I Meant What I Said

Alex looked at her, worried by the expression on her face. “Are you okay?”

“We just, I just, I need to tell you something.” Bree was holding back tears.

“Okay, yeah, sure. As soon as your ready.” Alex walked into the classroom and Bree followed. Jamie was already sitting at his seat. Great. This class wouldn't be weird at all.

Bree sat down in her seat. Jamie was to her right and Alex was to her left. She was stuck. The bell rang and the teacher hadn't come in yet. Ten minutes came and went and still nothing. Bree turned to Alex. “Want to go take a walk?” Alex smiled at her and they both got up.

They walked out the door and down the hallway. Alex looked at her with a worried look in his eyes. She led him to the courtyard in the center of the school's campus. She sat on one of the benches surrounding the flower garden and he joined her. “Bree?”

“Alex, I made a mistake. I'm apologizing to you right now. I was stupid and I didn't think and I regret it. And it only happened less than an hour ago. I'm so sorry.” Bree was holding back tears.

He looked at her, not understanding what she was talking about. “Slow down, slow down,” he said. “What happened?”

“Please don't hate me,” she said. “I stayed at breakfast and talked to Jamie. And I thought that he was just going to say that this was it and we were over and that I should move on.”

“And?”

“And he didn't. He told me that he still loved me and that he wanted to be with me.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Well. Is that all he did? He just told you that? That's not overly terrible.”

“It wasn't just that, Alex.” Bree bit her lip. Her stomach was in knots. She didn't want to lose Alex over this. Not over Jamie.

“Bree. What did he do?” Alex stood up and crossed his arms. He was getting defensive.

“He kissed me. But I pulled away before it got into anything. I don't feel that way about him anymore. I don't.”

“I am going to pound his face into the ground.” Alex's face turned bright red. She had never seen him get angry before. Not at all.

“No, no, Alex. You can't do that.”

“I swear, if he even looks at you again, I'm going to.”

“Alex, you can't. Please don't.” Alex wasn't convinced. Bree stood up and walked in front of him. “Alex, for me?” She looked him in the eyes. His face softened.

“For you, Bree. It's for you.” He wrapped his arms around her. His head rested on top of hers. “But if he says anything to me, or if he kisses you again...”

Bree wrapped her arms tighter around him. “Thank you.” She looked at him and he kissed her forehead. “Let's go back to class before Mr. Donnello gets angry.” Bree started back towards the hallway. Alex caught up to her and grabbed her hand.

“Everything is going to be okay, Bree. Jamie's in the past.” They walked down the hallway and headed back into the lab. They took their seats and Mr. Donnello still wasn't back. Class was more than half way over.

Bree turned on her computer and opened up the Internet. She felt Alex move closer to her. She smiled. His hand slowly felt its way onto her leg. Jamie looked down at her leg and saw Alex's hand on it. His face turned red. He looked back at his computer screen and didn't say a word.

The class dragged on slowly. The bell finally rang to signal the end and Bree gathered her bags. She walked out of the classroom and to her locker. She shoved her things into her locker and stood there for a minute. Could her day be any more worse?

The rest of the day dragged on. Nothing eventful happened. Her mind was in a haze. She still couldn't believe everything that had happened today.

The final bell rang. Bree was relieved that the day was over. Sara had texted her from the last class and said that she was hanging out with Max and didn't need a ride home. Bree had texted Alex and told him that she had a dentist appointment and couldn't give him a ride home.

She walked up to her locker and grabbed her things to go home. She lucked out and had only a little homework. She walked downstairs and out to her car. She climbed into her car and put the key into the ignition. She slipped her iPod into the dock and Red Car Wire played through her speakers.



She put the car into gear and pulled out of the parking lot. She didn't make it far before she burst out into tears. How did everything come down to this? She was so in love with Jamie and he broke her heart. She had never felt this way about anyone in her life. She couldn't get enough of him.

But he broke her heart and she didn't trust him anymore. You can't be with someone that you can't trust.

Besides, she could never be with Jamie again. None of her friends had approved of him when they were together. He had a terrible reputation of using girls then dumping them. But Bree had seen the good in him. Bree had seen that he treated her well; he made her feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

But everything changed when he broke up with her. Everything changed that day.

“Bree, can I talk to you for a minute?” Jamie had driven all the way to her house and pulled into her driveway. He walked up to her front door. Bree had answered. It was the middle of July. Things had been a little tense between them for a few weeks, but Bree didn't think anything of it.

“Yeah, of course. What's going on?”

“Mind if I come inside?”

“Sure.” She opened the door wider for him so he could come inside. They walked into the kitchen and sat on the stools at the island. “What's going on?”

“Bree. I really want this to work between us.” She felt her heart drop. “I just, I don't think this is working between us.”

Bree felt tears coming to her eyes. “Jamie?”

“I'm sorry, Bree.”

“I don't want to break up with you. I want this to work between us. More than anything. I love you.”

“Bree, I love you, too. More than anything. I just don't think that's enough.”

“Is this it?”

“Bree, the last thing I've ever wanted to do is hurt you. I promised that I never would. That's why I'm ending it now.”

Bree's body felt like it had walked away from her. She felt a pain in her heart that she had never felt before. Ever. “Jamie?”

“I'm so sorry, Bree.” He stood up and hugged her. Without saying another word, he walked out of the kitchen and out of her life.