14Chapter Three: What happened?
Promise me you'll always remember: you're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
-Winnie the Pooh.
As the night lingered on the party scene became dreary and tedious for Ethan. In desperation, tipsy girls threw themselves at Ethan completely throwing away their dignity and allowing their hormones and the influence of alcohol to determine their actions. Annoyed with all the harassment from the girls that he was receiving he left the central area of the party, ignoring the grumble and useless objection from a girl he pulled off of him.
Searching for a more isolated area that lacked of people in general he walked outside to the backyard where several sober people were mingling amongst themselves, keeping the noise to a minimal level. Content with his new location Ethan sat his tiresome body on an available seat and took a long drink from his beer. As he closed his eyes Tom, a friend of his called out his name from across the yard, jogging his way over to an agitated Ethan.
As Tom stood beside Ethan he opened his eyes failing to conceal his irritation as he mumbled with exasperation. "What?"
"Dude, Brooke's in a room with one of the singers that came in tonight," said Tom, indicating to a window with his head. "She's in that room over there. You better hurry."
The bigger and clearer the realisation hit her the faster her heartbeat accelerated and the faster her pulse accelerated the more dirty and filthy she felt. She felt as though guilt, disgust and remorse was crawling up her naked body loudly proclaiming that all her virtue dispensed into thin air. Thinking of the consequences that she would soon have to face she leapt out of the ruffled bed pulling the blankets off her bare skin, bringing cold air towards her body. Shielding her body with her arms she rapidly searched for her clothes that were unfortunately thrown carelessly across the room. Retrieving each of her clothes she hastily pulled them on, trying to prevent the tears from rushing down her sadden face. Brooke kept her breathing even as the flashbacks of her intimacy with the boy flowed through her mind, leaving her stranded in her pits of regret. The boy, whose name Brooke still didn't know, grabbed his shirt from the floor and absentmindedly pulled it over his head, immediately returning his glance towards Brooke.
Observing her movements as she dressed desperately he spoke, breaking the silence between them. "Hey, I'm sorry. I never intended for uh—that to happen but—"
"But it did. It happened," replied Brooke sadly, feeling dejected. "I don't even know who you are, yet what your name is. You don't know who I am and now, I feel as though I don't know who I am. I feel like a downright slut."
The boy inwardly cursed himself for taking advantage of an innocent girl and stood up, towering over her. He didn't usually sleep with random girls at parties but when he conversed with her he felt an unknown attraction towards her.
He held out his hand towards her and smiled sincerely, an indication to Brooke that it was a gesture for an innocent greeting. "Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Aiden Elliot and I believe we just slept together."
Brooke couldn't help it as her small smile crept up towards her mouth. She shook his hands, pushed away her guilt-ridden thoughts to the back of her mind and returned his genuine smile. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Aiden Elliot. I'm Brooke Parson and I do believe we just slept together."
Brooke released her hand from Aiden's grip and looked up at his inscrutable face instantly feeling drawn to his deep eyes that were coloured with dark shades of brown while his long eyelashes defined the outline of his eyes.
Reluctantly she withdrew her glance from his enthralling eyes and took a cautious step back. "Well, Aiden, this isn't usually how a one night stand ends like, I'm assuming. So, I'm going to forget about tonight and well, um, best of luck with your career. Bye."
She turned her back towards him, breathing in relief as she escaped from his unmoved gaze. Something about him made her feel uneasy. Not uneasy in a warning, sickening way but uneasy as in her stomach twirling with uncertain emotions. Whether it was because she slept with him or because of his impeccable charming looks, he had an effect on her and the longer Brooke lingered around in his presence she knew that the uneasiness was going to lead her to regretful actions.
The sound of her retreating footsteps filled the void room and made the tension rise as she resisted the urge to catch a quick glimpse of his face. As she reached for the doorknob Adrian's voice stopped her from entirely revolving the doorknob.
"Wait," he walked towards her with hesitation. "I just want to tell you that I'm not usually a guy that sleeps around with girls. Yeah I'm a rock star and all but I don't play around with girl's feelings. I'm sorry about tonight but for me, I don't regret it."
Brooke turned around to face him, which was filled with sincerity. Not knowing how to respond Brooke smiled amiably and left the room without one last backward glance.
As she walked along the narrowed hallway she saw an angered looking Ethan pushing past people, his eyes skimming past them, searching for a familiar face. When his eyes found Brooke's face his stern face relaxed slightly and he made his way towards her. So grateful for Ethan she wearily trudged towards him and fell into his protective arms as he asked her repeatedly if she was okay.
"I'm fine, Ethan," murmured Brooke as her lips trembled. "I'll be fine after I go die. After I go dig a deep hole with my bare hands and bury myself alive, I'll be fine."
Ethan pulled her away and stared at her disheartened face. "What happened?"
She knew he would find out sooner or later and honestly, she'd rather he find out from her but the embarrassment shadowed over her, restraining her from confiding in Ethan.
"Nothing happened," said Brooke. "I'm just extremely tired and –"
He stared intently into her eyes making her want to crumple into his arms, confessing everything. "Brooke, what happened?"
"Aiden Elliot happened."
Prince Alexandra exhausted from the dancing, drinking, yelling and making out excused him self from the large group of girls and went upstairs towards the isolated area where the rooms were located. Prince knew that as soon as the party got too feverish for Aiden he always secured himself in a secluded room, withdrawing from the party scene. Aiden detested parties and alcohols but for the sake of Prince's safety he always assisted him in making an appearance. Following his instinct he chose the last room, opened the door and poked his head and smirked when he found Aiden sitting on the edge of the bed looking utterly distressed.
Hearing upon his arrival Aiden lifted his head, facing Prince who sauntered into the room who was looking at the plain and unembellished room with amusement.
Prince gently poked Aiden in the arms, calling him by his last name. "Elliot, let's go."
Grunting in response Aiden lifted himself from the disentangled bed and ruffled his hair into the rightful place. Walking past Prince without exchanging any words he prepared to exit the room without divulging his night's events to Prince but when Prince's voice stopped him he knew he underestimated Prince.
"Elliot, wait," said Prince, his voice draining with curiosity and amusement simultaneously. "You fixed your hair. The bed is messy. Your clothes…well your clothes look normal but you, you slept with someone didn't you?"
Aiden sighed. "How you can detect if someone slept with someone by those minor factors are beyond my understanding but yes I did. Now, let's go."
"For someone who just had sex you sure don't look the least bit satisfied."
As they walked down the stairs to the still ongoing party they brushed off the people who endeavoured to gain their attention and calmly departed from the house. Breathing in the fresh air, which was free of alcohol and sweat, Aiden felt his body relax.
"You okay?" asked Prince.
"The girl tonight," started Aiden, his eyes full of uncertainty and bemusement. "She reminded me of Hayley."
"You catch her name?"
"Brooke Parson," whispered Aiden, ignoring the concerned expression that was splattered across Prince's face. "Her name is Brooke Parson."
Author's Note.
Boring chapter. But hey, I updated so I'm not complaining but still, this chapter is not exciting. Hope you like it though.
Tell me what you think so far.