down in the booth.

Our booth.

He glanced back at me and sent me a smile, relishing in my wounded expression.

While I never wanted to get back together with him, it hurt me to realize that our special booth wasn't

that special to him. I was disposable to him, just like I was disposable to Christopher. I pushed my

upcoming tears back.

I had bigger fish to fry than a booth. My mind wandered to his earlier demand. I didn't want to meet

Derrick here, but if I didn't...

I shuddered. I couldn't afford not to. But the thought of going anywhere after what just happened to me

and Christopher made me want to barf.

I quickly exited the restaurant and drove home. When I arrived, Scott was on the couch waiting for me.

I breezed past him. Now was not the time for us to talk. If I did, I'd be afraid that I would actually kill

him.

When I finally reached my room, I threw myself onto the bed. All the pain and hurt from the day hit me,

and I broke down, heaving heavy sobs into my pillow.

I felt like a fool. Everyone knew what was happening but me, and that might have hurt me most of all.

I woke up to a knock on my door. I jumped up confused, looking around the room, unaware that I had

drifted asleep. It was dark outside.

After a few seconds the memories came flooding back, and the familiar pang in my heart returned. The

door opened and Nicole, Christopher's sister entered.

"Sorry," she said apologetically, taking a seat on the edge of my bed. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's okay," I yawned shaking off sleep. "What do you need?"

She sat up straighter. "I wanted to talk to you about something, but I realize how confused you must be,

so I wanted to answer any of your questions first."

"I actually do have a question." My voice was much scratchier than usual. "Can you just explain to me

what happened between you three?"

She nodded her head, and after a few minutes of talking, I was finally filled in.

"I'm so sorry that Scott did that to you, that doesn't sound like him."

"I know, I didn't expect it from him either, but I know that deep down he's a good guy." She stared me

dead in the eyes. "Just like Christopher."

I began to tune her out. I didn't need to hear this right now.

"Please," she pleaded, recapturing my attention. "Just listen to me."

I knew that I shouldn't want to hear his side of the story. But the part of me that still saw him as the guy

wooing me with desserts wanted to hear him out. Without my own accord, my head nodded, signaling

her to continue.

"After my parents' deaths, I was lost. I didn't know how to channel all my anger and sadness. So, I

grew depressed and I was anxious all the time. And when you factor in me and Scott's breakup, it

got...ugly.

I convinced myself that we broke up because there was something wrong with me. Because I wasn't

skinny enough, or pretty enough, so I stopped eating.

And it broke Christopher to see me like this, but he couldn't do anything to stop it. So, he took all his

pent-up anger and grief about my parents' deaths and me and focused it on Scott. He became

convinced that he was the cause of all our pain and suffering, when he wasn't.

He was a part of it, but he wasn't the cause. At the time, I thought he was too, but looking back, he

wasn't. We were just two kids who lost our parents and didn't know what to do. My eating disorder was

the way that I tried to cope, and hating Scott was his."

My heart hurt for her. I couldn't imagine having to experience all of that at her age. "I'm so sorry that

you had to go through that Nicole."

She flashed me a smile, however I could see the tears building up in her eyes.

"Don't worry I'm better now. It was really hard, and it still is, but I'm okay. But Christopher still holds onto

his pain and anger, and It's hard for him to let it go. He may seem like a carefree guy, but he's not. He's

hurting. And I know that it doesn't excuse his actions, but hopefully it explains them."

I sat in silence, trying to process the information. "Did you know about what he was planning to do?"

Her eyes darted away from mine, expressing her guilt. "Yes, he told me one day after you guys kissed.

He was a wreck." She laughed softly to herself. "He felt so guilty, Brielle. He said that he couldn't break

your heart and that he genuinely cared for you.

He told me that he wasn't going to follow through with it anymore."

"Then why would he say that to Scott yesterday?"

She shook her head. "Maybe he was angry? I don't know, you know how boys can be."

I felt the familiar rush of anger bubble up inside me again. Boys being boys was not a good enough

excuse for what he said about me.

"Look Brielle, I didn't come here for you to forgive him. What Christopher did was awful, and I

completely understand if you want nothing to do with him. I just wanted you to see things from his

side."

I murmured in agreement. She accomplished me seeing why he came up with this plan, but she would

never convince me to forgive him. I can't imagine how hard that time was for him, but his grief does not

entitle him to cause me pain as well. He intentionally tried to hurt me, and I could never be sure if that

was still his plan before I found out.

She continued. "I also came here to tell you how sorry I am. All of this happened because of me and

you don't deserve to be dragged into that."

I shook my head. "Don't apologize, you did nothing wrong." I said, pulling her into a hug. My phone

suddenly vibrated, prompting me to break from our embrace.

"Crap!" I exclaimed, staring down at my phone in horror.

"What is it?" Nicole asked worriedly, peering over my shoulder and reading my phone screen.

8 Missed Calls from Derrick

9 Messages from Derrick

My heart stopped. No, this couldn't be happening! With shaky fingers, I opened the most recent

messages.

Where are you? it's 8:05.

You better be here in the next five minutes. -Derrick

I'm not playing with you Brielle, I will do it. -Derrick

Do you think that standing me up is funny? -Derrick

Don't play chicken with me, I always win. -Derrick

You're thirty minutes late. Now It's time to pay. -Derrick

I glanced at the clock. It read 8:43. With me falling asleep and Nicole coming over, I must have lost all

sense of time. I quickly began texting back an apology, tears blurring my vision.

Before I could press send, a new message popped up: a link. I hesitatingly clicked it, holding my breath

while doing so.

He didn't do it. I repeated to myself for reassurance. He didn't.

The page seemed to load forever. When it finally appeared, both Nicole and I let out audible gasps.

I felt tears prick at the back of my eyes.

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