(RIVALS) The Upside of Falling ✔️

Chapter 13: Truth

Brett

I never slept with Jenny.

But of course, Becca doesn't know that. She never even bothered to ask me...she chose to believe everyone else's word over mind.

And that hurt. A lot.

She didn't give me the benefit of the doubt or even try to hear my side of the story. Her mind was already made up when she walked down that hallway towards me. No matter what I said to her, it wouldn't have changed her mind. She already decided that I was the bad guy and she was hell bent on proving it to herself.

She never gave me a chance to prove her wrong -- to show her that Friday night was a mistake and how much I regret it.

That night haunted me all weekend, it was all I could think about every time I closed my eyes. The sheer look of horror in Becca's eyes when she walked into Jenny's bedroom never left my mind. Not once. No matter how many times I texted her and called her to plead my case, she never responded. And now I know she never even bothered to read the text I sent her, because, if she had, she would know that all Jenny and I did was kiss.

Sometimes I feel like she put me on a pedestal like everyone else in my life did. People always expect too much from me: Brett Wells, the star athlete and school poster boy. It's like for all these weeks, she was waiting for me to fuck up,  just to prove to herself that I wasn't as perfect as she thought.

I'm not conceited. I know I'm not perfect, I'm the first to admit that and acknowledge my own wrongs. But Becca always looked at me like I was. That's why I told her she never gave me a chance, because she didn't. The first time I did something wrong, she ran away and never looked back. Never heard me out. She was too stubborn, too stuck in her own world. She cared too much about the gossip and what other people said.

She never gave me a chance to show her how much she meant to me.

* * *

I pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, willing my mind to shut off so I could stop thinking about her for one damn second.

I refused to go home when my father was there. After I left Jenny's party on Friday night, I came straight here, booked a room and never left. I couldn't be around my parents right now, I'm sick of pretending.

I wanted Becca. This entire weekend, she was the only one that could possibly make me feel better about my father -- she was the only one that understood.

But she was gone.

My car felt different without her sitting beside me in the passenger seat, her hair flying wild around her head, her girly screams and giggles making me smile. My hand felt hollow without her soft palm resting in it -- rubbing slow circles on mine, making my heart race in ways it never had before.

I missed everything about her and its only been three days.

I was officially pathetic.

I locked my car and strolled into the hotel, making my way to my room and ignoring the flirty smiles the woman at the desk was sending me.

I swiped my card through the lock on the door, satisfied when the light flashed green. I closed the door behind me and leaned against it, throwing my school bag onto the floor.

We're over. I can't pretend anymore...I think you should go, she said.

Her eyes were so cold, her face completely emotionless when she delivered each blow to me. It's like she didn't even care, like she had already forgotten me.

Her words burned through my mind over and over, consuming me and lighting me on fire.

I needed her out of my head. Now.