(RIVALS) The Upside of Falling ✔️

Chapter 44: First Impressions

Becca

Brett's mother watched me patiently, waiting for me to say something. It felt like my brain had broken apart into tiny pieces in my head and I was struggling to quickly assemble them back together so I could speak.

Hi, I'm your son's girlfriend.

Hi, I'm a girl who is your son's friend, once girlfriend, but I'm not sure what we are now.

Hello, Mrs. Wells. Nice to meet you.

All of these greetings ran through my head but what my mouth managed to spit out was a questionable, "H..Hi."

I wanted to smack myself.

Pull it together.

Brett's mother laughed as her eyes remained fixed on my face, watching me carefully. She crossed her arms over her light blue sweater and raised one eyebrow. This woman in front of me didn't look sad or broken, she looked strong. Fierce, even. She held herself together well, but I couldn't imagine what she was feeling on the inside.

Just like Brett, I thought. A smile could hide a thousand feelings.

"Are you looking for someone, dear?" She asked me, smiling kindly. For some reason, I had the suspicion that she already knew the answer to that question.

"Is Brett here?" I glanced behind her into her home. Shiny black marble tiles lined the floor and a ginormous wooden staircase sat in the middle of the foyer, leading upstairs. Leading to Brett, possibly. But from the looks of it, the house seemed completely empty aside from the two of us standing here.

She shook her head slowly and my heart fell, a wave of disappointment crashing over me.

"I'm sorry, hun, but you just missed him. He left for the gym a few minutes ago."

I tried to hide the disappointment on my face but the pitiful look Brett's mother was giving me told me that I was doing a lousy job. I smiled lamely and attempted to pull myself together. This was fine, the timing was off. I would think of another way.

"I'll tell him you stopped by, if you'd like." She continued. "What's your name?" She watched me expectingly, waiting for me to answer her question. I had that feeling again, that she knew more than she was letting on.

"That's alright," I responded, smiling gratefully at her. "I just really need to speak to him. It's kind of urgent." I didn't know why I was telling her this, I doubted she even cared, but the words spilled out of my mouth before I could stop them.

She was giving me that look, the same look my mother gives me when she knows exactly what I'm thinking without me having to say it. Were all mothers like this?

In that moment, I was certain this woman knew I was in love with her son.

"He should be home soon, love. You're welcome to wait." Her words sounded like honey, she was so lovely and genuine that I almost said yes. But Cassie was waiting in the car, and I had the shrinking suspicion that Brett walking in on his mother and I talking wouldn't exactly go well with him.

"Thank you, but that's alright." I returned her smile and studied her face, thinking about the hell this kind woman had been through in the past year. I wanted to give her a hug, I wanted her and my mother to meet so they could deal with their grief together.

"I'll tell Brett you stopped by," was the last thing she said before I began to walk away.

"Have a nice day, Mrs. Wells." I waved while walking down the steps, heading towards Cassie's car.