She regretted her choice in wardrobe. Obviously a simple pair of sweats and one of her father’s tee shirts would’ve sufficed.
“Fox?” she asked finally. Her voice cracked.
“Yeah?” he returned as they picked a booth.
“Why are we here?”
The waitress came by and placed menus on their table. Lily noticed Fox had decided to ignore her question.
“Can I start you off with drinks?” she asked with a cheap smile. Lily could tell she was counting down the minutes ‘til the end of her shift.
“Two cokes, please,” Fox said immediately, and the waitress nodded.
He picked up his menu and flipped to the first page, ardently studying every single dish as if it were a complete mystery. Lily watched as he turned his attention to the next page and proceeded to do the same. Her frown grew with every second.
The waitress brought there drinks.
“We ready to order?” she asked, pulling out a pad and pen.
“Not yet,” Fox said, turning to me and blinking at my untouched menu.
The waitress rolled her eyes and walked away as Fox grabbed his straw and hit it against the table, peeling the paper off of it before placing it into his dark, caffeinated beverage.
She did the same, taking a leisurely sip of her soft drink.
“Fox, why’d you ask me on a date?” Lily asked. If he didn’t answer, or at least acknowledge her, she was determined to get up and walk out.
“For the same reason that you agreed,” he finally replied.
***
Emery tiptoed back over to the couch where Nick sat on the edge.
He was almost dry, she noted, as she took a seat beside him.
“She asleep?” he asked, looking over at her hopefully.
Emery nodded, yawning.
He yawned too, and they both laughed.
“She’s a handful,” she sighed, “But she’s an angel when she sleeps.”
“Aren’t they all?” he smirked.
“I guess so,” she shrugged, eyeing him strangely.
They’d been so preoccupied with Holly that an important question had completely slipped her mind.
“Hey Nick,” she started.
“Hmm?”
“What’re you doing here?” she asked bluntly.
He gave her a sheepish grin, and stared at his hands.
He exhaled deeply before looking back her.
“Good question,” he nodded.
“Isn’t it?” she smirked, sort of mimicking his previous reply.
“Um, well I just stopped by to see if I could catch Fox,” he said quickly, “But I guess I missed him.”
“Guess you did,” she agreed awkwardly, “About… an hour ago…”
He stiffened slightly.
“Ohh, you probably don’t want me here,” he said hastily as he stood up.
“No, no,” she said, pulling him back down.
“I can leave, I mean, I’m not really wanted here in general,” he said, preparing to get up again.
Emery felt guilty for being rude, and really wasn’t in the mood to sit around by herself.
“Please stay,” she chuckled, “I’m incredibly bored.”
He stared at her for a few seconds, before giving a light smile.
“Ok.”
She returned the smile, and they started surfing the channels in search of a movie.
“Ohh!” she said, causing him to stop.
“White Chicks?” he asked strangely.
“Yeah, my new favorite movie,” she smiled, “Courtesy of Lily.”
Nick nodded, rubbing the back of his neck as they both sat back.
Towards the end of the movie, a few random conversations and tons of laughs later, Emery and Nick were way more comfortable with each other.
Emery felt as if she’d known him for years – a totally different feeling than with Fox. Nick wasn’t an infuriating, completely conceited womanizer.
He was easy to talk to. And he had yet to make fun of her – which she loved.
“We should hang out more often,” Nick suggested as the credits started rolling.
“Yeah,” Emery agreed, “Definitely.”
“I’m thinking maybe next Friday or something?” he suggested.
Emery stiffened. And Nick caught on to that quickly.
“Not as a date, Em,” he chuckled, “Relax. Just as friends, I like your company.”
She exhaled lightly and felt the blush creep up on her cheeks from embarrassment.
“Oh, sure,” she nodded a little too furiously.
They smiled at each other, just as the door clicked open.
What time was it? 11?
Lily walked in, followed by Fox.
They both wore unreadable expressions. Emery and Nick tried to decipher whether or not they were happy, or at least satisfied, with their night.
Lily spotted Nick, and then turned to look at Emery. Fox did the same.
“Uh,” Nick offered, “I should get going. See you at school, Em.”
“Right,” Emery nodded, standing up along with him.
Fox stepped aside momentarily for Nick to leave. Their expressions were unreadable as well. One could cut the tension in the room with a knife. A plastic one would do.
“See you both at school,” Fox said, closing the door behind him.
“You have fun?” Emery asked lightly.
Lily responded with a simple nod.
“Just dinner,” she said.
Emery didn’t know what to think of that. Dinner? That’s it?
“You had some fun yourself,” Lily observed, arching an eyebrow.
“Yeah, Nick helped me out with H-” Emery stopped and her eyes widened.
“Shit,” she cursed, running for the front door.
Just as she pulled the front door open, Fox was walking through it. They had both remembered about Holly, seemingly at the wrong time. The door collided with Emery’s forehead, and she stepped back clutching her head as the throbbing started to hammer.
She drew a sharp intake of breath and moaned in pain.
“Shit, I’m sorry,” Fox said, holding her head as well.
Lily came up as well. Reluctantly, Emery let them pry her fingers from her pulsing wound.
“It’ll probably bruise,” Lily stated, walking towards the kitchen.
“Yeah, I can feel it swelling as we speak,” Emery mumbled, glaring at Fox.
“I apologized,” he said, “How was I supposed to know you were leaving?”
“I wasn’t leaving, I was going to scream for you to come back and get your sister,” she explained.
He made an ‘O’ shape with his light pink lips, and Emery tried to focus on her anger instead of her intrigue.
“How do you forget your sister, anyway?” she scowled, taking a frozen bag of peas from Lily and setting it against her aching forehead cautiously. Perfect, a bruise right smack-dab in the center of my face.
“How can you forget the kid you’re babysitting?” he countered, ignoring her question.
She deemed it only fair to ignore his.
Fox went to retrieve his sister from the guest bedroom, while Emery closed her eyes and tried to focus on anything but the throbbing.
“Fox, you’re driving Emery home,” Lily said sternly as he returned, cradling his sleeping little sister.
That image definitely belonged on a Christmas card. It was like Fox had an alter-ego: the caring older brother. He couldn’t be connected to his man whore persona in that moment.
Before Emery could protest, or generate enough energy or concentration to, Fox nodded and said goodnight to Lily.
Emery nodded, regretting her choice in acknowledgement as she extended the bag of frozen vegetables to Lily.
“Keep it,” Lily shrugged, “You’re gonna need it.”
“Thanks,” Emery smiled sheepishly.
Emery followed him to his car and waited as he buckled Holly in and then stepped aside so she could slide
into the front seat. He slammed the door and then walked around to the driver’s side.
“Way to slam the door,” she muttered as he started the car and headed for her house.
He said nothing, and normally Emery would’ve pressed the matter… but she was too pained to care.
Chapter 18
The pain had subsided by the time I made it through the rackety back door of my dark home. All the lights were off, and years of familiarity assured that I got up to my room without bumping into anything on the way.
My father’s snoring puzzled me as I exited the kitchen and took a left at the stairs. He sounded close by.
I shook my head, ignoring the noise as I got my pajamas and slipped into the luxury of a long, hot shower.
After reluctantly stepping out, drying, and dressing, I ran a comb through the disheveled mop on my head.
I wiped the mirror with my towel so I could see myself clearly, though, there wasn’t much to see. My hair was wet and slicked back over my head from brushing. My eyes were all red, but not heavily bloodshot. My makeup, which I had carelessly forgotten to wipe off, had made its way down my face, leaving a black trail in its path. I was tired. And I looked like crap.
Not to mention the bruise that was slowly forming along my hair line. I had a short, thin, vertical cut atop a hill of swollen skin. The other colors were slowly coming in; I could make out blue and purple patches. I bit my lip and forced myself to brush my teeth. I shouldn’t be worrying about my little booboo right now. It’d grow twice in size by tomorrow morning. There’d probably be some green hues amidst the canvas of my forehead as well.
School will have a field day with this one. Can’t wait…
I eased into my small, noisy bed and cautiously closed my eyes. Just as they had in the shower, thoughts of Lily’s date flooded my mind.
I huffed and snatched my iPod from the end table to my right. I stuck a bud in my ear and furiously picked a song at random.
I’m sorry iPod, I thought. It was unfair that I was taking my fury out on my beloved electronic companion…
Paramore’s cover of ‘Use Somebody’ came on, and I tried not to analyze the lyrics. Because then I’d realize that they applied to me in every way.
But see, life was cruel in the sense that when you asked for one thing, it gave you the opposite. You go to McDonald’s and order a hamburger with extra onions and no pickles; they give you one with extra pickles and no onions. Then you lash out at the lady behind the counter or through the drive thru window.
I was trying to think of anything but Fox and Lily’s newfound relationship… yet thoughts of them holding hands on their date and sharing food filled my mind. Instead of being the angry, semi-hungry customer that demanded a new order, free of charge… I was going to be the customer that shrugged and went, You know… maybe it’s time to try something a little different. Let’s not cause trouble.
One question kept ringing in my head, though. Did they kiss?
I thought back to when they came through the door. They weren’t holding hands… Lily wasn’t too dazed or dreamy-eyed. Then again, maybe the shock of having an uninvited guest over ruined her moment. She really seemed to have something against Nick. Poor guy - that must scrape the ego a bit.
As the song switched over to ‘Free’ by Boys Like Girls, my eyelids felt like they were made of lead. They closed, and the hazy clouds dispersed as my mind cleared up sufficiently.
I shut off my iPod, and felt the corners of my lips tug upward as I turned over on my stomach and slid my arm beneath my pillow. Before the depths of unconventional sleep swallowed me up, I concluded: Fox didn’t kiss Lily.
***
I scowled as the amused glares buried into both my back, and my forehead. I silently cursed the navy skirt I was required to wear for the seven hour duration of the school day – it complimented the bluish-purple bruise that encased the majority of my hairline quite nicely.
The heat left my cheeks as I entered the safety of Health class and took a seat in the far corner of the room. A guy with a familiar swagger walked up the aisle and took a seat in front of me. I would’ve looked up, if it weren’t for the heinous blemish that was terrorizing my forehead.
Luckily, he made the first move.
“Hey you,” he said. I breathed a sigh of relief.
It was Nick.
I looked up, and heard him mutter a “Holy shh-cow...” as he caught sight of my forehead. But I was too busy taking in a deadly glare from Lily as she opted for seat in the middle of the room, rather than the seat next to mine. This wasn’t good.
Instead of stressing over why she was mad at me, I turned my attention back to Nick. He was staring at me, furrowing his brows in confusion.
“Yeah,” I smirked, “I’m breaking necks with this baby.”
“I can imagine,” he chuckled, “What’s the story? Your parents big on the discipline or…?”
I smacked him on the arm.
“No, Fox just forgot Holly Saturday night,” I told him, and when he gave me a quizzical look I added, “And I ran after him. So as I reached the front door, he was already coming back in and… well, you pretty much know what happens after that.”
Nick made that “Ssss” sound – when you inhale through your mouth with clenched teeth – and winced.
“So the red gash is really just paint from her door?” he smirked, reaching out to touch my bruise.
I shoved his hand away.
“Don’t touch my booboo, you creep,” I laughed. This earned another glare from Lily.
I sat back in my chair and tried to minimize my conversations with Nick. It proved a difficult mission… but somehow I made it to lunch alive.
I briefly questioned sitting at a different table, but settled against it. Lily hadn’t told me to stay away from Nick. She hadn’t told me what she had against him. So whether she hated the kid for breaking her Crayola’s in the second grade or she was just having some serious PMS issues… I was sitting at our usual table.
I plopped down across from her and set my spaghetti on the table.
She looked up, and returned the small smile I had offered her. Had I just imagined she was mad?
Fox and Nick walked to their old table, talking to some guys from the track team before coming over to join us.
“Ladies,” Fox greeted, smothering his laugh as his eyes darted from my eyes to my forehead.
White is for Virgins Page 17
