"Brenda!" Kelly's jaw dropped.
"What the hell is this?!" Brenda couldn't believe what she was seeing "You waste no time." She glared at Dylan. "And you!" She turned to Kelly, "You're my best friend!"
Kelly couldn't move or speak. Dylan scratched his head, still standing in the doorway.
"How could you do this to me?!" Brenda yelled "You just jump into bed with my ex boyfriend after I just told you that he cheated on me with some girl this sum-" Brenda paused, her hand over her mouth "Oh my god! Oh my god... Kelly was the girl..." Brenda shook her head in disbelief. Walking backwards to the door.
"We didn't want you to find out like this, Bren..." Dylan said calmly
"Brenda, I'm so sorry." Kelly begged, trying to come and comfort her.
"Don't touch me, Kelly!" Brenda scorned "Don't ever talk to me again!"
Brenda stormed out.
"Whoa..." Dylan sighed once the door had slammed
"This is bad... This is so bad..." Kelly paced around the room, hands cupping her head.
"Well," Dylan shrugged "We saw this coming... guess now she just needs time to process it."
Kelly shook her head, still struggling to process this scene herself
"Hey..." Dylan said soothingly "She'll be alright."
"I hope so." Kelly replied
"I'm sorry Brandon..." Dylan said, sitting at the counter of the peach pit, while Brandon served lunch. "I should've handled it better... you know the last thing I wanted to do is hurt your sister or lose... you."
"You won't lose me..." Brandon sighed "I knew you and Brenda had problems before she travelled, but, Dylan you gotta understand Rick wasn't your best friend."
"I know..." Dylan nodded "...You think her and Kelly will move on from this?"
"I don't know..." Brandon shrugged "I hope so."
"Yo, Brandon!" Steve walked over to them "Guess what, me, you, baseball, great seats!" He tossed the tickets on the counter, grinning.
"Great... erm.." Brandon paused "Listen, Dylan's joining us... figured we'd make it a boys night out..."
"Oh." Steve's demeanor changed "Well, why don't you just give him my ticket. He takes whatever he wants anyway." Steve walked off
"What the hell's his problem?" Dylan scoffed
"Well," Brandon shrugged "You are dating his ex..."
"Oh come on!" Dylan rolled his eyes
"I feel horrible, Donna. Don't tell me you hate me too." Kelly groaned, sitting at the corner booth at the peach pit
"I don't hate you, Kelly." Donna sighed "You know I'm the last person to judge but... what you guys did was pretty bad!"
"I know, Donna." Kelly replied "I want to make it right but she won't even talk to me."
"...Give it time... you owe it to her to give her some space, to cool off."
"It's Brenda! She'll never cool off."
"Maybe that's the price you pay. I just... I really hope Dylan's worth it." Donna sighed
The next couple of days were rough. Kelly tried reaching out to Brenda over the phone and in person but got no response.
At school was no different.
Dylan and Kelly sat under the tree on the grass pitch, trying to adjust to their new normal.
"I know it's hard, Kel." Dylan comforted, stroking her hair.
"I feel awful..." Kelly shook her head
"You just gotta let her come to terms with this in her own way." Dylan pulled her in for a cuddle.
Just then Brenda walked passed. Spotted them cozying up to each other. She scoffed before walking into school, shaking her head, furiously.
"Oh god." Kelly groaned. Getting up to run after her.
"Let her go, Kel." Dylan suggested "You can't have a conversation now... she's angry."
"Dylan! I have to!" Kelly snapped, running after her.
Kelly called Brenda's name over and over again
"Brenda, I know you can hear me!" Kelly cried
"Good, because I'm ignoring you!" Brenda snapped
"Brenda, please!" Kelly finally caught up with her "We need to talk about this... I'm sorry, okay? I never meant to hurt you."
"And yet, you did." Brenda snapped again
"I'm so sorry, Brenda! I shouldn't have lied to you and I wish I could go back and handle it better, but you and Dylan are broken up now, you even said yourself you were relieved!"
Brenda turned to face Kelly and glared at her.
"That's not the point!" Brenda yelled "You still don't get it do you? It's not about Dylan, Kelly it's about you! Relieved or not, when things are over between me and my boyfriend you're supposed to be there for ME! You're supposed to be on my side! Not fooling around with him behind my back!"
"It wasn't like that Brenda..." Kelly cried
"Oh that's right. I forgot... you care about each other. What Kelly wants, Kelly gets right? Well you got him now. Have a nice life." Brenda scorned and stormed off.
"Hey! I was so glad you called me." Dylan said, opening his front door to Kelly
"So what do you think?" Dylan asked grinning
"What is this?" Kelly asked, scanning the room
"I know you've had a rough few days so I... I put some candles over here." He said, pointing to the living room "Got Chinese take out, your favorite!" He smiled playfully "And Logan's run... the sexiest movie of all time." He was all giddy yet she was silent.
"I just wanted to do something nice... so you believed I was worth all the drama." He smirked
"Dylan... this is so sweet..." Kelly sighed "But that's not why I called..."
"What is it, Kel?" He asked, anxiously
"I think... we just need to... cool off for a while, you know." Kelly spoke quietly
"What are you saying Kelly?" Dylan asked sternly
"It's just... this whole thing and, and Brenda's reaction... I don't know what I was expecting but, it just makes me feel horrible. I don't want to be this person... I can't handle her feeling so betrayed."
"Kelly, don't do this..." Dylan shook his head
"I'm sorry, Dylan... maybe sometime in the future but... right now, I gotta make things right. I can't start something with you, built on my best friend's pain... it just doesn't seem, worth all this."
"Kel, don't say that!" Dylan pleaded "Please, don't let what's going on with you and Brenda affect what we have!"
"It already has..." she sighed. "I'm sorry." She repeated, turning to leave.
"No, Kelly no!" Dylan ran up to her, guarding the door "Think about this, okay?" He said nervously "What we have is too special to throw away, please just give it time!"
Kelly stroked his cheek before planting a soft, light kiss on his lips "Don't hate me..." she pleaded before walking out.
Dylan rubbed his eyes once the door shut. Kicking over a chair as he walked into the kitchen.
"You're home late." Brenda proclaimed as Brandon walked in the door "Guess game night really did turn into boys night out!"
"We didn't make it to the game." Brandon sighed, slumping himself into the couch
"Why not?" Brenda asked, sitting beside him
"There was a problem..." Brandon shrugged
"What happened?" Brenda asked concerned
"...Dylan was supposed to pick us up, but he never showed. Went over to his place to see what's going on and... he'd been drinking."
"Oh." Brenda paused "Well, that's Kelly's problem now."
"Kelly broke things off..."
"Now why would she do that?" Brenda scoffed
"For you." Brandon replied.
The next day at school, Dylan took out books from his locker.
"Why'd you start drinking after you were doing so well." Brenda asked firmly, causing Dylan to jump out of his skin. Surprised she was talking to him.
"...Don't worry about it, Bren." Dylan sighed "It was just a light relapse. Won't happen again." He said, barely looking at her.
"Hope not." Brenda said sternly. She turned on her heel until Dylan spoke
"Brenda..." he turned to face her "...I'm sorry..." he eventually murmured. She nodded and then headed to class.
"How you doing?" Brandon asked, joining Dylan on the steps of the school.
"I really appreciate what you did, Brandon. But really, you don't need to keep checking up on me. I'm fine."
"Just can't hold Kelly down, huh McKay?" Steve joked walking by
"Steve, come on. Leave him alone." Brandon urged
"Bite me, Sanders!" Dylan scoffed
"Good comeback, Bukowski!" Steve called out as he walked off.
After school Kelly showed up at Dylan's house
"Hi... I heard about last night." She said sheepishly
"Brandon's got a big mouth." Dylan scoffed
"Dylan I don't want to make things harder on either of us. The last thing I want is for you to back to-"
"-Don't blame yourself, Kel." He cut her off "What I did was my doing , not your fault."
"Dylan, I'm so-"
"But what you should take the blame for..." Dylan cut her off again "Is throwing away what we had. That's what you should feel bad about." He said coldly.
"Dylan..." Kelly cried, noticing the pain in his voice.
"Just go, Kelly." He said, not looking up at her.
"Alright... I'll... see myself out." She uttered. Dylan stood there, too busy dwelling on his own pain to face her.
Later that night, Kelly sat alone at the peach pit... playing around with the food on her plate but she could barely eat.
"Hi." A voice called, causing Kelly to look up
"Was that Hi for me?" Kelly asked, astonished as Brenda faced her.
"Why did you break things off with Dylan?" Brenda asked, her tone still firm and uninviting
"...I" Kelly sighed "I couldn't live with myself, couldn't live with the betrayal."
"...You know this doesn't change anything." Brenda said sternly
"I know. And I know it doesn't make up for what I did. But I miss our friendship. I'll do whatever I can to mend us. I just want to show you, im putting you first this time. I want to earn your trust... it's a start." Kelly sighed
"Okay." Brenda said quietly. Heading out.
"Kelly..." Brenda turned back around to face her "I'll be at rodeo drive tomorrow after school..." She nodded.
Kelly paused, looking up at her. And smiled
"I'll be there." Kelly agreed
"Alright." Brenda let out a faint smile back.
A week had passed. Dylan hadn't shown up to school much. Brandon was the only one who kept in touch with him, checking in every now and then. Neither Kelly nor Brenda had spoken to him. They focused on their friendship. Slowly but surely growing closer again. Brenda began to trust Kelly again noticing how committed Kelly was to mending their friendship.
"Did you girls hear?" Donna asked as Kelly drove the girls to school that morning
"About Dylan's dad?" Brenda asked "Brandon mentioned it. Must be hard for him. Last time Jack was here, Dylan was in a bad place."
"Good thing he has Brandon." Donna nodded.
"And Brandon said he's coming to school today." Brenda replied.
Her and Donna both turned to face Kelly whose focus was set firmly on driving. Realizing she was avoiding the subject, they didn't stress it. Dylan's name hadn't been mentioned among the girls till Donna said it now.
"Romeo and Juliet." Mr Wong asked, their substitute English lit teacher stood in front of the class "it's a given that this is a tragic love story, but tell me, does romance and tragedy go hand in hand, or has art encouraged us to perceive it so... anyone wanna throw their 2 cents in?"
"I'll go." Kelly's hand shot up. Surprising both Brenda and Dylan. Kelly rarely took part in class discussions.
"I think romance and tragedy do go hand in hand. Gaining what you desire the most in the world is... tragic. A love so intense it... it takes over your mind, body and soul, and that kind of passion, reminds you that you now have something to lose. So we... torture ourselves in love. And while it's romantic, it's also tragic."
"I disagree." Brandon raised his hand "While Kelly's theory was wonderfully insightful and deep. I'm sorry, it's just not the norm. The average person doesn't search for a love that torments them. People just want to be happy, and search for what's easy-going. That's the way it's supposed to be. Love isn't meant to be hard, tragic, that's just in art. Real, everyday people know that the purpose of love is to find someone to share your life with, someone who makes life more light hearted, a partner who makes everything... better."
"You're right." Kelly replied to Brandon. "That's absolutely the healthy, right way to go about it. But the average person is not as well-rounded and mentally mature as Brandon. The broken people, they aren't mentally developed enough to understand the right way to love. They torture themselves. They feel things far too deeply because they're simply not strong enough to take control. The desire cuts too deep and they become so dependent on feeling good. Romance just consumes them. And those broken people are the ones who create art, on their pain because they're not strong or capable enough to fix themselves, they use their artistry as an outlet. Everyone sits there admiring it because let's face it, the best forms of art comes from pain. But the truth is... it's a tragedy."
"Well, Kelly." Brandon said shaking her hand outside of class "Quite the competitor" He winked, she smiled back as he walked off.
She stood in the doorway, pondering over her previous words when Dylan walked by.
"Hey!" She said nervously "Good to see you back at school."
"Wish I could say the same." He murmured
"How are you doing?" She asked
"I'm doing..."
"Well, you look a lot better."
"Thanks..." They stared at each other for a moment.
"I heard about your dad." She said, trying to sidestep the tension.
"Yeah... he's back. It's been... nice." He let out a smile
"I'm glad." Kelly smiled back before he turned on his heel.
"Actually..." Dylan paused, walking back towards her "Jack's got this gathering at the BelAge. I'd... erm. Well it'd mean a lot if you could come..."
"Oh." Kelly said, taken aback. "I don't think I-"
"-never mind." Dylan interjected "Broken people just torture themselves right? Shouldn't let desire consume us."
"Dylan!" She called out as he was about to walk away
"Romance and tragedy go hand in hand, ain't that right, Kel." Dylan gazed back at her "See ya around." He left.