Chapter Four

I walked into sociology as Mrs. Pope was scribbling stuff onto the whiteboard. Most of the students were already in their seats jotting notes as I snuck in and slid into my seat, essentially unnoticed. The only one who did perk their head up at my stealth entrance was Amy.

“Where have you been?” Amy mouthed, her eyes widening at my tardy appearance.

“I’ll explain later,” I mouthed back. Mrs. Pope was on a rampage today, as she usually was on the first day of school. She always put pressure on herself to start the school year off strong, so we would never fall behind the curriculum. Unfortunately, with her spacey nature, falling behind was inevitable which made for a stressful beginning and end of every semester. At least the middle part was usually enjoyable.

To my delight, today was nothing but lectures and discussions about what was to come during the school year. This meant that it left no time for Amy to question my disappearance and for me to think about what I wanted to say.

I had to be careful about what I told her about Sean. She already got extremely defensive this morning when I was disapproving of the relationship. If I come out and tell her about the girl he was with earlier, she might not believe me. Or worse, she would believe me and I would once again be roped into the middle of their relationship.

No, I couldn’t do that.

Another option would be to avoid that situation entirely and allow Amy to witness Sean’s unfaithfulness firsthand. But is that really what a friend would do? If the roles were reversed, I would want Amy to tell me if I was making a mistake with a guy.

I had to tell her. It would eat me alive if I didn’t.

The bell rang, which startled Mrs. Pope, and allowed us to enter the world of freedom again. It was like a huge sigh of relief breathed through the classroom when the bell went off.

“Don’t forget tonight’s assignment, folks! You must have the topic for your paper, tomorrow! We need to start this semester off strong.” Mrs. Pope hollered as we fled the room.

I didn’t have much time before Amy bombarded me.

“Gosh, Mrs. Pope was on something today,” she rolled her eyes. “I didn’t get a single chance to talk to you.”

“You act like you’re surprised. This is how she starts every semester,” I chuckled.

“I suppose. Anyhoo, let’s talk about detention, shall we?” Amy’s eyes shifted from bright and curious to small and challenging.

“What about it?” I asked with a shrug. I wanted her to dictate the direction of the conversation. Then maybe I could get a better idea of how I should respond.

“Oh, come on, Brooke! You’ve never gotten detention in your life! What happened? Was it just because you were late?” She asked.

“Mr. Keizer happened,” I rolled my eyes as we reached my locker. There has been so much that has happened today, I just wanted it to be over with. “I was using my phone in the hallway and he caught me.”

“What a grumpy, old man,” Amy scoffed.

It may have been paranoia getting to me, but I swear people were staring at me. One girl walked by and rolled her eyes in my direction. It could have been a coincidence, sure, but it happened again a few moments later. Guys were walking past and…noticing me. Has this always happened? Or am I just now observing it?

Could it be because I associated with Sean this morning? Sean was one of the most talked-about people in school. Everyone knew what he was up to at all times; even me — who hardly hears any drama except for what revolves around Amy. It’s just one of those things about Kalani Prep. Sean’s a celebrity without even doing anything to attain his status.

Well, besides constantly playing with girl’s hearts and being attractive.

We walked to Amy’s locker and I tried to keep my head down as person upon person passed us, once again giving me more attention than I’ve ever received before. If Amy wasn’t saying anything, however, I must just be paranoid.

“So, tonight,” Amy said, jamming her books into her messy locker and quickly shutting the door before everything came tumbling out. “We’re going to the Boardwalk, so you need to think about dressing cute! Everyone’s going to be there so it’s not a ‘shorts and t-shirt’ occasion. We’ll go back to your place after school, get ready, and show up about an hour late. That way we’re not wandering around like idiots before…” Amy’s train of thought ceased as her eyes widened and her cheeks blushed. Her lips curled into a smile as none other than Sean Parker approached us.

“Ladies,” he beamed, only appearing to make eye contact with Amy. I fidgeted my hands, gripping my textbooks even harder than before. What was he doing here?

“Hey,” Amy breathed, her eyes remained focused on Sean’s every move as he leaned on the locker next to her. Her shoulders relaxed and her teeth toyed with her bottom lip. It took everything in me not to hurl.

“What are you guys up to?” He asked, once again not a question intended for the entire party to answer, but rather directed at Amy.

Amy stayed quiet for a moment, mesmerized by Sean’s gaze. In her hesitation, I jumped in before she could say anything stupid.

“We’re talking about tonight,” I said. Both sets of eyes glanced at me for a brief moment before returning to one another.

“What about tonight?” Sean asked with a raised eyebrow, his charming still as obnoxiously perfect as ever.

“Oh, we’re just going to stop by the Boardwalk for a bit. You know, school tradition,” Amy snorted, a nervous laughing habit she’s picked up over the years. Her snort often comes out when talking to boys she likes. Normally, it’s my duty as her best friend to try and cover up this embarrassing habit; however, I couldn’t hide my annoyance enough to help her out this time. When have we ever went to the Boardwalk as a school tradition? It is an annual event that most of the school attends, but for us, this is a new thing.

“Are you coming?” Amy asked while batting her lashes. My cheeks flushed at the thought of Sean Parker showing up tonight and me being a third-wheel. I hated being a third-wheel and especially when Amy’s this smitten with a boy. I kicked her as nonchalantly as I could in the leg, but she didn’t seem fazed.

“Of course! Doesn’t most of Kalani Prep go?” Sean smirked, his signature curled lip smile that makes the women swoon. Amy’s breath hitched. Bile rose in my throat.

“You’re kidding,” the words flew out of my mouth before I could stop them. For the first time during this conversation, Amy and Sean’s attention was fully on me. Amy gave me a death glare while Sean’s face was surprisingly…smug.

“Why so surprised, Brooke?” he asked. The use of my name startled both me and Amy. It just occurred to me that he hasn’t referred to me by my name all day. Matter of fact, I didn’t even know he knew what my name was. I’m sure Amy wondered the same thing. It wasn’t too often that a guy from Kalani Prep even knew of my existence besides the occasional math geek or surfing guru.

The shock sent me into a state of silence but drove Amy to change the subject.

“So you’ll come?” Amy smiled widely, excitement glistening in her eyes.

“I’ll see you guys there,” he smiled back and with a glance in my direction, he was off. I could have sworn he tossed a wink in my direction, but that has to be a delusion. I must be getting paranoid.

Before we had time to talk about the situation at hand, the bell rang and we had to dart to class. My brain was swirling with different excuses that could get me out of tonight; surfing lessons, out-of-town family member visiting, parent’s are being stubborn, schoolwork…everything I could come up with could be easily debunked by an ambitious Amy.

Was she going to make me go knowing that this is a date night for her and Sean? Why would she want me there, anyway? I wandered to my next class, lost in thought about the devil with honey brown eyes.

The rest of the school day went by swimmingly. I avoided all drama, I didn’t get in any more trouble, and most importantly, I didn’t see Sean.

Although his physical absence was greatly appreciated, his presence earlier at the Boardwalk hung over my head like a storm cloud. What is it with this man and getting under my skin?

Amy was already waiting in her car by the time I got to the parking lot. I climbed in on the passenger side and she hardly gave me a glance before pulling out into traffic.

“We have a lot to do before the Boardwalk tonight. Like a lot! Do you think I should pluck my eyebrows? Yeah, they need to be plucked. Just one more thing to add to the list,” Amy rambled. Her extensive list continued, but my mind wandered as we drove through the streets of Honolulu.

Why was I letting some boy that has no immediate significance in my life affect me so much? He wasn’t my love interest. He wasn’t my friend. He’s other people’s baggage that just happens to be spilling into my life.

We pulled up to my house and entered to find my awaiting father sitting on his phone at the kitchen island.

“What took you so long,” he said, standing at attention to our presence. His face fell slightly at the sight of Amy, but only I would have caught his slip up.

“Sorry, I got out of class a little late. I’ll be ready in five,” I replied, but Amy was already gone to my room. I hurriedly got ready for surfing lessons, slipping on my bikini and rash guard, and snatched my surfboard from the closet. As predicted, my dad had already left for the beach, which left me having to walk. I never understood why that was his punishment for me being late. It was only making us that much later to getting in the water and practicing.

Fifteen minutes later, I finally arrived at the beach. My dad seemed stiff and serious; a look I never liked to see on my dad at the beginning of surfing lessons.

“Alright, let’s get started,” he said, adjusting the glasses on the tip of his nose and looking down at the clipboard.

As I predicted, the lessons were hard. Extremely hard. My father was on a rampage today and was pushing me to my limits.

As I road the last wave in of the night, I saw a disapproving face on my father; furrowed eyebrows, a grim line for his mouth. Nothing could make him happy today.

“I’m done,” I panted, throwing my surfboard at his feet and putting my hands on my hips. I was annoyed. Why did I deserve this much push just for being a few minutes late? What was his issue?

“You have anything to tell me about today, Brooke?” he asked his eyes, for the first time this evening, looking me dead in mine.

My heart stuttered as I thought about everything that happened in practice today. What was he talking about? Had I done something wrong?

“Is this about me being late?’ I questioned.

“Answer the question, Brooke,” he demanded, his eyes intense. He knew something.

Oh.

“Dad….” I sighed. The dots were connected and now I understood his fierce frustration with me today. He knew about me getting detention.

He put his hand up to halt my explanation. He let out a long, sharp sigh before continuing.

“Brooke, this better not become a habit. I don’t know what entailed you to get detention today, but I will assure you, if it happens again, my response will not be as light as it is now. I don’t want to know what the problem was, just make sure it never happens again. Understood? This isn’t just about detention, it’s about the competition. We cannot have outlying issues causing unnecessary stress on you that will lead to an unflattering performance.”

My eyes watered and my throat felt dry. I hated it when my dad was disappointed in me. Not for something as trivial as a bad surf run, but for something real like getting detention at school. He knew this wasn’t like me. I knew it wasn’t like me. The fact that he didn’t even want an explanation about what happened almost made it worse.

I nodded, speechless.

My father sighed once again and dropped his clipboard to his side.

“I’ll see you at home,” he mumbled and got into the Jeep to head back home. I knew I wouldn’t be catching a ride again.

I dragged my surfboard across the sand and started my fifteen-minute walk back home.

“You’re going,” Amy demanded as I flopped down on my bed, mentally and physically exhausted from the day.

She hustled around the room, frantically switching between outfit ideas and makeup looks, while I rest on the bed. My ceiling suddenly became a resting place for the exhaustion that was rapidly taking over.

“I don’t know. Today has just been…” I didn’t even have words. Today has been unlike any other day I’ve had in a long while. It’s been disappointing, shocking, frustrating--and in an odd way, exciting. I quickly shook the thought from my head.

“Well, the day’s not over yet. I’ve already picked out your outfit. You’re not canceling on me now.” Amy said. I peeked my head up from the bed to find an outfit laying across my desk chair. I groaned, retreating my attention back to the ceiling for another minute. I wasn’t going to get out of this one. She was being so persistent.

“I don’t want to be there long,” I said, jumping to my feet and snatching the outfit from my chair. Amy smiled wide as I slammed the bathroom door shut to get ready.