"I shouldn't be telling you all this. I should just go." She stands up.
"You're not going anywhere," I say in a stern tone as I pull her back down to the couch. "Tell me what's going on."
She lets out a breath. "I think Chad and I are over."
"Why? What happened?" I ask like I'm surprised, even though I'm not. From what she told me, it sounded like the guy's already moved on with someone else.
"Nothing really happened. It's just not the same between us. He doesn't call, doesn't text." She wipes the tears from her face. "I think he's dating Tamara. They went sailing yesterday and he didn't even tell me. That's bad, right? That he didn't tell me?"
"It's not a good sign."
"I told my friend Jane that but she didn't believe me. She keeps telling me everything's fine but I know it's not. I just have this feeling it's over and he just doesn't want to tell me."
"So end it."
"What?"
"End it. Don't wait for him to do it. Call him up and tell him it's over. Let him be the one getting dumped."
"But what if I'm wrong? What if he's not really cheating on me?"
"If you're even thinking he might be, the relationship's over. It means you don't trust him. And if you don't have trust, you don't have a relationship, or you do but it's not a good one and it's hanging by a thread."
"That's how I'm feeling right now. Like it's hanging by a thread and the thread's about to break."
"Then what are you waiting for? Just end it."
"I'm not sure I'm ready to. He's the only guy I've ever been with." Her teary eyes lift to mine. "It's hard to let that go."
She's only been with one guy? I bet the selfish bastard doesn't even get her off.
"Does he make you happy?"
She hesitates, then says, "No. Honestly, he hasn't for a long time."
"Then it's time to end it."
She sighs. "I know. I just can't believe this is happening. Why now? Why does this have to happen when everything else is falling apart?"
"What else is going on?"
She leans back on the couch and brings her legs up, wrapping her arms around them as she stares down at the floor.
"My dad." She sniffles and wipes the remaining tears from her cheeks. "My dad's the reason we had to move. He's rich, like multimillionaire-rich, but he had the money before he met my mom. When he married her, he made her sign a prenup. Last year he had an affair with a woman who's barely older than me and she convinced him my mom is this horrible person who deserves nothing, even though she raised his kids and played the role of doting wife for twenty-five years."
I guess I'm not the only one with a fucked-up father. I knew there were others but I never would've thought Brook's dad would be one of them. Who the hell does that? The guy's worth millions but leaves his wife and kids with nothing?
"Did your mom at least get the money from the house?" I ask.
"They split it, but most of the proceeds went for the real estate commission. Whatever was left of my mom's share went to pay for her legal fees. It still wasn't enough. She had to sell her jewelry, my car, her designer clothes. She was basically left with nothing. She never had a job so she had no experience. She had to take an entry level job that doesn't pay much but at least she gets paid overtime, which helps."
"What about you? Your dad won't give you money?"
"That's what hurts the most. My dad's new wife convinced him not to help me. She told him I should pay for college myself, which means I may not go unless I can get a scholarship. And it won't be to a school I wanted." She shakes her head. "It's all too much. My dad. Chad. I'm starting to really hate men." She half-smiles. "Present company excluded."
"You sure about that?"
"Yeah, you're right. You were a jerk to me last week. But I still don't hate you."
