Wow, only 5 days since an update! And it was all written in 1 day! That's a good sign :)
This is totally irrelevant to the chapter, but I just recently saw (or heard) Zac on Robot Chicken and I gotta say it was HILARIOUS!!! I was shocked by all the language that he used, but it was sooo awesome! I memorized half of the song and it just gets funnier every time I watch it! If you have absolutely NO idea what I'm talking about, go to YouTube and type in "Zac Efron on Robot Chicken" and you'll get a bunch of results. Trust me, it's hysterical!
Chapter 12 - From the Heart
"Brandon, where are we going?" Isabelle giggled, slightly impatient, for about the fifth time in the last ten minutes.
Brandon rolled his eyes and grinned "Just twenty more minutes, babe. Be patient."
Isabelle crossed her arms and sighed, slouching in her seat. Brandon had been driving for the last hour and ten minutes and she had seen that they left Albuquerque a while ago. She hated surprises, and had a feeling that this was most certainly the most annoying one in a while.
As promised, twenty minutes later, Brandon pulled the car into a half-full parking lot and killed the engine, grinning wider after every second. Isabelle looked up at the small building in confusion. "Where are we?"
"You'll see." Brandon simply told her, he and Isabelle getting out of the car at the same time. He took her hand and walked up to the little front door, feeling the hesitation in her step.
As soon as they were inside, they were met by a heavy set woman with long, curly red hair and looked to be in her early forties. She smiled widely at Brandon and giggled "It's so good to see you! We've been expecting you, Brandon." Her mild, but visible southern accent was filled with happiness.
Brandon beamed back. "My dad called, didn't he?"
"Sure did. And I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that this is the little beauty you told me about last time you were here?" She turned to Isabelle and held out her hand, decorated with long, red fingernails. "Hey there, sweetie. I'm Paula."
Isabella shyly shook her hand, replying "Hi Paula, I'm Isabelle."
Paula continued "I've heard some wonderful things about you, Isabelle. Brandon over here doesn't shut up about you. You can just hear all the love coming from his voice if he isn't telling me about you."
"Paula!" Brandon hissed, his cheeks reddening furiously.
Paula laughed again. "Calm down, Brandon. Table or booth?"
"Doesn't matter as long as we're in a corner. Privacy, please?"
"How much privacy before I have to draw the line?"
"Paula, please."
Paula rolled her eyes, but still asked "Do you need a menu?"
"Nah, I'll just have my usual." Isabelle's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He said it like he came here at least once a week.
Paula nodded and led the two to a darkly lit corner in the back of the restaurant, farther away from any of the other people in the building. She laid down a single menu on the table and motioned for the two to sit down. "Can I start you off with something to drink?"
"Root beer." They both said at the same time, blushing soon after as they smiled at each other.
Paula bit back a snicker as she turned to Isabelle again and said "Okay, so Brandon will have his usual, but do you need some time to look at the menu, honey?"
Isabelle shook her head. "I'll just have what he's having."
Paula nodded and marked the order down on her notepad. "Two pepper-jack cheese chicken sandwiches. Is that it?" Brandon and Isabelle nodded. Paula continued "Kay, then I'll have your drinks and breadsticks out in a second. Your food should be ready in about fifteen minutes."
"Thanks, Paula." Brandon dismissed her with a smile and turned back to his beautiful girlfriend. "So, what do you think?"
Isabelle laughed and shook her head in disbelief. "Brandon Montez, you drove an hour and a half just to take me to dinner?"
Brandon smiled and explained "Not just any dinner. This place is special to me. Last year when I lived with my dad for a while, we used to come here almost every night. This is where he took my mom on their first date."
Isabelle suddenly saw where he was coming from. "Aww, that's sweet. So that's how Paula knows you?"
Brandon nodded "Yeah, she's a friend of my dad's. Scared the hell out of her when she first saw me last year."
"Why?"
"A: the last time she saw me before last year was when I was in diapers and B: the way me and my dad look almost like twins scares pretty much everyone. Honestly, it's almost like looking in a mirror, only he's a bit more mature-looking."
Isabelle's eyebrows shot up. She had heard from the whole gang that Brandon and his dad were spitting images of each other, the way Gabriella was with her mom. "Wow, I'll have to meet him sometime."
Brandon nodded in agreement. "I would take you to meet him tonight, but I don't want everyone back at home thinking that we ran off to Vegas or something."
Isabelle giggled, half of it sarcastically and the other from the joke. "Ha, like I'd let you kidnap me without Brooke's approval. She'd turn you inside out."
Brandon leaned back in his cushioned seat, folding his hands behind his head. "You'll have to tell me about Brooke later. I wanna know about the girl who's been keeping you sane while we're not together."
Isabelle nodded, about to reply but was interrupted by Paula setting the drinks and breadsticks down on the table. "There you go, kids. You're food will be out in about ten minutes."
Brandon nodded and she walked off, letting Isabelle reply. She took a sip of her soda and answered "Sure. It should be interesting to see your reaction when I tell you about some of the insane situations that we've been in – well, that I've been in. She pretty much forces her way in if she thinks I'm not safe."
"Ah, bodyguard."
"Yup, that's Brooke for you. So on another note, how's the food here?" She looked around shortly at the people eating with dreamy looks on their faces, showing her that the food was obviously delicious.
Brandon exhaled, closing his eyes and shaking his head slowly. "That's another reason that I brought you here. They have possibly some of the best food that I've ever had. It almost beats my mom." Isabelle saw him swallow his saliva.
"If that's even possible." She commented.
Brandon smiled "I'll be sure to tell her that."
The blonde rolled her eyes, but blushed none the less. "Thanks. Appreciate it."
Brandon sighed "Seriously, I don't know what it is about this place, but it just feels so...homey. Like I'm sitting in my kitchen, smelling my favorite food cooking, talking to the people that I love the most while my favorite song is playing in the background."
Isabelle fought back a smile while she replied "Whoa, that's elaborate. Don't forget wearing your favorite outfit." She eyed her boyfriend's green Hollister shirt and destroyed jeans.
He looked down at himself, almost forgetting what he was wearing in the first place and flushed. "Yeah, I guess I do have a weakness for these. Sorry about that."
Isabelle shook her head quickly. "I'm not complaining. They look amazing on you. And you know how I'm in love with tank tops with hoodies. Addicting, aren't they?"
"You wear it so much people can't picture you in anything else." They laughed and proceeded to tell stories about the times they've had away from each other, Isabelle happily getting a story about Brooke in the mix.
"Oh my God, she had the guts to do that for you?" Brandon's jaw dropped.
Isabelle nodded and finished off her soda. "I told you she's insane. She saw Tori trip me and make my lunch fly everywhere. She stormed over and dumped her lemonade all over her head, Tori threw her chili fries at Brooke, and that started the first food fight of the year. The girls at our table flipped the table onto its side so that we could hide from all the food being thrown and then attacked people once we found a chance. It was amazing."
"What happened after that?" Brandon immediately asked, getting totally immersed into the story.
"Tori's a teacher's pet, so she told the principle that it was me, Brooke, and our whole lunch table who started it. She completely left out the part about her tripping me."
Brandon breathed "So she was just let off the hook like that?"
"Yup."
"Bitch..."
Isabelle giggled at his reaction. "No, it wasn't that bad actually. Brooke's not one to take crap from anybody, so that night we went to her house and divided in half, me, Brooke, and two other girls on one side of the house and four more on the other side. We had eggs, they had toilet paper, and I think you can guess what happened after that."
"Wow, she's brave..." Brandon shook his head in disbelief, trying to imagine what would happen if he and Troy did something stupid like that to someone they didn't like and try to get away with it.
Isabelle continued "Oh please, she wasn't finished with her. Tori and Brooke are in the same gym class, and Tori left her locker to go talk to one of her friends. She didn't change yet and they were outside running the track, so they were all sweaty and Brooke took her clothes, stuck them in a toilet, and then peed in it."
"Oh my God!" Brandon exclaimed, feeling himself already start to respect Brooke though he didn't even meet her yet.
Isabelle nodded and, through howls of laughter, finished "So Tori walked around five more periods in dirty, ugly gym clothes. Her boyfriend's a jerk, so he just broke up with her that day. Brooke had something else in mind to do to her, but she isn't completely heartless so she just let it go. It was hysterical."
Once he could correctly form coherent sentences, Brandon sighed "Wow, she sounds awesome."
Isabelle nodded "She is. She's really strong too, physically and emotionally."
"How?"
"I'll tell you later. It's a long story and I don't think this is the place to tell it. It's kinda personal to her, but I don't think she'd mind if I told you. As long as you don't tell anybody else."
Brandon shook his head "I promise I won't say anything. I don't gossip that much anyway."
Just then Paula came around the corner with a tray of food, setting the plates down in front of Brandon and Isabelle. "Here we are, two orders of pepper-jack cheese chicken sandwiches. Need more soda, guys?"
Isabelle nodded "Yes, please. And can I get a water with it?"
Paula gave a friendly smile. "Of course, sweetie. I'll have those right out for ya."
When she turned the corner, Isabelle looked down at her food and grinned. The spicy cheese was oozing out the sizes of the crispy-looking chicken patty, making her salivate from the delicious scent. "This looks so good." She mumbled.
Brandon gave a cocky smile. "Try it and don't say I didn't warn you."
Izzy rolled her eyes and took the sandwich in her hands, raised it to her mouth, and bit into it. Her eyes rolled back into her head before she closed them, whimpering at the taste. "Oh my God..."
"You like it?" came Paula's Texas accent, setting down the new glasses of soda.
"I swear I'm dead and on my way to heaven..." Isabelle answered after she swallowed the mouthful. She quickly took another bite and had the same reaction. "I think just met God."
"Glad you enjoy it." Brandon chuckled, starting his own food. "So is this worth the wait I made you endure?"
"Mmhm..." Isabelle moaned, taking another bite.
"I told you not all surprises are bad." Isabelle stuck her tongue out at him and grinned appreciatively.
--
"So, you want me to tell you about Brooke now?" Isabelle softly asked, snuggling closer into him and stroking his bare forearm. The two were now back in Albuquerque on the hill above the sparkling lake that was so famous to the gang. They lay on their backs, Isabelle's head resting on Brandon's chest and her legs tangled with his. Brandon cradled Isabelle's neck in his arm and was absentmindedly finger-combing through her bangs slowly, enjoying the comfortable silence that Isabelle had just broken.
"Sure. The story of why she's so strong, right?"
"Yup."
"Go ahead."
Isabelle took a deep breath and started "Brooke is...different, than most girls at our school. She's the most energetic, the bravest, and the most protective. She has this really strong outer exterior, but you'd never guess that she can be weak at times. She's really boy-crazy, but she..." her voice trailed off.
"She what?" Brandon urged, getting a little into what she was saying.
Isabelle left the sentence hanging as she tried the explanation from a different angle. "She's Australian and moved to the U.S. when she was seven years old. Her parents were apparently really nice, but they were also...homophobic."
"Were?"
"Yeah, I'm getting to that." Isabelle answered. "So she lived in Rhode Island until she was thirteen. Her parents taught her that gays were disgusting parasites that should be wiped off the face of the Earth and she, thankfully, didn't believe them. She just shied away from them whenever she came in contact with them. She knew that they were still human and that it wasn't their choice to wake up and be gay. So she believed that she was completely straight...until the end of seventh grade."
"What happened?"
"It was her science class and she was paired with this girl, Stacy, for a project that they had to work on at home. They worked on it for two weeks really hard and when they finally finished, they threw their hands up in the air and jumped around, happy that they were finally done. Then Brooke just did something that she never thought she would do."
Brandon barely had to think about what happened after that. "She kissed her, didn't she?"
Isabelle nodded gravely, sighing "Stacy pushed her off and just started screaming, backing herself into the wall and asking Brooke what she was doing. Brooke just got her stuff and ran out of the house."
"Wow..." was all Brandon could muster.
Isabelle continued "She ran home, all seven blocks, and thought about what she had just done. She had kissed a few guys before and enjoyed them, so she knew that she wasn't completely gay. Her parents didn't say anything about bisexuals being bad, so she went and told them about it."
Brandon interrupted "Let me guess: they yelled at her for it?"
Isabelle laughed once without any humor; mostly anger and hostility. "That's an understatement. They denied it at first, saying that she just got caught up in the moment and that Stacy was the one who started it. Brooke told them what happened again, but this time she added that she actually liked it. That's when it sunk into her parents' thick skulls and they told her that she was a stupid, dirty bi and..."
"What?" Brandon whispered, seeing the angry tears forming in her eyes. She blinked them back before they could fall and continued quietly "They kicked her out. She sat down there crying while they threw all of her stuff out of her room into bags and called her mom's sister, Katrina, who is also bi. Her mom said Brooke was her filthy responsibility now and told her that she would get on a plane in the morning."
"They disowned her?" Brandon exclaimed, feeling angry himself.
Isabelle nodded in disgust. "She didn't have that many friends in Rhode Island and all of them were linked to Stacy, who told them all already. Her parents wouldn't let her sleep in the house and her friend's didn't want to hang around her anymore in fear that she would try to hit on them, so she had to sleep outside, without a bed or anything. She had a hoodie, her jeans, and that's it. Her parents wouldn't give her a blanket or pillow because they thought that she didn't deserve it. She ended up crying herself to sleep in the middle of December."
"That's horrible..." Brandon whispered, not being able to digest the information about Isabelle's best friend. How did she live through it all?
"She got on the plane to San Francisco, California in the morning and met up with her Aunt Katrina later that day, crying the whole way to the house. She got her stuff situated and then she talked with Katrina about it. Kat told her that she shouldn't be ashamed to be bi and that her parents were just stupid. If they were going to kick her out just because of her sexuality, they didn't deserve to be parents. Brooke told her that she only kissed one girl by accident and didn't know for sure if she was really bi and asked Kat how she found out she wasn't completely straight. Katrina just told her that she started finding girls and guys both attractive and that she was never ashamed of it. Her sister, Brooke's mom, spread rumors about her in school, so she moved in with her grandma until she died. Katrina was 18 at the time and was kinda lucky because she was about to go to college. Her parents never spoke to her again."
"What's wrong with that family?" Brandon seethed, not believing what he was hearing. If his future kids were bi or even gay, he would just congratulate them on being brave enough to tell him. He wouldn't care if they were different.
Isabelle sighed and continued "So Katrina told her to go out and experiment with girls to make sure. Brooke met another lesbian her age the next day and confirmed it. She started at my school a week later and didn't exactly fit in. I felt bad for her. She tried to keep her sexuality to herself until she got caught with her girlfriend one Friday. She walked into school and was immediately laughed at and made fun of her. These girls started beating her up until I couldn't take watching it anymore. I got in the middle of them throwing another punch at her and helped Brooke to her feet, leading her to the bathroom to clean her up. She cried and asked me if it was another joke. I told her that my dad's friend was gay and I wasn't homophobic. Just by me saying that, she trusted me enough to tell me her story and we became instant friends. My other friends met her that day at lunch and accepted her as a person and not a disgusting bi. So she eventually broke out of her shell and now, she doesn't take any sexuality crap from anybody. That's why she gets in so many fights."
Brandon was speechless. If this were him, he wouldn't be able to live through it all. Having his own family and friends turn their backs on him and then to be treated like shit just for liking girls and guys. This thought just made him angrier.
"She still gets made fun of?" Brandon asked through his teeth, already knowing the answer.
Isabelle nodded "That's why she gets in so many fights at school. She was suspended three times last year. She fought with Tori five times off school grounds. The other three were with two girls and a guy."
"A guy?"
"Yeah, he was making fun of her and she just exploded on him. He was no match for her, though, so he didn't fight back. Weak little bastard. But he was the principle's son so she was suspended for a week. Katrina never grounded her for any of this though. She actually encourages Brooke to defend herself if someone's talking down on her."
"Wow, strong girl."
"I told you. Most of the fights are just verbal though. She got into two fights while she was still in middle school, too."
"Whoa, that was fast. So how does she find time to protect you?"
Isabelle giggled, moving closer into his side. "She knows the reputations of all the guys in the school and when I would tell her who I liked – before I met you, of course – she would decide if he was good enough for me. If she didn't like him, I would go out with him without a completely open mind. I only ended up in a steady relationship with one guy that Brooke didn't like. Good ol' Colby. Nice kid."
"What happened to that relationship?" Brandon asked, barely feeling any pang of jealousy for the lucky guy who went out with this goddess beside him.
Isabelle answered "He moved to Texas. I cried for about a day or two before Brooke helped me move on."
Brandon sighed contently and pulled Isabelle closer to him, if that was possible. He kissed her temple and whispered almost inaudibly "I love you."
Isabelle grinned faintly and replied "I love you more. You're stuck with me for the rest of your life, Montez." She looked down at his arm and started circling his bullet wound with her thumb.
Brandon chuckled, tilting his head to reach her lips. "That's not gonna be a problem."
As he pulled away from her, he glanced at his watch and his eyebrows rose. They'd been out that long?
"Not that I'm not in heaven here, but I think we should be getting back to the others. It's almost 12:30."
"Wow, we've been out for four hours?"
"I guess so. It doesn't even seem like it."
Isabelle giggled "Nope. How long do you think they'll stay up?"
Brandon traced his thoughts back to the last time they had a big sleepover and recalled "Until about four or five, I think. Probably later if we don't get back soon."
"Girls'll get worried?"
"And the guys. I can hear it now," he used his best Troy voice "'Dude, I hope you used protection while you were out'."
Isabelle rolled her eyes along with him and grumbled "And I can hear Sharpay now; 'My mom has some morning-after pills you can take, Izzy. We don't want anything unexpected'."
Brandon laughed and pulled himself off the ground, holding his hand out for her. "Our friends are crazy."
"Don't have to tell me twice."
--
...Monday, 9th Period...
"5, 6, 7, 8!"
The team broke out into their next routine for the winter dance that was a few months away. Live Your Life restarted from the stereo system set up near the door and Coach Hilson was walking around the circle that the dancers had formed, evaluating their performances. Brandon didn't know for sure, but he could've sworn that whenever he looked at him, he was smiling at him.
When the team came to a stop, Hilson finally called Brandon over to him.
"Brandon, can I see you for a minute?" he called.
Brandon excused himself from the rest of the team and walked over to him, saying "Yeah?"
Hilson grinned, acknowledging the man beside him. Brandon looked him over; he looked official, business-like but still casual. He was wearing khakis and a logo shirt. He took a closer look. Albuquerque School of Dance...
His eyes widened.
"Brandon, this is Matt Faith. He's here to talk to you about a job opening at the school."
"Oh my God..." Brandon whispered, totally immobilized by the owner of the dance school.
Matt walked up to Brandon and smiled "Hey Brandon. I was at the dance on Friday and saw your performance and I must say, I was impressed. No, more than impressed. I was blown away by it. How long have you been dancing?"
Brandon swallowed back his speechlessness and stuttered "S-since I was s-seven."
Matt nodded "11 years. Not bad. Listen, one of our best teachers just moved away and we've been looking around for a replacement. He was 26 and we wanted to see if we could find someone around his age, but from what I've seen on Friday, you're just as good as he is, if not better. Are you free on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturday mornings?"
Brandon let his suddenly heavy head bob absentmindedly.
Matt smiled. "Okay then. Stop by the school tomorrow and we'll see about hiring you to teach the classes. Sound good?"
Brandon still couldn't speak. He just stood there like an idiot, staring at the man's face with wide eyes and a long since dropped jaw.
Hilson seemed to catch his attitude and softly slapped his forearm. Brandon shook his head free of his haze and exclaimed "Y-yeah! Sounds great! What time?"
"How about three, right after school?"
Brandon nodded fervently, beaming. "Yes! God yes! I'll be there!"
Matt held his hand out, replying "Looking forward to it, Mr. Montez."
Brandon shook his hand willingly. "Me too."
--
...Troy...
Troy sat down in his seat at 9th period, pulling out his biology notebook and turning to the homework that he already started. He looked around the room for his second best friend, but couldn't see Chad anywhere in sight. Confused, he ripped out a page from the notebook and wrote a note on it, passing it to Gabriella. When it landed on her desk, she looked up at him briefly and read it before replying and passing it back to him. Troy opened the folded paper and read:
Hey, have you seen Chad?
Nope, why?
He scribbled down an answer and tossed it back to his girlfriend, who replied instantly.
He's not here and didn't say anything about going anywhere 9th period. Wonder if he's with Taylor...
OPTIONS - A: he got held up after class because he was being Chad or B: he IS with Taylor somewhere.
Troy turned to her and gave a quick nod. He didn't know what it was, but something just didn't feel right about Chad and that had him worried. He had to find him.
Just as he was looking for an excuse to go search, he realized that he left his biology book in his locker. He raised his hand, asking "Ms. Darbus, can I go get my biology book out of my locker?"
Darbus just gave him a sharp nod, calling "Hurry back, Mr. Bolton."
Troy quickly got out of his seat and half-ran for the door, then sprinted down the hallway, looking this way and that to see if he could find Chad. He looked in all the places that he could be until he finally gave up, having looked everywhere and not seeing Chad anywhere. He sighed dejectedly and shuffled back to his locker. After getting his book, Troy slammed his locker shut and walked around the corner, only to be bombarded with a heavy weight pushing him to the ground forcefully.
"What the-" Troy groaned, holding his throbbing head with a trembling hand.
"TROY!!! HE'S GOT HER!!!" a worried, but familiar voice shouted in Troy's ear, enhancing his headache.
"What? Who has who?" Troy asked shakily, cracking his left eye open slightly.
"Brick! He's got-"
Just for the hell of it, if you want to imagine the restaurant, think in the area of the restaurant in the Twilight movie. And yeah, I know that the whole thing with Brooke isn't really all that important right now, but I just got to thinking about Isabelle talking about some of her friends and thought up Brooke. You'll probably see more of her later in the story :)
So! Brandon gets a job offer and Brick has struck again! It's actually kinda obvious as to who tackled Troy, by the way.
REVIEW!!! Thnx :)
~Rachel :)
NEW POLL ON MY PAGE!!! PLEASE VOTE, CUZ I'M HAVING A HARD TIME DECIDING!!!
Live Your Life is by T.I. ft. Rihanna
Trivia:
- As said before, the restaurant is based off of the one in Twilight
- I just randomly made up the pepper-jack cheese chicken thing. If I'm at a restaurant and they have any kind of chicken sandwich, I get it :D
- I don't know if there's really an Alb. School of Dance or not. Again, just made it up.
Oh yeah, and just for the record, if you can come up with a better title for this chapter, please suggest it because I just came up with this one on the spot :S