Women of Questionable Morals

“Brooke time to get up!” I heard Peyton knock on the door. I groaned as she burst through the door and bent down to eye level. “Come on. Time to get up. The guys are coming over soon,” she greeted using her sweet voice.

I groaned shoving my head in my pillow.

“I have coffee,” she said.

I shot my head up and stared at the mug in her hand. I could smell it from here. A smile came across my face as I stuck my hand out for it to be handed to me.

“Which I will put on your dresser a perfect amount of distance so you have to get up and get it yourself,” she finished. “Now come on. Get dressed. You don’t have much time.”

“I hate you,” I muttered. I sighed and sat up and stretched. I got up and went to the bathroom to do my usual routine. I showered quickly and changed into dark jeans, a black sweater and a deep red scarf around my neck. I grabbed my coffee and sipped on it as I walked out to the living room. “Hey.”

“Hey. Are you ready?” She flipped the channels on the television making faces at the commercials.

I nodded. “Yea I am.” I took a seat next to her and put on my shoes. “When are the guys supposed to be here?”

Just as the sentence left my mouth, the door knocked. “Right now,” she turned off the television and got up to open the door.

I stood up and went to the bathroom to make last minute adjustments. My hair was straight and loose. I had slight eyeliner on and chapstick. I sighed before hearing voice come through the living room. I proceeded to the kitchen to finish my coffee.

I rubbed my hands on my jeans and saw Jordan, Max, Kris, Marc, and Sidney standing chatting. Max, Marc and Peyton were whispering to each other secretively. I went over to my mug and took a gulp of coffee. Jordan’s eyes fell on me soon followed by everyone else’s. They stayed staring at me not knowing what to do as if I had done something. I swallowed my coffee and waved awkwardly at them.

Jordan soon bolted and came running to me. “Brooke!” he swooped me up and spun my around.

A small squeal escaped my mouth. I wrapped my arms around him trying not to fall as my legs swung in the air. “Hey Jordan.”

“I missed you. I haven’t seen a girl in almost three days,” he said putting me down.

I scratched the back of my head. “I missed you too Jordan.” I looked back at everyone else who seemed confused on what to do. I smiled slightly. “Did I do something wrong? Why is everyone so quiet?”

Marc cleared his throat. “It’s just we haven’t seen you in so long. We feel like strangers to you now.”

Max nodded. “Yeah but we’re glad to see you again,” he assured walking over to me and hugging me. “We all missed you and Peyton.”

Marc came and hugged me as well leading me into the living room. “We have Brooke. That’s why we wanted to have breakfast. We have a late practice today and we wanted to spend time with you girls.”

He stopped and left to the couch leaving me in front of Kris. I looked up at him unsure of what to do. After a while he smiled at me and wrapped his arms around me. I hugged him back and looked up. “Hey,” I greeted.

“Hey. How are you?” he asked staring down at me.

I nodded. “Good. I saw your game. You played great,” I smiled.

“Thanks.” He let me go as we turned to face the rest of the group.

“Alright we should get going,” Peyton decided. “Brooke you want a jacket?”

“I’ll come get it with you,” I replied following her into my room. She pulled out a jacket form my closet and put it on handing me my black one.

She looked at herself in the mirror and turned to leave before turning back at me. “Remember,” she spoke lowly. “Say something, do something.”

I walked out behind her as the guys all left. Sidney was holding the door and waited for everyone to leave. Peyton looked over her shoulder and smirked at me. I smiled leaving the apartment and locking the door.

I turned around and saw Sidney was the only one there. I put my keys in my pocket and stood awkwardly. I gave a tiny smile. “Hey.”

“Hey. How have you been?” he asked, his hands in his pockets.

I smiled. “Good. You?”

He nodded. “Good.” He looked down. “You look great today,” he mumbled.

My eyes widened slightly in surprise. Did he just tell me I looked great? I had been quiet for sometime and noticed his face start to look worried as if he’d said something wrong. “Thank you,” I blurted. Say something. Do something. Anything.

Without thinking, I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around his middle. He stiffened up before relaxing and returning the hug. “I missed you,” I tried to say casually.

“I missed you too,” he told me. We let go and smiled at each other. “Shall we?” he asked pointing to where everyone else was.

I smiled. “Yes, let’s.”
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“So what did you girls do while we were gone?” Marc asked as he forked down his eggs.
Peyton and I shrugged. “Nothing really. We mostly like to stay inside. We’ve never been the go out type of girls,” she replied.

“You don’t go out to clubs or anything like that? I mean you’re young,” he reasoned.

I giggled at his comment. “Never. We hate clubs. I mean we like dancing, but it’s way too loud and way too many people. I feel claustrophobic. I mean I personally think it’s just an excuse for people to get wasted and throw away their morals. Even though we are young we act like old spinsters and stay in, watch tv and eat take out. It’s been working out well for us for the past couple of years,” I explained.

They stayed staring at me as if something amazing had just happened. Peyton started laughing as I gave her a confused look. “What?” I asked.

Max shook his head. “Wow. I think that’s the most I’ve heard you talk since we’ve met you.” the rest of the guys nodded, still shocked. I smiled sheepishly and took a bite out of my French toast.

“I didn’t know you didn’t like clubs,” Sidney said next to me.

“That’s one of the many things I don’t like. I’m very picky. One of my best qualities,” I joked smirking at him.

Again, the table went silent. “Ok new Brooke what happened to old Brooke? Did you kidnap her? Give her back!” Jordan cried slamming his hands on the table.

I laughed. “What is wrong with you guys?”

“We’ve never seen you talk this much,” Marc said. “Or make jokes.”

“I didn’t even know you knew what a joke was,” Kris added as Peyton laughed.

They had a point. I had no idea where all of this was coming from. I myself had questioned if I knew what a joke was. I was considerably chatty today. It was in large part due to the talk Peyton and I had the other day. “Funny,” I told him with a smirk.

“So,” Peyton said changing the subject. “When do you guys have an off day?”

“Tomorrow, actually,” Max responded.

“Great, that means you can help me move,” she took a drink from her coffee.

He forced out a laugh. “Heh, yeah. Marc and Sidney aren’t doing anything either. They can help too. Right guys?” he gave them a pleading look.

Marc laughed. “Sure no problem.” Sidney smiled and nodded as well.

I looked around the table and saw everyone having their own conversation. I sighed and took a drink from my coffee. “Are you ok?” I heard Sidney ask next to me.

I turned to smile at him. “I’m fine thank you. And yourself?”

He nodded. “Pretty good.”

I nodded and returned back to my plate and fiddled around with the remaining toast with my fork. “That’s nice.”

“Brooke?” I raised my eyebrows and waited for him to talk until Max interrupted.

“Hey guys, time to go. Practice is going to start soon,” he told the guys.

I looked back at Sidney. “I’m sorry what were you going to say?”

He stared intensely at his plate before sighing deeply. “Never mind.” He got up from the table and went over to Marc and the rest of the guys.

I watched him leave as my eyes landed on Peyton. She looked at him and back at me with a questioning expression. I only shrugged watching him talk to Marc and Max.

The guys dropped Peyton and me off before heading to practice. The car had just come to a stop with Peyton and Max up front, Sidney and I, and Marc, Jordan, and Kris in back of us.

“I’ll walk you to the door,” Max offered getting out of the car and opening the door to Peyton.

She turned halfway around to look at me. “You coming?”

I snapped out of my train of thought and nodded slowly, showing a tiny smile. “Yeah, be right there.” She got out of the car as I turned around in my seat, surprised to find the guys sleeping.

I looked over at Sidney who half smiled. “Bye Brooke.”

I sighed heavily. “Sidney,” I began. “I hope you know that you can trust me. And I know that I don’t share much, but it’s nothing personal, really. I just, I don’t really enjoy talking about myself. Don’t be angry. Don’t stop trusting me. You need someone to talk to and I’m here to listen,” I confessed. “I’ll talk about myself in time, honest,” I tried to convince him.

He tilted his head as a tiny smile grew on his face. “Ok, Brooke. I wont.”

I nodded once and looked back to make sure the guys were still asleep. I smiled slightly at him before getting out of the car.
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“Do you think I need new clothes?” Peyton asked emerging from her room and adjusting her shirt.

I looked up from my book before glancing back down. “I don’t know. Do you think you need new clothes or are you just looking for an excuse to go shopping?” I murmured.

“You’re right. It’s just been a while since I’ve been shopping and I know I hate it, but I feel like trying it out again,” she said taking a seat on the couch next to me.

“It’s not something you try again, it’s not like trying to be, I don’t know, a writer again, which makes no sense since you are one, but not the point. You can’t just try shopping again,” I argued.

She made a face, slightly frowning and turned on the television and flipping through the channels. She sighed. “I think I’m falling for Max,” she spoke softly.

I stopped reading and put down the book to stare blankly at her. “What did you say?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, he’s really great. I know it sounds crazy but he’s been nothing but nice to me. When I told him about the whole moving in thing, he was super supportive and cared about leaving you alone and supports whatever I want to do. I’ve never liked anyone as much as I like him,” she said throwing her head back on the couch.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise at everything she just told me. “Wow, Peyton. I’ve never seen you so serious about anyone,” I tried to explain. “You seem happy, honestly. I don’t remember ever seeing you smile as much as you have recently.”

She smiled. “Yeah, I know,” she said frowning afterwards.

“What?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she sighed. “It’s just lately I feel as if I’ve been spending all my time with Max. I mean look at us. About a month ago I was just a reporter who only spoke to the guys when needed. And now we’re hanging out with them and I’m dating one of them. It’s crazy, right? I mean weeks ago I was nothing but focused on writing more and getting in a real piece and my career went first. Now, I care more about Max’s career and whether or not he’s doing good and am there for his every need or when he’s out on the road. His life is chaos and he’s constantly traveling and I’m more worried on whether he’s not to stressed out. This is ridiculous right Brooke? I think I’m going insane,” she told me.

I laughed. “I’ve been questioning my own sanity as well, don’t worry you’re not alone,” I assured my eyes landing on the television and a current interview with Sidney from a recent game.

“Have you told him anything?” she asked.

I chewed my lip for a moment before answering. “I hugged him and told him I missed him. In the car I told him that he needed someone to talk to, that I was there for him, and that I’d talk about myself eventually,” I explained.

“Wow, that’s big for you. Must’ve been hard,” she mumbled.

I nodded slowly. “Yeah, I think I’m delirious because I actually feel like talking to him about myself and you know how much I hate it.”

She eyed me. “Are you ever going to tell him you like him?”

I rolled my eyes at her. “How many times do we have to go over this? I’m not sure if I like him,” I lied. “And we don’t even know each other that well. We’ve only known each other for a few weeks. And he doesn’t need more things on his plate without trying to be nice to me,” I argued.

She merely shook her head. “Oh Brooke, too nice for your own good. He’s going to get to you, I can tell. Just like Max got to me. I thought I could ignore it, but I couldn’t,” she reasoned. “I think you two are perfect for each other,” she joked.

“Of course you do,” I smiled fakely at her to which she only rolled her eyes playfully.

“Are you really going to talk about yourself more?” She asked growing more serious.

I stared at my hands before looking back at her. “Yeah,” I spoke softly. “I think I am. I know it might be stupid of me, but he seems sincere in wanting to get to know something about me and I feel like I owe it to him.”

“So, can I ask you something?” I nodded. “Do you think you can grow to really trust him?”

“Maybe, why do you ask?” I tilted my head.

“Because I think it would be really great for you. You’re very closed off Brooke and you know that and I love you but you really need to be able to trust someone else. You have to tell him what went on with you. I know it seems hard, but try, please. I don’t want to see you regret not sharing part of yourself with Sidney or any of the other guys. They want to help. Max told me. They’re just afraid that you’ll get defensive or shut them out, or beat their asses,” she explained.

I let out a small laugh. “I know. I have to deal with it. I guess it’s just become easier to ignore it and pretend nothing’s wrong, but it’s not healthy and I know that. I’ll try. I’ll really, really try,” I promised.

She smiled proudly. “Good. I just want to see you happy and you know that.”

I smiled back. “I know. So can I ask you something?” She nodded. “Why does Max think I’ll be alone?”

She sighed. “He told me that he sees you and Sidney are very alike. You’re both very quiet and keep to yourselves and don’t speak much about yourselves. And most importantly, care more about having everyone else happy rather than yourself. He told me that he thought if I left here, then you’d feel lonely and wouldn’t go out and become quieter and he didn’t want that. He wants the guys to be like your family. He can tell something’s up, he just doesn’t want to bring it up.”

“I always knew he knows more than people think he does,” I joked. I nudged her, hanging my head to the side. “Tell him thank you for me. For caring. It’s nice of him, even if he’s just doing it to get on your good side,” I admitted laughing.

She laughed along nodding. “Will do. Geez, we sure have some great values in life, guys. Great huh?”

“I don’t know about you but Alex Edler can definitely be added separately.” She laughed along with me.

“So,” she said. “Hockey?” I nodded. “Alright we can watch multiple games at a time, as always. Yeah?” I grinned at her. “Hockey it is then,” she declared.

“Another great value,” I decided.