Chapter 39

Chapter 39

The next morning, I woke up to Cyrus gone as expected. I missed him and waking up alone like this wasn't fun. But it's better he left early so no one would catch him. Also, so I wouldn't try and make him stay because I would have. At least we'll see each other on Saturday. Hopefully, we don't make it too obvious that we have a connection once the pictures are taken. Farah won't like that much but it would be nice to stick it to her indirectly.

Nevertheless, I got up out of bed and headed over to Twila's room. My mind wouldn't stop thinking about her all night. Last night was horrible for her and I'm sure she felt embarrassed as well. Airing your dirty laundry in front of everyone isn't fun for anybody. What really got to her was the outcome. It was something she did not want nor expected to happen. She went in thinking she was going to get her back and unfortunately that ended up not working out for her in the end.

Knocking on her door, it slightly opened as I walked in. We made eye contact while she was sitting up on the bed looking dead in the eyes. The effects from yesterday were still eating her up inside. It pained me to see her like this and not her usual self. The upbeat happy go lucky attitude of hers was gone. This was just the shell.

I sat down next to her keeping my distance a little bit. At first, she didn't say anything to me. She didn't even spare me a glance. But, after a few minutes she slid over resting her head on my shoulders with a sigh.

"Hey." She said softly.

"Hey." I smiled. "How are you feeling?"

Shrugging, she lifted her head back up, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm still processing things." She kept her tone at this very calm level.

She looked to be doing better but people are good at masking their feelings. I also knew Twila better than that. Nothing about her screamed ok and that was ok. No one would expect her to be one hundred percent after what just transpired. The love of her life turned her down for everyone to see. I'm positive that her heart was broken but I wasn't going to let her stay this way.

"And that's ok, Twila. Things aren't going to feel the same for a while, but you make sure you come out of this stronger." I say confident that she will.

A small smile spread across her face, and she nudged me. "You've been a great friend to me, you know that?" She looked at me with gleam in her eyes.

I giggled hugging her tightly. "We're best friends now. I couldn't imagine a world without you."

We really did feel like best friends now I truly couldn't imagine a world without Twila. She was the first person that was nice to me. We instantly connected and have been attached ever since. Our friendship was going to last for a long time. I couldn't wait to see the memories we make in the future. I loved that even though we were so different, we also alike in many ways. She was a piece of my puzzle that I didn't even know I was missing. We were like soulmates but in a friendly manner.

"Yeah, it would really be dull without me." She joked and I smiled happy to see a glimpse of her normal self.

I jumped up excitedly to go wake Bradyn up so we could get started. I planned to take them to the cute little gazebo Cyrus took me to before having to get Jay. It was nice over there and I'm sure they'll both love it. This was my way of getting Twila to forget about what happened yesterday. To clear her head at least a little bit. It was going to be a wonderful day!

No time for questions, I told her to quickly get up and get dressed before knocking on Bradyn's door loudly. I startled her but she quickly forgot about that when I told her what we were doing. She was just as excited as I if not more and we all quickly got dressed. While they were showering, I made something light to eat to bring outside with us just like Cyrus did. Bradyn also had been through a lot last night and I wanted her to know how much she was appreciated.

As soon as they were finished, we headed out back to the gazebo and they loved it. It was just like last time. The grass is green and bright with the sprinklers going off to water it. The field was endless and was my favorite part about being out here. Knowing all the empty space they had for miles was nuts. But all I kept thinking about was one day having my own place with Cyrus here. That was unimportant though. What was important was the time the girls and I were spending together.

Kicking our shoes off, we sat down enjoying the light breeze and the food had prepared for us. This was lovely.

Bradyn pulled her shades down rubbing her feet together. "How did you know this was here? It's great." She asked me. I was afraid she'd do that.

"Um, Jay took me back here for a small date a few days ago." I said remembering to say Jay instead of Cyrus. This lie was killing me.

"Aw, that's so sweet. I forget how close he is to the Hadid family." She accepted it as my word.

I laugh nervously. I hated lying to her but what choice did I have? She really liked Cyrus and I didn't want to crush her spirits. Our friendship meant a lot to me, and it sucks that deep down Jenna was right. Twila and I have been keeping a lot of secrets from her lately. It's a mystery why she still spends time together with us. We weren't really doing her any favors or being good friends to her. Bradyn deserved better.

Silently eating, things got a little tense between us as Bradyn started questioning things. I expected this to happen because of Jenna. However, I didn't think she was really listening to her. This was Jenna we were talking about though. She was able to get into anyone's head without even trying. I hated that about her.

Bradyn was nervous looking at both of us. "Do you guys really keep secrets from me?" She asked Twila and I.

It was a random question, but I got where she came from. Twila had no idea what she was talking about. She was already talking to Sienna when this happened so naturally, she was confused. I knew why she was asking, and it made me sad. It made me even more sad at the fact that I was truly hiding something from her. Sadly, there was still nothing I could do about it.

Twila looked at her not sure where this was coming from. "Aside from the Sienna thing, there's no secrets Bray." She reassured her.

Bradyn nodded. "Oh yes and I understand why you didn't tell me. But I don't think why you told Autumn and kept me out." Her voice was sad.

Clearly my answer of having something over Twila wasn't enough. it especially wasn't enough now that Jenna got into her ear. I wish I were able to take things back and never agreed to Cyrus' plan. It wasn't worth losing my friendship with Bradyn over. The more I hold out and don't tell her the truth the more she'll never understand why I had to. This was making things super awkward between us, and I hated every part of it. Today was supposed to be about making everyone feel better. Now all there was, was more drama.

Twila didn't know what to say and neither did I. The silence that fell between us was unpleasant. No one knew what to say or what to think for that matter. We were at a standstill, and it felt like it was Twila and I against Bradyn. Something I didn't want to happen was happening and I didn't know what to do. Do I say something, or do I keep up this charade? What if she went and asked Jay about this? He would be confused like she was and it would be worse if she found out about this from him instead of me. My mind was conflicted.

"So, I'm taking the silence as you guys are keeping secrets." She said getting more emotional. She got up grabbing her shoes.

"Bradyn wait, that's not the case." Twila tried to stop her, but she wasn't listening to anything we were saying.

She looked at us with tears in her eyes, not believing what we were saying. "No, you guys clearly like keeping things between you two. It's like I'm not even there!" She yelled at us.

I shake my head trying to get her to understand a little bit about where we were coming from. "It's not that we're hiding anything from you, Bradyn. I just can't exactly tell you." I intervene.

This was my mess, and I didn't want her to get mad at Twila because of me. She had nothing to do with it and was merely there because she caught me red handed. If she hadn't Twila wouldn't know either not that she would care anyway. This had nothing to do with Bradyn herself. It was the rules of the game, and that game was costing our relationships with each other.

What I said only made her angrier. "And why can't you, Autumn? I thought we were friends. Jenna was right, wasn't she?" She asked.

Twila scoffed at the realization Jenna was behind this. "Are you kidding me? You're listening to fucking Jenna." Now Twila was angry.

"Clearly she's the one that has my best interest like I thought you guys did." We couldn't believe she was saying this right now.

"You're delusional if you think Jenna cares about anyone but herself." Twila reminded her.

This was getting out of hand, and it was all my fault. First Jenna was getting into her ear. Now she and Twila were arguing. It was so stupid and over me not being able to tell her the truth. I can't believe I let it get this far. Now we were all in this dysfunctional mess. The drama just never ends around here in Sunbury. It almost made me miss Greendale but only a tiny bit.

Bradyn rolled her eyes not listening to a thing we were saying. "Then what's the big secret, Autumn? If Jenna is wrong, then prove to me that she is." She suggested leaving me in a tough spot.

I looked at her confused running all possibilities through my head. I could tell her and not lose my friend. I could tell her, and she does not talk to me because she also likes Cyrus. There was also a chance she could forgive me too and understand. It wasn't like I forced Cyrus to pick me, he did that on his own. None of this was asked for by me. Of course, she wouldn't be angry at him though. He wasn't the one keeping secrets from her. I was and as her friend it was wrong. But there were so many things that could go wrong telling her the truth. I didn't know what to do.

Looking over at Twila she didn't have an answer for me either leaving me to make the decision on my own. Bradyn was waiting for a response and started to get agitated the more I contemplated. I got her frustration, but she had to know how hard it was for me too. No matter what she was going to think I enjoyed lying to her and it wasn't true.

Not being able to take it anymore, she frowned. "I should have known better than to believe we were friends." She started to walk away when I couldn't take it anymore. This was ridiculous!

"I'm not secretly dating Jay. I've been sneaking around with Cyrus!" I blurt out.