Bonding

Chapter 22 of Banished for Love

I walk into fourth hour and take my normal seat in the back, by one of the large windows. A few minutes later, Brittney plops down in the desk in front of me; far from her normal seat across the room by the door. I look at her questioningly.

 

“Is it sad that you’re the closest thing I have to a friend?” she says with a sad look in her eyes that I can’t quite place.

 

“Friend?” I say skeptically. “I thought you hated me.”

 

“Only because I was jealous of you,” she says in a small voice, which is entirely out of character for her.

 

“Did I hear you correctly? Brittney Cummings, jealous?” I say in shock.

 

“Yeah, yeah. No need to rub it in,” she sneers, sounding more like the Brittney I know.

 

“I guess I see what you mean. We both did the same thing to fall,” I say, sympathizing with her.

 

“Yeah, but Jeremy actually cares for you. The guy I fell for, literally and figuratively, didn’t end up giving a rat’s a*s about me,” she replies bitterly.

 

“I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine what that must have been like.” I reach out to give her shoulder a gentle squeeze.

 

“Thanks Kelsey,” She looks me in the eye and gives me a small, but genuine, smile.

 

Class drags on slowly, Brittney occasionally throwing nervous looks and smiles over her shoulder at me. The bell finally rings, signaling the end of fourth hour and the beginning of one of our schools three lunch periods.

 

“Have lunch with me?” I ask Brittney as I pack my backpack. She looks back at me, shocked for a moment, then smiles and nods.

 

My phone vibrates in my pocket as we are walking toward the cafeteria.

 

Hey, I’m ditching for the rest of the day, but I’ll be there to pick you up after school.

 

Devin had texted. Granted, we didn’t share the same lunch, but it was good to know I’d be alone in sixth hour.

 

Brittney and I go straight to a table along the back wall, not bothering with nasty school food since we don’t actually need to eat.

 

“So how did you get caught with Jeremy?” Brittney asks after a few moments of silence.

 

“Satan kidnapped him. Janie, Libby, and I went down to rescue him but ended up getting captured ourselves. Some Archangels came to our rescue, so clearly the council found out about it through them,” I reply, hating having to remember that day.

 

“Wow, dramatic,” Brittney says, her mouth dropping open in shock.

 

I shake my head to dispel the memories. “What about you?”

 

“The b***h I was training with, who I thought was my friend, stabbed me in the back and ratted me out. By the time the High Council came to investigate her accusation, the guy had completely disappeared, but the evidence was still there,” she says, betrayal flashing in her dark eyes.

 

“That had to have been terrible,” I reply. She only nods sadly. I hadn’t realized just how lucky I’d been to have Janie and Libby be on my side about the whole thing. If I ever get to see them again, I’ll have to remember to thank them. Thinking about the likelihood of never seeing my best friends again makes my heart clench.

 

“You know, I suddenly don’t feel like being at school. I think after lunch I’m just going to go home,” I say, shooting a quick text to Devin, asking him to meet me in the parking lot in five.

 

“That sounds like a grand idea to me,” Brittney responds. “I could use a bubble bath.”

 

“Wanna walk out to the parking lot with me?” I offer.

 

“Sure,” Brittney replies, gathering her things and standing up.

 

We step out of the cafeteria and walk across campus. I walk off the path to where Devin had parked his car, coincidentally two down from Brittney’s Bug. The moment Devin comes into view, leaning against the hood of his car, Brittney stops dead in her tracks. I turn to look at her questioningly. She is sporting a complete deer in the headlights look. Her mouth is fixed in a little “o” shape. Brittney’s eyes, filled with shock and agony, are popped open wide.

 

“Brit, what is it?” I ask, following her gaze to Devin’s look of bemusement.

 

No, she mouths, not breaking her eye contact with Devin. I look back and forth between the two of them, utterly confused. A slow, knowing smile cracks across Devin’s expression. Two whispered words from Brittney clear any confusion left within me.

 

“It’s him.”