by Isabelle Rae
“You’re welcome. Anyway, how about you pay for it now? I’m starving.” He scrambled to his feet, taking my hands and pulling me up too.
I laughed and followed him to the kitchen, both of us stretching our muscles as we went. Trevor smirked at us as we walked through the lounge. “Get much studying done?” he asked.
“Yeah, loads actually. We’re nowhere near done though,” Nick answered, ignoring his dad’s obvious disbelief; clearly he didn’t think we were studying in there.
“Okay that’s good,” Trevor replied, taking another sip of his drink. “Hey, Chloe, your shirt’s on inside out,” he called just as I got to the kitchen door.
I gasped and looked down, mortified that I’d been out in public with my clothes on the wrong way. I could hear Trevor laughing his ass off as I realised my shirt was fine. “Studying… right,” he mocked sarcastically, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. I looked at him with wide eyes, squirming with embarrassment as my face seemed like it had burst into flames.
Nick shook his head and grabbed my hand, pulling me the last few steps into the kitchen. “Ignore him.”
I blushed even more. “Ignore him? Nick, he thinks we were in there having sex!” I hissed, trying to hide around the corner so Trevor couldn’t see me.
Nick shrugged. “A couple of months ago we would have been, that’s all he’s basing it on. Why the hell are you blushing so hard? You didn’t seem to care that he thought we were having sex when we actually were,” he said, chuckling.
“Yeah but he didn’t know we were then!” I countered.
“Oh he knew, trust me. I got a lecture about safe sex almost every night.” He nodded slowly, watching as I digested that information.
I can’t believe that whole time we told his dad that we were listening to music, or watching TV, or doing homework when we were dating, that he knew what we were actually doing! Oh God, how am I going to look him in the eye from now on?
“Calm down, Chloe! You’re being stupid. We were actually studying just now. You have no reason to be embarrassed.” He rolled his eyes and headed to the fridge, pulling out the ground beef and tossing it in my direction. I came back to reality just in time to catch the packet before it hit the ground. “Good catch. Now come on, stick to your end of the bargain and make me some food. I could eat a horse.” He rubbed his stomach as if it was hurting.
I laughed. He is so silly sometimes. “Right, I guess. Just make sure you tell him after that we weren’t doing anything okay?”
He nodded. “Whatever makes you happy.”
After dinner we went straight back to studying again. I was so bored I could cry. How on earth could Will study this at college? He doesn’t even strike me as the calculus kind of guy, he’s too… fun. By the time we’d gotten through the homework assignment it was almost midnight and my eyes were stinging from the effort.
“Want to stay here tonight?” Nick offered, shrugging and packing up his books we’d been using.
I smiled. “Sure, if that’s all right with your dad.” We’d arranged to go out in the morning anyway as he wanted to get a new pair of sneakers, so it seemed silly me going home only to be picked up again in a few hours anyway.
“I’ll go ask. He won’t mind though, you know that.” He shrugged as he headed out of the room. I knew he was right, his dad wouldn’t mind at all. Trevor was always easy going like that and adored Nick. He trusted him completely. While we were dating I’d stayed over a few times - though my parents thought I slept in the spare bedroom of course.
I pulled out my cell phone and called my mom to let her know. I knew she’d be awake still, waiting for me to get home. My parents were night owls at the weekends staying up late. Nick came back in while I was still on the phone to my mom and nodded signalling that his dad said yes. He pulled out a T-shirt and threw it into my lap for me to wear. I smiled gratefully and finished talking to my mom.
Once she’d agreed, and I’d assured her that we were just friends, I disconnected the call. I smiled at Nick. “Thanks, you know I’m keeping this though, right?” I asked, waving the T-shirt at him. I loved to wear a T-shirt to bed and the couple that he’d left at my house we getting a little worn out now. He sighed and took the shirt from my hands, pulling out a different one and handing that to me instead. “What’s wrong with that one?” I asked, laughing.
“That’s my lucky shirt. I can’t give that away, it helps me get girls.” He smirked at me.
I laughed and looked at it as he folded it and stuffed it into a drawer. “Weren’t you wearing that shirt when you asked me out?” I asked curiously. He was definitely wearing sky blue that day, I remembered specifically because that was the first time I ever looked at him as anything other than a friend. It was sort of engrained in my memory.
He grinned. “Yep. Lucky T-shirt,” he confirmed.
I shook my head and walked to his bathroom to get changed. When I went back into his room he was making up a bed on the floor with spare sheets and pillows. I smiled guiltily because he was planning on sleeping on the floor in his own house. I knew he wouldn’t let me sleep on the floor - that just wasn’t his style.
“You can sleep in bed with me if you want, I trust you,” I offered, laughing as I climbed into his cold bed.
He frowned uncomfortably. “Umm… won’t that be a little weird?”
I shrugged. “Only if we make it weird. It’s not like anything’s going to happen, we’re just sharing a bed that’s all. I share a bed with Amy all the time,” I said casually. I knew it was different but I didn’t want him to sleep on the floor. I was completely fine with it; it was just sleeping after all.
“It’s a little different with two girls sharing a bed,” he mumbled, picking up his pillow from the floor still looking a little undecided.
“I don’t mind. If you think it’s weird then I’ll sleep on the floor.”
He sighed and threw his pillow at me. I giggled as it hit me in the face. “Okay fine, but don’t grope me in the night,” he teased, looking at me warningly.
I grinned. “I’ll try my hardest not to.”
He laughed and went to turn out the light; I settled down into the bed, hugging myself against the cool night. I felt the bed dip and knew he was in, but he was staying on the other side, not making any moves to come near me, just like I knew he wouldn’t. He always was adorable like that, not like most seventeen year old hormonal boys would be if they were in a bed with a girl.
I was shivering lightly so I scooted closer to him, pressing against his side and using his body heat to warm myself up. He laughed. “I thought we agreed on no groping,” he said playfully. I laughed and pressed my cold nose against his shoulder. “You cold?” he asked, turning and lifting his arm so I could snuggle closer against him.
“Yeah,” I mumbled.
He wrapped his arm around me and hugged me close to his body. I was warming up now so I started to get comfy.
“Chloe?” he whispered after a couple of minutes.
“Yeah?”
“It’s the anniversary of my mom’s death next week…” he trailed off, his voice wavering with sadness.
I hugged him tightly. I already knew that but I didn’t want to bring it up unless he did. I didn’t want to upset him. His whole body was tense and stiff. “I know it is,” I said quietly.
“I was wondering if, when I got to the cemetery, whether you would come with me?” he asked hopefully.
I smiled sadly. Nick hated to go to the cemetery. He got really upset there so he only went on the anniversary of her passing, or on her birthday. Each time I had gone with him and held him after while he cried. “Of course I will,” I whispered. I felt a tear fall down my cheek. It upset me to think of him upset, it was heartbreaking to see this adorable boy in pain like that, but I did it because he needed me. I was the only one he ever really opened up to about his mom. He put on a tough act to everyone else that he was okay and unaffected, even to his dad.
“Thanks,” he mumbled.
“You don’t need to thank me. I’m here for you, you know that.” I hugged him tighter and tried desperately not to cry as I heard him getting upset. His body trembled lightly as he cried silently in my arms. “Shh, it’s okay,” I cooed, not knowing what else to say.
Three years had passed since she died, but he still missed her like crazy. I’d always wished that I’d met her before she died. Judging by the way that Nick and his dad talked about her, she was a truly amazing woman. He fell asleep after a little while and I closed my eyes needing sleep too.
Chapter Eleven
In the morning I decided I needed to stop being upset over Will, after all we hadn’t even dated for that long. I felt stupid being so upset over something so trivial after seeing Nick cry over his mother. That was real grief, that was something worth being upset over, not a relationship that barely even started. There was nothing I could do about Will now, sure I would love to see him again and have him kiss and hold me. I would be lying if I said I didn’t want him to tell me he was wrong and that we could be together. Before all of this happened I was crazy about him, and could see myself falling harder and harder for him. If things had carried on going the way they were he would have been the love of my life, I could tell, but it was over now and I needed to stop being so hung up about it. It would be hard seeing him every day, but I needed to try and distance myself from him a little and start looking at him as just my teacher.
As Amy pulled her car into the parking lot on Monday morning I felt a lot more positive than I had done for the last week. The lunchtime detentions were over, so it was just his class I would have to deal with, but even then I decided to focus on the work instead of swooning over him. The anniversary of Nick’s mom’s death had kind of put a fresh reality on the situation for me and made my problems seem smaller somehow.
I followed Amy up the hallway and we stopped outside our lockers, grabbing books for the morning. Out of nowhere someone grabbed me from behind. My heart stuttered and I squealed from shock, jumping a mile into the air. I turned around to see Nick laughing.
“You’re hilarious,” I muttered, hitting him in the stomach with my notebook.
He grinned and threw his arm around my shoulder. “Sorry, couldn’t resist.”
I glanced at his feet to see he was wearing his new sneakers that we chose yesterday. “They fit okay?” I asked, nodding down at them.
It had been fun yesterday. Nick was so easy to be around, and even though I woke up lying all over him in the morning that still hadn’t made anything awkward between us. I silently wished I could just feel something more for him, but I just didn’t. There was no spark there. I loved Nick dearly, but just not in the right way, not like a girlfriend should. I wasn’t sure I ever did. I thought I loved him like that at the time, but after being with Will and knowing what it feels like to be in that kind of relationship, it made what Nick and I used to have seem immature and just a bit of fun.
He nodded. “Yep,” he confirmed. “So I have a couple of practices after school this week, but I can fit in tutoring on Wednesday and Thursday.” He cocked his head to the side.
“Sure awesome.” I grinned.
The bell rang so he pulled away from me. “I’ll see you guys at lunch,” he called as he headed in the opposite direction to where mine and Amy’s first class was.
As he ran off I looked up to see Will watching me. A frown lined his forehead. I grabbed my last book and walked with Amy towards gym. As we passed Will I smiled, trying to be polite. “Good morning, Mr Morris,” I greeted, trying to sound confident even though my stomach had butterflies.
He shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “Good morning, girls. Did you have a good weekend?” He smiled, but it seemed forced to me, not like the easy smiles that usually graced his face.
Amy stopped next to him, which meant that I had to stop too. He looked incredibly handsome today in his jeans and pale blue sweater. His cologne filled my lungs making my heart rate increase. Jeez, he smells good enough to eat! Wow, pretending I’m okay is harder than I thought.
“It was okay, nothing special,” Amy answered, shrugging.
Will turned his attention onto me. “And you, Miss Henderson? How was the date on Friday night with the ex’s brother?” His questioning grey eyes bore into mine.
“It wasn’t a date,” I clarified. “But it was good thanks.” I tried not to get angry again. The last time I’d seen him was in the parking lot Friday night and he’d been glaring and angry at Sam.
“How do you know it was her ex’s brother?” Amy asked suddenly.
Will smirked at her. “If I remember correctly you said so. Something about getting over her ex by jumping his brother.”
She laughed sheepishly. “Yeah that’s not Chloe’s style.” She elbowed me playfully in the ribs. “Even if he was hot as hell,” she added, winking at me.
I frowned and gripped Amy’s hand, intending to pull her away. “Enough talking about my non-existent sex life. Let’s get to class before we’re late.”
“Miss Henderson, do you think I could have a word at lunchtime? After you’ve eaten is fine,” Will called as we walked away.
I sighed and nodded. “Sure thing.” Great, another lecture about not dating his brother. Just what I need.
The morning passed quickly. I even managed to get through a whole gym class without injuring myself. When the lunch bell rang I headed to the cafeteria grabbing a tuna sandwich and looking through the drinks trying to find a bottle of orange juice, but there wasn’t any. I frowned and grabbed apple juice instead, pouting as I got to the cash register to pay.
After I’d paid I turned around, only to come face to face with Will. He looked down at my tray and frowned. “I thought you liked orange juice,” he murmured.
I shrugged. “I do but they ran out.”
He smiled and rolled his eyes. “Here, Cutie.” He put his bottle of orange juice on my tray and took my apple instead. He smiled and turned to walk off without saying anything else leaving me watching him walk away in a state of shock.
Cutie? What the heck is that about? Why did he call me that? All week he’s been adamantly calling me Miss Henderson! Darn, that guy is confusing as hell sometimes. Maybe I should ask him when I go to talk to him. I sighed as I plopped down at the table with my friends. I tried my hardest to listen to what they were talking about, but my stupid mind kept wandering back to Will even though I didn’t want it to.
I hardly ate anything, just ripped my sandwich up and prodded it a little. I frowned. I guess I can’t put it off any longer. Time to get another lecture about Sam. I sighed and put all of my ripped up sandwich onto my tray. “Guys, I better go see what Mr Morris wants.”
Amy waggled her eyebrows at me. “Maybe he wants to lock you in his little office and take advantage of you,” she teased.
I laughed incredulously. The chances of that happening are pretty slim. “You never know,” I joked, rolling my eyes. I threw my food in the trash and headed to his classroom. I actually felt a little nervous. I didn’t want to argue with him again, but I knew he was going to bring up Sam and what happened on Friday after school.
He was sitting at his desk, writing, when I got there. I knocked on the door and his head snapped up to look at me.
“Hey.” He smiled, a nice smile too, one of the ones I used to get from him. Why is he doing this to me? This morning I decide to make a real effort to let him go and then he starts smiling at me and calling me Cutie again? Life’s just not fair.
“Hey, you wanted to see me?” I looked around uncomfortably.
He nodded. “Yeah. Close the door.” He frowned and sat back in his chair.
I sighed. I knew this was going to be some sort of lecture! I closed the door and walked cautiously over to his desk, waiting for him to shout at me or order me to stay away from Sam.
He frowned, seeming to look anywhere but me as he spoke, “I just wanted to apologise about what I did on Friday with Sam. I shouldn’t have done that
, and I’m really sorry.”
Wait, he’s apologising for it? That’s sweet. “Why did you do it then?” I asked, confused. It had been bugging me all weekend. Will was a really nice guy so I couldn’t fathom why he had started suddenly acting like a jerk all the time.
He sighed and shook his head. “No reason. I just kind of freaked out a little because I know what Sam’s like. I don’t think a girl like you should be mixing with someone like him.”
I sat on the corner of his desk and looked at the ceiling. “A girl like me?”
“Yeah innocent, sweet, adorable. You’re too good for the likes of Sam. He uses girls, and I don’t want that to happen to you,” he said quietly. His leg accidentally brushed against mine, and I felt excitement bubble up inside at how close he was.
“I’m not innocent.” I smiled teasingly.
He laughed. “Oh I know that.” He smirked at me knowingly. I smiled and blushed as thoughts of just how much he knew about that bombarded my brain. “Blushing again, that’s too cute.” He shook his head, his face soft and tender as he looked at me.
I didn’t know what to say so I said nothing. I just sat there looking at him. His beautiful grey eyes burnt into mine; I wanted to kiss him so much that I could barely keep myself sitting still.
He sighed and looked away. “So how’s the tutoring going?” he asked, obviously wanting to change the subject from our previous sexual habits.
I shrugged. “Yeah good actually, I think I should be okay. Nick’s gonna tutor me twice a week.”
“That’s good. If you need any more help or anything then I can run through a few things, but we’ll have to do it at the library at lunchtimes or something.” He frowned looking a little annoyed about something.
“Why in the library?”
“Because I don’t like being alone with you.” He stood up, collecting all of his papers up roughly.
He doesn’t like being alone with me? “Why not?” I questioned.
He sighed and looked at me like I was stupid. “You have to ask?” he snapped sarcastically.
