Chapter Text
It was ever since that stupid love song that she couldn’t stop thinking about him. She’d felt this feeling before, but never over a boy. Maybe clothes or makeup or maybe even people being in a relationship. But never. Ever. Over an actual boy.
Jealousy.
Brittany stood in front of her bathroom mirror, gripping the sink and staring deeply into her own eyes.
“Get a grip!” She hissed to herself, hoping she wasn’t loud enough for either of her sisters to hear.
She took a deep breath before letting out a long sigh and finished getting ready for the day.
All she wanted was to stop thinking about it. About him. But the only thing swirling around in her mind was, “Why doesn’t anyone ever write love songs about me?”
And why was she upset that he would write a love song about a girl he used to like..?
The truth was ringing loud and clear in her face. It made her want to vomit. How could the most popular girl in school have fallen flat on her face for, for him? It wasn’t fair. And the worst part was there was no reason she could find at all for it to have happened. At least, that’s what she told herself.
Brittany and her sisters walked to school that morning, much to Brittany’s relief. She wasn’t sure if she could have taken being in the car with the boys the whole way there. Not with the way she was feeling since she woke up.
Sooner or later though, she knew she would have to see him. She just hoped she could pull herself together enough to not make a fool of herself.
“I still can’t believe his song went number one this week and he won’t even admit to anyone but us that it was him,” Jeannette mused.
“Yeah, for real. He hit a lifelong goal of mine all because he was sulking about a girl who’s not even that pretty.” As soon as the words left her mouth Brittany knew she’d made a mistake. Jeannette and Eleanor stared at her, dumbfounded.
“And why do you care if she’s, ‘not that pretty,’ Brittany?” Eleanor asked with her hands on her hips.
“Because… it, always matters to me whether people are pretty or not,” she faltered. It was too late now. Her sister’s definitely knew something was up, and she braced herself for what they might say next.
“Uh-huh…” Jeanette squinted, but didn’t push it. She and Eleanor looked at each other and shrugged before leaving Brittany where she was standing.
“Oh, you idiot,” she whispered to herself. But, much to her relief, they didn’t seem too interested in pressing the matter.
All day she did her best to avoid any kind of contact with Simon. It didn’t seem to her that anyone had caught on, and Simon was as oblivious as they came so she figured she got away with it. At least for today.
As the day drew to a close, her emotions finally caught up with her. It was all she could do to find a place even slightly secluded. The bathroom was no good, the girls always gathered in there to gossip after school was over, and teachers were busy cleaning up their classrooms so those were no good either. It was frustrating, and she knew she didn’t have time to make it home before the dam burst.
Finally, she found an empty hallway towards the back of the school. She slid down with her back against the wall until she found herself on the floor with his face buried in her knees.
Tears slid slowly down her cheeks and onto her pants. All of her frustrations with Mandi, Simon, and most of all herself poured out into her pathetic silent sobs until she couldn’t take it anymore. In a fit of rage she grabbed her phone and threw it as hard as she could across the hallway, nearly hitting someone turning the corner in the process.
It all happened so fast. As her phone left her hand the regret hit instantly. The next thing she knew Simon of all people was staring at her wide eyed with his mouth hanging slightly open. “What was that about?!” He sounded bewildered.
Brittany stayed silent, trying to process what was happening.
His head snapped to her shattered phone and back to her in a split second. “I really hope you weren’t meaning to hit me with that,” he chuckled nervously.
“Oh. My. Gosh. Simon, I am so sorry.” Her hands flew up to her face as her tears attempted to escape her eyes again.
“Um… a-are you okay?” The slight fear in his eyes turned to a soft concern. It made her heart melt.
“Sure.” She turned her head away from him. No way could she let him see her crying.
Then she gasped. Her phone.
“Oh my gosh.” She scrambled to her feet and pushed past Simon to her poor shattered phone on the floor.
It was worse than just shattered. A sob escaped her lips as she stared at the consequence of her rage. And it happened in front of him of all people.
“Ooh. That’s, uh, that’s pretty bad.” He scratched the back of his head as he knelt down next to her.
Brittany just sat in silence. She knew if she said anything she would start to bawl. She couldn’t have that.
“But! Um. Not-not so bad that I can’t fix it.”
She finally decided to look at him. “Really?” Her voice shook and just sounded so freaking pathetic. How in the world did she manage to find herself in such a horribly embarrassing situation.
“Of course,” he grinned. His expression was so soft, Brittany could hardly stand it. Did he even have any idea what he was doing to her?
Probably not.
He picked up the broken pieces of her phone as carefully as he could and put them in his backpack. She stared at his hands, unable to get herself to move. Until he grabbed hers and helped her to her feet. Her heart felt as if it jumped into her throat.
“If you’re not doing anything, do you wanna come over while I fix your phone?”
“Sure…”
“Do… do you wanna talk about it?” He asked as he adjusted his glasses.
“Not with you…” Why did she have to say it like that. Of all the things she could have said why did it have to be that.
Simon froze. That same initial fear crept back into his eyes. “Did I uh, did I do something?”
She knew he was talking about the phone. “No…” she sighed. “I just don’t want to talk about it.”
“With me.”
“With anyone.”
He peered at her from over the top of his glasses. She could tell he wasn’t fully convinced, but thankfully he didn’t press the issue anymore.
“Um, by the way, Dave, Alvin and Theodore won’t be home for a while. They went to see a movie that I have no interest in. So… it’ll be just the two of us if that’s okay.”
“Oh, yeah, no that’s fine. Honestly that’s kind of a relief…”
“Cool. Ready when you are.”
And off to the Seville house they went.