True Love is Not a Diamond Ring

Brandon looked in through the little space that the door wasn't covering. His blue eyes were wide and worried.

"What's going on in there?" he asked me anxiously.

"Nothing," I lied, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.

Brandon began to look annoyed too. "There is not nothing going on inside there," he snapped. "CJ, come on and let me in!"

I felt his weight on the door, and I looked behind myself to make sure Jeremy wasn't near.

Just my luck. Jeremy was wailing like a siren, and he was blindly running around. The next thing I knew, he ran into me and knocked me down, away from the door.

Brandon let himself in and stared at Jeremy, confused.

Jeremy stared to the left of Brandon's hands, "woooo-ee"-ing, not wanting to make eye contact. Just wanting attention. Jeremy slipped in another random scream before biting his fist and running away.

I felt my eyes burn and tear up. I blinked furiously, staring up at Brandon from the ground. 'You are not a baby, you will not cry,' I thought.

As much as I willed the tears not to, they flew down my face, stinging all the way.

Brandon looked down at me. His expression was so blatantly disappointed, disappointed in me, that it tugged at my heart.

He started to speak, "Is this why you didn't want me over here? Because your little brother's a freak?"

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. In the glass door beside me, I saw my reflection. I was a pathetic, red-faced liar.

"Y-yes."

His disappointed look morphed into a slightly cold one.

"I hate liars, Corina. I really hope you shape up."

Brandon stepped out the door and slammed it shut.

At that moment I assumed that we'd broken up.

My assumption was right.

I turned over and laid my face on the icy tile, and I cried.