by R. S Burnett
“Come on Brooke, what better way to say ‘fuck you’ to everyone than this?” she asks, my attention is drawn to the door when I hear a familiar voice, Jason strolls in with his arm over Cassie from my English class.
“OK, I’ll do it” I nod at Jeff
“Great because your up what songs do you want?” he points to a curtained off area behind us.
“Umm Shakin hands by Nickleback first of all and then Pour some sugar on me by Def Leopard as the second one, I’m only doing two and I need Sophie for the second one.”
Jeff seems pleased with my answer and heads off to the DJ while I make my way behind the curtain, I’m stood on a small stage with a pole in the middle of it, I’m just thinking that I might just kill Sophie when she pops her head in the curtain.
“Why didn’t you tell me I had to dance around a pole?” I demand with my hands on my hips
“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine, remember the last time, just do that again” she insists with a small smile that makes me think she’s up to something.
“Fine but I need you for the second one, just like last time”
“No problem, Matt will love it” she smirks at me and then disappears again.
I take my position as sitting in front of the pole with my legs straight out in front of me and slightly thank the lord that I put a pair of shorts on under my skirt before I left the dorm earlier. I keep my head down as the first few notes of the song drift through me and the curtain opens, keeping my head down I bring my feet up so my knees are bend in front of my and lift my legs up in the air hooking my feet around the pole, using my hands I spin myself around, bring my legs down one at a time slowly and then standing wrap my leg around the pole and then alternate between doing spins, holding myself up and dancing around the pole, I keep my head down the whole time and can only barely hear the music over the cheers in the bar, soon enough the songs fades out and Sophie makes her way on to the stage. Taking her position on the lower part of the pole we both alternate between dancing around each other and the pole during the second song, the cheers get louder every time me and Sophie come into contact with each other, so far I have kept my face hidden from the crowd and only through Sophie’s occasional giggles can I assume that they are enjoying the entertainment we are providing. “Jason’s watching, I don’t think he’s figured it out yet” she says loud enough for only me to hear I shrug and do one final twist down the pole as the song comes to an end.
Grabbing my hand Sophie and I stand at the front of the stage, when I lift my head to look at the crowd I am rewarded by a few dropped jaw expressions from people who know me and can’t quite believe what they are seeing. Looking down, Luke is stood with his arms wrapped around Kate, they are both laughing at Adam stood next to them who just keeps blinking at me.
Matt and Jeff take a few steps forward both sporting shocked and impressed expressions as they help us down from the stage.
“Sophie, I can’t believe you have kept this from me, why have you kept her hidden?” Jeff demands looking at me as if I might disappear any minute. Sophie just laughs at him and pats his chest.
“She’s better than our actual dancer” he says to her disbelievingly, he turns to me looking suddenly serious “The job is yours” he states and start taking some money out of his pocket.
“Whoa” I hold my hands up in front of myself to stop him “I don’t want a job, and I definitely don’t want any money for what I just did”
“Why the hell not? You do realise that every guy in this bar is going to want to buy you a drink, do you know how much you have just increased my sales by?” he asks looking as though he can’t believe what he’s saying.
I shrug at him helplessly “I don’t want to get paid for it, I only did it for fun, and I won’t be accepting drinks off anyone so if someone does buy me a drink, just pour me water”
“Hmmm smart too huh” he appraises me.
“I can’t believe this is the same girl who has kept her head down for two whole years, hardly spoken a word to anyone, is only ever seen wearing clothes ten sizes too big for her and never goes out, and you knew this whole time and no one ever suspected a thing” Matt laughs through his words to Sophie.
“This is the real Brooke” Sophie says simply as Adam approaches up and wraps an arm around me, I smile up at him.
“You look a little tense, I can help out with that” he says seductively to me
“How do you plan on doing that?” I ask shyly
“Sex”
“Hmm would it be good?” I ask biting my lip
“It would be amazing, I could make you forget everything, even your own name” he assures me watching my lip.
I let out a little moan “Could you make me scream?”
“I can guarantee to make you scream and worship gods you didn’t even know you knew” he says quietly running his hand through my hair
“Would I be satisfied after it?” I ask looking up at him through my lashes
“Baby I can make sure you only have enough energy to sleep after it”
“Would it last long enough for you to take your time?”
“I will go all night”
I let out another small moan and slowly drag my teeth along my bottom lip but then I shrug “You know actually I think I just need a drink” I smile sweetly at him.
His mouth opens and closes a few time, letting me know he is a loss for words and I can hear Luke, Kate, Jeff, Matt and Sophie laughing as he walks away. I wink at them and let out a small laugh.
“Told you that the real Brooke is more entertaining” Sophie boasts to Matt who is looking at me as if I have grown two heads.
“I knew it would be fun to wind him up” sigh happily.
“We are going to have the best year ever!” Sophie exclaims.
“You’ve been holding out on me!” Tucker complains, joining us, handing me a drink and closely followed by a few of his friends. I look at the glass in my hand and back up at him. “I bought it” he assures me; I look over to Matt who nods his head at me and start drinking it. “So what was with the disguise?” he asks keeping eye contact I notice.
“Seriously? A twenty year old v-“
“Shy girl” Luke cuts me off sending me a glare
“Right ... a twenty year old shy girl who happens to have extra curves in all the right places surrounded by a hell of a lot of horny guys”
“You mean you’re ....” Matt asks looking surprised enough for me to be offended.
“Uhh …. Yeah, and no plans to change that in the immediate future”
“I guess I can see what you mean” Tucker agrees, I’m not sure if he caught my slip up or not but before I have time to dwell on it one of his friends steps forward and pulls me into a hug.
“I’m Brad” he says as if wrapping his arms around someone before he tells them his name is normal.
“Brooke” I reply when he lets me go and takes a step back.
“Hmmm … can I have your number?” he asks me seriously.
“It’s really nothing personal it’s just that your ... you know, male” I sigh as I watch him consider my words.
“Oh, you mean you …”
“I like girls” I confirm.
He watches me suspiciously, and shakes his head to let me know he doesn’t believe me. I turn to Sophie and raise an eyebrow at her.
“You know you probably don’t want to stay in the dorm tonight after all this, don’t you” she mutters to me gesturing to Matt with her head I smile sweetly at her as if I have no idea what she’s talking about and pull her head towards mine and lean in for the kiss, before I have time to pull away her tongue is sliding against mine, she lets out a little moan and then I hear Matt groan behind me and catch on straight away and play it up a bit, when we break apart after another minute I notice all the guys are visibly swallowing and clearing their throats.
“Guess I need to find a room to spend the night in” defeated I quickly run through my options in my head.
“You can stay in my room tonight, my roommates gone home for a few days” Brad offers.
“That won’t be necessary, Brookes coming home for the night”
If Sophie wasn’t sending him open glares that promise death I never would have believed that my step dad had just approached us.
“What are you doing here?” trying to keep my voice strong as I smile up at him.
“Your mom got worried when you didn’t visit last weekend, asked me to come and see you were okay”
“Oh” is all I can reply not sure what he expects me to say really.
“I’ll just go get us a drink”
“Umm … actually I have one”
“I insist” he says tightly, his gaze clearly daring me to challenge him.
“You’re not actually going to drink anything he gives you, right?” Sophie whispers in my ear as we watch him make his way through the crowds to the bar.
“What do you suppose I do? You know he’s going to be watching me like a hawk to make sure I drink it”
“He creeps me out”
“How am I going to get out of this?” I ask, keeping an eye on the bar and downing the drink Tucker bought me.
“Matt, is your room empty tonight?” Sophie calls to him.
“Uhh ... yeah” he calls back turning from his conversation from Luke.
“All we have to do is figure out how to get you out of here now”
“Give me an hour so he doesn’t suspect anything and then distract him so I can leave without him following me”
“If you’re sure” she asks dubiously.
I only nod to her as my step dad returns to us handing me a drink.
“Thanks”
“I believe you owe me a dance” Tucker interrupts us.
“We’re having a drink” Sam informs him not bothering to hide his irritation.
“You never mention a boyfriend” he accuses me.
“We’re just friends” I smile up at him to distract him from glaring at Tucker.
“Well?” Tucker asks watching us
“Sure” I reply then down my drink in three swallows trying not to think about whatever he put in it, then putting the glass down I take his hand and we head into the crowd of already dancing people.
“Who’s the guy?” Tucker asks as he puts my hands behind his neck and his own rest on my hips.
“That’s Sam, my step dad”
“Seems like a happy bloke” he notes
“Yeah, he’s just a big barrel of laughs”
“So it took you longer than I thought it would to stop hiding behind those awful clothes” he smirks down at me taking me surprise I must admit.
“You knew?” I ask trying and failing to keep the surprise from my voice.
“Please, give me some credit” he rolls his eyes at me.
“What gave me away?”
“Well for starters, your neck is small, your wrists are tiny, and not forgetting that first time I sat next to you in English and poked you in the side, imagine my surprise when my finger went about three inches into your top before I actually came into contact with your side. Add that to the fact that I’ve seen you wear a seatbelt. Oh and I saw you in your bikini on the beach last weekend while you were running around chasing after a little boy.”
“Guess I didn’t realise that you would catch on” I mutter as I remember all the times that I have given myself away, as we have become friends, I seem to be doing the unconscious things that I do around Sophie.
“So what happened?”
“I broke up with Jason when he told me fat girls are amazing in bed, I kind of lost it and stripped in front of him”
“Bet he loved that” he nods at me as if the situation was completely normal, for him it probably is.
“Well yeah until I walked out on him”
“So no more Jason?” he asks
“Nope” I shake my head to confirm it
“Wrong here he comes” I look to where he is gesturing with his head and sure enough a drunk Jason is stumbling towards us.
“So this is why would didn’t sleep with me, you was sleeping with Tucker the whole time after all”
“Let the real rumours really begin” I mutter trying my best to ignore him Tucker just nods, smiling.
“Well it’s only fair that you should know I had a threesome last night” he says proudly, watching for my reaction to his news of cheating on me.
“OK, let me guess, it was your penis, your hand and your imagination… yeap that sounds about right”
“You know, you were so much more attractive when I thought you were fat” he sneers ignoring my comment.
I don’t bother replying as I notice that slowly my body is starting to shut down, well that’s what it feels like at least, my movements are becoming sloppy, my vision is swaying giving me the impression that I’m not standing I’m hovering slightly, I stumble a little and Tuckers arms tighten around me. I look up at him and try to figure out which one is the real him out of the two in front of my eyes.
“You okay?” he asks but it sounds like it’s coming from further away than I know he is.
“I should have known you were a whore” I hear Jason snap at me.
“Right that’s it I’ve..”Tucker starts to say but he is cut off by Sophie, when did she get here? I look around at them slightly confused.
“She’s not a whore darling, whores get paid, Brooke gives it for free ... Well not to you” she informs him as she grabs my arm and pulls me away from the dance floor.
“Sam’s in the bathroom, if you want to go you have to go now” Sophie tells me, frowning down at me when I make no reply “there’s a taxi out the back for you”
“Where am I going?” I ask but I’m not sure it comes out properly because Sophie just looks confused and worried. I can feel my eyes closing as my eyelids student feel too heavy, my legs give out but there’s something stopping me from falling, I look down amazed and there’s an arm around me. There are some fuzzy voices floating around me as I’m pulled through a door and put into the back of a car. Fighting to stay awake is too hard now so I give up and succumb to the sleep that’s calling me.
* * *
“Brooke”
I fling my hands in the air to make the noise stop.
I’m actually enjoying sleep for once and I don’t want it to end. My eyes fly open when I come in contact with skin. My hand is splattered over Tucker face covering his mouth and nose.
“What do you want?” I grumble pulling my hand away.
“How are you feeling?” he asks amused.
“I was fine until you woke me up” I snap but take in my surroundings “Where am I?”
“In Matt’s dorm” he frowns at me.
“And what am I doing in Matt’s dorm with you?”
“Brooke how much of last night do you remember?”
I sort through the memories from the night before but come up empty “Last thing I remember is dancing with you”
I look away from his eyes because now they are concerned and narrowed. I’m in what I assume is Matt’s bed in just my underwear, then I notice Tucker is only wearing a pair of boxers.
“I slept in the other bed” he assures me when I look up at him. “I wanted to make sure you were okay before I left, I have some stuff I need to do this morning”
“Oh … yeah … I’m fine” I frown and flop back down on the bed.
When I make my way back into my room both Sophie and Matt are sat at our table.
“How are you feeling?” Sophie asks pouring me a coffee.
“Like I have the worse hangover ever” I mutter.
“I can’t believe you drank that drink” she scolds me.
I shrug “It would have been worse if I didn’t. Besides I got home okay didn’t I”
“Yeah but …” she looks between me and Matt “What’s going on with you and Tucker?”
“Nothing” I frown “We’re just friends”
This time Sophie and Matt
exchange a worried look.
“What?” I sigh.
“Tucker doesn’t … have female friends Brooke” Matt says this carefully.
Sophie frowns at me “You’re not sleeping with him are you?”
“No!” I all but shout “Honestly. We are just friends. I have to put up with these rumors at school, don’t tell me I have to put up with them at home to?”
“No … just be careful”
I nod a them both and climb back into bed. I’m not going to any classes today.
Chapter Five
I knock on Tuckers dorm and wait nervously for him to answer hoping he hasn’t got company.
The door swings open and his room mate stares at me, when he takes in my overnight bag he steps aside to let me in.
“One of yours Tuck” he says and then closes the door behind me.
“Hey” Tucker greets from where he’s sat on his bed. I walk across the room into the kitchenette area looking for coffee; I sigh when I see nothing but jars of instant coffee and pull my coffee machine out of my bag.
“Can I crash here tonight please? Sophie’s sister is staying over and she’s kicked me out of the room” I ask as I set up the machine.
“Only if you promise to make me lots of that” he says watching the machine hypnotised.
I chuckle at him because now I understand why people think my reaction to coffee is bad, if my expression is anything like his is now.
“I promise” I roll my eyes at him.
“I’m Ethan by the way” Tuckers room mate introduces himself.
“I’m Brooke” I smile back.
“Nice to meet you Brooke, tell me something are you loud?” he asks throwing Tucker a look.
“Excuse me?” I ask not having a clue what’s going on.
“She’s not, we’re not, and we don’t. We’re friends. It’s not like that” Tucker says to him.
Ethan turns his attention back to me and looks at me curiously. I watch as he rakes his eyes over me and then turns back to Tucker “Whatever dude, just keep it down, I have a test tomorrow”
