The Player novel Chapter 18

Brielle

6:52 PM

"What. Is. Going. On."

Sam walked into my room, her eyes wide. My once somewhat tidy space was now littered with clothes. I laid face down in the center, on top of a pile of them. Christopher was supposed to pick me up in thirty minutes for my date, and I still had nothing to wear.

In a moment of desperation, I 9-1-1 texted Sam, causing her to claim the stomach flu to get out of her family's mandatory family dinner. That was the one thing that her mother never budged on, so only an emergency would cause Sam to skip out.

"Brielle," Sam said, slightly kicking me with her foot as if to check if I was still alive. "He's going to be here in half an hour!"

I rolled over to face her, groaning in the process. "I know, don't remind me."

As my eyes skimmed over my room, and at the mess that encompassed me, I buried my face in the clothes once more.

"You know what, I think I'm just going to tell him not to come. It's hopeless." Although I couldn't see her, I already knew that Sam was rolling her eyes at me.

"Come on," she said grabbing my arm and dragging my body upright. "Pull yourself together!"

I let out an incoherent mumble before finally sitting up, pushing my frizzy hair out of my face.

Sam let out a loud sigh before cracking her knuckles and tying her hair back. "Ok, let's get down to business. What are you guys going to do?"

I looked down at my phone, still opened on his last text. "He didn't say, he just sent me this." I held my phone up to her face, showing her the message.

Wear something comfortable. Be there at 7 ? – Christopher

Upon reading it, I flopped back on my floor in frustration.

"You're useless," Sam mumbled, pushing me off the pile of clothes and sifting through the pieces underneath me. After a few minutes she emerged with a pair of ripped jeans and a heather grey crop top.

"Here you go," she said throwing the articles directly at my face. "Now put them on. Chop chop!"

I quickly threw them on, before turning towards my mirror. I couldn't lie, Sam's outfit was the perfect mix of casual and cute that I was looking for.

Sam popped up behind me, admiring her work. "God, what would you do without me?"

"I have no clue."

She steered me away from the mirror before quickly styling my hair into waves as I did light makeup on my face. I was applying a finishing coat of lip gloss when the doorbell rang. My heart skipped a beat knowing, it was Christopher.

Before I could stand up, I heard Scott yell from downstairs, "I'll get the door!"

My eyes, grew wide. I hadn't told Scott that me and Christopher were still talking. If he found out that he was taking me out on a date, he would kill me and Christopher.

Sam must have thought the same thing because she jumped up and sprinted out of my room with me right at her heels.

"We got it!" we yelled in unison, as we hopped down the stairs. Scott, stopped, his hand on the doorknob, ready to open it.

"It's fine," he said twisting the door knob open. "I'm already here."

"No!" I shrieked, causing him to recoil in shock. I casually walked over to him, lowering my octave as I did so. "Don't worry about it, I know how badly you want to go back to playing your video games." I brushed his hand off the door.

His eyes scanned from me, to Sam, and back to me again. After a few moments, he seemed to have given up trying to figure out what was happening.

"Girls," he mumbled underneath his breath before walking into the kitchen, which was out of sight of the front door.

I let out a deep breath that I didn't even realize I was holding before finally twisting open the door. I came face to face with Christopher. His eyes were rested on his shoes. Opening the door seemed to catch him off-guard as his eyes snapped towards me, his face turning the slightest shade of red.

I took the moment to look him over. He wore a white button-down shirt with a pair of faded jeans and white converse. His hands rested in his pockets flashing me a contagious smile that made me smile as well.

"You look really nice," he said, the nervousness audible in his voice. I let out a soft laugh. I couldn't help but find it comical to see the usual confident Christopher transformed into someone shy and quiet.

"Thanks," I grinned, stepping out of my house and closing it behind me. "You don't look too bad yourself."

His usual arrogant self returned. "You and I both know that I look a lot better than that."

I playfully rolled my eyes. As much as I pretended to hate how cocky he could be, deep down I liked it. He opened his car door for me before running over to the driver's seat and starting the car. As we pulled out of the driveway, I turned towards him.

"Where are we going?" I questioned him. He responded with a laugh and zipped his lips with his hand. "C'mon, can I at least have a hint!"

He shook his head at me, and from the smile on his face I could tell that he was enjoying this a little too much. I let out a dramatic huff before fiddling with the radio.

Christopher started the fireplace in the living room as I made us two cups of hot chocolate in the kitchen. When I returned, the room was littered with plaid pillows and warm, fuzzy blankets, all surrounding the fireplace.

I handed him a cup as I sat next to him, both of us content with just listened to the crackling of the fire.

"I had a lot of fun," I said, snuggling my head into his shoulder and letting out a yawn.

"Me too," he said, running his finger through my hair. "If you told me two months ago that I would be sitting here like this with you right now, I wouldn't have believed you."

"Why, because you would have been cuddled up with Melanie?"

His gaze locked onto mine, his eyes suddenly serious. "No, because I was so intimidated by you that I thought I had no chance."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Yeah right."

"I'm not kidding! You're probably the most beautiful girl in the school, and you walked around like all this stupid high school stuff means nothing to you. No matter how popular or cool people thought I was, I knew that it wouldn't matter to you."

His focus shifted to the fire in front of him. "You would be surprised at how many people would try to date you if they thought there was a chance."

To say that I was surprised would be an understatement. I had never thought that Christopher, or any boy for that matter, would be intimidated by me. The thought of it made me very confused, and, as much as I hated to admit it, just a little bit proud.

He continued. "And now that I know how funny and kind you are, I know that I was right to be intimidated."

I playfully slapped him on his arm. "Now you're just lying to make me feel better."

"I swear I'm not," he laughed, dodging another one of my punches. After a few minutes of silence, he turned towards me again.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" He asked. I nodded my head, snuggling myself closer to him as I felt myself begin to drift off.

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

A smile spread across my face as I looked up at him. "I would love to."

I felt myself began to drift off, and when I woke up later in his car as he pulled up in front of my house, the scene kept replaying over and over in my head.

And that night when I laid down on my bed, I fell asleep with a smile on my face.