Chapter 19
Brooke
* * *
Isat her down on my bed and looked her over.
Tears ran down her cheeks and she wiped them away. She tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and seemed quite haggard.
“Aria, talk to me.” I sat next to her and took both her hands into mine.
“I’m so sorry to bother you with this. I kind of have no one else to talk to, no one else I trust. My friends will tell me crap because they just want to be cool, and my dad…God, he would freak out and make things worse. He just doesn’t listen.”
I totally understood. “Is this something you could speak to him about?”
I got the feeling it definitely wasn’t.
She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “It’s not. It’s times like this when I wish my mom was here, but I don’t know if she would have freaked out too. Somehow, from what I remember, I doubt she would. She was always a lot more at ease than Dad.”
I appreciated that she was talking to me like this.
“If it’s any consolation, I didn’t have my mom either.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. She left when I was ten.”
“Left?”Sadness filled her eyes.
“Yes. She just decided she didn’t want a family anymore I guess.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine.” It wasn’t fine, but it would have to be for the time being. “I’m fine, and this isn’t about me. It’s about you, and you chose me to help you. What happened with Brad?”
“Prom is in three weeks and he wants us to…he thinks we should have sex.”
“So, you haven’t done that with him yet?” I asked the question tentatively even though I could have assumed they hadn’t. I just wanted to be sure.
She shook her head, and I actually felt relieved.
“And you’re crying because…?”
“I…don’t know if I’m ready. We’ve done some…stuff.” Her face reddened when she said that. “I’m sorry, I don’t even talk like this with my friends. They’ve already lost their virginity and I kind of told them I had too. Is this stupid?”
“No, that isn’t something to throw away lightly or not give importance to,” I offered.
“So it’s normal to feel this way? Like I’m not ready?”
“Of course.”
Now it was her turn to look relieved. “Brooke, I hate to admit this, but when we talked about us taking things to the next level, I thought of my dad. I think if I did something like that now it would hurt him. I’m sixteen and I know there are many girls my age doing whatever they want. I’m totally not judging, but that’s the one thing I know he doesn’t want me to do, not now, not while I’m so young.”
I was impressed with the maturity she showed, and the love. And respect.
“I know what you mean. I think his hair would turn white,” I joked, and we both laughed.
“Yeah, it would skip past gray and just turn white like Moses.” She giggled.
