Meeting with Bradin had been a big mistake. Not only did Erika tell him everything she hadn't wanted to but now he knew that she was still in love with him. At least Erika thought he did.
Why had she been so stupid? Meeting with Bradin wasn't going to make her feelings for him go away, as much as she wished it would have. If anything, it made her miss him even more, and that hurt. Knowing that he was in another relationship with a girl she had considered as her friend… the pain was just unbearable.
And it wasn't as though Erika didn't see the way his face lit up when she mentioned Belle. Bradin was obviously really into her; the only time he really seemed to be happy was when he was talking about Belle. Another reason for Erika to wish she'd never befriended her.
Things weren't going so smoothly. Erika had intended to tell Bradin that she'd left to help a friend in need, which she did, but instead what happened was her accidentally telling Bradin she still loved him, and she knew he knew it; she could see it on the expression he had on his face.
As she rounded the corner that led to the road her apartment was on, Erika saw Belle walking down the opposite way.
"Erika!" Belle shouted and waved.
Erika silently groaned. Belle was the last person she wanted to talk to right now, especially since Erika couldn't quite keep her feelings for Bradin out of the way.
Instead of ignoring Belle the way Erika so badly wanted to, she smiled and replied "Belle! What are you doing on this side of town?"
Which was a good question since Belle lived on the other side of Playa Linda.
Belle shrugged. "Bradin told me you two were meeting today and I thought I'd just come by to see how you were doing," she said, "You seemed pretty upset the other day."
Erika tried to suppress her less-than-friendly feelings for Belle at that moment. "I'm doing fine,"
"That's good," Belle smiled, "How'd your meeting with Bradin go?"
"Fine," Erika sighed, "it went fine." She couldn't bear to tell Belle what she'd accidentally did. "Haven't you talked to Bradin?"
"I was waiting for you," Belle replied, "I thought maybe we could hang out or something."
Hanging out with Belle wasn't quite what Erika had in mind. She wasn't sure why she was really irritated with Belle at that moment, but she was.
"I've got some stuff to do," Erika replied, "I'm sure you have better things to do than spend your day with me."
"It's not a problem! We're friends, I can help you with anything."
I don't want your help, Erika thought to herself but silently cursed herself for being so mean.
"I was just gonna go do some apartment hunting," Erika explained, "I mean, I can't stay at that hotel forever, right?"
Belle looked upset for a moment, but then her expression changed; her face lit up as though she had the greatest idea ever.
"Come stay with me!" Belle shrieked.
Erika looked at Belle in disbelief. "You're kidding."
Belle shook her head. "No way! C'mon, my parents wouldn't mind, though they probably wouldn't even notice you were there… but still!"
"No way, Belle," Erika replied, "I don't want to intrude--"
"Intrude on what?" Belle questioned. "I don't mind and it's not as though we don't have the room."
Erika felt herself in a dilemma. She knew that it would be a while before she could actually move into an apartment, and even then she'd still have to make payments for the hotel she was renting out on top of making down payments for the apartment. She also knew that if she stayed with Belle she wouldn't have to pay housing; Belle would never take money from others.
But there was still a part of Erika that just wanted to refuse;. She wanted to show that she was just as good as Belle was; if Belle could live without money from her parents, Erika could as well. The only difference was that Belle wasn't paying rent in her house, and Erika doubted she could afford it with what she was making at Mona's. But then again, Belle was offering free housing and Erika was in a desperate situation.
"If it's okay with your parents," Erika replied half-heartedly.
"Of course it'll be okay," Belle replied, "Like I said, they won't even know you're there." Catching the look on Erika's face, Belle added, "But I'll make sure I tell them."
Erika sighed heavily. "Are you sure?"
"Totally," Belle smiled, "I told you I wanted to help."
Erika smiled meekly, feeling more and more guilty as each second passed. Belle was such a nice girl yet Erika couldn't help secretly hating her, and she knew why. It was because Belle was so nice, and that was one of the reasons why Bradin liked her so much.
Author's Notes: Okay, I know this took me a while to get up but I had a lot of homework to do, LOL. I spent the past two days doing nothing but reading textbooks all day, and I decided to take a break and get this chapter up! I am going to work on the next chapter after I'm done with this, so it could be up tonight, could be up tomorrow... depending on whether or not I get reviews! Reviews have been kind of slow, actually... I only got 2 for the last chapter... but I'm hoping things will pick up, but I know people are busy with school, too... so my hopes are kind of high but I'm still hoping! Chapter's kind of short, but... I ran out of things to write, so hope you enjoyed it! Smile, take care, questions or comments: give me an email!
And if anybody really cares, my profile has been updated. :)
Anjo Mac
