It Started with a Dare

39

I called Emilee three days later. It rang once before she answered. "Hello?" Emilee said.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

"Tell you what?" she asked, clearly confused.

"Xavier's in love with me, and you didn't tell me?" I asked.

Emilee sighed, "It wasn't my place."

I shook my head. "I broke his heart, and you're telling me it wasn't your place? I know how it feels to have your heart broken. I could've made it-"

"No, you couldn't have. Seeing someone you love with someone else, it hurts, Braelyn.  It hurts real bad. I know. I watched you go through right before Jared left. There is no way you could've hurt less," Emilee said.

I clenched my fist, knowing she was right. She always was. Tears fell from my eyes. I felt like a terrible person. No, I didn't feel the same way about Xavier, but I sat there, blind, to the way he felt about me. I crushed him. I was no better than Ridge or Jared.

I not only got my heart broken, but I broke someone's heart. That ate at me. I was a terrible person. This was what I did to deserve this. I broke someone's heart.

"I know what you're thinking," Emilee sighed.

"Oh, you do?" I asked.

"That is what you did to deserve what you got," she said.

I wiped my tears away. "I feel like a terrible person," I said.

"You're not, Braelyn. You can't help you love, and you can't help who you don't. Not everything is meant to be," Emilee said softly.

A thought crossed my mind, and I sighed, "Mom said that, too. You're both right. Not everything is meant to be."

I played with the stray strings from my shorts. "It's true," Emilee said.

"Yeah," was all I said.

"Well, I got to go. Marcus is here," she replied.

"Okay," I said then the line went dead. I threw my phone beside me, and my door opened.

Nick popped his head in. "I have a question."

"Shoot," I said.

"How do you feel about going to get some pizza with me?" Nick asked.

I raised my eyebrows. "That's a first," I said.

"I need someone to talk to," Nick said. "So yes or no?"

"Yes."
××××××
Nick and I made our way into the parlor and took a seat in one of the booths. "Hawaiian?" Nick asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, sounds good," I replied. "So, what's up?"

Nick looked at me. "I know you and I haven't really talked in a while. Scratch that, a really long time," he started.

A waiter came up to get our order, hitting pause on our conversation. Nick ordered then focused his attention back on me. "But I need your opinion," he said.

"I'm all ears."

He sighed, "Can people change?"

I nodded right away. "Yeah, everyone can change," I said.

"Do you really believe that?" Nick asked.

I thought back to Ridge, and I sighed, "Yeah, I do, but it's depends on how hard you work for it."

"I want to change. Hearing about what happened to you, made me think about all the girls I hurt. I don't want to do that again," he said.

I placed my hand on his. He looked shocked. I gave him a smile. "You have to work toward change. That's all I have to say."

He smiled. "When did you get so wise?"

"Since my life took a dive off a cliff for the second time," I admitted.
××××××
When Nick and I got home, I went into the living room, where Kyle and Mom sat. "Hey, guys," I said, sitting down beside Kyle.

"Hey," they said.

"Where did you go?" Mom asked.

"Nick took me out for lunch," I said, causing Kyle to look at me with shock written all over his face.

"Oh, okay," Mom said.