My Brother's Best Friend

Chapter Two

I gazed at myself in my bathroom mirror, my bright blue eyes scanning myself up and down. Today was my first day of grade 11, and I had to look decent. After one last glance, I took the stairs two at a time, nearly bumping into Chris at the bottom.

"Watch out." he grumbled, giving me a dirty look. I rolled my eyes and scooted around him, running out the door and hopping into his car. He followed me out, getting into his car and starting it.

"You're going to have to get into the back when I pick up James." Chris said, and I sighed. No use arguing with him. Chris and I may get along, but we also have the typical sibling spats. This was a frequent one. I stared out the window all the way to James', and when we finally arrived, I was so zoned out I didn't budge.

"Brooke, get in the back." Chris said, nudging my arm with his elbow.

"Why can't James sit in the back." I retorted.

"He's 100x taller than you Brooke, use your brain. He'd never fit comfortably back there."

"100x taller? I'm not that short Chris."

"Get. in. the. freaking. back." he seethed, glaring at me hard. I sighed, undoing my seat belt and opening the door. I didn't hesitate to slam it before turning and nearly bumping into James. Wow, I was just bumping into everyone today.

"Oops sorry." I said to his chest before going around him and getting into the back. I rested my head on the back of the seat, staring out the window. When we finally got to school, I jumped out and headed inside, leaving Chris and James in the dust. I scanned the hallways for Kaeli, and when I finally saw her blonde head in the sea of people, I excitedly headed over. When she spotted me, she shrieked loudly, earning some odd glances. She hurled herself at me, enveloping me in a hug.

"Brooke I missed you so much! And damn girl, you look hot!" she commented, giving me the typical girl glance, looking me up and down and then shooting me a wink. I giggled, grabbing her arm.

"Everyone's been saying I look different." I said, and she nodded dramatically at me.

"I mean, you still look the same, but your more tan, your free of acne, which I am really jealous of by the way, and I think you got taller?" she asked, trailing off as she realized she was now level with my face. She had always been the taller one, and now we were the same.

"b***h, how come you got to get pretty and I'm stuck with the same ugly face." she pouted. I rolled my eyes.

"Oh puh-lease, you were always the pretty one and I was just her best friend. Plain old boring Brooke." I said, crinkling my nose.

"You were not." she protested. I ignored her, my eyes fixated on the tall girl with long blonde waves coming my way. Cameryn strutted down the hall, her mini skirt revealing her long, tan legs. She made eye contact with me, her eyes narrowing into slits as she stared me up and down. I could feel years of hatred coursing through me as flashbacks washed over me.

"Well well well. Who let the nerd in." Cameryn clucked as she came over, her green eyes glaring at me. I ignored her, rolling my eyes and stepping to the side of her. Her hand flew to my shoulder, hitting me with enough force to throw me back into the lockers. I held back a squeak of pain, glaring at her heavily. She leaned in close to my ear.

"Don't f**k with me b***h. You'd be better off to listen to what I say." she whispered, giving me a sickly sweet, fake smile before strutting off. Boys watched her strut off, pretty much drooling. I rolled my eyes, already feeling sick. I had a feeling that this would not be a very good year.

----

I glanced down at my schedule, inwardly hating myself for choosing hard courses. I was pretty much asking for a death wish. I was taking mostly grade 12 university courses which meant I wouldn't really have any friends in my classes, since they were all taking regular grade 11 courses. I had biology, phys ed, chemistry, french and history. Greaaaat. I threw my bag over my shoulder and headed to my first class, biology. I walked in, surprised at the amount of people already seated. I scanned the room, not surprised, but still disappointed that I knew no one. I chose an empty seat near the window and dropped my bag at my feet. I sat there patiently, resting my chin on my hand. When the final bell rang, Mr. Hanson stood up, and everyone eventually went silent.

"Welcome to Biology year 12. Before we begin-" he was cut off as the classroom door flung open. James sauntered in, hands in his pocket.

"Thank you for joining us, Mr. Winters." Mr. Hanson said, gritting his teeth in annoyance.

"Take a seat." he said in an exasperated voice. James scanned the classroom, and his eyes fell on the only empty seat in the room- beside me. He sauntered over, his eyes connecting with mine for one second of pure awkwardness. I averted my gaze, fighting the blush that was threatening to appear. He pulled the chair out from our table, and sat down, inches away from me.

"Heyyy Brookie." he said, giving me a crooked smile before opening his textbook to a random page, looking at the pictures. I cringed at the nickname that I had thought was in the past. Only Chris and James would call me that- when I was 12. I slumped down in my seat, trying to ignore the fact that his shoulder was an inch away from mine. I couldn't figure out why I was having so much butterflies in my stomach. He was just so darn attractive.

"Now as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted-" Mr Hanson broke of from his sentence to give James a glare, which James just ignored, flipping through his textbook.

"Before we begin, I'm going to pass around a piece of paper. I need you to write down the number on your textbook beside your name, as well as any damages you notice on the textbook." I glanced down at my textbook, taking in any damage and looking for the number. Once I wrote down the information, I handed it over to James. He wasn't paying any attention, instead he was on his phone, using his textbook as a decoy while he texted. I lightly nudged his arm, and his eyes shot up to mine. His dark brown eyes studied mine, almost like they were penetrating into my soul, and I waved the paper in his face. He took it gently, his fingers brushing against mine, sending shivers down my spine. He took no notice, writing down what he needed to before handing it off to the next person. I stared down into my lap.

"Now, I want everyone to look towards the person they're sharing a desk with. This person will be your lab partner for the rest of the semester." I snuck a glance at James, only to find him already staring at me. As our eyes connected, he winked.

"Hey partner." he said, making my insides clench. I turned my head, staring out the window. It was one thing that I thought he was attractive, but it was a complete new thing when you put "brother's best friend" into the equation.

"Now, open your textbooks to page 3, and read until page 17. Homework for tomorrow is the questions at the end of the chapter." I let out a sigh, and after a quick glance around the classroom, I opened my textbook and began to read. Once I finished, I pulled out a pen and paper and began to answer the questions.

"Brooke, do you have an extra pen?" James whispered, lightly nudging me to get my attention. I nodded, handing him a pen. He smiled in gratitude, and I found my gaze fixated on him. His eyes studied mine, and then they flickered down to his textbook. When the bell rang, I gathered my stuff together and headed out of the classroom. I headed towards the gym, dreading my phys ed class. I walked into the girls' locker room, and wanted to cry as I realized Cameryn was in the class. Her bright green eyes narrowed as she noticed me walk in, and she left the locker room in a hurry. I changed into the uniform and joined everyone else out in the gym. Mr. Kason went around, randomly selecting partners, and when he got to me, he smiled.

"Hey Brooke, your partner this semester is Dean." I followed his gaze to a guy I was pretty familiar with; Dean Jacobs. Dean was every girl's dream guy. He was captain of the boy's basketball team which made him a tall and athletic guy. His almond coloured eyes met mine and I blushed as I saw his eyes rake up and down my body. He ran a finger through his shaggy brown hair, coming up to stand beside me.

"Hey Brooke." he smirked, stopping just an inch away.

"Hi." I said rather timidly.

"I'm glad I got partnered with you." he said in a rather cute way. I felt my stomach quiver with butterflies. Our first activity was to practice passing soccer balls around, and I could definitely tell he was kicking the ball light enough for me to receive it easily. The other guys in the class were just wailing them with all their strength, and the girls dodged and hoped that it wouldn't hit them.

"That was a good kick Brooke." Dean said, smiling. I smiled back genuinely, and thought to myself that this class wouldn't be so bad with Dean as a partner.

----

"Can I please just get shotgun." I whined, crossing my arms like a two-year old.

"You'll have to fight James for it." Chris merely said, as we all walked across the parking lot toward his car. I took off running without a second thought, and laughed to myself as I heard James curse before he raced off after me. I could hear his feet hitting the pavement not too far back, and I pushed myself harder, determined to win. I could see Chris' car, and urged myself to go faster. James was getting closer and closer, and I silently cursed his athletic form. As soon as I reached his car, I opened the door and squealed as arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me back. I struggled against James, and finally gave in. He was too strong. I lost. I stopped struggling, and became very conscious of the fact that my back was pressed against his chest, his arm still wrapped around me. I could feel his hard ab muscles on my back, and his warmth poured through him into me. He seemed to realize the position we were in and quickly let go of me. I was too stunned to move and merely watched him scoot around me and get in the car. I avoided eye contact and got into the back, my cheeks on fire.

"I've never seen you give up like that." Chris said to me, super amused. I ignored him, still feeling the warmth from James pouring through me like electricity. As soon as we got to the house, I raced inside and went up to my room. Wow was all I could think.