DISCLAIMER: I do not own Beverly Hills 90210 or any of the characters involved in this story.
David and Donna are sitting in the radio show booth, while the rest of the students at West Beverly High are walking in the halls. As David has his nose in the books, Donna is looking out and watching everyone in the hall. She spots Kelly with a nasty scowl on her face as she passes Brenda who gives a nasty look in return. Kelly walks over to Dylan and the two of them playfully hug. Brenda just watches them and shakes her head in disgust.
"David, we have to do something." says Donna.
"You're right." replies David. "I need to figure out how to tell Steve he's fired."
Donna turns around and looks at him. "What?"
"Icon records won't take me unless…." says David who gets cut off by Donna.
"David, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about this whole Kelly and Brenda thing. I'm sick of it. It's been going on all year. They are my two best friends, and it's tearing me up inside to see them always at each others throats." cries Donna.
"Donna, you've done all you can. Now whatever is between them is between them. We should just keep our noses out of it. Besides, I have enough on my plate as it is." replies David.
"And I really think you should talk to your old friend Scott." replies Donna, ignoring what David just said.
"Scott? What do I need to talk to Scott for?" asks an annoyed David.
"Just find out what's going on with him and Brenda. Get his perspective on it." says Donna.
"I don't think so, Donna." replies David.
"Oh come on, David. Do it for me, please." whines Donna as she gives David a puppy dog eyed look.
David rolls his eyes and looks aggravated, but gives in to Donna anyways. "Alright, fine. I'll talk to Scott." he says.
Donna smiles and kisses David on the cheek. "Oh thank you, David."
"You know I hate it when you give me that look." he replies.
Donna sees Brenda close her locker and start to walk off; she races out of the radio booth after her.
"Hey Brenda, wait up." yells Donna.
"Oh hey, Donna." replies Brenda.
"Hey, I was just wondering how you've been. You've kind of been distant from everyone as of late." says Donna as she walks down the hall with Brenda.
"I'm doing much better, Donna. So you can stop worrying about me." replies Brenda.
"Are you sure about that, Brenda?' asks Donna.
"Yes, Donna. I'm sure. Look, I know I kind of disappeared there for a while. But I'm over everything that happened and ready to move on." replies Brenda.
"That's good to hear. So does this mean that you are going to start talking to Kelly again?" asks Donna.
"Donna, please don't start with that." says Brenda. "Kelly lied to me behind my back and stole my boyfriend. I don't think talking to her is something I plan to do, oh let's see, for the rest of my life." retorts Brenda.
"Brenda, come on." cries Donna. "This has been going on all year long between you two. And it's killing me. You and Kelly are the two best friends I have, and this war that's going on between the two of you has put me right in the middle. I know she hurt you." says Donna.
"That's right. She hurt me. She hurt me really bad as a matter of fact." replies Brenda aggressively.
"Yes, Brenda. I know. But how long do you plan on carrying a grudge?" says Donna. Brenda stops in the hall and looks at Donna, not saying anything. "Just think about it, Brenda. This is making things very awkward for everyone. And I refuse to choose between the two of you." adds Donna.
"Why do you think I'm keeping to myself, Donna? I'm not going to make you or anybody else have to choose. I'll just take myself out of the equation entirely." replies Brenda.
"And that's not good either. Bren, I miss you. I miss talking to you. So does everyone. Steve, Andrea, David. We want you back." says Donna in a heartfelt manner.
"Look, I'll think about it, okay? Just give me some time, Donna. I'm still trying to sort through some things." says Brenda.
"Okay Bren. Just don't forget about me, okay?" says Donna.
"Never" replies a smiling Brenda. Her talk with Donna is making Brenda realize something. She does miss Donna and misses hanging out with everyone. She misses being able to talk to her and Andrea and Steve. Her stubbornness to be willing to talk to Kelly or Dylan is affecting everyone, not just her.
While Brenda and Donna are talking, David looks out of his radio booth and sees Scott coming down the hall. But it's not the same Scott. There's something different about him from the best friend who he's known his whole life. He's walking with an unusual swagger. He still dresses in the same country shirt and blue jeans, but his demeanour is just different. His smile does not appear to be that of nervousness, but one of confidence. As Scott makes his way down the hall, several other students greet him with a smile and a friendly hi. There were no more put downs or mean spirit remarks directed at him. It was all smiles and greetings, and several high fives from the very same people who only a year or two ago were shoving him into a pool with clothes on and making fun of him.
David puts his radio show on auto pilot and walks out toward Scott, who is at his locker. He sees him with one of the top jocks of the school. They appear to be joking around and very friendly.
"So Scott, what's the deal with you and Brenda Walsh?" asks the jock.
"I don't know. I guess we're just good friends." answers Scott back.
The jock moves in and whispers to him. "Good friends? Yeah right. I guess that's the official story, eh big guy?" says the jock who starts to laugh. Scott just stands there and looks at him for a few seconds then starts to laugh too. David decides to cut in at that moment.
"Hey Scott, you got a moment?" asks David who comes walking up to him.
Scott turns and looks at David, while continuing to laugh along with the jock. "Oh hey David, what's up?" he says.
"I need to talk to you." says David.
"Hey, I gotta hit the gym. I'll catch you later, Scott." says the jock who gives Scott a friendly pat on the shoulder as he walks off.
David watches the jock leave, wondering what to make of the whole situation. He sees that Scott has a smile and a look of confidence on his face that he's never seen before.
"So, what's up David? Hey, how's that record deal coming?" asks Scott.
"Um, it' going along great. The producer loves my music." replies David.
"Really? That's awesome. Congratulations." says Scott with a smile.
"Um thanks. I just have to figure out a way to tell Steve he's not my manager anymore." says David.
"What? Why?' asks Scott
"Never mind. Hey Scott, I have been meaning to talk to you. About Magic Mountain on Saturday" says David, who gets cut off in mid sentence.
"Oh don't worry, David. I've found somebody else to go with me." replies Scott.
"Really?" says David.
"Yeah, Brenda's going to go with me when I take Spencer there. So you don't have to worry about it. We'll have Spencer until 3, so it'll be mostly taking him on the kid rides until then. But I'm going to see if Dad will let me stay later and hit some of the bigger rides, like the Viper." replies Scott with a smile.
"And Brenda's going with you?" asks David.
"Yeah. Isn't that great? She's been really great to me lately." says a smiling and enthusiastic Scott.
"Scott, exactly how long has all this been going on between you and Brenda?" inquires David.
"Eh, I guess for a few days. I ran into her at lunch a few days ago, and we just sort of hit it off." answers Scott.
"Just like that, huh?" asks David.
"Yeah, I guess. What are you saying, David?" asks Scott.
"Nothing, man. I'm not saying anything. Just be careful." says David in a low key tone.
"Be careful? What do I have to be careful about? We're just going to Magic Mountain. Not like we're going off to fight in Desert Storm." says Scott jokingly.
"No. It's not that. I just don't want to see you get so emotionally attached to somebody who's graduating here in a few months while you still got one more year left." says David.
"Yeah, too bad I can't skip a grade like you're doing, huh?" replies Scott in a more aggressive tone.
"What's that suppose to mean?" retorts David.
"It means you just out of the blue decided you were going to take a full course load so you could graduate this year with your 'new friends' instead of sticking around one more year and being a senior with me, your best friend for life. I didn't even find out until it was too late, David. Did you ever stop to think maybe I might have liked to have graduated with my best friend? You were just going to leave me here all alone with no friends my senior year. And you didn't even tell me. And now that I finally have a friend who actually seems like she likes me, you want to come here and put a damper on my parade." says an angry Scott.
"Scott, I didn't mean it like that." replies an apologetic David.
"Forget it, David. What's done is done. You're graduating and I'm here for another year. And nothing can be done about it. So no sense worrying about it now." replies Scott.
David looks down at the ground and begins to feel bad. He didn't realize that Scott still valued his friendship so much. In that moment, he realizes what a jerk he's been to Scott over the past year. He wanted to be liked so bad by the popular kids that he completely forgot about his best friend and totally left him behind. He didn't even wish him a happy birthday on his past birthday.
"Look Scott, I don't know what to say. I'm sorry, man. I should have asked you about skipping ahead a grade. I just didn't stop and think." says David who pauses and finally looks Scott in the eye. "Look, whatever is going on between you and Brenda, it's none of my business. So I'll just keep out of it. I'm real glad you made a new friend. You deserve it." says David.
David turns around and begins to walk away looking very glum, like he just lost his best friend. And in a way, he did. Everything that seemed so important to him 15 minutes ago suddenly didn't seem so important anymore. His music, his relationship with Donna, his non-stop studying so he could graduate with his friends all seemed so pointless now. He had totally turned his back on his best friend, and it would never be the same again.
As David turns to go up the stairs, he hears Scott's voice call out to him. "Hey David." yells Scott. David turns to look at him, the shame clearly in his eyes. "It's okay, man. I forgive you." says Scott.
David lets out a slight grin and then frowns again. Scott's willingness to forgive him has only succeeded in making him feel worse. David continues to walk up the stairs; he's followed quickly by Steve who rushes to catch up with him.
"Hey David, we need to talk. About that record deal…." says Steve who gets cut off.
"Not now, Steve. Alright?" says David.
"Look David, this is big. I….." says Steve who again gets on.
"Damn it, Sanders. I said not now. We'll deal with this later. I'm not in the mood." says an agitated David, raising his voice. Steve just stands and watches David as he walks slowly and sadly down the hall. He wonders what flew up his nose as he turns around and walks in the opposite direction. David knows he has to fire Steve, but was too upset at that moment to discuss it with him.
Later that afternoon, Brandon is walking out in the courtyard with a notebook and one textbook tucked underneath his arm. Dylan comes running up to him from behind.
"Yo B, wait up." yells Dylan.
"Hey D, what's going on?" replies Brandon.
"Hey man, you got a few? I need to talk to you about your sister." says Dylan.
Brandon stops and turns and looks at Dylan. "I thought talks about Brenda with me were supposed to end now that you're with Kelly." says Brandon in a joking but agitated tone.
"Yeah, well I kind of need to figure something out." says Dylan.
"Let me take a wild guess. You want to know what's really going on with her and this Scott guy?" says Brandon as he grins slightly.
"In a nut shell, yeah. I mean I don't get it, man. I'm glad she's going out and having fun, but this guy is about the last guy I'd ever expect her to hook up with. I mean this is the same kid who all the jocks use to try to stick his head in the toilet." says Dylan.
"Dylan, I know, man. Believe me, I asked her about it when I got home from the pit last night." answers Brandon.
"And?" asks Dylan.
"Dylan, if it is over for good between you and her, why are you so concerned about her dating somebody else, if indeed she is in fact dating him?" asserts Brandon, who knows where this is going but does not want to get sucked into the middle of it.
"Because, it's causing problems between me and Kelly. We came out of the peach pit last night and your sister planted a big wet one right on his kisser." says Dylan.
Brandon looks up and tilts his head slightly with his mouth slightly open and the look of pondering on his face. "Woah. Wait a minute. Are you saying she kissed him?" asks Brandon.
"Well, it wasn't exactly tonsil hockey but it was full throttle on the lips." answers Dylan. "It nearly knocked me off my feet when I saw it. Next thing I know Kelly is reading me the riot act all the way to the car, and has been giving me the cold shoulder ever since."
"Wow. She didn't tell me about this." says Brandon with that look of deep thought in his eyes.
"So she did tell you something then?" asks Dylan.
"Dylan, I just got the impression that Scott was a new friend that she made and she's enjoys hanging out with him because he's not serious all the time and he's not full of himself." answers Brandon.
"And she thinks I'm full of myself?" asks Dylan.
"She didn't say those words directly." answers Brandon.
"But she implied it?"
"Look Dylan, I don't know alright. It's not like I interrogated her about her entire evening. She simply said that he's a friend and she enjoys spending time with him. That's all I got. Now I really don't want to be your private investigator on this, so if you want to know anymore then you're just going to have to go and talk to her yourself." says Brandon raising his voice and visibly getting irritated.
"Okay B, chill out. I won't bug you about this anymore. I just want what's best for your sister, alright. I care about her, and I want to make sure that she really likes this guy and this isn't some rebound thing in an attempt to get even with me." says Dylan trying to calm Brandon down.
"Dylan, you stare at her when you see her with another guy. You come around and ask me if I've talked to her about it, and then you practically twist my arm to get me to spill everything I know. This isn't just caring about her, it's a lot more than that. Just admit it. You're still in love with my sister." says Brandon assertively.
"Brandon, part of me will always love her. But I chose Kelly. The connection is just there with her and it wasn't with Brenda.
"Is that so? Well from what you just told me, it doesn't sound like you and Kelly are connecting very well at all these days." says Brandon.
Dylan takes a deep breathe and shakes his head. "I don't know, Brandon. You know I thought when I finally made the choice and chose Kelly that everything would finally clear up once the initial storm went away. But to tell you the truth, man, I'm as confused as ever." he says.
Brandon nods his head in the affirmative. "When it comes to women, it's always going to be confusing."
"Yeah." says Dylan as he stares off into the distance. "Hey I got to run. I'm having dinner with my old man and his latest fling tonight."
"Kelly coming too?" asks Brandon.
"I don't know. She's barely said two words to me since last night. Guess I better find her and iron it out." he says.
"Good luck with that." says Brandon snickering.
Dylan walks off to try to find Kelly. What Brandon said has gotten to him. If he was really over Brenda and ready to move on with Kelly, why did he inquire so much to want to know about how Brenda felt about Scott? He ponders to himself about how he really feels, but then starts to think about how he's going to talk to Kelly about coming over to have dinner with him, his dad, and Christine.
Dylan finds Kelly opening her locker and sneaks up behind her and taps her on one shoulder, and as she turns around he moves his head over to her other shoulder and kisses her on the cheek. "Guess who?" he says to her.
Kelly turns around and smiles at him, in a much happier mood than she was in earlier. "An incredibly insensitive, but yet a very sexy guy." flirts Kelly as she wraps an arm around Dylan's shoulder.
"Just an eye?" says Dylan. "Not that your eyes don't shine, but I'd kind of like to get to know the rest of you too." says Dylan in a deep sexy tone as he wraps both his arms around Kelly's waist in a seductive manner.
At that moment, Brenda walks by and sees the two of them there flirting and in each others arms and she immediately turns her head. She walks right by them without saying anything and continues down the hall way. While in an embrace with Dylan, Kelly sees Brenda walk by and can see the pain and hurt on her face. She grins slightly as if to say 'You see this? He's mine.'
Brenda continues down the hall and turns the corner. Trying to fight back the tears, she hears a voice call out to her from behind.
"Hey Brenda." shouts the voice as the running footsteps get louder and louder behind her.
She turns and sees the friendly face of Scott as he catches up with her.
"Hey, I just wanted to talk to you really quick about tomorrow." says Scott.
"Tomorrow?" asks Brenda
"Yeah, tomorrow being Saturday." says Scott.
Brenda has to think for a moment. Her mind is totally consumed with the image of Kelly and Dylan together that she can't focus on anything else but those two. She ponders for a moment to try to think about why Scott would want to talk to her about Saturday. Then after about five seconds, it hits her. "Oh yeah, Magic Mountain." she replies.
"Yeah, so anyways I was thinking that Spencer and I could come by your house and pick you up at 9:00. The park opens at 10:00 and that'll give us plenty of time to get there. We might have to ride a lot of the smaller rides in the beginning, cause we'll have Spencer with us and he's too small to go on the bigger rides. But I talked to my dad at lunch and he's coming to pick him up at 3:00 to take him home for the party, and he said that you and I could stay as late as we want after that, so that'll give us a chance to ride all the really big rides like the Viper. Isn't that great?" says Scott a big smile and excitement in his voice.
Brenda is looking down at her feet glum, only partially listening to what Scott is saying to her. She only got the Magic Mountain part and the times and him coming to pick her up, but the rest of it went in one ear and out the other as she still has her brain wrapped around Kelly and Dylan.
At that moment, Brenda really doesn't feel like going to Magic Mountain, and certainly not with Scott who she's only really been friends with for a few days and his little brother who from the way he describes is probably a screaming, yelling, obnoxious little twit.
Part of Brenda is telling her that she should listen to Kelly's rant from earlier and end this charade before it goes too far. After all, how far is this thing going to go? It apparently has little to no effect on Kelly and Dylan. Even after planting a kiss on Scott last night right in front of them, they're still flirting and making out in the hall way. Maybe it's time to just cut the cord right now.
"Listen Scott…" says Brenda and pauses.
But before finishing her thought, she quickly reconsiders. If she comes out and tells him the truth right now, he'll be hurt and he won't have anybody to go to Magic Mountain with him. And all that'll do would prove that Kelly was right and all but assure her total victory. She can't let that happen. And besides, maybe after a day together at the amusement park, Scott will see that Brenda is not the one for her and will pursue other girls who would be more suitable for him. In any case, a day at Magic Mountain sure beats sitting around her room again and stabbing pictures of Kelly in the eye with a fork.
Scott waits for Brenda to finish her sentence. "…would you mind making it 9:15, it kind of takes me a while to get going in the morning." she says
"Uhm, sure 9:15 it is." he replies.
Brenda thinks a little more and realizes she really doesn't want things with Scott to get out of hand. So it's best that she slow things down.
"Listen Scott, there's something I want to tell you." she says.
"Go on, I'm listening." he replies
"Last night I kind of let things get a little too far out of hand. And well, I hope that kiss didn't totally catch you by surprise." she tells him.
"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting it. Can I be honest with you, Brenda?" he asks her. Brenda just nods her head to indicate she's listening. "That's the first time any girl has ever kissed me before."
Brenda giggles slightly then begins to speak. "Well, I just don't want you to take it the wrong way. See, I kind of want to take things slow." She says.
"I understand. This is about Dylan and Kelly. And you're putting on an act, am I right?" says Scott.
Brenda's heart jumps up into her throat as he says that. For a brief second there is a panic in her eyes as she asks herself a million questions over the course of a millisecond. How did he find out? Did Kelly talk to him? Does Dylan know?
"You're still angry with Dylan and your best friend, am I right? And you're trying to put on an act to show them that you aren't going to let them get to you, but inside you still feel hurt and betrayed. Is that is?"
Brenda listens to what Scott just said and exhales, realizing she's off the hook for the moment. As she gathers her composure, she looks at Scott and smiles and nods. "Yeah, it's something like that. It's complicated." she tells him.
"Listen Brenda, it's none of my business really. But I know how you feel." says Scott.
"You do?" she asks.
"Of course I do. See when David stopped being friends with me so that he could get on the in with you and your friends, it hurt me really bad, for a long time. And there was a time when I actually resented you and your friends for it as well, but David was where all my hatred was focused. I hated him for abandoning me cause I wasn't cool like you guys. I tried to ignore it, but no matter what I tried I couldn't stop hating him." says Scott. "You're probably going to think I'm insane here, but I even use to have fantasies about pinning him down and shaving his head so you all wouldn't like him anymore." says a laughing Scott.
Brenda bursts out laughing as Scott has once again struck a funny bone in her. A good part of Brenda's laughter and smile comes from the familiarity with which she can relate to Scott's story. Every word he said, she could understand and completely empathize. But Scott had a way of taking a horrible situation, and still being able to find humor in it.
"But eventually I realized that I was just being stupid. All I was doing was making myself a bitter person. And if people didn't like me before, they sure weren't going to like me after words. So I just let it go and moved on. It was hard for a while, and it really bothered me when David chose to skip ahead a grade and graduate with you guys rather than staying and being a senior with me. But nothing I could do about it, so I let it go." explains Scott.
"You could have always taken the extra course work and graduated early too." says Brenda.
"You're right, I could have. But I'm not going to let one person and my anger towards that person dictate how I run my life. And believe it or not, David actually came to me today and apologized about it." says Scott.
"He did? And what did you say?" asks Brenda.
"I told him how I felt about it. But I also told him that I forgave him. And you want to know what the funny thing is, he actually felt worse after I told him I forgave him." says Scott.
Brenda looks at Scott smiling; amazingly he's made her feel better and has given her an idea as well. "Thanks Scott, I feel a lot better now." she says.
"I'm glad. And don't worry. I can take things as slow or as fast as you need to. After all you have a lot of history with Dylan, and a lot of feelings to sort through. Not like you can just forget about it over night." he says.
"So 9:15 tomorrow morning?" asks Scott.
Brenda looks and smiles. "I'll be waiting. You know where I live?" she replies.
"Yeah, I was there once a couple years ago when you and Brandon threw that party that got out of hand while your parents were away for the weekend." says Scott.
"You were there?" asks a surprised Brenda.
"Sure I was. Is that so surprising? About three quarters of the school was there from what I remember." says a joking Scott.
Brenda laughs again and turns and walks down the hall way. She is actually amazed that she feels better. It's nice to have somebody who can relate to her. Ultimately when you get past his geekyness, Scott can be very mature. What he told her struck her like a bell. David ultimately realized the way he mistreated Scott, and when he did, he felt bad about it. Scott didn't have to do anything more than just point it out to David about how he hurt him to make him see the error of his ways. So perhaps Brenda is going about this all wrong. Maybe she shouldn't have to scheme and try to make Dylan jealous. All she has to do is show him the error of his ways, and if it's meant to be, he'll come back to her. Like Dylan's mom said, she just needs to be herself and help guide him to the right path.
In the mean time, she was going to show them that she wasn't going to let them fun her life anymore. She heads out into the parking lot where she spots Dylan and Kelly waking to Dylan's Porsche hand in hand. They reach the car and Kelly wraps her arms around Dylan's waist.
"So are we still having dinner with your dad and Christine tonight?" asks Kelly.
"We are, if you're not still mad at me about last night." says Dylan.
"I'm not, anymore. Just keep your eyes on me, and everything will be just fine." says Kelly in her high pitch cutesy voice as she leans in and begins kissing Dylan.
Brenda comes walking up to them, and as they break from the kiss, Dylan spots Brenda and they make eye contact.
"Hi." blurts out Brenda in their direction and continues walking.
Dylan releases from Kelly's grip. "Woah Bren, wait. Does this mean you're talking to us again?" shouts Dylan.
Brenda stops in her tracks and turns around and eyes both of them. Dylan looks on anxiously while Kelly watches.
"Yeah. It does." says Brenda. There is a moment of awkward silence as Dylan and Kelly just look at her waiting to hear what she has to say next. "Look, you two hurt me really bad. And this whole past week all I could think about was how bad I hated you both. But I'm over that. See a friend taught me that making myself bitter and isn't going to do anything but hurt me in the long run." says Brenda.
"Sounds like you got a wise friend, Bren." says Dylan.
"You're right. I do. See Dylan I had a great relationship with you, and a great friendship with you, Kelly. But you guys apparently felt that your summer fling was more important than either of those things. That's a choice the two of you made." says Brenda.
Dylan looks down at the ground while Kelly just stares dead on at Brenda without saying a word.
"What's done is done. You all made your decision, and that's something you'll have to live with. But I can live with the choices I've made, because the only choice I've made in all of this is not to let what you two did run my life." says Brenda before another long pause. "And honestly, I'm totally cool with it."
Brenda turns back around and continues walking. Dylan starts after her but Kelly holds up a hand. "Dylan, just let her go." she says.
"But what was she…?" begins Dylan who gets interrupted by Kelly.
"Dylan, I don't care. Let's just go before we're late for dinner with your dad." says an assertive Kelly.
The look of frustration on Dylan's face is evident. In his heart he wants to run after Brenda and tell her that he's sorry for hurting her. But he knows that if he did that, it would only lead to another verbal onslaught from Kelly. He starts to wonder. If the situation was reverse and he was with Brenda and Kelly had come up and said that, would Brenda have said 'Just let her go.'? He ponders this for a second and then turns around and looks at Kelly who has gotten into the passenger seat and is visibly irritated.
For Kelly, she's not sure what Brenda is up to. She wonders if this is some kind of a response that Brenda had from the argument in the bathroom earlier. Or is it another step in a grand scheme. Or is Brenda really serious and is ready to move on? Either way it's left Kelly with an uneasiness about her. She finally officially has Dylan, yet she feels like she's not in control of the situation at all. And for Kelly Taylor, there is nothing worse than not being in control.
That night, Brenda is sitting up in her room looking wearing a night shirt and white socks. Brandon comes in without knocking and slams the door.
"Brandon you can't just come barging in here without knocking, what if I had been changing?" scolds Brenda.
"Sorry Bren, but there's something you need to clear the air on for me." says Brandon with his eyes a little wider than usual as his voice tone is clearly argumentative.
"Let me guess, Kelly came to you and spouted off her little theory." replies Brenda.
"Nope. I didn't talk to Kelly at all today." says Brandon. "I want to know what is going on with you and Scott, and don't tell me that you're just friends."
"Well what do you want me to say? That we're lovers? Cause that would be lying." argues Brenda.
"So is telling me that you are just friends with a guy, and then you go out and plant a smooch on him in front of the Peach Pit." retorts Bandon
"Dylan came to you, didn't he?" asks Brenda.
"So it's true." says Brandon under his breath.
"Look Brandon, just stay out of it."
Brandon walks over to Brenda's bed and sits down on the foot of it. "I'd like to, Bren. In fact there's nothing I'd rather do than stay out of it. But that's kind of hard for me to do when Dylan comes up and wants to play 20 questions."
"So, he was curious?" asks Brenda with a grin on her face.
Brandon sighs and rolls his eyes. "Can I tell you what I think is going on? And this is just my wild hunch so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here." says Brandon. Brenda looks at him with her arms folded and a slight grin. "I think you're pretending to like Scott in hopes that it makes Dylan jealous and he comes running back to you. The way you started cuddling up to him last night the second that Dylan and Kelly walked through the door kind of gave it away."
Brenda takes in a deep breathe and looks down for a moment. "Look Brandon, that's not…." she says and gets interrupted.
"Just answer the question, Brenda, yes or no? Is that or is that not what you were doing?" repeats Brandon.
"Yes Brandon, it was." she says as he just looks at her and doesn't say anything. "But not anymore." she replies.
"So you had another one of your change of hearts?" asks Brandon.
"Yes, I mean No. I mean…." replies a frustrated Brenda not being able to find the right words to say.
"Look Brenda, you don't have to worry. I'm not going to go run to Dylan and squabble to him everything you're telling me. I just want to know the whole story and I'd like to know what I'm supposed to tell Dylan when he comes and asks me these things." says Brandon calmly. "Now tell me, what is going on with you and Scott Scanlon? Do you like him?"
"Yes I do." She replies. Brandon looks at her with surprise. "As a friend." She continues.
"But nothing more?' he asks.
"Correct. I think Scott is an awesome guy. He's open and honest, and he's got a terrific sense of humor. And despite his reputation, he's actually very mature for a guy his age. He told me some things today that really made me re-evaluate how I'm handling this whole Kelly/Dylan thing. And honestly talking to him about it made me feel a lot better." says Brenda.
"But….." implies Brandon.
"But as far as liking him and wanting a romantic relationship with him, it's just not going to happen. Part of me wishes it would, because he's got so many qualities about him that I wish Dylan had. But the physical attraction is just not there, and it never will be I'm afraid." says Brenda.
"So you were using him to try to make Dylan jealous?" asks Brandon.
"You're right. I was. I was so mad at Dylan and Kelly, that I was willing to resort to any tactic to try to get back at them. But I've realized now that I was going about it all wrong. I can't force or trick Dylan to come back to me. It won't work, and even if it did it wouldn't be honest. And most of all, I don't want to hurt Scott, he's too good a guy for me to do that to." she tells him.
"Well Brenda, that's all well and good, but the fact remains that you've hugged and kissed the guy and held his hand." says Brandon. "Chances are, given his social history, the guy has probably already fallen head over heels for you."
"Not only that, but he admitted to me today that I was his first kiss." She says.
"Oh well that's just wonderful, Bren." says Brandon throwing his arms up in the air. "And just how are you planning on breaking the news to this guy that you don't want a relationship with him?" he asks.
"Well I told him today that I want to take things slow." says Brenda
"Bren, there is a major difference between taking things slow and not taking them at all. When you tell a guy you want to take things slow, you are implying to him that there's still hope of something happening in the future. Believe me, I'm a guy, I know." says Brandon aggressively.
"I KNOW, BRANDON." shouts Brenda as she grabs her head with her hands like she has a stress headache. "God, I already feel bad enough about this please don't go and make it worse.
Brandon stands up and walks around the room for a second and then begins to speak to Brenda softly to try to calm her down. "Look Brenda, I'm on your side on this. Now however you want to handle this, I'll support it. All I want to know is what am I suppose to tell Dylan or anybody else for that matter when they come up to me and ask me what's going on with you and Scott."
"Just tell them that whenever you come to talk to me about it, I tell you that it's none of your business." says Brenda.
"Alright. If that's what you want me to do, that's what I'll do." Says Brandon as he begins to leave.
"Don't worry, Brandon. I'm going to Magic Mountain with him and his kid brother tomorrow. And hopefully by the end of the day, he'll see that I'm not the right girl for him." says Brenda.
"Wait, you're going to Magic Mountain with Scott tomorrow?" he asks.
"Yeah, he's coming over here to pick me up in the morning. Why? Is there a problem with that?" she asks him.
Brandon pauses for a second and then gets a devilish grin on his face as he looks at Brenda.
"No. I have no problem with that. You've told me everything Brenda, and I'm totally cool with it. But see, Scott's coming here to pick you up in the morning. That means you're going to have to introduce him to Mom and Dad." he smiles. "And you know they're going to want to know everything. Goodnight, sis." Brandon leaves the room, closing the door behind him.
Brenda sits up in her bed for a second, and then lies back down and grabs Mr. Pony and hugs him, wondering how she's going to get by this one.
TO BE CONTINUED