Unsocial (23 page)

She
has Jackson and Alex’s attention with this.  Neither one of them looks happy
with her announcement.  “Brooke, you can’t leave.”

Brooke
just looks back at her.  “I’m going home with him.  Just call a cab and have
Trevor or one of the guys wait with you. I’ll see you at home.”

“Brooke,
we’ve talked about this.  Dylan is a grown ass man, and he can handle his own
shit.”  She looks up at me pointedly.  “Right, Dylan?”

I
nod, “Absolutely.”

Brooke
has a determined look on her pretty little face.  “I’m going.  Cassie trusts
me, and if she’s upset, she may need to talk to me.  I need to help Dylan.” 
She turns to me.  “Are you ready to leave?”

I
just stare back at her, briefly, and think how fucking hot she looks right now,
all stubborn and stern.  “Yeah.  I’m ready.  Is there anything you need to
get?”

She
holds out her hand to Alex who proceeds to pull Brooke’s cell phone, driver’s
license, and some cash out then hands it to her.  Brooke then turns and asks me
to put it in my pocket.  I mind her.  I’m thinking about holding all her shit
hostage so she can’t leave.  I have a feeling I’m going to be walking into the
midst of a home crisis, turned on.  And again, she grabs my hand and heads for
the front door.  I’m beginning to think I would follow her anywhere.  All the
evidence of the last few seconds is pointing to that very fact.

Once
we step outside the bar, I start leading her to where I’m parked.  “I guess you
don’t have your car here.”

“No,
we came by cab.  Are you okay to drive?”

“Yeah. 
I had maybe two beers and that one shot because someone stole my second shot.”

She
laughs.  “I didn’t want you to think I was some lush, but then Alex and Jackson
kept egging me on.  It’s not the first tequila drinking contest I’ve been in.”

“Brooke,
I think of you as many things.  Sexy as fuck is at the top of the list.  A
drunk doesn’t even make the top 50.”

“Okay,
thanks for that….I think.”

“Come
on, we’ve got a couple of kids to get to.”

When
we reach my truck, she looks up at me disappointed.  “What’s the matter?
Worried you can’t climb in?  I have no problem helping you up.”

“I
was just wondering…..where’s your Camaro?”

“Home. 
I felt like driving this.” My truck is a 2014 Chevy with a lift kit.  I know
she’s going to have some trouble.  Especially in those heels and tight as fuck
skirt.

“That’s
too bad.  I was hoping tonight I would get to ride in it.  And just so you
know, I plan on driving it some time as well.”

I
unlock the doors and lift her up into the cab, with my hands around her waist,
because I’m thinking that my grabbing her ass to help her is in no way
appropriate, right now. When I get in on my side, I finally address her last
statement.

“You’re
not driving my ’69.  And that’s just a fact.”

“Of
course, I am,” she purrs.  And I’m so inappropriately hard as a fucking rock
right now.  And I don’t think the 20-minute drive to my house is going to fix
the situation in my pants, considering the cause is sitting right next to me.

And
that is no lie.

Brooke

“So,
tequila, huh?” Dylan asks from the driver’s seat.

I
look over at him and give him a mischievous grin. “Yeah, I guess that cat is
out of the bag.”

Dylan
laughs.  “I’m finding out there are a lot of little things I don’t know about
you, Brooke.  And believe me, when I say, I like the discovery.  It’s like
there’s a whole different person in there somewhere.”

“There
is, but she’s been buried a long time,” I answer resignedly. I realize that
I’ve missed that Brooke as well.  Being with Will caused the Brooke that loved
pushing the limits, having fun, singing, dancing, and just generally enjoying
life to get pushed to the background.  I had to be either one or the other with
him.  I somehow let him convince me that I wasn’t going to succeed in school or
life without his direction when I should have been figuring out how to do it
myself. 
I need to find her again.

The
last couple of nights have opened my eyes to the fact that I’m just marking time;
I just don’t know what it is I’m doing it for.  I’m missing the best years of
my life.  I know without a doubt that I need to find a way to balance who
I
am
and
who I want to be.
  I want to be the old Brooke but still be
able to have a fulfilling professional life.  I don’t have to dress like I’m 70
or question every move I make.  I’m an intelligent young woman with a master’s
degree, but I’m also a young woman who inherently is a happy person that enjoys
socializing, not this unsocial shell who’s afraid to
live
life in case
she fails professionally. 

“Well,
I for one would love to see more of her.  Tonight was the first time you seemed
relaxed and really happy.  And I just have to add, you look amazing.” He
smirks.

“Thank
you for that.  Yeah, this weekend has been amazing.  It’s been an eye-opener
for sure, and I think I need to make a few changes in my life.” 

“So
just to be straight, there is another side to Brooke Porter, and this isn’t all
tequila?” he asks hopefully.

I
laugh back. “Nope. Not all tequila, just enough to see the light.”

“Good
to know.”  Just then his phone rings.  The hands-free system informs him of a
call coming from, Luke.  “Shit.” He says tensely and answers. “What now?”

“I
just wanted to know where you’re at.”

“I’m
about ten minutes out.  Just sit tight.” He says before hanging up.  “Sorry
about this.  I was really enjoying tonight.”

“Me
too, Dylan.  I just can’t wrap my brain around Cassie sneaking out of the house
tonight.  Especially after what happened Wednesday.”

“Humph.”
is all he gives.  The rest of the ride is silent as Dylan gets lost in his
thoughts, probably wondering the same thing.

Arriving
at his house,
he pulls into the garage, and we enter through
the door that leads into the kitchen.  In the living room, we find Luke sitting
on the couch flipping through channels.  “Seriously, man, you brought the
social worker?”  His eyes leisurely scan my body, and I suddenly remember how I’m
dressed.  When his gaze reaches my face, he smirks.  “So, Brooke…”

Dylan
interrupts him, “Where’s Cassie?”

Luke
turns his attention to Dylan.  “She’s still locked in her room, crying like
some psycho.”

Dylan
rubs his temples.  This has been a hard week for him, and I want to do
something to take some weight off.  I have no doubt he could handle this on his
own, but we also need to get this situation with Cassie under control.  He did
what he was supposed to on Wednesday, and now I think I need to do something as
well.  Maybe I’m having guilt because Cassie had wanted to talk to me on
Tuesday when I was in such a rush to get away, I don’t know, but I know I need
to step up for both of them.

“I’ll
deal with you later. Right now I need to see Cass.  Brooke if you….”

I
interrupt, “Let me see to Cass while you talk to Luke.  Maybe now would be a
good time for me to talk to her.  I have no doubt you could do it, but just
give me a chance.” 

He
shakes his head.  “No, I’m her brother, and I need to deal with whatever the
hell is going on.”

“Dylan,
I care about this family, and Cassie is my friend. She may also need a woman to
talk to right now.”

He
considers it for a second.  “Brooke, you’ve been pulling away for a reason. 
I’m going to handle this.”  He turns and starts heading downstairs.  I follow. 
When we reach Cassie’s room, he looks at me like he’s surprised that I followed
then turns back to the door.  He raises his fist and pounds on the door. 
“Cassie, I know you’re in there. Open the damn door.”

There’s
a sound of someone crying on the other side.  “No. Go away.”

Dylan
stares furiously at the door before pounding again.  “I’m not asking you.  I
swear, Cassie, don’t make me break it down.”

I
put my hand on his shoulder trying to calm him. He looks over at me, “Please
let me try.”

Finally,
he heaves a defeated sigh and motions toward the door, “Go ahead.”

I
knock lightly on the door, “Cassie, it's Brooke. Can I please come in and talk
to you for a minute?”

More
silence.
Please answer the door.
I hear shuffling, and then the door
opens. Cassie stands there with a puffy red face from an hour of crying. “Why
are you here?”

“Because
I care about you Cassie. I want to make sure you are okay. Can I please come in
and talk to you?”

She
looks at me, “You can.” Then she looks at Dylan, “He can’t.”

Dylan
looks like he is about to go off on her, and I put my hand on his chest,
connecting eyes with him. I plead, “Please let me talk to her.”

He’s
unsure, that’s clear, but he just turns toward the stairs, “Fine. I’ll figure
out what the hell Luke thought he was doing.”  He looks sternly at Cassie, “But
you and I are going to talk about this Cassie.”

After
he leaves, Cassie and I sit on her bed. I hope I don’t smell like tequila and
smoke from the bar. “Cassie, what happened tonight?”

She
looks at me coldly; it’s a look I’m not used to at all with this Monroe. “So
now you want to talk to me?”

This
poor girl. I feel guilt settle in because of my distance from her over the last
several weeks. “I have cared for you since the day I met you. I care about your
entire family.”

“Then
why are you blowing us off? I mean, you never stick around after your visits
anymore, and if I text you, I’m lucky if I get a two-word response.”

Just
be as honest as you can, Brooke.
“I’m so sorry for my
behavior these past few weeks. I’m new to this career, Cassie, and honestly, I
just felt a need to take a step back and make sure that I was doing the best
job I could for your family.  I thought I was getting too close, and I honestly
don’t know if it’s right or wrong that I was allowing myself to get so close.”

“You
were doing awesome! It was my favorite part of the week. I thought you were my
friend, Brooke.”

Her
words melt my heart and at the same time wage war with my thoughts. I want her
to consider me her friend, but at the same time I’m her case worker.  I’m
supposed to help them learn to live together as a new kind of family unit
without inserting myself in that family unit, even if it feels
right
.  I
need to find that balance. “Honestly, it was mine too. I want to be a friend to
you, and I love talking to you, but I am your case worker. I have a duty to all
of you to make this family flourish.”

She
nods like maybe that makes sense to her. “I get that, but I don’t get why you
can’t be our friend too.  I miss you.”

I
smile, “I miss you too, and I will do better. I’ll do my best to be around
more.”

She
smiles and sniffles, “Okay.”

“So
will you please tell me what happened tonight?”

“Did
Dylan tell you about Wednesday?”

I
nod. “Yes.”

“Did
he tell you about going ballistic and kicking Brent out and then going to his house
and threatening his dad?” I nod, and she continues. “I guess after that’s when
he went to see you then.  Anyway, when he got back, we had a really decent
talk. I mean, he actually talked to me like a human being and not some dumb
kid.”

I
smile. I’ve wondered how their talk had gone. “Well, that’s good.”

“Yeah,
I mean he even told me about his first girlfriend. Can you even believe that? Dylan
had a girlfriend.”

I’m
a little shocked and even a little jealous, which just confuses me.  I just
assumed he had never had a relationship. So my curiosity gets the best of me,
and I’m asking, “He did?”

“Yeah,
in high school. Julie something, I don’t remember her. I was only like three,
so I guess I wouldn’t have.”

A
part of me is a little disappointed that she doesn’t go into more detail, and I
really can’t seem too interested, so I don’t push it. “You gonna tell me about
tonight? It just seems like if you had a good talk with Dylan then doing
something like this wouldn’t have even crossed your mind.”

“I
understand why he was so mad, but then he had to tell me I couldn’t see Brent
again. A part of what he said made sense. Like, he told me that Brent didn’t
respect me because he convinced me to lie and come back here…”

I
listen to her intently, “Yeah, he’s right.”

She
gives me a rueful smile. “But then the next day Brent was waiting for me at my
locker, and he was so sweet. He apologized for what happened and said he still
wanted to be my boyfriend. Brooke, he practically begged me.”

I
try to keep my face neutral.
This Brent kid is really getting on my nerves.
“Okay, then what happened?”

“Well,
he invited me to a party tonight. I told him I was grounded, but he suggested I
sneak out. I wasn’t going to, but then Dylan said he was going out tonight, and
I just really didn’t want to upset Brent. A couple of the cheerleaders said if
I didn’t go to the party tonight that he would find someone else.”

I
want to be careful in what I say. I don’t want her to feel like she’s naive or
stupid for letting these “friends” talk her into stuff.  I remember peer
pressure, and it sucked.  I remember thinking I was so smart and adult.  It
doesn’t escape me that right now Cassie needs a woman to listen and be her
friend, and not have to try to make an over-protective older brother with a
hair trigger understand what she’s going through.

“Honey,
doesn’t that tell you something? What does it say that he would find someone
else if you don’t do what he wants?  Those girls are wrong in telling you
that.  They need to look at their own relationships before giving you advice on
yours. And you deserve better than having to worry about something as ridiculous
as that.  That’s twice in one week now that he’s talked you into doing
something he wants without thinking of the consequences for you.  What I don’t
like is that he was able to.”

She
sniffles again, “I just really want him to like me. So I snuck out, and he
picked me up for the party. Luke was preoccupied, and the plan was to be back
before Dylan even got home.”

I
want to say so many things to her right now, but I don’t know where to begin.
 
Part of me wants to tell her how dangerous it is to sneak out, but then the
other part of me feels like a total hypocrite. I can’t even remember how many
times I did it in high school.  “What happened at the party?”

She
starts to sob slightly, “Everything was fine at first.  We were just hanging
out with everyone else.  Then he led me to one of the bedrooms in the house. We
were kissing, and then he started to undress me. And I don’t know, I just kept
thinking about my talk with Dylan, so I kind of freaked out and told him I
wanted to stop.”

There’s
my good girl
. I’m so relieved when she says that,
but then her sobbing becomes more intense, “He said I was immature and that he
should have known better than to date a freshman. He said I wasted his time and
that I was just a tease.”

I
pull her to me trying to soothe her. After a minute of her sobbing in my arms,
I pull back and look into her tear stained face, “I am so proud of you. Do you
know how unbelievably hard it is to do what you did? Especially someone your
age. You are a strong young woman, and you should be proud of yourself too.
Cass, I know this probably seems like one of the worst nights of your life, but
you’re going to be okay.  You said no because of what your brother said, and
that tells me that all of you are going to be fine.”

She
wipes away tears from her face, “He hates me.”

“Who
hates you?”

“Brent.”

He’s
a little shithead.
“I know it doesn’t seem like it now,
but someday you will look back at this and laugh. I promise you. All of this
will seem so insignificant, and he will only be a memory if that. I think you
should try to enjoy other things right now besides dating and boys. High school
goes by so fast. Enjoy cheer and the games and hanging out with your friends.
There will be plenty of time for boys.”