Vicious Circle

11. The Danger

Hating and being hated. Both were surprisingly easy. Especially hating was very simple. I had known and felt it since childhood. Alex Holmes hated me. Maybe at first he just didn't like me. He thought I was just one of his son's passing infatuations. But over time, he realized that his feelings weren't passing when Wayne became attached to me.

“Be quiet, Brie,” Wayne said, and I covered my mouth with my hand. Wayne had come back from a tour of Europe and wanted to show me the medal he had won. He also told me he had a surprise for me. He took me by the hand and led me to his house. We entered the kitchen. Seeing that no one was around, Wayne directed me upstairs, but we could hear noises coming from outside the house. His parents must have been having a party again. As we climbed the stairs and headed toward Wayne's room, we came face to face with his sister, who had come out of his room. Wayne immediately took me behind him.

“Sister,” he said simply. When Gwen looked at us, I couldn't help but stare at her. She had the same eyes as Wayne. She looked at us and smiled with her blue eyes.

“They're going to find you,”

“Please, don't tell her. I'll do anything you want,” said Wayne. I was still looking at the two of them from behind.

“Wayne, you know my dad doesn't like this. You may be fearless, but look at him,” she said, pointing at me with her head. I was really scared. Wayne's dad would be upset when he saw me here and would go tell my dad. My dad would ground me again.

“I’ll protect him,” Wayne said without looking at me. “I’ll protect him from everyone.”

Gwen looked at both of us with understanding and then said, “You only have two hours.”

Wayne took me to his room without saying another word. His room was huge. It was a real boy's room. There were posters on the walls. There were lots of toy cars. The first thing that caught my eye was, of course, the medal hanging on the wall.

“Look, this is it.”

He took the medal off the hook and gave it to me. On the back of the medal, the number one was written in large letters. When Wayne looked at me, I saw that he was watching me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and said, “Congratulations, Wayne. I'm so happy for you.”

He replied immediately. He leaned toward my ear and said, “I want you to watch me one day.”

When we finished hugging, I stepped back and sat down on my bed. I shrugged my shoulders. “Wayne, I'm still very young. I can't go that far away from my family. Besides, look, you've already started winning medals.”

He nodded understandingly. When I stood up and looked out the window, I saw a crowd of people around the pool. Some were chatting. Some were getting into the pool. As my eyes wandered over the crowd, they landed on Wayne's father. He was chatting and laughing. When I felt him looking at the window, I quickly ducked down. Wayne must have understood the situation because he approached the window without making a sound.

“He's coming,” he said. “Hide in the closet. Get in the bed.”

When I hurriedly got into the bed, Wayne immediately put the pillows on top of me and pulled the blanket down. I guess we looked like a pile of stuff. But I was so scared I couldn't breathe.

I heard the door open. “Wayne.”

“Yes, Dad.”

“There's no one here, right?” His voice sounded suspicious.

“No. Where did you get that idea?”

“I thought I saw someone at the window.” I felt him approaching.

“Who?”

“That rat girl.” Wayne said, “You can't talk about her like that, Dad. She's my girlfriend.”

His father laughed evilly and said, “Girlfriend? That girl? Are you out of your mind? With all the beautiful girls around you? With girls chasing after you in Europe, Brie? ”

Wayne said in a flat voice, “We had an agreement. You wanted a medal from me, and I got it. You're going to stay away from Brie.”

I didn't expect his father and Wayne to confront me like that. It felt very different, especially Wayne trying to protect me and not forgetting me even in Europe. It was as if I was untouchable in Wayne's eyes. Was it normal to feel both happy and sad?

His father must have left the room because Wayne threw all the pillows and blankets off me. I just watched him as he checked on me.

“Wayne,” I said. “Girlfriend?”

He paused at my question. “Yes. Brie, will you be my girlfriend?”

I looked at him, not knowing what to say. Of course, I knew what girlfriend meant. I had noticed it with my brother. Sometimes he would bring his girlfriends home and introduce them to our family. Afterward, they would go to my brother's room.

“Yes, but aren't girlfriends always around? I won't always be with you. You'll be far away.”

He shook his head with a smile and said, “Now it's my surprise.”

He went to his closet and took out a camera. “We're going to take a picture with this. You can keep one and I'll keep one.”

When I looked at him happily, he put the camera on the table. We stood in front of it and held hands.

Remembering this while crouching behind the door didn't make me feel good. I sat there in the darkness of the room, just as I was. When I heard a knock on the door, I was startled. What if it was him? Wayne's father? Alex Holmes?

I got up fearfully and looked through the peephole and saw Mateo. When I opened the door, he was looking at me. He must have noticed that I was pale because he asked, “Are you okay?”

“I'm fine,” I said as I walked into the room and turned on the light. “Please sit down. What would you like?”

Mateo sat down on the couch and said, “Just some water.” I took a cold bottle of water from the fridge and filled it up. When I gave it to him, I sat down too.

“Brie, what's going on?”

Mateo was always like this. It was as if he had a special bond with Wayne. Besides being a kind-hearted person, he was able to deal with Wayne's temper.

“I went upstairs because someone was making noise. But he fell asleep.”

What I said must have surprised him because he said, “What do you mean?”

“Facing me may have had an effect on him. But this is temporary. We'll see with time.”

He nodded understandingly and said, “Will you be able to get used to this fast-paced life?”

“I don't know, Mateo. I mean, moving around during the season and dealing with Wayne is very tiring.”

Mateo laughed and said, “Think about me, please,” and I couldn't hold back my laughter.

“Can I ask you something?”

He nodded understandingly. Then I said, “Alex Holmes, where is he in all this?”

“Everywhere,” he said with a troubled breath. “It's as if he still wants to control him. But Wayne won't let him. He's thwarting his plans.”

“I'll tell you something, but it has to stay between us. Wayne mustn't find out.”

He frowned but raised his hand and said, “I promise.”

“You know about the incident between Wayne and my family. I hired a detective to investigate. I'm in contact with him, and he says the case has been obstructed. Is it possible that Alex Holmes is behind this?”

He listened carefully. “It's possible. Alex gets angry even when my name is mentioned. Especially now, just seeing Wayne and you could be dangerous for him.”

“Dangerous how?”

“Since I contacted you, Alex has been having you followed. When I found out, Wayne immediately spoke to his father and stopped it.”