Status: Active. UPDATED: 4//27//11
Blood Connection
Chapter 21: The Past - Part I
Brooke yawned as she got out of bed. She pushed aside her waist length brown hair out of her face. Her mom always told her she should cut her hair but she didn't think she ever would. She always enjoyed her long hair. She hopped in the shower and got dressed for school. She grabbed her backpack and gym bag before jogging down stairs.
"Morning mom." She said as her mom passed by with folded laundry to take upstairs. Her mom kissed her cheek and smiled.
"Morning, Sweetie. Can you finish breakfast for me?" She asked.
"Sure." She said and dropped her bags next to the stairs before walking to the kitchen. There she saw her father sitting at the table reading his morning newspaper. "Morning Dad." She said and kissed his cheek.
"Morning darling." He said yawning. He's accent was its strongest when he was half sleep. She let out a slight giggle before pouring mix into the waffle maker. Her father looked over his shoulder at his daughter "You have Gymnastics practice today?"
"Yeah. We have a competition this weekend. You coming?" Brooke asked as she placed a plate in front of him. Waffles, eggs, and bacon along with his morning coffee.
"Aw, sorry babydoll. This weekend me and Jonathan Williams from down the street are fixin' up his old Grand Torino. He's gonna sale it. The offers he already got are amazing." He said sipping on his coffee before deciding to put more sugar in it.
"Its okay, Dad. Mom will be there and she can tell you all about it. And I'll be happy to help afterward if you like." She said putting down two other plates.
"My little helper like always." He said and kissed her cheek. Brooke shook her head.
"Yeah, sure, Dad." She said in a monotone. He always got this way. Thinking he was going to lose his little girl. Her mother came back as soon as Brooke sat down. They ate together before Brooke said her goodbyes and headed for school. She smiled and waved at the group of friends standing in a empty parking spot. They all waved and moved out the way so she could have the parking spot they were saving for her. There were at least 9 of them. 4 from the same gymnastics team, 2 boyfriends, 2 classmate friends and Mandy. She cut the car off and hopped out to be greeted by everyone.
"What took you so long? We've been standing here for 30 minutes." Kelly, a friend from gymnastics, said.
"We got into, like, three arguments trying to keep it." Arial, another friend from gymnastics, said as she hugged Brooke.
"Sorry. Family breakfast this morning." Brooke smiled shyly, as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.
Mandy rolled her eyes and stood next to Brooke. "She's here now. So everyone drop it." She said and winked at Brooke.
"Okay... so I've been thinking. We go to Chuck E. Cheese after the competition." Kelly said bouncing around excitedly. Everyone laughed.
Harper, Kelly's stepsister who's also on Gymnastics, rolled her eyes. "She's been talking about it all night. I was dreaming of cheese this morning." Everyone laughed again while Harper's boyfriend pulled her closer and kissed her cheek.
"Oh shut up! You know you want to go!" Kelly pouted.
"What time's the competition?" Lauren, a classmate friend, asked.
"1 o' clock Saturday. In Eloy." Brooke answered.
Bobby, another Classmate friend, scoffed. "Forget that. I'm just following the bus." Making Lauren's boyfriend laugh, agreeing with him.
"Ew," Meagan, the shortest gymnast groan. "Can't I drive too? I hate that nasty old bus." The bus wasn't nasty. It was actually a fairly new bus. But Meagan was a rich daddy's girl. The only reason she was even at a public school was because she didn't like being told what to do. And that's all they do at private schools.
"You know how Ms. Adkins is. She likes to give the longest speeches on the way there." Harper said. Brooke, Kelly and Meagan all groaned. Arial laughed.
"They're not that bad." She argued. Everyone looked at her for a minute then all started talking at once. Arial covered her ears. "Okay! Okay! They're bad." Everyone stopped just as the bell rang.
Mandy hopped off of the hood of Brooke's car and smiled. "Bye everyone." She said and took Brooke and Lauren's hand and ran to class. Everyone said bye and separated to their classes. After first period, Brooke met up with Kelly and Bobby for their next class.
"Hiya!" Kelly said. Then she got a serious look on her face. "Did you do your history homework?" Brooke laughed and handed it to her to copy. Bobby put his arms around both of them and sighed.
"You'll never guess who I got paired with..." He said sadly.
"Who?" Brooke asked.
"Tony Gorden." He said and covered his ears right before Kelly screamed.
"Really!? Not even!" She said completely forget about the homework she was copying down.
"Who?" Brooke said confused.
Kelly's eyes widen "What do you mean who? Anthony Gorden is the hottest guy at school, Brooke. I've had a crush on his since last year when I borrowed his pencil." She said looking up at the ceiling, dreamily. Brooke's narrowed her eyes at her weird friend.
"And she never gave it back." Bobby whispered. Brooke rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"No. Because I'm waiting for the perfect moment. That way I'll have an excuse to talk to him." She stated. Brooke and Bobby looked at each other and shared a laugh while Kelly pouted. The rest of the classes went on and before Brooke knew it she was walking into the girls locker room to get ready for gymnastics. She jogged her way inside the gym after putting on her long sleeve leotard with tights and gymnast slippers. Meagan, Harper and Arial were already on the mats stretching.
"Hey guys." She said as she stopped in front of them throwing her long hair in a bun and putting her leather grips on her hand.
"I swear, I really need to stick my landings right." Arial said.
"You'll do fine." Harper said breaking into a split.
Arial scoffed "Says you." She muttered going off to work on it before the team couch, Ms. Adkins, came.
"What about you, Meagan?" Brooke asked as she started to stretch.
"I think I'll do just fine." She stated confidently before back flipping off somewhere. Harper laughed and called her a show-off before the two of them started to warm-up. Harper took on the Flying rings while Brooke took on the balance beam. Brooke stood steadily on the balance beam taking short breaths to prepare herself for the stunt.
"Guys, I don't think we should be in here..." A guy that goes by D.J. said lowly as he was pushed in through the gym door. "We're gonna get caught. We should leave, right?"
"Stop being such a baby." He's friend, Reiko, said as he entered as well. With two others, Chester and Tony Gordon. They both just shook their head.
"It can't hurt. Plus, flexible chick are the best." Chester said giving a low high-five to Reiko.
"Tony?" D.J. asked pleading. Tony chuckled and held up his hands defensively.
"I'm just here for the ride." He said then looking out to the gym team warming up, running his hand through his straight blond hair. Brooke bent her legs with her hands out before bending backward on the balance beam and flipping twice. But when she looked up her eyes connected with a certain grey pair that was next to the gym entrance close by. It threw her off and her foot slipped before she toppled over off the beam. Tony blinked and took off to save her, sliding under her before she hit the mat.
Brooke looked up at the guy that probably saved her bones. If she would have broke something, she would have let down the team. But she still got a little hurt from how hard feeling the stranger was. It almost like hitting the ground itself.
"Are you okay?" His heavenly voice asked. She absentmindedly nodded before she snapped out of her daze.
"Yes." She said and straighted her grips as a excuse to look away."I'm fine." He stood up and helped her up as well. She kept her gaze on her feet as she pushed back the lose strands of her hair. "You're not suppose to be in here," She said quietly, looking at the guys watching them from a distance over the boy's shoulder.
"Yeah." He said rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry. We just got curious." He said looking back at his friends They all gave him a thumps up while Brooke wasn't looking. He rolled his eyes and looked back at Brooke just when she looked up at him from her feet. He smiled at her as he looked her in the eyes again then he gave his friends an hidden sign with hand behind his back to leave. They all looked at each other whistling before they exited.
Brooke started to fiddle with her wrist guards. "You could get in trouble." She said unsurely. The way he was looking at her was weird but comfortable for her. She didn't understand it.
"It was kind of worth the risk." He said sure of himself as he put his hands in his pocket. That made Brooke blush and look away again. Tony frowned. He wanted to get her attention again. "Uh-- so you guys have a competition this weekend...."
She looked up "How did you know that?" She asked a little too quickly.
"It was on the school billboard." He stated. Brooke blushed and nodded.
"Right. Duh." She said and softly hitting her head. Tony chuckled which almost made her weak at the knees. Tony looked up and looked back at Brooke
"I better go. Its was nice meeting you..." He trailed off as he held out his hand.
"Brooke." She answered looking at his hand before putting hers in his. She noticed how cold he was.
"Tony." He said and kissed her hand before getting out of there. Brooke watch him leave and Meagan and Harper walked to her side.
"OMG! You just talked to Tony Gordon." Meagan squealed in delight.
Brooke looked at Meagan "That was Tony Gordon?" She questions.
"Uh, Yeah." Harper said as if he was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Did Kelly see?" She asked lowly. Thats the last thing she wanted to do was hurt her friend's feeling by seeing her crush talking to Brooke.
Harper looked around. "No. She's not even out the locker room yet."
"Good. Please don't tell her." Brooke said.
"Don't worry." Meagan said then looked over her shoulder at the rest of the team walking out the locker rooms with Coach Adkins with them. "Adkins is here. Let's go."
"Morning mom." She said as her mom passed by with folded laundry to take upstairs. Her mom kissed her cheek and smiled.
"Morning, Sweetie. Can you finish breakfast for me?" She asked.
"Sure." She said and dropped her bags next to the stairs before walking to the kitchen. There she saw her father sitting at the table reading his morning newspaper. "Morning Dad." She said and kissed his cheek.
"Morning darling." He said yawning. He's accent was its strongest when he was half sleep. She let out a slight giggle before pouring mix into the waffle maker. Her father looked over his shoulder at his daughter "You have Gymnastics practice today?"
"Yeah. We have a competition this weekend. You coming?" Brooke asked as she placed a plate in front of him. Waffles, eggs, and bacon along with his morning coffee.
"Aw, sorry babydoll. This weekend me and Jonathan Williams from down the street are fixin' up his old Grand Torino. He's gonna sale it. The offers he already got are amazing." He said sipping on his coffee before deciding to put more sugar in it.
"Its okay, Dad. Mom will be there and she can tell you all about it. And I'll be happy to help afterward if you like." She said putting down two other plates.
"My little helper like always." He said and kissed her cheek. Brooke shook her head.
"Yeah, sure, Dad." She said in a monotone. He always got this way. Thinking he was going to lose his little girl. Her mother came back as soon as Brooke sat down. They ate together before Brooke said her goodbyes and headed for school. She smiled and waved at the group of friends standing in a empty parking spot. They all waved and moved out the way so she could have the parking spot they were saving for her. There were at least 9 of them. 4 from the same gymnastics team, 2 boyfriends, 2 classmate friends and Mandy. She cut the car off and hopped out to be greeted by everyone.
"What took you so long? We've been standing here for 30 minutes." Kelly, a friend from gymnastics, said.
"We got into, like, three arguments trying to keep it." Arial, another friend from gymnastics, said as she hugged Brooke.
"Sorry. Family breakfast this morning." Brooke smiled shyly, as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.
Mandy rolled her eyes and stood next to Brooke. "She's here now. So everyone drop it." She said and winked at Brooke.
"Okay... so I've been thinking. We go to Chuck E. Cheese after the competition." Kelly said bouncing around excitedly. Everyone laughed.
Harper, Kelly's stepsister who's also on Gymnastics, rolled her eyes. "She's been talking about it all night. I was dreaming of cheese this morning." Everyone laughed again while Harper's boyfriend pulled her closer and kissed her cheek.
"Oh shut up! You know you want to go!" Kelly pouted.
"What time's the competition?" Lauren, a classmate friend, asked.
"1 o' clock Saturday. In Eloy." Brooke answered.
Bobby, another Classmate friend, scoffed. "Forget that. I'm just following the bus." Making Lauren's boyfriend laugh, agreeing with him.
"Ew," Meagan, the shortest gymnast groan. "Can't I drive too? I hate that nasty old bus." The bus wasn't nasty. It was actually a fairly new bus. But Meagan was a rich daddy's girl. The only reason she was even at a public school was because she didn't like being told what to do. And that's all they do at private schools.
"You know how Ms. Adkins is. She likes to give the longest speeches on the way there." Harper said. Brooke, Kelly and Meagan all groaned. Arial laughed.
"They're not that bad." She argued. Everyone looked at her for a minute then all started talking at once. Arial covered her ears. "Okay! Okay! They're bad." Everyone stopped just as the bell rang.
Mandy hopped off of the hood of Brooke's car and smiled. "Bye everyone." She said and took Brooke and Lauren's hand and ran to class. Everyone said bye and separated to their classes. After first period, Brooke met up with Kelly and Bobby for their next class.
"Hiya!" Kelly said. Then she got a serious look on her face. "Did you do your history homework?" Brooke laughed and handed it to her to copy. Bobby put his arms around both of them and sighed.
"You'll never guess who I got paired with..." He said sadly.
"Who?" Brooke asked.
"Tony Gorden." He said and covered his ears right before Kelly screamed.
"Really!? Not even!" She said completely forget about the homework she was copying down.
"Who?" Brooke said confused.
Kelly's eyes widen "What do you mean who? Anthony Gorden is the hottest guy at school, Brooke. I've had a crush on his since last year when I borrowed his pencil." She said looking up at the ceiling, dreamily. Brooke's narrowed her eyes at her weird friend.
"And she never gave it back." Bobby whispered. Brooke rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"No. Because I'm waiting for the perfect moment. That way I'll have an excuse to talk to him." She stated. Brooke and Bobby looked at each other and shared a laugh while Kelly pouted. The rest of the classes went on and before Brooke knew it she was walking into the girls locker room to get ready for gymnastics. She jogged her way inside the gym after putting on her long sleeve leotard with tights and gymnast slippers. Meagan, Harper and Arial were already on the mats stretching.
"Hey guys." She said as she stopped in front of them throwing her long hair in a bun and putting her leather grips on her hand.
"I swear, I really need to stick my landings right." Arial said.
"You'll do fine." Harper said breaking into a split.
Arial scoffed "Says you." She muttered going off to work on it before the team couch, Ms. Adkins, came.
"What about you, Meagan?" Brooke asked as she started to stretch.
"I think I'll do just fine." She stated confidently before back flipping off somewhere. Harper laughed and called her a show-off before the two of them started to warm-up. Harper took on the Flying rings while Brooke took on the balance beam. Brooke stood steadily on the balance beam taking short breaths to prepare herself for the stunt.
"Guys, I don't think we should be in here..." A guy that goes by D.J. said lowly as he was pushed in through the gym door. "We're gonna get caught. We should leave, right?"
"Stop being such a baby." He's friend, Reiko, said as he entered as well. With two others, Chester and Tony Gordon. They both just shook their head.
"It can't hurt. Plus, flexible chick are the best." Chester said giving a low high-five to Reiko.
"Tony?" D.J. asked pleading. Tony chuckled and held up his hands defensively.
"I'm just here for the ride." He said then looking out to the gym team warming up, running his hand through his straight blond hair. Brooke bent her legs with her hands out before bending backward on the balance beam and flipping twice. But when she looked up her eyes connected with a certain grey pair that was next to the gym entrance close by. It threw her off and her foot slipped before she toppled over off the beam. Tony blinked and took off to save her, sliding under her before she hit the mat.
Brooke looked up at the guy that probably saved her bones. If she would have broke something, she would have let down the team. But she still got a little hurt from how hard feeling the stranger was. It almost like hitting the ground itself.
"Are you okay?" His heavenly voice asked. She absentmindedly nodded before she snapped out of her daze.
"Yes." She said and straighted her grips as a excuse to look away."I'm fine." He stood up and helped her up as well. She kept her gaze on her feet as she pushed back the lose strands of her hair. "You're not suppose to be in here," She said quietly, looking at the guys watching them from a distance over the boy's shoulder.
"Yeah." He said rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry. We just got curious." He said looking back at his friends They all gave him a thumps up while Brooke wasn't looking. He rolled his eyes and looked back at Brooke just when she looked up at him from her feet. He smiled at her as he looked her in the eyes again then he gave his friends an hidden sign with hand behind his back to leave. They all looked at each other whistling before they exited.
Brooke started to fiddle with her wrist guards. "You could get in trouble." She said unsurely. The way he was looking at her was weird but comfortable for her. She didn't understand it.
"It was kind of worth the risk." He said sure of himself as he put his hands in his pocket. That made Brooke blush and look away again. Tony frowned. He wanted to get her attention again. "Uh-- so you guys have a competition this weekend...."
She looked up "How did you know that?" She asked a little too quickly.
"It was on the school billboard." He stated. Brooke blushed and nodded.
"Right. Duh." She said and softly hitting her head. Tony chuckled which almost made her weak at the knees. Tony looked up and looked back at Brooke
"I better go. Its was nice meeting you..." He trailed off as he held out his hand.
"Brooke." She answered looking at his hand before putting hers in his. She noticed how cold he was.
"Tony." He said and kissed her hand before getting out of there. Brooke watch him leave and Meagan and Harper walked to her side.
"OMG! You just talked to Tony Gordon." Meagan squealed in delight.
Brooke looked at Meagan "That was Tony Gordon?" She questions.
"Uh, Yeah." Harper said as if he was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Did Kelly see?" She asked lowly. Thats the last thing she wanted to do was hurt her friend's feeling by seeing her crush talking to Brooke.
Harper looked around. "No. She's not even out the locker room yet."
"Good. Please don't tell her." Brooke said.
"Don't worry." Meagan said then looked over her shoulder at the rest of the team walking out the locker rooms with Coach Adkins with them. "Adkins is here. Let's go."
