Going Nowhere At Full Speed

Chloe ran back into her apartment, knowing she needed to tell Brent what she had just discovered. She walked back towards his room, cautiously tapping on his door, scared that he was going to get upset. “What?” he yelled from inside.

Chloe took that as her cue to carefully open the door and stick her head inside. “Brent, I need to talk to you,” she told him.

“Chloe, can it wait until morning? I’m not exactly in the best mood to talk right now,” he said as he lied on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

“No, it can’t,” she told him, pushing his door open the rest of the way and walking over to him. She grabbed his arm that was currently hanging off the bed, and she tried to pull him up.

“Chloe, really,” Brent whined.

“Get up!” she ordered. “This is really important,” she told him. Brent looked over at her, and by the expression on her face, he knew she wasn’t lying. He immediately got out of bed and followed her into the living room.

“So?” Brent asked, wondering what was so important that Chloe would make him get out of bed.

“We need to talk about what you said to Ava,” Chloe began.

“Chloe!” Brent scolded. “I really don’t want to talk about this right now, okay? I hate what she did to you.”

“But that’s just it,” Chloe told him. “She didn’t do it.”

“Chloe, we’ve already went through this.”

“Just hear me out, please,” Chloe begged him, and Brent reluctantly nodded his head. “Okay, so Dirk said that your girlfriend told him where I was, right?” she asked him.

“Yes, Ava told him. We already know this,” Brent told her.

“That’s just it. Dirk didn’t know Ava was your girlfriend. You haven’t talked to him since I came to live with you, and back then, you were dating Destiny,” she explained. When Brent didn’t say anything, she continued. “Don’t you get it?” she asked him. “Ava didn’t tell him. Destiny did.”

“Chloe, just because you don’t want to believe that Ava did this, doesn’t mean that it’s not true,” Brent said.

“Brent, think about it,” she ordered. “You know Ava would never do this. And, Dirk didn’t even know who she was. Destiny, on the other hand, hated me and wanted me out of your life. By giving Dirk information, she could get me out of here without having to do it herself. It was Destiny,” Chloe insisted.

“I don’t know,” Brent said, shaking his head, even though he knew what Chloe was telling him was the truth.

“Ava loves you,” Chloe stated. “She would never do this to either one of us. And, now she’s over in her apartment, bawling her eyes out because she thinks that you hate her,” Chloe said. Brent remained quiet, averting his eyes from Chloe, and she spoke up. “You know you don’t hate her, Brent.”

Brent looked over at Chloe. “No, I don’t hate her,” he admitted quietly. “I love her,” he whispered.

“Then why the fuck did you just tell her that you could never love her?” Chloe yelled, and Brent was taken aback. “Damn it, Brent! She’s seriously over there crying her eyes out right now, thinking she’s not good enough for you because you were too stupid to hear her side of things! You need to go over there and talk to her right now!” Chloe ordered.

“Chloe, there’s no way she’s going to want to talk to me right now. Do you know what I said to her?” he asked her.

“Yes, I do,” Chloe said. “But, I know that she’ll forgive you if you go and apologize right now and tell her that you know it was Destiny and not her. You do realize that it’s Destiny, right?” Chloe asked, knowing her brother could be a little bit stupid sometimes.

“Yes. I get that now, and I swear she is going to pay for it,” he promised.

“I don’t care about that at all!” Chloe cried. “I care about you going and apologizing to Ava.”

“Like I said, she’s not going to want to talk to me right now. I think I’m just going to wait until the morning and then talk to her. Maybe she’ll be more likely to forgive in the morning,” Brent said.

“You’re an idiot, just so you know,” Chloe told her brother. “But, if that’s what you want to do, then it’s up to you. But, I expect you to go over there first thing in the morning and tell her how you really feel!”

“I will,” Brent promised. “But, right now, I’m going to go back to bed,” he told her, walking back to his bedroom while Chloe simply rolled her eyes at him.

Chloe collapsed back on the couch, exhausted. Her phone started ringing, causing her to jump. “Hello?” she asked, picking up the phone.

“Hey, I just wanted to see how you were doing,” she heard Kris say, and she smiled to herself at her boyfriend.

“I’m doing good. Ava, not so much,” she told him.

“How bad is she?” he questioned.

“Apparently, she told Brent that she loves him, and he told her that he could never love someone like her. She’s absolutely crushed. When I got in there, she was on the floor, sobbing. I just don’t get how Brent could be so stupid!” Chloe exclaimed.

“I don’t know,” Kris admitted.

“Oh, but the good news is I figured out who actually has been telling Dirk about me, and I made Brent realize that it wasn’t Ava,” Chloe told him.

“Really?” Kris questioned. “Who’s telling him?”

“Destiny,” Chloe responded.

“Of course!” Kris exclaimed. “And you said that you made Brent realize it?”

“Yeah, I finally convinced him, and I got him to admit that he’s in love with Ava, too, but he refuses to go over there now and apologize. He says he’ll do it in the morning. Seriously, why can’t he just do it now?” she asked. “Why do guys have to be so difficult?”

“Hey!” Kris said, sounding offended.

“Aw, you know that I didn’t mean you,” she said with a smile. “You’re amazing, one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I owe you so much.”

“I feel the same exact way about you,” Kris told her. “Well, I’ll let you go. I’ll talk to you in the morning. Call me if you need anything,” he said.

“Will do,” she told him. “And, the same goes for you. Call me if you need me.”

“Bye,” he said, hanging up.

As soon as Chloe shut the phone and set it down on the couch, the house phone began ringing. Knowing that Brent wasn’t going to get up and answer it, Chloe reluctantly got up off the couch, making her way to the phone. “Hello?” she answered.

“Hi, this is Community Hospital. We’re looking for a Brent Seabrook,” the woman on the other line said.

“Um, one minute,” Chloe said, walking back to Brent’s bedroom, and opening the door. “Brent,” she called, holding her hand over the phone. “The hospital’s on the phone and wants to talk to you,” she informed him.

Brent groaned, sitting up in bed and grabbing the phone out of her hand. “Hello?” he asked. Chloe stared at him for a minute, wondering what the hospital would be calling Brent for. All of a sudden, she heard him yell, “Who did you just say is in the hospital?”