I Slapped Mr. Popular

36-Ridge's POV

"What do you mean Wren found out?" I ask, anger filling up in me as Hayden tells me this.

He looks at me with a scared expression. "She heard Calvin and me talking about it a few moments ago."

This cannot be happening, I say to myself. This could mess up everything, and I could lose Braelyn. I could lose the only person I never want to lose.

I growl, "Why the heck were you talking about the dare? I don't want Braelyn to find out about that. I called the dare off, remember?"

"What dare, Ridge?" I hear a familiar voice ask, their voice breaking.

I turn to face her, and all of the color drains from my face. Tears are falling from her eyes, making her mascara run. She looks broken as she stares at me with a hurt expression. "Braelyn, I-uh."

"What dare?"

Hayden nudges me. "You're going to have to tell her now."

I glare at him before facing her again. This is all his and Calvin's fault, but it's also mine. I accepted the dare. I meet her eyes, and I become desperate. "Braelyn, please, hear me ou-"

"What friggening dare, Ridgemond?!" she yells, the tears coming in a steady fall.

I sigh, running a hand through My hair. I have to tell her, and so, I start, "After you slapped me, my friends dared me to date you for two months. I accepted it, but I never meant to hurt you. I fell in lo-"

"Don't you dare! Don't you dare say you fell in love with me!" she screams, and I take a step toward her. A crowd has formed around us, and I become anxious. She jumps back. "Get away from me! I wish I never met you!"

"I don't want to ever see you again. Your two months are finished, so you can just get out of my life now," Braelyn states, wiping her face. Those two sentences break me, and I begin to cry.

Please, don't leave, I want to say.

"Braelyn, you don't mean that," I say, my voice cracking as well. I don't want to lose her. I can't lose her.

You just did.

"I mean it. Get out of my life. I was so stupid for falling for you. I should've known you were too good to be true. You are just like every other guy, only caring about your ego," she says, and she takes off the ring. My heart breaks even further as she tosses it to me. "Thanks for making me realize that fairytales don't exist."

Then, she turns and walks away, and I run after her. "Braelyn!" I call a few times as I push my way through the crowd. As I reach the end, a fist collides with my face, sending me to the crowd. My nose squirts blood, and I clutch it.

That's when Xavier pounces on me, letting punches fly, and I...let it happen. I don't fight back. I deserve this. "I knew you were playing her!" he screams, punching me in the stomach. I begin to cry harder. "You just had to break her again, didn't you?! Her of all the girls you could've had!"

"Xavier!" Emma screams.

"What is going on here?" Principal Graddens calls, and Xavier is yanked off of me. I look up and see Marcus look at me with a hard expression.

"Mr. McCain. Mr. Riaz, I demand what is going on here!" Principal Graddens yells as I climb painfully to my feet.

I look at Xavier then to the principal. "Nothing. I'm fine," I say.

"Your face is gushing blood," he states.

"I'm fine," I repeat then walk away.

"Mr. McCain, get back here!"

I don't. I just keep walking/limping, and I soon find myself three blocks from the school in just a few minutes. A car pulls up beside me, and I try to ignore it. "Ridge," Jared says.

I stop, and I look at him. He nods to the passenger side. "Get in."

"I'm perfectly fine walking," I state harshly.

"I wasn't asking. Now, get in before I drag you into my truck," He says.

I don't know why, but I get in. He begins to drive. "What's your address?" he asks.

I give it to him, and he goes silent for a moment before handing me a tissue. "Don't bleed all over my seat," he says.

I glare before placing the tissue to my nose, wincing. Jared shakes his head. "What?" I ask.

"How could you be so stupid?" he asks, glaring at me.

"I could ask you the same thing."

He looks at me. "I know what I did was stupid, but I loved her."

I scoff, "Loved her? You cheated on her."

He clenches the steering wheel. "I didn't realize I loved her until I lost her. You realized you loved her during the dare; you should've told her earlier."

"Oh, how would that go? 'Hey, Braelyn, I love you, but I started dating you just for some stupid dare'. Great idea, Jared. You should be a relationship counselor; I bet you would do wonders," I reply.

Jared pulls over. "Listen, I picked you up to tell you that Braelyn deserves so much better than you, but I see how much you love her. That being said, don't let her go like I did. Your reputation is not worth it."

I stay silent, and Jared continues to drive. When he reaches my house, I get out and hurry inside. "Ridge, you're home ear...Jesus, what happened?"

"Ma, I messed up," I say then begin to sob. She takes me to the bathroom, and she begins to clean my wounds as I cry. She waits patiently as I begin to tell her everything.

When I am finished, she says, "I raised you better than that, Ridgemond."

"I know."

"You know Rick used be just like you, but I changed him. We started dating our senior year, and he cheated on me. But I forgave him. That happened twice, but I knew it was going to. Rick was a player, and I knew he wasn't going to change overnight. He worked hard after the second time, and now, look at us. Married for eighteen years and have two kids."

I listen, wondering where this is going. Then, she sighs, "What I'm trying to get to is that I know you love her. I cannot believe you would do something like this, but I know you learned your lesson. You give Braelyn some space then you have to apologize. If it's meant to be, it will be. That's all the advice I can give you, but it may not make sense. I'm not good at this."

"Thanks," I say, and she kisses my head.

"You're welcome. Now, I'll leave you alone."

Once she leaves, I begin to cry again, taking in her advice and Jared's. The catch? Braelyn will probably never forgive me, and that's what hurts. I broke her...again.