Like He Never Left

chapter 11

Yeah, I have no excuse for this being up as late as it is. I got so bored with the way this chapter went and I rewrote it at least six times, so I hope you enjoy it. Happy reading!

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When I wake up the next morning, Brooke isn't in the bed with me. Her spot is practically ice cold, so I figure she's been gone for a while. Checking the time, I see that it's only a little before eight, but she doesn't have school till 10, so where is she?

Sitting up, I rub my eyes and become more oriented and aware of my surroundings and, hearing the loud whir of the coffee machine as it brews, I guess that that's what Brooke's doing up so early. 

I'm not worried about it though because Brooke is known to have early-riser tendencies from time to time.

I shrug on a flannel over my tee shirt and groggily walk to the kitchen, but Brooke isn't there. She must be in the living room then. 

I don't hear the voices until after I've poured two mugs of coffee. I turn my head to figure out where the source is coming from. I recognize both of the voices immediately, Brooke and another.

Another voice that has haunted me for the best part of 10 years. 

There's no way. 

She shouldn't be here.

I speed walk to the living room, forgetting about the coffee on the counter, needing to know if my hearing is serving me true. 

I peek around the wall, and I about go into cardiac arrest at the sight in front of me. My limbs freeze and anything I have to say dies in my throat. Had I been drinking something, I'm sure I would have performed a spit take in pure shock. There on the couch is Brooke, and sure enough, there's Josie beside her. 

What the fuck is she doing here?!

The first thing I notice is how much emotion they're both exuding. Anger, sadness, shock, to name a few. The next thing is how closely they sit next to each other. The closer you sit to someone, the more you trust them or at least tolerate them.  The third thing is how animatedly they're talking to each other, and the more one says, the more the other gets hyped up and emotional.

Oh my god. 

What is going on?!

The room gets hotter around me, and I feel a nervous sweat trickling down my spine. 

Do I make myself known? Do I listen in on their conversation? How is Josie here? How did she even find me?

I guess I don't have to worry about the first two questions because a nervous sneeze builds its way up my throat, and I have their undivided attention. 

I have the attention of two stubborn, emotional, seemingly pissed off women. 

Lucky me. 

They're both glaring daggers at me, and tear tracks run down Brooke's face. 

"You are a liar!" she screams. In the blink of an eye, she's off the couch and throwing a pillow at my face, which I narrowly duck out of the way for. I stare at it on the ground behind me in shock. There's no way that that much anger came out of a person like Brooke. She's too easy-going to be so explosive. 

"You're a cheater!" Josie rages. A vase whooses passed my shoulder, and I turn back to her in surprise. 

"Let me explain," I beg, hands up in the air in surrender. 

"Your excuses are bullshit! Nobody would believe you either!" 

I stare at her helplessly. 

There's no way that the people standing in front of me are the women I'd fallen for.