Questions with No Good Answer

Brooke had just finished brushing her teeth and was getting ready for bed. Sam had already gone to bed – in her own room, Brooke thought with a sneer. For a moment the image of Sam, lying in bed flashed through Brooke's mind. She closed her eyes and sighed.

It seemed like only a minute later that she was brushing her teeth again, this time in the morning. She was cursing herself for oversleeping. Dammit, she thought, she hated being late.

She was still buttoning her shirt when she heard raised voices coming from the kitchen. Peeking downstairs, she saw Jane and her father and... Sam?

Mike was leaning on the countertop, his face was red. Jane was speaking.

"How could you Sam? You know how much Brooke's been through. She had a serious head injury – you know her memory's still not a hundred percent."

Sam looked exasperated. "Mom, I didn't 'take advantage' of Brooke – we started this together."

Mike snapped. "Oh come on Sam! – Brooke's never shown the slightest leanings towards being... that way – and you've been obsessed with her since sophomore year."

Sam started to protest, but Mike held up his hand. "Don't try to deny it – All of those 'articles' you wrote attacking her, they were so biased I'm amazed the school allowed them to appear. If Brooke had shown them to me, I've have torn your teachers head off."

Brooke wanted to run in, and tell them to stop, that Sam didn't lie – even when Brooke had wished she would, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Great show, isn't it?" a voice whispered from behind her ear.

Brooke's scream was stopped by a hand over her mouth. "Shhh... we don't want to interrupt this," Harrison said. "They might forget about Sam and turn on you, and I know you won't let that happen."

"What are you doing here?" Brooke hissed.

"Just came by to walk you to school, Ms. McQueen. Oh, and I thought I'd write a paper about your family falling apart." Harrison moved between her and the stairs.

"What the hell are you talking about?" she snapped back.

"C'mon Queen B. – First your little anorexia drama nearly killed your father, then you try to destroy all his hopes for a happy marriage with sabotage. Now, you've seduced your stepsister – Poor daddy's gonna crack under the strain any second now!"

Brooke could barely answer. Even if Harrison was a complete bastard, she knew at least some of it was true.

"Still, I've got to hand it to you. You're doing a great job," he added.

"Great job with what?" Brooke said.

"Convincing people that you're the complete opposite of the royal fuck-up you really are."

Observing her scorn, he continued. "Don't look at me like that – you know it's true. Your mom saw it, but you had Sam guilt her into coming back. Your dad's too blind to see it, but what do you expect from daddy's little charity case? Sam saw through it, but you got her – took you two years to do it and you had to sleep with her, but she thinks you're as good as the hype now. She's all 'in love' for all the good it'll do her.

Brooke was indignant. "Sam loves me. My father loves me. Jane…"

"Jane loves Mike," Harrison interrupted, "Sam, and Mac – and not necessarily in that order. You're just part of the package. A stupid, incompetent, damaged, pudgy little freak she had to take to get Mike."

He placed his hand on Brooke's chin. "Kinda the opposite of your mom – she wanted Mike, but ditched him just to be free of you."

"She… she came back," Brooke sobbed.

"Yeah, she came back – 'cause Sam made her feel guilty. She didn't want to. She even lied about who she was – she was terrified of coming back. When you changed your mind and decided to stay here it was the biggest relief in her life – she was terrified of getting stuck with you – listening to you whine day and night about your sad widdle life – Christ! She'd have hung herself in a week!"

Harrison had a thoughtful look on his face. "Maybe that's what you should do – just put yourself out of everyone's misery. Mike and Jane could raise Mac, your mom could stop shaking every time the phone rings, Sam could find herself a girl who cares about her – the family'd be saved."

Brooke was about to speak when she heard her father's yelling again.

"I suppose the whole thing was Brooke's idea! I bet you fought to keep her off you and she overpowered you with her superior strength! – How stupid do you think I am Samantha!"

Brooke tried to brush past Harrison and go downstairs, but he grabbed her arm.

"Let go of me!" she snapped.

"Now, not sweet cheeks, don't go ruining my show."

Brooke woke with a start. Another dream? For the hundredth time in the past week, she questioned her sanity. "I'm going crazy," she whispered, tears running down her cheeks.