Wash it now or I will kill you! C
A growl escaped my throat and I wished for the millionth time that my private life were actually private. I snatched the dress from my bed and went down to the laundry room. The washing machine lid stood open, a pre-poured amount of detergent sitting on the edge. Obviously, Chloe wasn’t going to take any excuse for it not being cleaned. I dumped everything in and then went to join Nathan.
He was searching through the DVDs stacked on a floating wall shelf. Normally Lily or Chloe kept the discs organized, but sometimes they surrendered to my chaos until it drove them nuts.
“I couldn’t figure out how the TV worked, so I thought we’d go old school. Any preference?” he asked.
“Zombies.” I said, sidling up to him. I pulled out a case and flashed him the cover.
“What’s that?”
“Just the best television show ever made! I can’t believe you’ve never heard of it.”
I stuck the DVD in, while Nathan sat down on the couch. When I turned back around, I hesitated, wondering where to sit. It would have been so much easier at the movie theater, but here... Was I supposed to sit right beside him? Leave a bit of space?
I chickened out. “Can you get the lights?” I asked.
I waited until he stood up and had made it to the switch before I dove for the couch. I curled my legs up to my chest and gave myself a little smile, proud of my sneaky avoidance of...well, whatever it was I was avoiding.
Nathan sat down right next to me, pressing against my side and then draped an arm behind me, along the back of the couch. It was a heady experience being alone and so close to him, and I loved how warm he was. I kept waiting for him to make another move, because necking on the couch was a heck of a lot easier than in the movie theater, but the move didn’t come and by the start of the second episode his arm was still across my shoulders and I had given up any pretense of being cool. Each ear was semi-plugged with a finger and my eyes were squinted. The show wasn’t as scary as maybe a zombie movie would be, but knowing when everything would happen made it even tenser.
The scary part passed and I relaxed enough to drop my hands, letting one rest on my knee. I snuggled a bit closer, hoping that he’d take a hint and move in for a kiss, but he didn’t, and I eventually leaned back a bit and tried to focus on the serious dialogue the characters on the screen were having.
“Did you hear something?” Nathan asked, glancing behind us.
“Ha-ha.”
“I’m serious. Listen.” He grabbed the remote and paused the show. “There.”
A rustling sound came from the laundry room. Images of flesh eating zombies filled my mind, until I forced logic to tame them.
“It’s just the washing machine. I had to put Chloe’s dress in.” A huge thump followed my words.
“That was not the washing machine,” Nathan said, one eyebrow cocked.
“Lily? Is that you? Chloe?” I called, staring back down the hallway. No answer came.
More rustling and banging. My heart picked up its pace, and my entire body was suddenly tense, with a deep shiver running through me. God, I hated zombies almost as much as I loved them.
“Aww, are you scared?” Nathan asked, all sugary sweet. “Want me to go look? You are just a girl.”
He was deliberately provoking me, but I grabbed onto the bait anyway. “No, I’ll do it.”
I got off the couch and went to the hallway, flicking on every light as I went. The noises from the laundry room kept coming, getting louder the closer I got. No light shone from under the door.
“Lil? Chloe? Are you in there?” I asked when I reached the closed door.
Everything got real quiet. I leaned in close to the door, trying to listen. I thought I could hear heavy breathing, but it must have been my own. I twisted the knob and started to pull it open, only to have it swing out full force and a body come surging toward me. I screamed, threw up my hands and did a half run, half stumble back toward Nathan.
It was the laughing that stopped me. Nathan’s and Chloe’s. Nathan was in the entrance to the rec room and Chloe was just outside the laundry room. I swatted at Nathan’s arm, making contact with a satisfying smack.
“Hey!” he said, rubbing the spot I’d hit. “I didn’t do anything.”
“No, but you’re laughing and you’re closer.” On that, I marched back to Chloe and gave her a whack on her back, succeeding despite her evasion attempts. “You’re so dead.”
Chloe held up the still stained garment I’d borrowed. “Not as dead as you.”
Chapter 9
Any hope I had of forgetting my soda shower disappeared Monday morning. Pretty much everyone at school knew, and a lot of them had no problem bringing it up either through repetitive questions or lame jokes. Yet another downfall of living in a small town.
“You’re going to take her down, right?” Tonya asked, as we headed to bio. I just rolled my eyes in response. “Phoebs, you can take her. I know you can.”
“Sure, and I’d end up spending the next year and a half living in my room grounded.” I gave a massive yawn and again wondered why I hadn’t tried to avoid scheduling a class first thing in the morning. Next year, I really had to figure out how to get a spare for first period.
“You’re no fun.” She pouted a moment and then it was back to how she and Trevor had spent the rest of the weekend. She droned on for a few minutes, then stopped mid-sentence to look at me. “Oh, when you come over tonight, I slept over at your place on Saturday and then spent Sunday with you.”
“Okay,” I drew the word out as the thought floated around my head. I didn’t like the idea of the lie, especially considering it was so she could spend the night with Trevor. “I take it you haven’t told your gran about Trevor yet?”
“Ugh, you know what she’s like. I want to make sure she won’t scare him off.” She flipped her braids back over her shoulder and gave a secret smile. “Besides things are getting good.”
“Good? Things?”
Her eyebrows wiggled up and down. “Yeah, you know...things.”
“Oh my God! I don’t need to know anymore!” I nudged her with my shoulder. Even as I said it though, I wanted to know more. It was that juicy kind of gossip that I just couldn’t turn away from.
“Please,” Tonya said, rolling her eyes. “You know you want to hear all the nasty details.”
“Nasty details?” Nathan came up on the other side of me as we reached the lab. Tonya and I burst into giggles. “You know, if you guys keep doing this every time I come up, I’m going to think you’re talking about me.”
“It’s not about you,” I chuckled.
“Yet.” Tonya gave me a huge smile, and then strutted into class.
“I think I’m better off not knowing.” Nathan shook his head and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “Want to pair up for lab today?”
“Sure. I don’t think I can handle anymore of Tonya’s details right now.”
“Nate!” Both of us turned to see Andy flying down the hall and come to a stop a couple feet away. “Hey man, I wanted to catch you before the shit hits it.”
“Hits what?” Nathan asked.
“Viv and a few of her friends are spreading it that you guys are back on, and that if she sees Phoebe with you again she’s not going to hold back.”
“Great, just what I need.” I slipped from under Nathan’s arm and stomped into class.
“Man, think I can sign up for bio today? I can’t wait to see this ho down.”
“I heard that, Andy,” I called back to him.
Nathan mumbled something and hung back at the door talking some more. I found an empty lab table and dumped my stuff on the floor.
“Hey, I thought we were lab partners?” Tonya said from the table behind.
“I’m going with Nathan. I can’t focus on anything with you getting all raunchy on me.” I ignored the surprised snort from a guy across the aisle from us. “Besides, according to Andy, Vivian is going to beat me up if
she sees me with Nathan again.”
“So what? You’re provoking her?”
“You really think she’s going to do anything? Need I remind you that she was the one that ran from the theater?” I couldn’t even believe Vivian thought simply telling everyone Nathan was dating her would make him do it. Was she truly that stupid?
“Tell me you’re going to beat her scrawny ass.” Tonya practically bounced with glee at the idea.
“No, I’m just going to do what my gift apparently calls on me to do. Call her out as the liar she is.”
“Boring,” Tonya sighed.
“Yeah, well I like my freedom, and any hint of violence will bring the wrath of Dad down on me.”
Nathan walked over and put his stuff under the table with mine, although he took the time to fix the chaos that had erupted from my binder.
“You sure you still want to be my partner?” he asked, pulling on his lab coat.
“Yes. And how come you have a lab coat instead of an apron?” I slipped the white apron over my head and then tied it behind me.
“Uh, cause it was on the supply list.”
“There was a supply list?” I glanced over at where Chloe stood near the front of the class. Lab coat. “How did I miss that?”
“Maybe because you were late the first day of class.” Right. Another way Vivian had screwed me over.
Mr. Arnold hadn’t arrived yet, so I still had a chance to pull something off to shut Vivian up for good. An idea started to form, and I turned to Tonya, who was putting on her matching apron. “Get your cell out. We’re going to show everyone that Vivian is a liar and that she’s too chicken shit to follow through.”
“Interesting. I think this might be as good as kicking her ass.” Tonya rubbed her hands together gleefully, then pulled out her cell.
“Do I even want to know?” Nathan asked.
“Probably not. Just go with me on it, okay?”
Vivian strolled in, that smug look coating her face. Her little posse floated behind her, their eyes pinned on me.
“Oh, Vivian!” I called, motioning her over.
It seemed to give her pause, but she came like a lamb to slaughter. When she stopped in front of me, it felt as though everyone was watching us. I may not have been anybody important around school, just one of the Matlin freaks, but Vivian was one of those disgusting girls, who was only popular because of some inexplicable reason.
“I think there’s been a bit of a communication problem,” I said, giving her a sympathetic look. Nathan stood silently beside me, and over Vivian’s head, I could see Tonya holding her cell, capturing every second. “It seems that you’re under the impression that Nathan is still dating you and that you’re going to kick my ass. Well, just so you know, you’re wrong.”
I smiled and flipped her the middle finger, then turned to Nathan and gave him a lingering kiss on his startled lips. It was all so junior high, something straight out of some teenybopper movie, but it gave me a rush of adrenaline, knowing that I’d finally got Vivian. After a year of torment, watching her date Nathan, having her constantly shove it in my face, I was finally vindicated. When I glanced back at Vivian, she looked furious enough to hit me, but she didn’t. Maybe she realized that this time there’d be no way of escaping after the first attack, not with her posse blocking her only escape route.
“What?” I asked, posturing up just a bit. “Aren’t you going to hit me? Beat me up?”
She glared at me, and I swore I could see her vibrating with anger and humiliation. She had no problem with a sneak attack that would give her an advantage, but this was one she was likely to lose. I smiled as she spun on her heel, pushed through her friends, and marched for the door.
“Oh, and don’t worry Vivian, by lunch everyone in school will know you’re too chicken shit to do anything,” Tonya called, holding up her cell when Vivian looked back over her shoulder.
Vivian pushed the door open and shoved past Mr. Arnold, who was attempting to come through. He watched her leave, and then turned back to the class. He scanned the room and his gaze settled on Nathan and me.
“Is there a problem?” he asked.
“No, sir,” Nathan and I said, glancing at each other. The rest of the class flew by with no Vivian. When the bell rang, Tonya took great pleasure in telling me she’d already sent out her directorial debut.
“I think I want to be a director,” Tonya said. “I could seriously get used to this power.”
“Power?”
“Yeah. I mean, did you see Tonya’s face when she knew I’d recorded everything. Can’t you just see some snobby actress being pissed with the shot I took? I could bring Hollywood down.”
“That sounds more like an Owen plan,” I said, shaking my head.
“Ouch. Okay, so maybe I just want to make a shit load of money without starving myself to be some stick actress.” She tossed her hair, and strutted down the hall.
Tonya’s little video didn’t quite make it to everyone in the school, but it only took one person showing it to Vivian to break her. It was actually a bit sad watching her sob dramatically into her friend’s shoulder in the cafeteria. She must have really believed Nathan would drop me just because she said so. Oh, the stupidity. And that was where my sympathy ended.
She milked it for a few days, then seemed to finally accept reality. I could only hope it stuck, because there was something nice about not having to watch my back constantly, even if it did mean I had to listen to Tonya go on and on about missing the drama of it all.
I still didn’t trust Trevor, not that I said anything else to Tonya about it. Nathan, on the other hand, patiently listened to me vent my frustrations about not having any evidence to back up my theories.
In the three weeks after the movie date, the four of us had hung out a few times, although nothing even remotely resembling a double date, and each time Trevor had been perfect. Tonya wasn’t hiding anything from me, and Trevor never stepped wrong. It was like the guy I’d met on New Year’s was a completely different person, an evil twin or something.
“Maybe she was telling the truth,” Nathan said, interrupting my most recent rant after school one day.
“She wasn’t. I know it.” I glanced at him. He sat on the couch, while I paced the rec room. Tonya and Trevor had just left, and despite my repeated attempts to catch him on anything, Trevor had been completely honest and it drove me nuts. And knowing that Nathan didn’t totally believe me only made things worse. “I didn’t imagine those bruises, Nathan.”
“That’s not what I’m saying.” He sighed and got to his feet, grabbing his jacket from the back of the couch.
“You’re leaving? I thought you were going to stay for dinner?”
“Yeah, well, I don’t feel like listening to you talk about another guy for the next hour.” He bounded up the stairs, and I debated whether to follow him. My shoulders slumped. He was right. I was always harping on about Trevor, but I couldn’t shake the feelings I had. The guy was a certifiable creep and he was dating my best friend. But this was Nathan, and he was walking away from me.
“Nathan, wait!” I called, propelling myself up the stairs after him. I managed to catch him just as he opened the door.
“I’m sorry. Please don’t go. I promise not to say another word about you-know-who.” I reached for his hand and pulled him away from the door. “Stay. Please?”
“You promise?” he asked, arching a brow.
“Promise.” I tugged him back to the basement. “Besides, my dad isn’t gonna be home for another thirty minutes.”
Suddenly, I wasn’t pulling him. He was nudging me along. It was nice knowing that with a few words I could get him to do anything I wanted. I’d thought about us going further, but according to Chloe, I had a bit of a wait before sex was in the picture, though she wouldn’t give me the specifics. I wanted to resent her knowing before me, but I kind of liked not having the pressure of should I or shouldn’t I.
He followed me into my room and sh
ut the door behind him. I flopped onto the bed, waiting for him to join me. When he didn’t, I flipped onto my back to look at him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Your room. It’s...”
“Clean?”
“Yeah. What happened? Are you sick or something?” He sat next to me and reached a hand for my forehead.
“Ha-ha.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him down beside me. “Lily happened. I borrowed her notes for Calculus and she needed them back, so she started looking, and voila! Clean room.”
“You are truly devious, you know that right?”
“Hey, I never said she had to find them. I would have looked.” I tried for an innocent look.
“Yeah, but she probably needed them this year.”
Any comeback I had was stopped by his lips. I pressed closer, deepening the kiss, letting any thoughts of Lily and Trevor drift away. Being with Nathan always felt so right. I never felt uncomfortable with being me. Not even my family made me feel that way. Dad tried to be accepting, but he looked at me the same way Nanna did, with the expectation that I be more like Mom. Chloe wanted me to be more like her, and Lily, well, she might be the only one who could accept me as me. It’s just that she wanted me to be happy. All the time. Not me, at all.
Thoughts of my family drifted away as the feel of Nathan, the taste of him, consumed me. Somehow I ended up lying on top of him, and his hands roamed across my back and down to my hips, pulling me against him. He tasted like chocolate and mint. He’d been snacking on the candies in the kitchen when I wasn’t looking.
My shirt crept up and his hands followed. I lifted up slightly to help him get closer, until the cloth bunched under my chin. We pulled apart and my shirt came off, along with his. I took a moment to look at him. I’d been right about the working out at the gym. He was definitely on his way to a six-pack.
He reached behind me for the clasp of my bra, but stopped when his watch beeped. It was five o’clock and my dad would be home soon. Ever since Nathan had started coming over, Dad had come up with a no boys in the bedroom rule, which I thought was unfair since Lily had been dating Dylan for almost four years and the rule had never surfaced for them.
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