Chapter 22
Brooke's POV
Even when Bella, Edward, and I arrived back at the Cullen's vacation home that same night, and we had all went to our separate rooms, both dreams still kept coming back. Every time I'd wake up screaming, and then Bella or Edward would come in to check on me. I would tell them I was fine, eventually go back to sleep, dream again, and repeat the process. I barely slept at all.
So as I was driving to class the next morning, I was fully determined to make up with Adam. I figured maybe clearing my mind of that would help with my random dreaming, and at least that way I wouldn't be so bored around here.
I hung around in the parking lot for what seemed like hours, when I recognized Lance's car pull into a parking space. When he got out of the car...Adam wasn't with him, which I found odd, because normally the two of them went everywhere together.
I took a deep breath and headed that way. When Lance saw me walking in his direction...he seemed surprised...but then he smiled.
"Wow Brooke...long time no see." He said.
I smiled as well, showing him that I was no longer aggravated. "Hey Lance. Where's your brother at this morning?"
"You want to know where Adam is?" He asked, seeming shocked.
"Yeah...that's why I asked. I want to talk to him."
"You actually want to talk to Adam?"
I laughed. "Yes stupid...I wouldn't tell you that if I didn't."
He laughed. "We had a minor emergency in the kitchen this morning. A piece of toast almost caught the freaking toaster on fire!"
I raised my eyebrow.
"Ok...the piece of toast that I put in the toaster and forgot about almost caught the freaking toaster on fire."
"You just had to throw the freaking part in there...didn't you?"
"Um yeah I believe I did." He said, with a grin.
"So Adam's taking care of your inflamed toaster?"
"Well it's not completely on fire....just kinda." He said. "Besides...I have an early class this morning...so I made him stay behind."
"Ahh...gotcha."
"Speaking of my brother...here comes the little playa now." He said, pointing in the direction of Adam's car.
"Playa? Seriously...you too?"
"Huh?" He asked.
"That's what Lacey said as well."
He nodded as if he totally understood what I meant. "Oh yeah."
"Can't you guys just say player? Does it really make that much of a difference by taking off the -er and adding and -a?"
"It sounds cooler." He said with a shrug. "Player, Playa, Play-to-the-er-izzle....however you put it...that's Adam." He simply said, before leaving me there standing by his car.
I shook my head, trying to shake the utter nonsense out of it. I suddenly missed Dr. Cullen's highly formal and extremely confusing vocabulary.
I walked over to Adam's usual parking space just as he was getting out of his car. When he saw me standing there he looked even more shocked than Lance.
"Hey." I said, just like I would to him any other day.
"Hey." He replied, looking at me in a confused manner.
I sighed. "Look Adam...I'm sorr.."
"No Brooke." He said...interrupting me. "You don't need to apologize. I should be the one telling you I'm sorry...which I am."
I laughed a little.
"Look..everything I said was stupid..and it was wrong of me to go off on you like that."
"It was wrong of me to go off on you too." I said.
"Yeah...maybe it was." He replied, smiling at me.
"So you're seriously ok with everything I told you?"
"Absolutely not." He said, but he was smiling. "You're dating a freaking thirty-eight year old with five kids and another girlfriend. There's no way I'm ok with it. But I guess I kinda have to deal with it."
"Yeah...you kinda do." I said, as we started walking inside. "I've been bored out of my mind this past week, can we please go do something tonight?"
"Sure...what do you wanna do?" He asked, smiling at a group of cute girls.
I smacked him. "Lance and Lacey are right...you are a player."
"Ahhh they told you about that huh?" He said, further proving my point as he winked at yet another girl.
"Gee...no I totally came up with that one on my own."
"Ah...didn't know...didn't know." He smiled. "But you sadly are correct. Well at least at one time you would have been."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
He laughed. "I don't um...do that kind of stuff anymore."
"Do what kind of stuff?"
"Player stuff ya know? Like dating five different girls at once, dating one girl one day then another the next. Making my "rounds" if you catch my drift."
He deserved to be smacked again, and since it looked like I was the only girl that would do it...I did.
"Ouch...jeez Brooke...cool your jets girl."
"You are terrible." I said, shaking my head at him.
"Hey...like I said, I don't do that stuff anymore."
"Anymore? When did you stop...like last week?"
"Hey give me some credit here."
I gave him an odd expression in return.
"Ok truthfully I should have no credit. I've never had a solid relationship, I'm scared of my brother's girlfriend, and I just had to put out a minor fire in a toaster this morning."
I laughed.
"Hey but I've probably gotten a lot further in a relationship than you ever had." He said, smiling as if that was something he should be proud of. I'm sure he was.
"I defiantly would not doubt that."
"Seriously though." He said, switching his books over to his other hand. "I haven't done that kind of stuff for...eh...about a month and a half now." He said, looking at me with a grin.
It clicked for me. "Oh gosh...don't I feel special." I said, but I smiled. "I'm the girl that benched the world's greatest player."
"Nice expression." He said, grinning.
I rolled my eyes. "So you haven't done "player stuff" as you call it...since you've known me."
"Nope." He said, with a grin. "I think I'm in love." He offered me an even dumber grin, and took off running before I could smack him again.
"Adam Christopher Freaking Chandelier!" I yelled, chasing after him.
"Since when did I gain a second middle name, and it become freaking?" He yelled back.
"Since I started picking up Lacey lingo!"
"Ahh...I see." He called after me.
"Adam get back here right now!"
"What is that Brooke? You wanna met at the mall at five? Ok!" He yelled back, smiling at me over his shoulder before dashing into our classroom.
I stopped running, assuming I could smack him just as hard once I got into the classroom.
Simply assuming.
No surprise here, Adam and I met at the mall at five.
We really didn't necessarily shop when we went to the mall, we kind of just ran around all of the stores and really ticked off the clerks. It was even more fun when Lacey and Lance were with us..because...well does it really need any more explaining? It's Lance and Lacey.
Adam and I had already wasted over twenty bucks in the arcade a piece, taken pictures in the photo booth, ate a really big freaking hamburger, and spilled a whole butt load of gumballs on the mall floor. We ran away from that situation before we got busted.
Now we were doing something a little more civilized...we were actually shopping. We had retreated to one of the clothing stores, and I had drug Adam over to a display of graphic tees that he really wasn't interested in. One because they were for girls, and two, because he was much more interested in the girl hanging up clothes in the men's department.
However we both got sort of lost in looking at the clothes on the rack, and neither one of us spoke for a while. The rack of graphic tees was located in front of a display of tank tops. Why in the world anyone needed tank tops in Alaska during the spring was beyond my comprehension...but I decided to look at the display anyway.
I was actually becoming quite interested in a light-pink tank top, and I was digging through the stack trying to find my size. Adam was still looking through the graphic tees, laughing at the ones with funny expressions.
I was having quite a problem trying to locate my size, and I was becoming aggravated. Then suddenly I heard something that froze me in place.
"May I take a look at that bracelet there please?" She said.
I felt the breath get knocked right out of me. That voice belonged to no one else but Viviene.
My first thought was to hide, so I immediately ducked behind the display of tank tops. When Adam walked near me I grabbed a hold of his pant leg and yanked him down there beside me.
Boy was he confused.
"Brooke what the he.." He started to say before I covered his mouth with my hand.
"Adam..shush." I said in a whisper. I looked over at the jewelry counter, and there she was, wearing a midnight blue formal gown and a huge white fur coat. She was looking at a very expensive looking diamond bracelet, holding her credit card in the other hand. I removed my hand from Adam's mouth.
"She's supposed to be in Ireland." I whispered, causing Adam to become even more confused.
"Um...pardon my question here...but what the heck are we doing on the floor?"
"She's here." I said, finding it very hard to form the words.
"Who is she?"
I sighed. "Dr. Cullen's other girlfriend Viviene...she's over there."
Adam peeked over the display to catch a glance at her.
"Holy hot chick." He said quickly before snapping out of it when he saw my ticked off/panicked expression. "Sorry. That's her?"
"Yes that's her."
"Well why are you hiding from her?"
"Because that lady scares the crap out of me!" I said.
"It's not like you're with your boyfriend right now...no reason to hide from her."
I closed my eyes and sighed. "Yes I know, but I am so terrible at hiding things, and she's jealous of me anyway."
"Why?"
"Come on Adam...do you watch TV? Everyone knows the hot doctor and his assistant always have something going on! She has more reason to be jealous of me than anyone."
He shrugged in agreement.
"Ugh...if only I could make her think I wasn't interested in him." I said, hitting my head against the display. Then suddenly I got an idea. "Adam...what was it you said a while ago?"
"I said why."
"No...before that."
"Um." He said, thinking. "Something like it's not like your with your boyfriend now."
"Exactly." I said, opening my eyes. "I can make her think I'm with my boyfriend now."
He looked very confused. "You're going to make her think that you and that Cullen guy are here together? Brooke doesn't that seem like the exact opposite of what you want to do?"
"No stupid." I said, laughing a little at his dumbness. "Look are you a good actor?"
"Well." He said, getting that stupid grin on his face. "I never did participate in any of our school plays."
"Can you lie well?"
"Heck yes I can lie well." He said, smiling even more now. "It's almost a necessity."
"Great..don't want to hear the stories." I said. "Listen...don't get any crazy ideas here...but I want you to pretend to be my boyfriend."
Boy was he grinning now.
"Just make her believe that we're happily dating and such. This will possibly help me out. And please try to do most of the talking. I can't lie to save my life...which is exactly what I'm trying to do right now."
"Do you want me to like...kiss you or something?"
"No I've already experienced that...I don't think we need a repeat." I said. "Keep physical contact to a minimum."
"But we have to make her believe we're happily dating. Can I put my arm around your waist?"
"No."
"Shoulders?"
"No."
"Hold your hand?"
I sighed. "Ugh...fine...you may hold my hand."
"Yes!" He declared.
"Keep it under control McRomeo." I said as we got up. She was now buying the bracelet with her credit card. Well...Dr. Cullen's credit card.
Adam took my hand, I took a deep breath, and the two of us started walking that way. That dumb grin still hadn't left Adam's face.
Viviene turned to walk in our direction, and of course, she saw me. Her face lit up in that evil sort of way.
"Ahh Brooke, what a surprise to see you here! Carlisle told me that you were up here in Alaska for the medical program...but I never thought I would run into you."
Yes and you told him that you were in Ireland Viviene...so I certainly thought I wasn't going to run into you.
"I didn't know you were traveling in Alaska." I said...keeping my thoughts to myself.
"Ahh well you know I figured I'd check it out around here. I've only been here twice, I'm flying to Peru tomorrow morning." She said with a smile, then she noticed Adam for the first time.
"And who is this dashing young man?"
Just when I thought Adam couldn't smile any wider...he did. Just what he needed, an amazingly beautiful women hitting on him.
"This dashing young man would be Adam." He said.
I wanted to smack him, but I resisted the urge.
"Ahh nice to meet you Adam...I'm Viviene. I'm dating the doctor that Brooke works for."
"Really, because Brooke and I are dating." He said. Go Adam! Take over this conversation so I may panic in my head.
"Oh really? How long have the two of you been together?"
"Two years." He said. What? Ok...I said just to make it look like we were happy together, not like we were high-school sweethearts or anything. He was loving this too much.
"Two years...that's wonderful." She replied.
"Yes, my brother's girlfriend has family up in Seattle, and we went up there for a summer and I met Brooke. We totally hit it off. I actually live in California and then usually come up here for the summer. But Brooke and I still kept the relationship going." He said, trying to share a loving look with me.
Dang that boy was a good liar.
"How romantic." She said, looking at Adam as if she wouldn't mind dating him herself. "And now the two of you are both in the medical program?"
"Mhmm." I said, speaking for the first time in a while. "It's so nice to be able to see him again." I tried my hand at lying. I sucked. I let Adam talk now.
"Yes, we missed each other very much."
Yes Viviene, you must know what it's like to be away from your boyfriend for months at a time and miss him terribly. Oh wait, you only know what it's like to be away from him. Never mind.
"I'm sure you miss Dr. Cullen a lot." I said.
"Oh of course. Every time I'm away from him I just want to go back home and see him."
Sure don't look like it. It's been months since he's seen you. Yeah...you really miss him.
"He misses you a lot too." I said.
"I'm sure he does." She replied, looking us both over and then looking directly at me. "Well you two, I best be on my way. Maybe I'll run into you guys again before I leave."
"That would be nice." I said, with a smile.
I'm locking myself in the house for the next two days.
"Nice meeting you Adam." She said to him, smiling at him and giving me one last evil glance before she walked away.
"You ok?" He whispered, when she was far enough away.
"Yeah...I think so." I said.
"Wow...Brooke now I think I kinda get why you're so afraid of her."
I nodded.
"And why that boyfriend of yours doesn't like her."
"Yeah. Can we go home now? It's been a big day."
"Sure thing." He said, releasing my hand and wrapping an arm around my shoulders. I really didn't care. He drove me home in complete silence, and the first thing I did upon arriving in my room was call Dr. Cullen.
"Hello love." He answered, and my heart ached now more than ever at hearing the sound of his voice. I just wanted to see him.
"I got scared to death today." I told him.
"Why?" He asked, sounding concerned. "Did Adam do something to you?"
"No, no...me and Adam are fine, we made up and everything."
"Oh, then what is wrong dear?"
"Adam and I went to the mall, and Viviene was there."
"Viviene? But when she called yesterday she said that she was in Ireland."
"I know." I said.
He sounded angry. "I am really becoming tired of this. She lies to me, she uses all my money, and she treats you and my children like you are all specks of dust."
I was silent and let him rant for a while.
"Ugh, I'm sorry love." He finally said after a few minutes. "I just wish I could get her out of my life, for you...that's all."
"I know." I said, tears falling down my checks. "I don't exactly want her in your life either."
"I'll figure this out Brooke, I promise." He said. "Don't let it bother you too much alright? Bella and Edward are there for you even though I'm not...ok?"
"Yeah." I said.
"I love you Brooke, with all my heart...forever." He said.
Did he want me to cry? Oh well I was crying already anyway. "I love you too." I said, and then laughed through my tears. "You freaking sexy doctor you."
He laughed. "Goodbye Brooke, have good dreams tonight ok?"
"Ok." I said, even though I knew that was going to be hard to do. "Goodbye." I sighed after hanging up the phone, and spent the rest of the night working on homework, without much success. I was up until at least one in the morning before I finished, and even though I was exhausted...I couldn't sleep.
Two more hours passed, and I finally did fall asleep. But as I expected, my dreams kept waking me up, and of course they weren't good dreams.
Thanks for reading...please shoot me a review with what you think so far!
~Hazl~