Love’s Suicide(5)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Nothing could have prepared me for the shocked feelings that overwhelmed me when I walked into the house and saw Brooks sitting next to a beautiful girl from our school. He smiled as I walked in and hung my jacket on the back of the chair. Sitting across from him was probably a bad idea, but there were only two seats available, and both were directly facing them.

“Sorry we’re late. The movie had twenty minutes of previews that we didn’t anticipate,” Branch explained.

Danica started passing the salad bowl and I couldn’t help but take in the delicious scent of the sour beef and dumplings. “It smells wonderful.”

She smiled. “I wish one year I could make it as good as she did. That woman had a niche for making it perfect, didn’t she?”

I nodded and accidentally looked up at Brooks. He was watching me, not the girl, who was named Natalie Chambers. I avoided making eye contact with her for the sole purpose of not giving a damn if she was the Queen of England. Any girl that Brooks was interested in would always be my enemy.

I wouldn’t call it jealousy. It was the fact that for so long both of the boys had always been mine, in some weird convoluted way. We’d always had each other’s backs and I hated that my relationship with Branch was causing that bond between Brooks and me to sever.

Mr. Valentine, who I always called Walt, cleared his voice. “We hope you don’t mind Brooks bringing a guest. It was my idea, seeing as we had plenty of food.”

I smiled, trying to hold in the true feelings of that little bitch sitting at our dinner table for my special meal, to remember my mother, whom she never even met. We’d had bad blood since she’d passed around a note in eighth grade making fun of me for getting my period. I told the teacher and she got into a lot of trouble. Since that day we weren’t exactly friends. “No, it’s fine. The more the merrier.”

I felt Branch’s hand touching my thigh and slowly sliding up my legs until he reached a point where it was starting to make me uncomfortably hot. I reached under the table to stop him and happened to look up. Brooks was looking at me, watching what I was doing. While never taking his eyes off of my arm under the table, he took his hand and stuck it under the table, toward Natalie. She made a little sound, letting me know he was really touching her.

It was so aggravating how he was teasing me. I gave him a dirty look and pulled my hand back up to eat.

We finished our salads and started passing around the main course. When I went to grab the bowl from Danica, my elbow hit my napkin sending my silverware to the floor. I handed Branch the bowl and leaned down to get them. My eye caught Brooks hand, between the legs of Natalie. Her panties were slid to the side and he was practically fingering her. I came up quickly, banging my head on the table.

It was so sickening that I excused myself to the bathroom after feeling the bile rising in my throat.

Why was he torturing me?

I couldn’t understand why he’d do something like that in front of everyone.

I heard knocking on the bathroom door and cracked it open to see who it was on the other side. Branch smiled when he saw me. I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him inside with me. “You are not going to believe what I just saw under the table.”

He ran his hand through his light brown hair and smiled. “Does it have to do with Brooks?”

He didn’t seem surprised. I smacked him on the chest again. “Yes, but this is legitimately horrible. He was fingering her under the table. Why did he bring her here?”

Branch laughed at me some more. “Why do you care? You know how he is. He’s always looking for attention, and you know he likes to annoy you. Look, you should be glad he’s not sitting there trying to pry into our business. That chick being here is a good thing for us.”

I leaned on the vanity. “I guess.”

He approached me and kissed me softly on the side of my lips. “Don’t let him bother you tonight, Katy. This is your night, and I won’t let you get so upset. Let’s go out there and enjoy dinner before they come looking for us.”

I rolled my eyes, realizing that Brooks was probably thrilled he’d gotten a rise out of me. “Fine.”

We were almost to the table when Branch leaned into my ear and whispered, “If you were wearing a skirt, I’d be fingering you at the table, too.”

I shook my head and tried to stay composed while blushing and sitting back down.

For the rest of the meal I refused to look forward. He wasn’t going to ruin my night any more than he had already.

Branch held my hand under table and nudged me several times, reminding me that he would always be by my side. I appreciated that he was so understanding, where others would have been jealous. He really did love me.

After dessert, Brooks left with flavor of the week, probably so he could drive to an alley and f**k her and then never talk to her again.

I never would have pegged him to be such a douche, but that’s exactly what he’d become.

The four of us remaining sat at the table together. “I saw the flowers at the graveyard today. They were beautiful as always,” Danica announced.

“Thanks. Branch picked them out. Mom always loved yellow roses.”

I played with the rim of the cup of hot tea in front of me.

“I was thinking that we should donate a bench in their name. I got something in the mail about it, if you’d like to see it,” she said.

I looked up and smiled. “That would be great. Thanks again for dinner. It doesn’t matter how many years go by, it still means the same as the first time you did this for me. I think since Branch and I are graduating this year, it’s a little more emotional. I mean, you’ve practically raised me. I know Mom and Dad would be so grateful to you. I just don’t know a way I could ever repay you for what you’ve done for me.”

Walt reached for my hand and I placed mine inside of his. “Katy, you’ve always been a part of this family. Your parents were our closest friends. We miss them every day, too. Having you here with us is like we got to keep a part of them. It’s always our pleasure.”

I could feel the tears falling down my face. No matter how much I tried, it never got easier for me. The mere mention of my parents was always too much for me to be able to handle. It was even harder knowing that my father’s parents hadn’t been in my life since I was two and my mother’s parents, who had come over from England, died within a month of each other when I was eleven. At least they didn’t have to experience the loss of their child. “I really appreciate it.”