Take It (12 page)

Monday morning Brandi woke up early to put makeup on. Her bruises were getting better each day, but her broken nose made it hard to hide what had happened.
It doesn't matter,
she told herself.
Everybody knows he beat you up. Nobody knows he raped you. They can't tell that by looking at you.

Brandi dressed in jeans that used to be too tight on her but fit a little loosely now. At the last minute, she decided to put on eyeliner and mascara. Screw Zack.

Kayla picked her up and smiled when she saw her. "You look amazing," she said. Brandi laughed. "Minus the black eyes and swollen nose, right?"

"Your eyes are barely black anymore. And your nose isn't that bad. It's getting better every day."

Brandi looked away. "It doesn't matter. I'm just happy to be back in school."

Kayla pulled into the parking lot and Brandi glanced out the window, suddenly nervous.

It's fine. You're fine.

Brandi walked through the hallway, getting looks of sympathy. At least nobody stared too much. She looked straight ahead, refusing to make eye contact. She quickly pulled her books from her locker and started walking to history.

"Brandi?"

She turned around to see Gina Reynolds staring at her cautiously. "I just wanted to say I’m sorry. For what he did to you," Gina said, looking away. Brandi’s eyes filled with tears as she realized that Gina knew exactly what Zack had done. "It’s ok," she whispered, hugging Gina. "I’m sorry for what he did to you too."

"Do they know where he is?" She asked hopefully. Brandi shook her head. "They found his car a few towns over. He wasn’t in it though."

Gina pursed her lips. "I don’t think he’ll come back. Don’t worry."

Brandi gave her a half hearted smile. "You’re probably right. Thanks, Gina."

Eric was waiting for her outside the door to history and he broke into a smile when he saw her. Seeing a friendly face warmed Brandi's heart and she walked up to Eric, hugging him tightly. He froze for a second, then hugged her back. "Glad you're back," he said awkwardly.

"Thank you for being such a good friend to me," she whispered, pulling back. He grinned at her. "You don't have to thank me for that, Brandi. I'll always be your friend."

Brandi was happy to be back in her old classes, and since Eric had brought her homework, she wasn't that far behind. The only bad part of her day was Zack's stoner friends leering at her during lunch. She ignored them, and they didn't say anything to her.

Over the next week, Brandi started to feel more like the Brandi she was before she met Zack. She was working on bringing her grades up, her bruises were healing, and people had stopped staring at her and talking about her. Even better, Eric was taking her out tonight. Even though they were just friends, Brandi was looking forward to going out like a normal person.

Ben was protective over Brandi, but after finding out that Eric was a 2nd degree black belt, he decided that Brandi would be safe with him.

Brandi put on the new dark green sweater dress she had gotten and brown boots. She put her hair up and put on a little bit of makeup. She had started wearing mascara and eyeliner every day, almost in defiance of Zack. She looked in the mirror, satisfied. She went downstairs to wait for Eric and sat at the kitchen table with Ben and her mom. "I'll have my phone on me the whole time," Brandi said to Ben before he could lecture her. "If anything doesn't seem right, I'll call you."

"Good. I already gave Eric the rundown. You look very lovely."

"Beautiful," Lynn agreed. Brandi grinned. "Thanks."

The doorbell rang, and Brandi ran up to answer it. She looked out the newly installed peephole and saw Eric standing outside with flowers. She swung the door open, smiling. "You didn't have to get me flowers, Eric."

"I sure did," he replied. "I know this is a 'friend' date, but it's still a date."

"Fair enough," Brandi said, taking the flowers and bringing them to the kitchen. "Eric, you look very nice," Lynn commented. "Where are you guys going?"

"Lucianno's," Eric said. Brandi froze for a second, remembering her first date with Zack, then continued putting the flowers in the vase. "Have you ever been there, Brandi?" Eric asked.

"Once," she said. "Ready to go?"

"Sure," Eric said. "Bye, Lynn. Bye Ben. We'll be back in a few hours. We'll both have our phones out."

"Have fun," Ben called after them.

Brandi got into Eric's car. "So you've been to Lucianno's before?" Eric asked.

"Yeah. He took me there for our first date. He got mad at me when I offered to pay half the bill."

"Oh. Well, just so you know, I'm paying tonight. See? I just saved us from having a fight."

Brandi laughed. "I appreciate that."

Eric cleared his throat. "So is there any more news?"

"No," Brandi said softly. "They think he's squatting somewhere. But nobody knows what happened to him. It's like he disappeared."

"I'm sorry, Brandi," Eric said. "That being said, let's try to have an entire night where we don't talk about Zack."

Brandi grinned at him. "Thank you, Jesus. I'm so sick of talking about him."

Eric pulled into the restaurant and got out of his car, opening Brandi's door for her. He took her arm and led her inside. Once they were seated, Brandi had a chance to study him. "You got a haircut," she commented. He grinned. "Yeah, it was about time."

"It looks nice," Brandi said. Instead of his shaggy hair, it was now short and spiky. Almost like Zack's. Brandi shook her thoughts of Zack away and concentrated on Eric. She liked how conversation with him was easy. They had a lot in common, and Brandi didn't feel nervous about saying the wrong thing.

"So what TV do you watch?" Eric asked.

Brandi thought. "I like reality TV. I know it's all planned and whatever, but it's still fun. Kayla and I watch Bridezillas a lot. Also I love Dr. Who. Kayla says that makes me a giant nerd, but I don't care."

"Dr. Who isn't nerdy. It's awesome," Eric said. "I have most of the seasons on DVD. We can have a Dr. Who marathon party and not invite Kayla."

Brandi laughed. "It is awesome, right? Zack said…" she trailed off.

"Do you want to get dessert?" Eric asked, changing the subject. "No, thanks," Brandi said gratefully. "This is more than I've eaten in awhile. I'm surprised I had this much of an appetite."

Eric smiled at her, then looked at her seriously. "You look really pretty tonight, Brandi."

Brandi felt her face flush. "Thanks. You look nice too."

Brandi and Eric stood up to leave. Brandi smiled at the way he held the door open for her. Zack had never done that.

"Did you have a good time?" Eric asked, pulling into Brandi's driveway.

"I had a great time. Thank you for this, Eric. It's nice to feel…normal again."

"I'm glad," Eric said, pulling her in for an awkward hug. Brandi rested her head on Eric's shoulder, breathing in. His cologne was different than Zack's. It was lighter, and there was no underlying smell of weed or cigarettes. She put his arms around his body and hugged him, feeling safe and relaxed in his embrace. Eric gently put his arms around her. Brandi looked up and gazed into his eyes. They were soft, kind, expressive eyes, the opposite of Zack's hard and unreadable eyes. She looked at his soft lips and had the uncontrollable urge to kiss him.

"Brandi…" he said softly.

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you," she whispered, pulling away. "I'll see you on Monday."

She left the car before Eric had a chance to say anything. She wanted to leave this date on a high note.

"How was it?" Ben asked as Brandi walked in the door. She blushed. "Uh oh," he said. "That's ok. You don't have to answer. I can tell by the look on your face that you had a good time."

"I really did," she said, sitting down. "He's a really nice guy."

"Nice is good," he offered.

"I know it is," she said. "It's nice to feel comfortable around someone. Zack was always…" she looked up at him, embarrassed. "Well, you know."

"An asshole. I know," he said, winking at her. "Eric is a good guy. And he cares about you. Even if you two are just friends."

"Yeah," Brandi said softly, thinking about their kiss. Her phone vibrated and she pulled it out cautiously. In the back of her mind, she was always afraid that Zack would try to contact her. She smiled when she saw that it was from Eric.

Had a great time tonight. Thanks again. PS you looked absolutely beautiful tonight : )

"Is that Eric?" Ben asked, grinning at her.

"You know it is," she said, smiling back at him. "I'm going to bed. See you in the morning."

Eric grabbed Brandi from behind and put his hand over her mouth. Brandi gasped and stiffened, and Eric tightened his grip. "Think, Brandi. Don't freak out. What do you do now?"

Brandi stomped on his foot and bit his gloved hand. Eric didn't let go. She wiggled and squirmed, trying to get free. Eric finally let go and Brandi turned to him, tears forming in her eyes. "I'm awful at this," she said.

"You're not awful. You're getting better every time. But those first few seconds are crucial. You have to take him by surprise. When you freeze up, that gives him time to take control."

Brandi took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm afraid I'm going to hurt you."

Eric chuckled at her. "You're not going to hurt me. I promise. Want to try again?"

Brandi nodded and turned back around. When Eric grabbed her, she stomped on his foot and bit him immediately, sliding out of his arms.

"Awesome. See? Your quick thinking got you out of the attacker's grip."

Brandi sat down on the mat. "Yeah, but I knew you were coming for me. If I don't know he's there and he grabs me from behind, I'm going to be surprised."

Eric sat next to her. "That's why you have to practice. It needs to become a natural reaction for you to act quickly. You're doing great, Brandi. I promise."

It had been a month since Brandi and Eric had their first date. They had gone out a few more times, but still just as friends. She was feeling very vulnerable, and the last thing Eric wanted to do was rush her into something that she clearly wasn't ready for.

"So are you looking forward to Thanksgiving?" He asked, grinning at her.

"I am, actually. Last Thanksgiving was a nightmare. My mom burned the stuffing and went up to her bedroom and cried. I'm looking forward to an actual normal family meal."

Eric and his parents were going to spend Thanksgiving at Brandi's house with her mother and Ben, who Brandi thought were sort of dating, even though they wouldn't admit it. They clearly had feelings for each other, and her mom was happier than she had been in a long time. Ben was divorced and had a son, but he was spending the day with his mom.

"My dad actually invited me to spend the day with him and Michelle. I was glad to have an excuse not to."

"Well at least he's trying," Eric said, laying back. Brandi laid next to him. "He is. But I'm just not ready to see him and Michelle together. I can't look at her and see anything but the 22 year old skank that tore my family apart. I do kind of want to see Aiden though."

Last month, Michelle had given birth to an 8 pound little boy they named Aiden. As much as Brandi wanted to hate him, he had stolen her heart. He was a good little baby, and Brandi still had trouble wrapping her mind around the fact that she had a brother.

"Ready to work on some floor drills?" Eric asked, turning to her. She licked her lips and nodded nervously.

Eric hated practicing floor drills with Brandi, but it was important for her to learn how to fend off an attacker who was trying to rape her. The look of terror in her eyes when he was on top of her was hard to take. He was glad that Brandi trusted him enough to practice with him.

Brandi laid back and he stood over her. He crouched to get on top of her and she brought her legs to the side, wrapping them over his side. She used the leverage to sit on top of him and grabbed his arms, twisting them over his back. "I win!" She cried, letting him go. He immediately flipped over and pinned her back underneath him. Her eyes widened in fear.

"Don't let your guard down, Brandi. I'm back in control. Now what?"

She stared at him for a second, breathing hard. Then she raised her hips to his and grabbed the back of his head, pressing her lips to his. His eyes widened in surprise, and she slid out from underneath him, bringing her knees up and kicking him in the stomach.

"Shit," he groaned, rolling off of her.

Brandi gasped. "I'm sorry. Are you ok?"

He nodded, gasping for breath. "I didn't expect that."

Brandi watched him cautiously as he sat up. "Did I hurt you? I shouldn't have done that."

He looked at her and grinned. "Yes, you absolutely should have. Always keep the element of surprise on your side."

She smiled back at him, relieved that he wasn't angry at her.

"So, my stomach says that we're done for today. Wanna get something to eat?" He asked, standing up and stretching.

"Yeah. I'm starving," she replied. She had been eating more lately, realizing that when she didn't eat she wouldn't have the energy to fight off Zack if he came back for her. She was working out a lot anyway, so she wasn't gaining weight. She had gone down a pants size, but her butt was still bigger than she wanted.

Brandi got into Eric's car, turning up the heat. "Cold?" Eric asked. She nodded. "Let me warm you up," he said, taking her small hands between his. Brandi felt a small tingle when Eric touched her. It was something she hadn't felt since Zack, and she didn't quite know how to deal with it. She would never admit to Eric that kissing him a few minutes ago wasn't part of her surprise attack. It had just happened. She was starting to grow feelings for Eric. Thinking about that made her queasy. It almost justified how angry Zack had gotten when she had gone to Eric's house. Although at the time, there was nothing between Eric and her. Was there? She remembered looking at Eric's pictures and awards and seeing him in a new light.