Chapter 21

(Lissa's POV again)

The first thing I do that morning is call Brooke.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Brooke. I've missed you. How is Richmond? And Aunt Anna and Uncle Rick?

"Yeah, I've missed you too! They are great, it's been really fun spending time with them. We've seen a lot of the city, too. How is the resort?"

"It's beautiful, but there is something important I need to talk to you about."

"Oh?"

"Listen: Have you talked to Carter lately?"

Brooke sighed. "I told you, he hasn't answered any emails I sent. I haven't sent him any lately though. I don't want to waste my time. If he doesn't want anything to do with me, I can deal. Why, has he talked to you?"

"No, not exactly, but...I know what happened." Exactly what happened, actually.

"Really? What?"

"Well, he was persuaded to go on a whim. By Will. And advised not to tell you. Will convinced Carter that he liked you more than you liked him. It's all Will's fault."

There was silence on the other end. I waited a minute before asking "You still there?"

"Yeah."

"Are you okay?"

"No, not really. Why did Carter think I didn't like him? And why did Will want him to take off so suddenly? I don't understand. " Brooke replied, bewilderment evident in her voice.

"I don't either. But Will admitted it himself last night." At this point I decide telling Brooke in person about Will's "declaration" would probably be best.

"What did he say that Carter believed so whole-heartedly?" Brooke replied, her voice getting edgier.

"I don't know, I didn't ask exactly what he said." I decided to leave out the gold-digger part. I didn't want to distress Brooke too badly.

"Well, it must have been pretty convincing." Brooke sighed.

"I guess so. But that means that Carter really really liked you. Enough to doubt himself, I think. When you love somebody, it's hard to believe they could ever love you, I suppose."

Brooke exhaled very slowly before answering. "Then why hasn't he talked to me? I've tried, Lissa. Maybe he didn't need much convincing. He didn't have to listen to Will, you know. He could have decided to ask me. Tell me how he felt and I could tell him how I felt. I think in the end, Carter is still the one who made the bad decisions."

Woah. I didn't think of that. Have I been so dead-set on blaming Will for everything that I forgot Carter had a part in breaking Brooke's heart too?

"You're right. I'm so sorry Brooke. I wish you didn't have to deal with this." I sighed.

"Me too. But you know, I'll get over this and I'll know better. Carter can have his fun in England and I'll continue with life here. Things like this, high school drama, shouldn't be a roadblock. It's just a detour. I'm already getting over it already. Don't worry about me too much, okay?"

"Well, I can try not to worry but no promises. How do you do this, though? You're so wise. I swear you're like 80 years old with a will of iron," I chuckle.

"It's accumulated over time, I guess," she laughed back.

"So are you doing anything fun today? I hope you've been finding good ways to take your mind off drama and such."

"Yeah, actually. Aunt Anna and have been eating Ben and Jerry's while watching chick-flicks and crying," she teases.

"Ahhh, the best coping method," I grin.

"Actually, we're actually going out to town in just a bit. I'll have to go."

"Oh," I didn't realize how much I really missed Brooke until I realized I won't be able to talk to her face-to-face for another 2 days. But at least she's having a good time. "Have fun! Tell me all about it tonight then. Love you!"

"Love you too, Lissa!"

I clicked off the phone then flopped back onto my bed. When did drama suddenly overtake my life?

After quickly showering and dressing I texted Shay.

Me: Meet me at a booth in the food court. Some crazy stuff happened last night.

Shay: I'll be there pronto.

I hopped down the stairs and grabbed my breakfast. Luckily there was a corner booth air could nab. A moment or two later Shay came jogging up to me.

"Shoot." She said as she sat down.

Suddenly I felt awkward. "Willtoldmehelovedmelastnightandwehadafight," I spewed out.

"Come again?"

"Will told me that he was in love with me and I told him...just about the opposite. A fight kind of thing is, I found out that he was the one who CAUSED all the drama between Carter and Brooke."

"Wait, Will told you he loved you?"

"Is the fact that he was the anti-Hitch not important?!"

"I TOTALLY CALLED IT!" Shay whisper-yelled.

"Shay, pay attention! That isn't as important than the fact that he basically broke up his best friend and my sister!" I replied, exasperated.

"Why would he do that? If he was in love with Brooke that would make sense, but he isn't."

"I don't know. From what he told me, he was convinced Brooke was a gold-digger or something."

"What? Brooke? A gold-digger? Dear Lord, it's like he doesn't even know Brooke."

"I know! It makes no sense. And so he convinced Carter to take off on the England trip without any notice."

"So, you told him off, right?" Shay grinned.

"Of course I did! Sisters before misters. Besides, I already knew I didn't like the guy. I mean, he was rude to me on a number of occasions and also has a history of leaving ruined lives in his wake. I family wasn't exempt," I huffed.

"Good. He deserved it. It's hard to believe that he believed Brooke wasn't genuine. Everybody who saw them knew they were into each other. No backward motives," Shay said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"He's oblivious, to say the very least," I groaned. "I just hope I manage to avoid him the last two days of the trip. It's been a good week so far, don't get me wrong, but I think I'm ready to be over this."

"Yeah. Speaking of, nobody has seen him this morning. Where do you think he is?"

"I don't know and I really don't-"

"Ahem."

I whipped around.

"Oh, hi, Flynn. What's up?"

"I have an...er...message for you. From Will. He had to leave early last night. And he wanted you to have this," Flynn fidgited and gave me an envelope with "Elisabeth Dunton" in neat, careful cursive.

Cursive? A letter? Man, it's like he's a prep school prodigy or something.

"Oh, thanks," I reply, but Flynn had already left. I turned the letter over in my hands, conflicted about whether or not I wanted to read the contents.

"I'll let you read that alone," Shay smiled. "Catch you later. Oh, and don't forget, we have dinner with Mrs. DeBourge tonight."

"Yeah, yeah," I replied absentmindedly.

Before I really realized what I was doing I was opening the flap and taking out the letter.