The Player

Chapter 23

Brielle

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Mrs. Hansen's class always seemed to drag on, and today was no exception. I tapped my pencil

impatiently on my desk, counting down the minutes until school would finally be over. Christopher and I

had plans to go see The Nutcracker ballet right after, and I couldn't wait.

When the bell finally rang, signaling the end of class, I nearly leapt out of my seat, wanting to make my

way out of class as quickly as possible. However, a hand wrapped around my forearm, holding me in

place.

I turned around to see Melanie standing above me. "What do you want," I said, not bothering to hide

my annoyance.

"I just wanted to say sorry." Her face turned into an expression of fake sincerity, which seemed foreign

on her usual devious face.

"For what?"

"For what happened between you and Christopher. I know it must be difficult to deal with."

I rolled my eyes, as I picked up my bookbag, getting ready to leave. "I have no clue what you're talking

about."

"Wait, Sam didn't tell you?" she said, her face faking surprise. "She and I overheard him and your

brother in the hallway the other day, and I just assumed that she told you."

My head whipped towards her, unable to hide the curiosity. I always knew that they had some sort of

feud between them, but they both refused to acknowledge it towards me. It couldn't be that bad, or else

Sam would have told me.

"Wow, she really didn't tell you? This is really awkward then." She took a few moments, savoring my

newfound interest, before continuing.

"Well, as you know, I'm captain of the cheer team, which comes with many different responsibilities. So,

I was staying after school to meet with the coach and when I was leaving I ran into my ex-boyfriend JT,

who was practically begging me to take me back-"

"Get to the point," I said harshly.

"Anyway," She rolled her eyes. "As I was going to my locker, I overheard Scott and Christopher arguing

in the hallway, and it seemed that the topic of discussion was you."

My voice piqued with interest. "What did they say?"

A small smile spread on her lips. "Something about Christopher's sister and your brother dating, and

then about how Christopher planned to get his revenge on Scott through you."

My heart dropped. "What kind of revenge?"

"Apparently, he only dated you so that he could break your heart and hurt you the same way that Scott

hurt Nicole, his sister."

Time seemed to stop as all color drained from my face.

No...this isn't true...it can't be.

"You're- you're lying," I stammered, barely able to breathe.

"I'm sorry Brielle, but it's true." I could tell from her face that she was everything but sorry.

And at that moment, I felt my world fall apart.

I had trusted him, and believed him, only for him to use me. All the times that he whispered in my ear

and told me how much he cared for me were just lies. He was just a liar.

The memory of his words from earlier today flooded into my mind:

"I'd never lie to you."

I covered my mouth with my hands as I choked back sobs.

How could I be so wrong about someone?

You're so stupid Brielle. You're so stupid.

I knew that I shouldn't have trusted him, I knew that he was no good, but I went against my better

judgement, and believed that he was something else. But the truth is, I knew who he was from the

moment I met him, I just chose to ignore it.

And it worked, it worked so well that now I'm here, crying over a guy that I already knew was going to

break my heart.

I ducked my head, not wanting to give Melanie the satisfaction of seeing the hot tears gush down my

face.

"Is this what you wanted?" I said, looking back towards her after a few moments. "To see me like this?

Because if so, congratulations Melanie, you won."

She rolled her eyes. "I just wanted to let you know what I was trying to tell you all along: that he doesn't

care about you."

"Why do you have to be so cruel?" I shook my head. I don't understand how someone could be evil

enough to enjoy seeing someone like this.

"Because you took what was mine, and now you have to pay."

I threw my hands up in exasperation. "Well guess what Melanie, you don't have to worry anymore,

because you can have him." I spun on my heels and stalked out the room, wanting to leave this school

as soon as possible.

When I turned out of the classroom, however, I turned to see Christopher and Sam coming towards

me. As soon as Christopher focused on me, a smile stretched on his face.

And while that smile was usually enough to make we weak in the knees, the sight of him, the cause of

all my pain and hurt, just caused my heart to break into a million more pieces.

Anger filled my body as all I could see was the guy who betrayed me, who worked so hard to gain my

trust just so that he could break it.

When I finally approached him, his face instantly fell, his eyes recognizing my saddened expression.

"Is it true?" I said angrily, desperately trying to fight my tears from falling. "Was this all just a game for

you? And don't you dare lie to me."

He hesitated, pausing, before finally not saying anything at all. He diverted his gaze from me to his

shoes.

That was all the answer I needed. I felt the last thread holding me together break as the awful

realization came over me. It was true. Part of me had been hoping, praying, that Melanie had

concocted this story just to get under my skin, but facing him now, I knew.

"How could you! I trusted you!" I yelled, unable to control my anger. "Do you know how hard that is for

me to do?"

"Brielle I-" He reached for my hand, but I tugged it back immediately. "Don't touch me. You don't

deserve to."

I saw the hurt flash in his eyes as he recoiled his hand. "Brielle please if you let me explain."

"There is nothing to explain Christopher. The answer should have been no. No, you weren't using me,

no you weren't planning to break my heart just for your entertainment. But it wasn't. So, you don't have

the right to explain anything." At this point, I couldn't keep the tears back any longer, and the floodgates

opened.

He reached for me again, only for me to step away. As I did so, I turned to see Scott coming toward us

in the hallway. His eyes landed on me, his face filled with concern, before morphing to anger once he

spotted Christopher.

"What did he do to you." He demanded once he reached us. He tried to step towards me, but I put my

hand up, signaling him to stop.

"Don't." I commanded. "You don't get to come in here and pretend to be the good guy, because you

knew that he was using me, and you didn't tell me. You just waited for it to happen."

His face fell, understanding that the secret was out. "I tried to warn you," he explained. "But you didn't

listen."

"All you ever told me was 'Don't date Christopher'. You never explained why. If you did, I would have

never wasted my time on him." I saw Christopher flinch from the corner of my eyes. "Why didn't you

say anything?"

He scratched the back of his neck, his voice growing quiet. "I was afraid that if you knew the whole

story, you would look at me different."

"I do now," My voice began to crack. "You're my older brother, your job is to protect me. But you didn't.

And for that, I will never forgive you."

I turned towards Sam. "You were supposed to be my best friend. I've known you since I was nine. But

you knew, and you didn't tell me. You just let me be with him knowing what his plan was."

"I wanted to Brielle I really did," she defended. "But I just didn't think that it was my place to say."

"Well thanks to you, Melanie was the one to tell me. A true best friend would have never done that to

me."

Tears brimmed her eyes. "I'm sorry Brielle." I shook my head.

"Sorry just doesn't cut it Sam."

I finally settled on Christopher. "And you." I took a deep breath.

"I hate you. I hate you with every fiber of my being, and any day that I see you, or talk to you, or even

think about you, is one day too many." He had a wounded expression on his face, and I couldn't help

but find a little satisfaction in the fact that I was able to inflict pain on him too.

I reached around my neck and unclasped the silver ballerina necklace that he gave me last week. I

shuddered.

Last week I was blissfully ignorant of him. I was the happiest that I had ever been, and now here I am.

I placed the chain in the palm of his hand. "We're over."

"Please Brielle, just let me explain." I shook my head firmly, not even having the energy to respond

anymore.

After a few seconds he outstretched his hand back towards me. "Will you at least please keep the

necklace? I want you to have it."

I pushed his hand back towards his side, shoving the necklace away. "I don't want any reminders of

you."

While I still could, I turned around and began walking away from them. I could barely stand, my legs felt

like Jell-O, unable to support me upright. In the span of one day, I had lost my brother, my best friend,

and my boyfriend. I was completely alone.

I just needed to escape. To go somewhere where I knew that no one would find me. Without a second

thought, I hopped into my car and knew exactly where to go.

When I arrived in front of Bass's Fisheria twenty minutes later, a wave of memories flooded over me.

My only boyfriend, Derrick, and I used to always come here.

We were driving by one day and he spotted it, and then insisted that anyplace named Fisheria needed

to be eaten at. And ever since then, we would go once a week. We always sat in the booth in the

corner of the small restaurant. He insisted that it was because it had the best view of the forest, but I

knew that it was because it gave us the most privacy.

All the feeling of hurt came flooding back to me as I remembered him. All of the good moments that we

had, and then the way that he betrayed me in the worst possible way.

Why did I come here? All those awful memories from him only made me feel worse.

Derrick and I's relationship was the same as me and Christopher's. Amazing at first, but then turned

sour, and leaving me a heartbroken mess. I could barely recover from Derrick, and what I felt for

Christopher was so much more.

I don't think that I can ever get over this.

I cleared my mind. Just don't think about it.

As I walked into the restaurant, the familiar salty smell of fish welcomed me. In a strange way, it was

comforting. I smiled and made my way to my old booth.

It wasn't until I was near the table that I realized that it was already occupied. The culprit had a mop of

dirty blonde hair, that looked awfully familiar.

I froze.

Wait, it couldn't be...

It wasn't until those familiar pair of piercing blue eyes turned towards me that I realized all my worst

fears had come true. He smiled at me, but it didn't reach his eyes. It never did.

My voice grew shaky as all the events that took place between us flooded to my mind. I was surprised

when my mouth began to move on its own accord. A trembling voice that didn't even sound like mine

began to speak.

"Derrick?"