Chapter One

 
 
 

      Brooke Kennedy frowned in the mirror as she finished blow drying her almost black hair straight.  She hated being taken to parties where she didn't know anyone, but it had been almost four years since David and his frat had gotten together, and she wanted to be there for him.  She still remembered the night she and David met,  they had seats next to each other at an Aerosmith concert and spent more time talking to each other than watching the show.  Now, almost two years later, they were engaged.  The doorbell suddenly rang, shaking her out of her trance like thoughts, David had finally arrived and Brooke answered the door still wearing the bathrobe she had on.

    "You're not ready yet?" he stated.

    "I'll be done in two seconds, I just have to get dressed."  he shook his head and walked to her refrigerator, pulling out a beer and flicking the cap in the garbage, sitting down at the kitchen table.

    "Baby, you wanna help me with my shirt please?" Brooke called from the bedroom, her fiancée walking to her room and setting his beer down on her dresser as she turned around.  "Tie this." She said as he fumbled with the straps of the backless red shirt she was wearing, his hands lingering a moment on her skin.

    "Stop it." She scolded with a smile, "Let's go."  Brooke threw on a coat and grabbed David's hand, as they left her apartment, getting into his Jeep and driving to the party.

        When they pulled up to the house, the party was already in full swing, cars lined the road and filled the driveway.  David squished his jeep between two cars and practically ran to the house, Brooke walked behind him dreading the awaiting scene, crossing her arms over her chest, and walking into the open door of the house.  The music was blaring and it was hard for Brooke to not groove a little to the beat.  She put her coat on a chair and walked around, looking for David who had disappeared the moment he entered, like it was a fun house with a million separate paths to take.  Finally she found him, already off in the corner with his old frat buddies toasting their alma mater, Brooke shook her head and went in search of something besides beer to drink. She wasn't the type of girl to hang all over her man, making sure he was being good.  She trusted him, and was only there because he asked her to be.  She finally found the bar, which happened to be a bathtub full of ice and settled on a rum and Coke.  She took a drink before walking into the hall, bumping into someone.

   "You're David's girlfriend right?" a short blond girl asked her, quickly scooting in the bathroom and grabbing a beer from the tub.  Brooke nodded, not really caring if she corrected the girl on her status with David and taking another big swig of the drink she had.

       "I'm Molly, Crawford's date.  So why aren't you dancing or something, I mean this is a great party, you should be having fun." Molly continued, Brooke sighing in annoyance.  "David's a real great guy ya know.  I used to have the biggest crush on him in college, but he was seeing someone, so what could I do."  Molly laughed, her voice like fingernails on a chalkboard to Brooke, leave it to Mark Crawford to bring the ditziest girl in the world she thought about one of the only people she really knew at this party besides David.

        Brooke quickly made up an excuse to get away from her, refilling her drink before she left, and making her way back to David.   David was still hanging with his buddies and Brooke didn't want to interrupt them, he didn't spend a lot of time with his friends, he worked too much, so who was she to stop them, even if she was bored.  No one was dancing and she wasn't going to dance alone, so Brooke wandered around the house, looking for signs of someone she knew, maybe even Molly, she thought.  She made her way upstairs and eventually ended up on the balcony of one of the bedrooms in the massive house the party was being thrown in.  She leaned against the edge, staring out into the blackened sky, the people below her were swimming in a pool, none of them noticed her.

    "Are you sick or something?"  a voice echoed from nowhere, Brooke screaming out of fright.

    "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" she laughed, turning around to find the stranger that scared her to death.

    "Maybe." he said coyly as she turned to face him.  Brooke tried to look at him closely, but he was shrouded in shadow, although he looked vaguely familiar to her, but she couldn't pinpoint why.

    "Well you did a good job.  I'm Brooke." she said, extending her hand.  He took it and shook it with a firm grip, his grasp on her being held a moment too long.  She snatched her hand back slowly.

    "Yeah I know."

    "You know what?"

    "That you're name is Brooke."  she raised her eyebrows, he face shadowed by the darkness of the night, he must be one of David's friends, she hoped.

    "How do you know my name?" She asked.  He avoided her question.

    "Do you know me?"  he asked rather mysteriously.  Brooke shook her head.

    "I think you do."  Brooke was intrigued by the stranger that talked to her, but was still on the defensive with him.

    "Look, I don't know if I know you or not."

    "Okay I'll give you a clue.  Camp Wyatt."  Brooke smiled at the name of the camp, a place she fondly remembered working as a counselor for 3 years ago.  She knelt down to look closely at his face, and as he leaned into the light, recollection dawned on her.

    "Kevin.  Kevin Richardson, Mr. Horseback riding."

    "Brooklyn Kennedy.  Ms. counselor extraordinaire."

    "How do you know my full name? No one knows it."

    "That's my secret. You never answered my question."  He said sliding over on the small bench that sat on the balcony, motioning for her to join him.

    "What question was that?" She asked, sitting next to him.

    "Are you sick?" he smiled at her, the most breathtaking smile.

    "No, just bored.  How did you find this quiet little corner?  I just kinda wandered in."

    "It's my house." He shrugged, turning towards her. "I offered to host the frat party this year.  Something I was beginning to regret,"  he said glancing over the balcony at the guy who was showing his lunch to everyone in the pool, and quickly turning his glance back to Brooke "...until now."  Brooke blushed, and quickly changed the subject.

    "I can't believe you remember me from Wyatt.  It's not like we really knew each other."

    "I never forget a face I like." He said coyly, Brooke was unsure of how to take it.

    "Do you remember the night of our staff party when we had that big bonfire and..."

    "...and Shawn streaked the camp."

He continued her memory as they both laughed, reminiscing about all the events they remembered, and laughing about every one of them.  It was almost an hour later when they noticed the time, both of them caught up in old memories and laughs, both of the oblivious to the party that raged beneath their feet.

    "Oh, wow.  Maybe we should go downstairs, your house could be getting trashed." Brooke said.  He laughed and stood up, agreeing with her and leading them out of the room.  As she followed Kevin down the stairs she didn't quite know what to think.  There was something about him, and she felt something when she was around him, even for that short amount of time, but she didn't quite know what it was.  His green, almost gray eyes seemed to be filled with so much, and she wanted to know everything about him.  They came back down stairs and quickly parted, Brooke finding David still in the corner with his buddies, obviously drunk, but deep in conversation.

    "Brooke."  He yelled as he saw her, getting up and giving her a hug.  She laughed at him, he wasn't like this very often.

    "Guys, this is my Brooke.  Brooke, these are my guys."  She said hello, and let David join them again, going back to the 'bar' and getting another drink.  She stood on the outskirts of the room, watching the people dance to the loud music that echoed throughout the house.

    "Bored again." A now familiar voice said into her ear.  A shiver ran down her spine, and she turned with a smile to face Kevin once again.

    "Yeah a little."

    "Well I'll help solve that problem."

He grabbed the drink from her hand and set it on a table before she could even respond and took her by the hand, pulling her to the center of the dance floor.  Brooke laughed as he spun her in a circle, clearing some room for them, and they both began dancing.  Brooke danced like she was in her own world, grooving  to Mark Morrison's Return of the mack.  She was oblivious to everyone around her, even Kevin, as she danced and only stopped when she noticed Kevin wasn't moving.

    "What?" she asked, stopping and glancing around her to make sure everyone wasn't watching, they weren't.

    "Nothing." he said.

    "No, what is it?"

    "You get so lost in the music."

    "Is that a bad thing?" Brooke wondered as the song ended.  He shook his head, and took her by the hand again, pulling her close as Janet Jackson's  I get Lonely  began.  He held her tight as they swayed to the slow beat of the song, Brooke inhaling the scent of his cologne as they danced.   Her arms were wrapped around his shoulders and his head rested next to hers.   Why does this feel so right to me?  she thought, unsure of the answer.  Brooke closed her eyes, and rested hr chin on his shoulder.  She could feel the warmth of his breathe on her neck, and it sent shivers shooting through her, and she held him closer.

     "I want no one but you." He sung in her ear along with the music.   As the song ended Brooke abruptly pulled back and looked him in the eye.  He gazed at her with a serious stare, the warmth of his hands on her bare back, and the rise and fall of his chest happening with hers.  They were the only people in the world at this moment and he leaned in closer to her face, she licked her lips in anticipation of his kiss, their eyes their eyes locked upon each other.

    "Brooke.  There you are.  Babe, I've been looking for you like everywhere."  David said, bursting into the crowd net to them, Kevin jumping back suddenly.   He put his arm possessively around her, smiling drunkenly at Kevin.

    "Kev, buddy.  Have you met Brooke?"  he glanced at Brooke, who's eyes were averted.

    "Um Yeah Dave, we're old friends."

    "Well ya see Kev.  Miss Kennedy here is my girl.  We're gonna get married soon, aren't we babe."

Brooke nodded, noticing the look that came over Kevin when he heard, he looked crushed.  David pulled her away, stumbling through the people.  Brooke glanced back towards Kevin, but he was already gone, her heart sank, and she regretted not telling him about David sooner.  They made their way out of the house, Brooke helping him into the passenger seat of his jeep before getting in herself.  She backed out of the yard, pulling away from the house, watching it disappear in hr rearview mirror, wondering if she was leaving anything behind, and knowing she was.
 
 

        Brooke entered her apartment and threw her coat on a kitchen chair, she decided not to spend the night at David's, she had too much on her mind and he had passed out the minute she helped him into his bed, she didn't need to wake up with someone who has a hangover.  She sat down on her couch and grabbed a pad of stationary she had sitting on the table, quickly beginning a letter to her best friend Annie.

Anns,

Oh God I don't know what to do.  Okay first I'll tell you what happened.  I went to David's frat reunion thing, and while he was off with his friends I wandered the house, I was bored out of my mind.  Well I ended up on this balcony in the company of Kevin Richardson, I don't know if you remember him or not, but you must because I did.  He was the horseback riding instructor at Wyatt the year we both worked there.  Remember Anns, dark hair, beautiful eyes, real brooding and sexy, everyone was in love with him.  Well he looks ten times better now, and he is so charming.  We talked for hours about old camp memories and stuff, and he is so amazing, we got along so well, I feel a connection with him, but I can't explain it.
So anyway, we ended up downstairs dancing and he held me so close Ann, and I wanted him to.  I don't know how I should feel, I love David, but I can't think of anything but Kevin.  His eyes, his voice, his arms wrapped around me.  Being with him feels so right, and feeling this way about him feels right too, but I know it's wrong.   David came at the exact moment we were about to kiss, and when Kevin found out we were engaged I could see the hurt in his eyes, and I felt it, it killed me that it hurt him.  I shouldn't be feeling this way about Kevin, I love David, I'm marrying David, I've been with David for two years.  I mean, I'll probably never see Kevin again, but the only thing that comes to my mind, is what if I was meant to be with Kevin.  Would marrying David be the biggest mistake of my life?

Love (a very confused),
Brooke xox
 


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        The room was dark.  She couldn't see a thing, but she could hear his breathing, and it kept coming closer.

    “Maybe if I close my eyes and just keep pretending I'm asleep he won't do anything.  Please God, let Paul think I'm asleep”, she kept praying silently.  His breathing got a little closer and she could feel her body begin to tense up.

    “Oh, dear Jesus, please, make him go away.  I can't go through this another night,” she thought and she closed her eyes tight.  She felt his body standing over her and his breathing was hard and forced.  She could smell him and it made her stomach turn; she thought she was going to be sick at any second.

    “Wake up.  You know you want this tonight,”  said Paul.

    “Baby, wake up.  I don't wanna have to hurt you, but if you don't say something, I might have to…” She lay there as still as she could and prayed he'd just go away.  She lay on her bed for what felt like an eternity and thought she was in the clear when all of the sudden she felt the weight of his body pressing down on hers and he pinned her arms down,

    “Just relax baby, it'll be easier if you relax…”

        Annie woke with a jump.  She was bathed in sweat and tears were streaming down her face.

    “Damnit, why does this keep happening?” she said to herself as she pushed off her comforter on her bed and sat up.    She sat there and tried to catch her breath and slow down her racing heart.  Annie kept closing her eyes and hoping that the visions she was seeing would slowly just go away.  They usually did.  She had this dream often, but tonight it went on longer than usual.  Annie laid back down in her bed, but could not drift back off to sleep.  She rolled over and looked at her clock, 5:25am.

    “Damnit!” she said out of frustration.

    “Well, maybe I’ll go for a run.  That should clear my mind.”  So, Annie got out of bed and turned on her light and began to search in her pile of clothes on what used to be some semblance of a floor for her running pants.

    “Shit, you'd think by now I’d learn that a clean room is a happy room,” she thought aloud. Annie walked over to her cd player and pushed play and Tori Amos began playing quietly.  She began to sing along quietly with the song and sort out her thoughts for the day while still searching for her running pants.

    “Okay, I have to call Mom at 9, call Dad after that and then I gotta at least try and haul my ass to class.  And, Annie…try is definitely the KEY word here,” she said aloud.  She finally found the pants, slipped them on, put her long brown hair in a ponytail and grabbed her walkman.  Annie walked out of her room and locked her door.  She put her headphones on and stepped out into the cool morning air.  She stretched out a little and then took off jogging down her street at a slow and steady pace.

   “Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on go play.  Hey, now, you're a rock-star, get the show on get paid…all that glitters is gold, only shootin’ stars break the mold..” Annie was running along with her walk-man blaring Smash Mouth, she always thought this kind of music made her run at a better pace.  She slowed her jog down to a walk and turned off her walkman but was still humming “hey now, you're an all-star…” and she was trying to get ahold of her breathing.  She started walking at a rapid but good pace and shut her eyes to get her breath more regular when all of the sudden BAM!

    “What the?  Why  don't you watch whe-…” yelped a tall guy with a red hoodie on.  Annie just stood there dumbfounded for a second but took one look at this guy and in her head said “Woah…”, but was quickly pulled out of that fascination!

    “You been walking long?  Hello…are you in there?”  said the red hoodie man, his breathing labored from running.  Annie was quickly pulled out of her blatant staring,

    “Huh?  What?” The guy took off his hood, and revealed a sweaty but quite attractive head of hair, cut above his ears and very blond.  Some of the hair was falling in his eyes a little and sweat was running down his forehead.   Annie needed to stop staring.

    “I said, HAVE YOU BEEN WALKING LONG??? Or, do you normally walk with your eyes closed in hopes of smashing into people? Heh heh !”  Just then, Annie became annoyed.  Smart-asses were not her favorite people.  The only one who could ever get away with being a smart-ass was her friend Brooke, and this guy,   well…he was no Brooke!

    “Excuse me? What the hell did you just say to me?”  This took the red hoodie boy by surprise,

    “Woah, look…I was just playin’ around!  Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot here.  My name’s Nick!” and he extended his hand for Annie to shake.  She looked at his hand, “damn, that’s a nice freakin’ hand…” she thought, but then she looked back up at HIM.  His smirk, while appealing, pissed her off a lot!

    “Look Rick…” said Annie.

    “No, it’s Nick…”

    “Well, whatever your name is.  You are very rude!  I was minding my own business and you decided, at this extremely early hour of the morning, to be an ass to me.  I’m sorry I bumped into you.  Get the hell outta my way, you're ruining my pace!” Annie said, nearly yelling!  She pushed past Nick and started running again.  Nick just stood there, took in a deep breath and one long look at the fading figure running away from him.

    “Damn,” he said, “women…I just don't get ‘em.  Never have, and probably never will.” And, with that, he took off running again in the other direction.
 

        Annie slammed her door, still fuming over Nick.   She decided what she needed was a shower, she did stink afterall!  She turned on the water and let the warmth rush over her thus relaxing her.

    “Anns, don't let him get to you.  You’re never gonna see him again….damn, he was fuckin’ fine…what a fucking asshole,” she thought as she stepped out of the shower.  She wrapped a towel around her head and put on her bathrobe, and walked into her dorm room. Her roommate, Taylor, was now walking around the room and inevitably tripping over Annie’s stuff.

    “Morning Mary Sunshine!” Annie winced.  She didn’t know if she could take another day of Taylor’s morning antics.  She was always super perky and at about 7am, this was NOT a good thing!

    “Oh, by the way, I forgot, this came for you yesterday!  Sorry!” Taylor said as she flung an envelope at her.  It was a letter from Brooke!

    “Hey, how come I didn’t get this yesterday like I was supposed to?” Annie said a little more than annoyed.  Brooke was her best friend.  They met 3 years ago at summer camp, Camp Wyatt, where they were roomies and also fellow counselors.  They met and instantly clicked and had promised to stay in contact with each other and so far they had been very successful.

    “You know, when I get mail, you really should think of giving it to me!  I don't hold out on your mail!” Annie was almost in a fit.

    “Geez, Anns, calm down…you’re sooooo high strung!” said Taylor with a smile.

    “DON’T call me ANNS! Go away now!” Annie said with a fake smile!  She skipped  back to her bed and opened up Brooke’s envelope.

   “Anns, Oh God, I don't know what to do…” It was now 9am, and Annie was in a strange mood.  Brooke’s letters always made her happy.  It was nice to hear from her.  However, she was kind of disturbed at the news that Brooke had told her.   Still, she was in a good mood just because she heard from Brooke.    She picked up the phone to call her dad and was actually smiling while she dialed his phone number.

    “Hello,” said a gruff voice on the other end of the line.  The smile started to fade from Annie’s face.

    “Hey dad,” she said in a monotone voice.  She used to get along with her father.  She remembered when she was Daddy’s Little Girl and they used to talk about everything.  But, that was a faded memory, like a lot of things that were once good but were now something Annie’d rather not remember.

    “Hello, Ann.  How is school going?” her father asked.  They did this every week.  She called, he asked her the standard questions, she answered them and then they went through another week of not thinking of each other.

    “School is going fine as usual Dad.  How’s work?”

    “Fine.  You getting along with your roommate?”

    “Yeah, Taylor and I are just regular old buds!” Annie said with more than a hint of sarcasm.  These two went on for maybe about another ten minutes.  Standard questions and standard two or three words answers.

     "Okay, Annie, thanks for callin’.  I’ll talk to you next week,” and with that her father hung up the phone.  Annie sat with the receiver still at her ear, and listened to the dial tone.

    “Bye Dad” she said quietly and hung up the phone.  She had long since gotten over feeling rejected after hanging up the phone with her father.  She knew she had to call her mom, but figured she’d skip humiliation today.  She was indeed going to go to class today!
 


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Chapter Two
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