Chapter Three

Georgie walked into Kelly's wearing a basic, long-sleeved red shirt and dark blue jeans. She had her hair tied back as usual. She found Brooke sitting at one of the tables and went over to her. She sat down across from her.

"Hey." Georgie said putting her purse down on the table. Brooke looked up at her.

"How'd Ryan let you go this time?" She asked her.

Georgie glared at her but Brooke glared right back. "I left before he woke up." Georgie said looking away. She motioned for one of the waitresses to come over. "Hi, can I please get a cup of coffee?"

"Sure." The waitress said smiling at her.

"Thanks." Georgie said back. She looked at Brooke who was still staring at her. "What?"

"Nothing, Georgie." Brooke said taking a sip of her own coffee. "What time is your class today?"

"At 12." Georgie said. The waitress came back with Georgie's coffee. She placed it on the table in front of her. "Thanks," Georgie managed to say before the waitress ran off.

"Can I ask you something?" Brooke said.

"What?"

"It's eighty-five degrees outside, why on earth are you wearing a long-sleeve shirt?"

"Because everything else is being washed." Georgie said making up a reason. "Why are you questioning everything today Brooke?" Georgie exclaimed.

"I'm sorry. I'm just-I'm worried about you."

"Why? I'm perfectly fine."

"It doesn't seem like it. You're in a horrible mood today. Did something happen?"

"No, I'm fine. Really." Georgie said drinking her coffee. She gulped it down really fast and finished it.

"Are you sure? You know you can always talk to me…"

"I know, thanks. I'm fine really. I just feel bad that I didn't tell Ryan where I went. You know what, I'm gonna go back. Maybe he's not awake yet." Georgie said getting up.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, look I'll call you later okay?" Georgie said grabbing her purse. She ran out of Kelly's and to her car to go back to her dorm room.

---

Georgie slowly unlocked the door and opened it, hoping not to wake her boyfriend up. But to her surprise, he was already wake. He was standing by the window looking outside. She walked into the room and closed the door.

"Hey, I didn't think you would be up so early-"

"Where were you?" Ryan said cutting her off. He turned around to face her.

"I went to have coffee with Brooke at Kelly's. You were sleeping; I didn't want to wake you up." Georgie said putting her keys and purse down on her desk.

"Right." Ryan muttered.

"Why are you so mad?" Georgie asked him.

"Because you went somewhere without telling me first." Ryan exclaimed.

"I have to ask permission from you to go see my best friend?" Georgie said back to him.

"Georgie, I just want to protect you. Look, I know Brooke is your best friend but-but she's not a good influence on you."

"Influence? Ryan, I'm not influenced by her. She's my best friend; I go to her for advice and to talk when I need a girl friend and she does the same with me. She doesn't tell me what to or what not to do."

"Georgie, I see the kind of things she says to you and you do it. I don't want you hanging around her anymore." Ryan said angrily.

"You know what? You have no right to tell me who I can be friends or who I can't be friends with? You are my boyfriend and I respect you, but I'm not gonna let you walk all over me." Georgie said to him.

"You're gonna regret this, all right? I'm just trying to help you."

"Yeah well I don't need your help." Georgie said. She grabbed her purse and keys and walked out.

---

Dillon's cell phone started ringing as he walked towards the PC docks. He looked at the called ID and it was his mom, Tracy.

"Yes mom?" He said answering it. "No I'm not home yet…I'm on my way…I told you I would call when I got there. Bye mom." Dillon said hanging up on her. He put his phone back in his jeans and finally came to the docks. He saw someone standing there. When he finally realized who it was, he couldn't control his mouth from not saying anything. "Georgie?"

Georgie turned and Dillon noticed that she was crying. It hurt him to see her like that. "Are you okay?" He asked her.

"Yeah I'm fine." She wiping her face to get rid of the tears. "It's nothing." She said stuffing her hands in the pockets of her jeans.

"Is there anything I could do to help?" Dillon asked moving towards her.

Georgie chuckled to herself. "Explain why boys are so annoying." She said to him.

"Ha! Well that's a tough one." Dillon said. Georgie laughed. "Are you sure you're okay?" Dillon asked again.

"Yeah it's no big deal. I just got into a stupid fight with my boyfriend and like always, he was right about everything he said and now I'm here regretting every flipping word that came out of my mouth." Georgie rambled on. "God, I'm sorry. You probably don't even care." She said turning to face the water.

"No hey, I care. You can talk about it if you want." Dillon said standing next to her.

"Dillon, we barely know each other. I'm not gonna talk to you about my crappy love life." She said laughing.

Dillon shrugged. "Whatever you want." He said smiling.

"Okay well if you want to know…" Georgie said smiling. "He was just mad that I went to see Brooke, my friend, without telling him first. And then he started yelling at me about not being friends with her anymore because she's a bad influence on me. So I got mad and I walked out. But now I think he was right. I mean what if she is a bad influence on me? She's always so against Ryan." Georgie said. She turned to face him. Dillon had a small smile on his face. "Why are you smiling?"

"I'm sorry." Dillon said still smiling. "Look, to me it seems like your boyfriend's a little controlling."

"No, no he's really not. He's really a great guy. No he's right about everything. I can't be friends with Brooke anymore. I need to go back and apologize to him."

"Suit yourself." Dillon said.

"Thanks for listening to me." Georgie said smiling. "I really needed to vent to someone right now. And I'm sorry cuz we don't even know each other. But thanks. It was really nice of you to listen."

"No problem." Dillon said to her smiling back. "If you ever wanna talk, you can come to me."

"Thanks." Georgie said flashing another smile. "Well I gotta go. Bye."

"Bye." Dillon said. Dillon watched her run up the stairs and disappear. She was right, they barely knew each other. But why it did it hurt him so much to see her in pain?

---

Georgie opened the door to her dorm. Ryan was lying on their bed. He sat up straight when he saw her walk in.

"Hi." She said closing the door behind her.

"Hi." He said back.

"She went and sat down next to him on the bed. "I'm sorry for walking out on you like that. I should have listened to you. You were right…about everything." Georgie said. Ryan caressed her cheek and leaned in to kiss her softly on the lips.

"It's okay." He whispered. She hugged him resting her head against his shoulder. For some reason, she couldn't believe that everything was okay.