Chapter 16

It was already 8:57pm and no one had showed up. Brittany was fiddling with the green top she had worn over her swimsuit, as she stared at her huge doors, waiting for people to show up. Maddie and Damian sat on the couch, giving her pitiful looks. Loucita was busy admiring the mini rose garden in the living room.

A ding sound was made as soon as the clock struck 9pm. Brittany's shoulders fell and she turned away from the door. "Brittany" Maddie said softly as she got up and went to hold Brittany but Brittany moved away from her reach, "Just leave me alone Maddie".

The last time Maddie had seen Brittany this bummed, was when she got the news that her mom passed away. At the funeral, Brittany had not shed a single tear.

Someone knocked at the door and Brittany quickly turned then Maddie rushed and opened the door. Seth stood at the door in his light blue swimming trunks and a necklace around his neck, in his hand was a bottle of vodka. Brittany's face lit up as he looked at her, a smirk on his face, "Let's get this party started!" he yelled and the people behind him hollered and they all went inside.

Maddie and Loucita showed them to the pool while Damian watched Brittany as she tried to spot Seth from the sea of people walking past her. Seth had been the first person to show up at the house-----minus Maddie, Damian and Loucita-----but it was like he had disappeared. He could have at least stopped by for a quick hello, she thought.

Damian was about to approach her but he stopped as soon as he saw her dragging Seth from a group of boys. He recognized one of the boys as the one that was with Seth that day at the cafe(Zed). His face fell and he went ahead to the pool.

"OMG Seth!" Brittany said and hugged him then she released him, "How did you get everyone to come?" she asked and he staggered back, "Easy there Sam" he slurred and Brittany was a bit confused, "Sam?" then she realized that he was drunk. "Seth, are you drunk?" which was a dumb question. He was obviously drunk.

"What are you my mom?" Seth chuckled and Brittany covered her nose to block the smell of vodka oozing out of his mouth. She hated alcohol with passion because it had destroyed her relationship with her dad.

"By the way, I only had few tequila shots and half bottle of vodka, it's no biggie" he shrugged. "Well...are you okay? That's a lot of alcohol, you'll be hungover tomorrow. You shouldn't drink much" Brittany asked concerned as she reached out to grab the bottle but he slapped her hand away, "Stop trying to control me bitch!" Seth sneered as he glared at her.

Seth staggered back and almost fell but Zed caught him, "Whoops!" he said and gestured to a guy to carry Seth away then he turned to Brittany, "Hi!" Brittany raised her eyebrow. "We haven't officially introduced ourselves but I'm Zed, Seth's best bud" he said with a chuckle. "Is Seth going to be okay?" she quickly asked and Zed nodded, "After few glasses of water, he should be good!" "Okay" she said and left.

Zed watched her as she walked away, "Totally bitchy!" he said and walked to the pool.

The pool was filled with people. Red cups were littered everywhere, even in the water. The music was loud and there was smoke in the air. People were grinding on each other and everywhere was stuffy. This was not the party Brittany had planned.

She spotted Loucita among a group of boys vaping. Zed was with a girl who had a dark wolfcut, Maddie was talking to some cheerleaders, Damian was on his own but Brittany couldn't find Seth. She looked at the water and saw people making out, some dude had two girls at his sides and he was making out with one while his hand roamed around the other girl's body. Brittany was heartbroken when she found out that the guy was Seth.

"I shouldn't have expected any better" she muttered and was about leaving but someone held her hand, she turned and saw Jake. "Sickest party ever!" he yelled and she rolled her eyes, "I thought you wouldn't show up" "Eva did not want me to come but you know how stubborn I can get" "I thought she was your new girlfriend" she sneered and he caressed her cheek, "Babe, you know I can't get over you easily. You and I are meant for each other. I just hope you wake up from whatever nerd spell you were put on" he said and she faked a smile and removed his hand from her cheek, "That's if it's a spell. Even if it was, I'd rather be Sleeping Beauty...minus the part that the prince kisses her and she wakes up" she said and left.

There were people in the living room too and the place was trashed. "Lisa's gonna kill me" Brittany muttered under her breath. She saw someone about to pour beer into the mini rose garden but she ran and held his hand. She was scared of drunk people and this guy was clearly drunk.

"I don't like girls who willingly offer theirselves to me...I prefer when they struggle" the guy slurred. Okay, so he was a rapist too.

Brittany cleared her throat, "Well you need mental help cos you would soon end up in jail". The guy did not pay attention to that part but he became infuriated that Brittany's hand was still on his. "Get the fuck off me bitch!" he yelled as he flung her hand away, spilling beer all over the floor and Brittany.

Brittany scoffed and glared at him, "You get the fudge out of my house!" Everyone laughed at what she said. "Your house?" the drunk guy chuckled then he ran his eyes over her body. "Well, as an escort, this could be your house" he smirked "Excuse me?" "I changed my mind about you. Let's go upstairs!" he said as he grabbed her hand.

Brittany was about to give the guy her Super Bri Punch, but someone held the guy's hand, "I'll break your arm if you don't let go of her" Seth said. "What? She's your fuck buddy for tonight?" the guy asked and Seth glared at him, "Mind your goddamn business Jordan!" he said and dragged Brittany upstairs.

~~~~~~~

"Let go of me!" Brittany said angrily and Seth let go of her and sat on her bed. "I can fight my own battles Williams!" "Didn't look like you were going to win that one" he said and held his head "I was about to give him a Super Bri Punch but you came and acted like Superman while I was your damsel in distress". "Just shut up for a fucking second! My head is killing me!"

She sat close to him, "Serves you right for drinking!" she muttered as she remembered him kissing that blonde in the water. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed then she put her arm around him and patted his shoulder. "That's not helping!" he groaned and she removed her hand from his shoulder, "Then what am I supposed to do?" she asked but he did not say anything.

"Wait here, I'll get you a glass of water" she said and got up but he held her hand, "Stay" he said softly and Brittany had to remove her concentration from the circles he was drawing lazily on her hand. "B...But the glass of water" "Forget it, just stay" he said and winced at the pain in his head. "I'll be quick, just----" he dragged her down, "You are so goddamn stubborn!" he growled and rested his head on her shoulder, sending shivers down her spine.

They sat there for a while in silence before Seth spoke up, "This is better than water" he slurred and Brittany started dangling her legs then he raised his head and looked at her, "You'll give me more headache if you continue doing that" "Maybe I want you to suffer more pain" she muttered and he rolled his eyes, "What did I do?" he sighed and she looked at him unbelievably.

"What did you do? Uh...you did a lot of things. First of, you brought your classmates to my party and your classmates are bigger idiots than my classmates and trust me when I say that's a lot! Also---" "Zip it!" Seth commanded as he mimicked closing a zip, "Now, I'm supposed to be getting a thank you and not fucking complains! Fuck! My head hurts!" he groaned and she got up, "I'll get you water" she said and was about leaving but he held her hand again, "I told you to stay, didn't I? Why don't you fucking listen?" he said and dragged her down but this time, he put his head on her lap.

It took Brittany every fibre in her body to stay calm cos God knows how much she wanted to freak out! "You also called me a bitch" she said softly and he rubbed her knee, "I'm sorry", his breath fanning on her naked flesh. She did not want to talk about him kissing that blonde while his hand was God knows where in the other girl's body but it was killing her. The pain and anger were too much for her to handle that she blurted out, "And what about that blonde you were kissing?" she quickly slapped her hand over her mouth.

Seth did not say anything. Brittany shook him but he didn't say anything. "Seth! Seth!" she called out softly, "Is he dead?" she asked herself and put her hand under his nose. He was still breathing. "He fell asleep? Unbelievable! After I had gathered courage to ask him. Well I might as well forget about it because I'm not sure I'll have courage tomorrow morning or afternoon or evening or ever!" she shook her head and sighed.

She started running her fingers through his hair, studying his face; the little mole under his lip, the small scar on his eyebrow and few freckles scattered across his cheeks. He was cute. Brittany became a little more daring and ran a finger across his lips then she touched her lips, "I'm such a creep!" she sighed and his thick scattered eyelashes quivered due to the light shining on him.

Brittany clapped her hands twice and the lights went out. No wonder Lisa was always angry whenever she did not switch off her lights because all it took were two short claps.

The quivering stopped and Brittany sighed and continued running her fingers through his hair. "At least don't fall asleep on me when I smell like alcohol" she muttered.

~~~~~~~

Seth rolled to his side and instead of him falling from his bed, as usual, he rolled into something very soft. He opened his eyes and was greeted with the sight of a huge brown teddy cow. He screamed and kicked the cow out of the bed.

He looked around. Where was he? There was pink everywhere. Pink walls, pink vanity which had pink cosmetics, pink pillows, pink table and chairs and pink doors. There was a guy that looked familiar-----but Seth couldn't place his face-----in every poster in the room. The room also smelt nice, like lavender and girl. Where was he? His room never smelt like a girl. Had pink aliens finally invaded earth and taken him captive? That has always been his fear from childhood.

One of the pink doors opened and Brittany came out in a pink fluffy robe and her hair was wrapped in a pink towel. She held a blue towel in her hand and cleaned her face, "You're awake!" she smiled and he sat up, "Brittany?" Her blue eyes travelled from his dark ones to the cow on the floor, "Mr. Brownie!" she said and rushed over to pick the soft teddy then she glared at Seth.

"I do one single act of kindness to you and you kicked Mr. Brownie!" she gritted through her teeth. "Mr. Brownie?" "My cow! He's brown and therefore the name Brownie! Pretty cool huh?" she said and sat on the bed with the teddy. "Not really creative. How did I get to your room?" he asked and she looked at him dumbfounded, "You don't remember?" "If I did, will I ask you?" "Nope!" "Exactly! So how did I get here?" "Well...if you don't remember, I don't remember too!" she said and got up.

"What do you mean you don't remember?" he asked as he got out of the bed and her eyes flicked down to his chest. Seth didn't have abs or anything like that. He just had a flat tummy and a cute belly button. Her eyes travelled back to his face, "It's the way it sounds. I don't remember. It was a party so I got drunk too" she said and turned to leave but he held her wrist, "Come on Britz, what happened last night?"

Brittany was about to open her mouth to say something but she heard Lisa yell, "Brittany Hope Copper, come down for breakfast!" Brittany dragged her wrist from Seth's hand, "You have to go!" "What? Who was that?" he asked and she pushed him to the window, "No time to explain. Just go!"

"But----" "Brittany!" Lisa yelled. She was closer. "Lisa's gonna kill me!" Brittany said and dragged Seth away from the window and opened her closet, "Get in!" "What the fuck? I'm not----" "You talk too much!" she said and pushed him inside and locked the door then Lisa walked in.

"Lisa! Hi!" Brittany said nervously and Lisa eyed her suspiciously, "How was the party?" she asked and Brittany nodded, "Good!" "Mind giving me the details?" "Nope! We can discuss it at breakfast" Brittany smiled. Lisa stared at Brittany, "Go on! I still have to get dressed!" Brittany said and Lisa left her room.

Brittany peeped outside her door and waited for Lisa to start going down the stairs before she went to open her closet. Seth was going through her stuff. "When I told you to hide in here, I didn't say you should rummage through my things" Brittany said and he dropped the necklace he was holding.

She held his hand, "You have to leave. Lisa's gonna come back soon" she said and he allowed her to drag him. "There's a tree by my window. Use it to safely reach the ground without getting caught" she said and he looked at her like she was crazy, "I could die" he said and she rolled her eyes, "No you won't!" "Have you tried climbing the tree?" "Of course..." his face lit up. "Not!" she completed and his face fell, "Whenever I want to sneak out, I use the back door. If I climb the tree, I could get dirt in my nails...or worse, break them" she gasped and looked at her well manicured nails.

"If I die, my blood will be on you!" Seth said and she rolled her eyes, "Whatever! Just get out!" she said and he climbed her window, "You'll come to work today, right?" he asked and she nodded, "Yeah... senpai!" she giggled and he smiled.

"Brittany Hope Copper, how long does it take for you to get dressed?" Lisa yelled and Brittany pushed Seth out of her window. He fell with a yell. She looked outside and luckily, Seth had caught a tree branch. "Fuck you Brittany Hope Copper!" he mouthed as he raised his middle finger, then he started climbing down the tree.

~~~~~~~

"I thought you had left us forever!" Max sobbed as he hugged Brittany tightly. Due to their height difference, her head was resting on his chest. "I did not even hand in my resignation letter, so why would you assume that I was leaving?" she said and released herself from his grip. "I was scared to loose you" Max sniffled "Calm down dude, we're not even dating!" she said and he smirked, "Yet!"

Brittany looked at King, "Got something to say to me?" King had never really exchanged words with Brittany except greetings and when he was done making the pizza. He smirked and removed his cap to which Max and Seth ahhed to. King had a brown buzz cut and dark blue eyes.

"O. My. God!" Brittany said unbelievably and King smirked. "If I was gay, I would totally date you" Max said and Seth looked at him, "You hired him without even seeing his face?" "He seemed nice and lonely" Max justified himself. "I know why you have a girlfriend" Brittany said and King placed his cap on her head, "Welcome back kiddo!" he smiled.

Brittany touched the cap and smiled then she looked at Seth who smiled back. "To celebrate Brittany's return, pizza on...King!" Max said and King looked at Max, "You're the owner, why can't the pizza be on you?" he asked and Max shoved his hands into his pocket, "It's nice eating free food" he pouted and King shook his head, "Fine! But we're getting the chicken pizza!" "Fine by me!" Max said excitedly.

~~~~~~~

Brittany kicked a stone as she walked. Max had told her and Seth to go out together and that him and King could manage, afterall, it was not a weekday.

As they walked, their hands brushed against each other. They had held hands before so why was it a big deal? Brittany cleared her throat, "So...where are we going?" she asked hoping he would take her to another secret spot. "To pick up my little brother" he said and she stopped walking then he turned, "What are you doing?"

"We're going to pick up a kid" "Yeah! My little brother" he confirmed. "I don't like kids!" she pouted and he rolled his eyes, "You better not say anything mean to him else I'll stop whatever is going on between us" he said and continued walking.

Brittany ran and looped her arm through his, "And what exactly is going on between us?" she smirked and he smirked back, "I'm not really sure. It's just a guess" "And what is your guess?" she asked and he looked at her and smirked, "Guess". She pinched his arm, "Lousy!" "Dumb!" he retorted.

They knew exactly what was going on between them. Brittany liked Seth and Seth liked Brittany but they were too scared to say it. Seth could break her heart and she could break his heart.

~~~~~~~

Brittany furrowed her eyebrows. A place with screaming children was definitely not a place for her. A little boy with snot coming out of his nose ran to her, "What?" she asked the boy but he kept on staring at her. Brittany tugged Seth's sleeve, "Why is he staring at me?" she whispered and he shrugged, "Maybe he likes you". "James!" a lady shouted and she ran to him, "I'm sorry if he had done something wrong" she apologized and Seth smiled, "It's okay. He's adorable!" he said as he patted the little boy's head then the lady left with her son.

"Seth!" a little voice called out and they turned and saw a little boy with sandy blonde hair running towards them. "Woah! Slow down kiddo!" Seth said as he crouched down to the little boy's height and hugged him. "How was your day?" "Good! I finally talked to Sarah!" the little boy said and Seth ruffled his hair, "Don't you think you're too young to start liking girls?" he said and the boy giggled.

He noticed Brittany picking her nails, "Who's she?" he asked and Seth looked at Brittany then at the little boy, "No one special. Just my ugly co-worker" Seth shrugged and Brittany kicked his butt. "She's pretty" the little boy said and Brittany looked at him then he looked at Seth, "She's really pretty Seth".

I know, Seth thought and stood up, "Brittany, this is my younger brother, Horus and Horus, this is Brittany". "Horus? As in the lord of the air? One of the grandsons of Ra?" Brittany asked "What the fuck are you talking about?" Seth asked and she rolled her eyes, "The movie, Gods of Egypt. Never heard of it?" "Nope!" Seth and Horus said. "Well you guys have nice names" Brittany said and Seth held Horus hand, "Let's get some food, huh?"

~~~~~~~

Brittany watched Seth and Horus eat. They did not look alike in any way. Where they really siblings? Seth had black hair, Horus had sandy blonde hair. Seth had dark eyes, Horus had warm brown eyes.

"Does your friend like you?" Horus whispered to Seth who just shrugged, "What makes you say that?" "Well...she keeps staring at you" "Maybe it's cos I'm handsome" Seth said and took a huge bite out of his sandwich. "Do you like her?" Horus asked and Seth stopped eating. "I'll be back!" Brittany said and left.

"What makes you say that?" Seth asked as he resumed eating and Horus smiled, "She's pretty and you look at her the same way you looked at Sam when you guys were still together". Fuck! I guess it's so noticeable, Seth thought and ruffled Horus' hair, "You're too smart for a kid!"

~~~~~~~

"Brittany, I had a nice day" Horus said politely and Brittany smiled, "I didn't do anything though" "You were with my brother and even though he won't admit it, he liked hanging out with you" Horus said and Brittany looked at Seth who just looked away. "Come on kiddo! You must be tired" Seth said as he held Horus little hand. "I hope you won't leave" Horus said and Brittany was confused, "Leave?"

"Horus" Seth said in a warning tone and Horus smiled. "Seth, what's he----" Brittany was saying but Horus' hand slipped from Seth's hand and he fell to the ground. "Horus!" Seth screamed.