Earth Angel
Chapter Fourteen
(Two days later... at school.)
Chloe stood at her locker staring into the blackness inside and thinking of
Brady. She had spent the past two days remember all of the time they had spent
together before the accident, finally beginning to understand the feelings that
he had for her. She hadn't realized it at the time, because she was busy
attempting to be the perfect girlfriend for Phillip, but Brady Black was a very
easy person to fall in love with. The locker clanked shut and Chloe turned to
face Shawn and Belle as they were walking up behind her.
"Shawn and Belle... Belle and Shawn... two of my favorite people... What's
going on?"
Shawn grinned at her and replied. "Hey Jan... I think we have the plan
figured out for our Phillip intervention."
Belle nodded and continued his thought, "Yeah, I talked to Mimi this
morning, and it's all set up. Just come over to my house about 5:45 and we'll
bring Phillip over at 6 o'clock. We're going to dot.com after school, and then
we'll just tell him to come over so we can study for the Physics test."
"And who's going to let me in?"
"Brady will be there. He wants to be a part of it too, because Phillip is
family and all. He'll let you and Mimi in."
Chloe nodded uneasily. "Okay, I'll be there. But, are you sure I should? I
mean, Phillip and I aren't exactly friends. I don't want him to explode when he
sees me."
Shawn placed a reassuring hand on her arm and smiled. "But, you obviously
care enough about him to want to help. This was your idea, after all."
Belle nodded in agreement. "Besides, part of us wanting to fix Phillip has
to do with him needing to forgive you for the past and move on. You want to make
peace with him, and he needs closure, so you can't ditch out on us now."
Chloe nodded, she knew they were right, but she only wanted what was best for
Phillip. If this didn't work because of her presence, she would have to kick
herself. "Okay, okay... you're both right. I'll be there."
Shawn smiled widely and checked his watch. "Good, it just wouldn't be an
intervention without you. But, I gotta go talk to Mrs. Michaels before class, so
I'll see you two later."
"See ya, Shawn."
Belle smiled as Shawn kissed her quickly on the cheek and walked in the other
direction. The two girls walked down the hallway together, heading towards their
next class.
Belle hesitated before nervously asking, "So, are you avoiding my
brother?"
Chloe looked at her with wide eyes. "Did he say something?"
"He said he tried to call you last night, and your butler said you weren't
home and he didn't know when you were going to be home."
Chloe cringed in embarrassment. "Well, I hate to say it. But, I guess I AM
avoiding him. It's just awkward now... knowing what I know and all."
"I can see where it would be awkward, but you can still be friends,
right?"
Chloe sighed and bit her lip nervously, the past 36 hours had driven her to a
new realization, something she would have never noticed before, but now she
couldn't get it out of her head. "I don't want to be friends with him
anymore, Belle."
Belle looked shocked and almost disgusted. "What?!?"
"No, don't get the wrong idea from that. I just think I want MORE than
friendship. I know he's not perfect, but he's an amazing person... I can't even
believe I'm thinking this or saying it out loud, but it's true. I don't know if
I can be around him without falling in love with him."
Belle sighed and frowned as she spoke, "I'm so sorry, Jan. This is an awful
situation. Like something out of a Shakespeare play."
Chloe chuckled softly. "I just hope it doesn't end in suicide or disease or
something. It's just the wrong place and time for us, that's all. It's not meant
to be." Chloe sighed sadly and thought to herself that this was one of
those great ironies of life. Brady had fallen in love with her a long time ago,
and she didn't know it or even realize that she too could love him until it was
too late. She knew she couldn't tell Brady who she really was because he'd never
believe it, but a relationship between them wouldn't work as long as he was
without closure on the Chloe chapter of his life.
"You have to do something. You can't just ignore him for the rest of your
life, and he needs you, no matter what. He needs your friendship, and I think
you need his too."
Chloe nodded in agreement. "You're right, I do. I just can't do this if
he's still pining for Chloe. He needs to accept me for Jan, not as a replacement
for Chloe."
Belle groaned in frustration. "But, how do you get closure with somebody
who's no longer living?"
Chloe paused thoughtfully. Brady may not be able to see Chloe in the flesh
anymore, but her soul was still there. "I think I have an idea
actually..."
"Like what?"
"I don't know exactly, but sometimes just saying things out loud helps you
clear your head. Like, I really didn't need you to help me figure out that Brady
loved Chloe, I just needed someone to say it out loud to."
Belle looked unsure and raised one eyebrow. "So, you're going to have Brady
say all those things to you just to get them off his chest?"
Chloe shook her head, still halfway lost in her thoughts. "No, he's going
to say them to Chloe... I'll make sure of that."
"Well, I think we'd all like to believe that Chloe is watching us, keeping
track of us... but can you have closure if she's not there to respond?"
Chloe nodded. "Yeah, I think you can actually... I just need to get past
this Phillip intervention tonight, and then I can work on the Brady problem. I
think I know what to do, Belle."
Belle looked at her in confusion. "Well, at least you do... That sure was a
sudden surge of confidence you've just displayed."
Chloe grinned happily. "I think it's safe to say that Chloe IS watching us,
and I have her to thank for the sudden confidence. Wherever she is, she's going
to make everything work out."
Belle still looked unsure, but shrugged and gave in to Chloe's sudden attitude
of hope. "Whatever you say then... I'll just have to trust you."
Chloe shook her head. "No, trust Chloe... not me."
The bell rang and Belle laughed at Chloe as they walked into class. "I
think you're losing it, Jan... but if you've got a plan, go with it."
Belle and Chloe took their seats next to each other and Chloe turned to her and
beamed, "Don't worry... It WILL work."
Chloe turned to the book on her desk and opened it to the latest chapter. She
smiled on the outside, but a part of her was still unsure. At least I HOPE it
will work, she thought to herself. She was fairly sure she could help Brady get
closure, but if the plan failed, she just might screw things up forever.