The next morning, Taylor sat in the airport next to her mother, waiting for boarding to be called.
All the while, she was trying to read a book, though the words made no sense and her attention kept going to the long corridor that led to from her terminal, watching people…looking…
“He isn’t coming, sweetie,” Mrs. Kelso said gently, noticing her daughter’s actions.
“What are talking about, mom?” Taylor shifted.
“It’s better this way. I know it seems like the end of the world, but leaving you alone is the smartest thing that boy’s ever done.”
Taylor just clenched her teeth and attempted to focus on her book.
Their flight was called to board, and with one last hopeful glance over her shoulder, and finding nothing, Taylor boarded the plane.
When Brooklynn woke up to find herself entangled with another person, she smiled. It was nice to feel their body next to hers, to hear the shallow breathing and the rhythmic heartbeat.
When she looked over and saw that the person was Sam, the smile vanished, and regret and fear took hold of her body. She couldn’t move. The previous night came flooding back to her, and she felt sick to her stomach.
She lay there in his arms, trying to decide what to do next. Before she could reach a sufficient answer, he woke up.
He looked over at her and a lazy smile spread across his face.
“Morning,” he yawned.
“You mean to tell me that this doesn’t faze you?” she asked in disbelief.
“What?”
“THIS! Waking up in bed with your girlfriend’s best friend!”
“Well, I mean, it’s uncomfortable just because she might find out, but I figure we’re broken up, anyway, so,” he shrugged.
“You disgust me,” Brooklynn told him, getting out of bed and getting dressed.
“You know, you weren’t exactly putting up a fight against me last night. You’re just as guilty as I am, so stop with the whole innocent thing,” he gave her a sneer.
“You’re supposed to love her…and you started this.”
“You’re supposed to love her, too…and anyway, I had way too much to drink last night, and I wasn’t in an emotionally stable state. You, on the other hand, were completely sober. You could’ve just been the designated driver, dropped me in my bed and left. But NO, you let your own selfish desires take over and hopped into bed with me, taking advantage of a drunken man, just because you’re beautiful and knew I couldn’t resist in my state of mind…what a horrible person, you are Brooklynn,” he shook his head and lit a cigarette.
Hot tears rolled down Brook’s face. “What are you saying all this?”
“Cause I’m an asshole,” he grinned.
Now fully clothed, Brooklynn grabbed her purse and left the house.
The whole drive home she couldn’t do anything but cry. She was angry at Sam. Angry at herself. And now she was faced with an immensely difficult decision—did she confess to Scott and later Taylor, or keep it a secret and save them both the hurt? Brooklynn desperately wanted to take the horrible secret to the grave, but she knew they’d find out anyway, either by instinct or from Sam.
She drove to Scott’s house and cautiously walked up to the front door and rang the bell.
A few minutes later a very sleepy-looking Scott answered the door, his short hair mussed, wearing nothing but a pair of baggy sweat-pants.
Only then did Brooklynn glance at her watch—just past seven a.m.
“Oh, God, Scott, I’m sorry…I didn’t realize it was this early,” she spoke quickly.
“Brook, what’s wrong?” he asked, noticing the red rim of her eyes, the tear stains on her cheeks.
Seeing the concern on his face, in his eyes, killed her. She broke down and sobbed.
“S-S-Scott, I’ve done something t-t-terrible.”
He pulled the door shut behind him and led her over to the porch swing where they both sat down.
“Baby, what is it?” he put an arm around her shoulders, wanting nothing more than to comfort her.
Her elbows were on her knees and she held her head in her hands.
“Before I tell you, I just want you to know that I love you…I do…” she choked out, hiccupping and sniffling between her words.
“Okay,” he soothed, stroking her hair. “I love you, too, Brook.”
More body rattling tears, then she looked at him, her bottom lip trembling.
“I slept with Sam last night.”
Scott looked at her in awe. He felt as though someone had punched him the stomach, knocking all the air out of him.
“Scott, I’m so sorry…it was a mistake…” she continued quickly.
“How could you do this to me?” he cut her off, standing up and holding the sides of his head with his hands.
“Scott, I didn’t mean…”
“Get out of here,” he spoke quietly, seriously, glaring at her coldly.
Without a word, she stood up, went to her car and left.
She glanced in the rearview mirror just in time to see him punch the side of his house.
As soon as Brooklyn had left, Sam’s cocky grin melted. He was so furious with himself.
He pulled on his boxers, lit a cigarette, and began pacing his room. He needed to think of a solution and fast. The cool, ignorant act with Brooklynn had bought him some time, he hoped. She’d be too upset to say anything to anyone, but he needed to figure out something. She wouldn’t stay silent forever.
“Sam?” Daniel called, knocking on the door.
“Come in, buddy,” Sam replied, sitting on his bed.
“Who was that girl?” Daniel asked quietly, closing the door behind him. “Why’d she stay all night?”
“She was um, a friend of mine, Dan. That’s all.”
“Why are you fighting with Taylor? Why are you guys broken up?”
“Come here, bud,” Sam gestured for his brother to come closer and Daniel sat next to Sam on the bed. “How’d you know about that?”
“I heard you talking to that girl,” Daniel replied simply.
“Taylor and I aren’t seeing eye-to-eye on a very important issue right now. And we decided to take a vacation from each other to think things over, that’s all,” Sam tried to explain without overwhelming the ten-year-old’s brain.
“Think you’ll make up?”
“Yeah…I think we’ll work it all out,” Sam assured his brother with a smile.
Scott spent about five minutes punching everything in sight on his porch until he realized his knuckles were bleeding. He dropped onto the porch swing and let her words replay over and over again.
‘I love you…I slept with Sam.’
After everything, the two people he trusted most had betrayed him.
And as he re-thought her words, he realized it made no sense.
How could she love him if she so readily jumped into bed with someone else? And Sam, about to be a father, sleeping with his best friend’s girl.
Scott felt the anger boiling in his veins, and the only thing he could think of was confronting Sam. He knew (hoped) that his friend would have no idea what he was talking about—Brooklynn simply passed out (naked) on the bed (in his arms) and nothing (everything) happened.
After a silent deliberation, Scott decided to talk to Sam later that day, after he had, hopefully, calmed down.
“Calm down, okay…tell me what happened,” Hayden pleaded with Brooklynn as they sat at the breakfast bar in his kitchen.
She was, by this time, an emotional wreck. Every detail of the past twenty-four hours came flooding back to her, and she realized that she had more than likely ruined three lives. All thanks to a couple of drinks and her inability to resist Sam. She relived every moment as she explained to Hayden exactly what had happened.
“I don’t know what to do next…” she concluded, taking a long drag from the cigarette that dangled loosely between her fingers.
“I don’t’ exactly know what to tell you…I can’t believe he actually cheated on her…I can’t believe you…”
“I’m sorry I came running to you. I just didn’t know who else to turn to…”
Hayden walked over and hugged her tightly. “I’m glad you came to me…I only wish I had some advice to give you.”
Just then the phone rang, breaking the tension.
Hayden let go of Brooklynn and picked up his cordless phone from the counter. “Hello?”
“Hayden I need the number to where Taylor’s staying…please…” Sam’s voice requested urgently on the other end of the line.
“Why?” Hayden asked simply.
“I have to talk to her…I feel awful…I need to talk to her…I cheated on her last night…Jesus Christ, Hayden…I slept with Brook…I need to talk to Taylor…please, just, please…give me her number,” Sam rambled, the words coming from his mouth faster than he could stop them. “I need to talk to her…I have to confess and apologize…”
Hayden let out a sigh. Taylor had given him the number in confidence; nobody had it but him and her father. But Sam sounded so desperate…
“Listen, I know you’re mad at me for last night, but I know that you’re one of two people who knows how to get a hold of her…and the other one isn’t going to tell me anything…” he pleaded.
Hayden caved then hung up quickly.
“Who was that?” Brooklynn, now calm, asked when he was off the phone.
“Sam…looking for Taylor,” he replied quietly.
“Think she’s gonna be mad that you gave him her number?”
He let out an appreciative chuckle. “Mad? She’ll be over-joyed that my scumbag cousin’s calling for her.”
Brooklynn was caught off guard by his attitude and unsure of how to react.
Finally she settled on a simple and direct question: “Where’d that come from?”
When he didn’t reply, she went on.
“I mean, I know she’s you’re best friend, but…”
“BECAUSE SHE DESERVES BETTER THAN HIM!” he cut her off loudly. “She’s beautiful and smart, and kind, and funny…” he trailed off.
“Oh, no…Hayden…”Brooklynn shook her head at her revelation.
“What?” he asked irritably.
“You’re in love with her…” she answered gently.
“You’re right…I am I’ve been in love with her since I was fourteen God damn years old. And then Sam came to town, and I lost her…and he keeps screwing her over…first he steals her from me, then he treats her like garbage…how much sense does that make?” he vented. “And ya know what? I’ll never get her now. She’ll always go running back to him because of this baby.”
Sam tentatively dialed the number Hayden had given to him. What was he gonna say to her? How could he possibly justify his actions? She wouldn’t accept his being drunk as an excuse…and he didn’t want to lie to her. He knew what he was doing the night before.
It was ringing. He was tempted to just hang up and let Brooklynn handle it all when Taylor got back…
“Hello?” an elderly female voice answered.
Too late.
“Is um…is Taylor there?” he stammered.
“May I ask who’s calling?” the woman asked pleasantly.
“This is Sam…her boyfriend.”
“Oh,” the female’s demeanor changed immediately. “Hold on.”
He heard the phone receiver drop onto a table, the woman call for Taylor, then walk away.
A minute or so later, Taylor picked up the phone. “Hello?”
“Hey…” Sam found his voice.
“Sam…I didn’t think I’d be hearing from you…”
Taylor, though ecstatic to hear from him, kept her tone nonchalant and bored.
“Well, I have to tell you something…a couple of things, actually…and I’m not really sure where to start…” his voice was wavering as he spoke.
“Whatever it is, you can tell me,” she assured him.
“Last night…I…well, what happened…” he stammered.
“Sam, just tell me,” she pressed impatiently, expecting an apology.
“I cheated on you…with Brooklynn…after you left the party…” Sam told her quickly.
He was met with silence. A full two minutes of silence.
“You there?” he asked tentatively, afraid that she’d hung up on him.
“You what?” she asked in disbelief and shock.
“I’m sorry…”
“You’re sorry? That’s all you have to say to me? ‘I’m sorry’? The same night I tell you that I’m having your baby, and you treat me like the fucking village idiot, you jump into bed with my best friend and now all you have to say is ‘I’m sorry’? And you expect me to accept that?” Taylor raged. Her voice came out shaky as she tried to hold back tears.
“I don’t know what else to say other than that and I love you…and I don’t really understand why or how it happened...”
“Don’t treat me like I’m stupid. You think I don’t know about all the other times? All the other women?”
“Baby, what are you talking about?” Sam asked nervously.
“I’ve always had this terrible feeling that you’ve been…unfaithful…I heard all this stories and rumors, but I always ignored them…just, tell me the truth, Sam. How many others were there?”
“Taylor, listen, that was a long time ago, I swear…”
“JUST TELL ME!” she screamed, cutting him off. Tears were now rolling down her face. She couldn’t hold them back any longer.
“Five. Five girls…including Brook last night. But I swear, Taylor, I’m gonna change…”
He didn’t get to finish his thought, because she hung up the phone.
Scott was sitting in his car, a cigarette dangling from his lip. He looked on the clock on the dashboard. Five-fifteen p.m.
He was parked outside Sam’s house, debating on what to do once face to face with his friend.
While he was deliberating, Sam came outside and sat on the porch steps.
Scott got out of his car and began to walk up to the other man.
“Scott…hey,” Sam stood up when he saw his friend approach.
“What happened last night?” Scott questioned immediately.
“Listen, it was a huge, terrible mistake…”
“So you did…you and Brooke…” Scott was beginning to lose his cool.
“Scott, I don’t know how to explain it…”
Sam was silenced with a swift and unexpected blow to the jaw. He staggered backwards.
“Scott, chill out…let’s talk about this,” Sam went towards the other mad and was met with another hit, this time to the stomach.
The impact sent Sam to the ground, and Scott dove on top of him, fists flying.
After a few minutes of incoherent obscenities and merciless beatings from both parties, Scott stood up and lit a cigarette. His lip was split and he had the beginnings of a slight shiner.
Sam, in far worse condition, continued to just lay on the ground. His lip was split in two places, a gash about an inch deep adorned his eyebrow, and his eye would be a nasty black and blue later. Every breath he took was agony, making him guess that he had at least one cracked or broken rib.
“You deserved that,” Scott looked down at the other man. “You know that right?”
All Sam could do was nod weakly. “You need stitches in your eyebrow,” Scott observed. “Can you get up?”
Sam took a deep breath, winced, and sat up. Then, slowly and with Scott’s help, got to his feet.
“Come on…I’ll take ya to the hospital,” Scott led his friend to the car, setting him into the passenger seat.
As they drove down the road, neither spoke.
“Why are you taking care of me? After what I did…” Sam broke the silence.
“Cause you’re like my brother…you asked for everything you got back there, but…I didn’t mean to do that much damage…”
“I think you broke my ribs…”
“We’ll get you fixed up…don’t do it again, Sam…I’ll get you worse next time…”
“I’m not that stupid.”
Brooklynn was still at Hayden’s when the phone rang.
“Get that for me, will ya?” Hayden called from the kitchen.
“Sure thing,” she called back then picked up the cordless phone from the table. “Hello?”
Scott was surprised to hear her voice, but recovered quickly. “What figured you’d have a go with Hayden while you’re at it?” he asked nastily.
“What do you want?” she asked with a sigh.
“Tell Hayden that Sam and me are at St. Clair in the emergency waiting room. You might as well come too…we all need to talk.”
“Are you guys okay? What happened?”
He didn’t bother to give her a response, he just hung up the phone.
“Who was it?” Hayden questioned, walking into the living room.
“Scott. He and Sam are in the ER waiting room…they want us to come down…what the hell do you think happened to them?” she hurried around the room and spoke nervously.
“Probably each other…” Hayden sighed grabbing his car keys, then following her out the front door.
“He’s on his way…Brooklynn’s with him,” Scott sat down next to Sam after he made his phone call.
“Are we cool?” Sam asked, staring at the ground.
“I’m talking to you aren’t I?”
“That’s not what I mean…you can talk to people and still not be cool.”
“Then no. But we will be.”
And then they were silent. Neither of them knew what to say to the other.
“What the hell happened to you?!” Hayden exclaimed when he first saw his cousin as he and Brooklynn entered the waiting room.
Scott, though he did feel bad, couldn’t help but allow a small triumphant grin to play on his lips.
“You did this?!” Brooklyn asked Scott in surprise.
“I deserved it…”Sam defended his friend before she had sufficient time to jump all over Scott.
“How could you do that to him?! Good Lord, Scott…you could’ve killed him!” she ignored Sam and focused on her (ex) boyfriend.
“Just know that you’re lucky you’re a girl,” Scott glowered at her.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that if you were a man I’d break your neck,” he jumped to his feet.
“Alright, alright…enough,” Hayden stepped between them. “You’re causing a scene and we don’t need the police to come. Just sit down. Both of you.”
Not dropping the hateful glare they shared, the two lowered themselves into their seats.
“Now. We need to figure out what we’re gonna do about this trip to New Orleans. Taylor’s obviously out and the rest of us aren’t on the best of terms. We’re booked to leave in a week,” Sam explained quickly.
None of the others said a word. They hadn’t thought about the trip at all.
“I’m out. I can’t go on vacation with cracked ribs,” Sam continued.
“I don’t know…I mean, I bought a ticket…I want to go…” Brooklynn answered quietly.
“So go…and I’ll sell my ticket back or whatever I have to do to get rid of it,” Scott told her.
“I don’t wanna go by myself…”
“I’ll go, too,” Hayden piped in. “I could use a break before school starts.”
“Then it’s settled,” Sam sighed. He looked at each of his friends—all miserable. He was amazed at how one night could tear them apart so fast.
The next week went quickly, and was awkward and strange for the four “friends”.
Hayden wasn’t speaking to Sam, but was speaking to Scott and Brooklynn. Scott wasn’t speaking with Brooklynn, but made up with Sam. Sam spoke only to Scott, and Brookspoke only to Hayden. For the first time since they’d all come together, they treated each other as strangers.
Brooklynn and Hayden left for New Orleans. Sam and Scott were left to figure out what came next.
Taylor hadn’t made any attempt to contact Sam, and though he thought about it every second, he hadn’t tried to call her either. It was too soon, too uncomfortable, still. What could he say to her anyway, that he hadn’t already said?