Southern Belle

Ch. 13 First there's Fighting, then there's Kissing?

The foul-smelling mashed potatoes, smacked into a small tupperware container, floated around the table. When the bowl reached my hands, my nose wrinkled in disgust, and my stomach dropped a thousand feet. Mel of course would decide to test her culinary skills on the first day Nick was in the South.

I quickly pushed the horrid concoction to Nick. His adam's apple quivered a little bit, and sweat formed at the bottom of his jaw. I probably didn't look too well either; one whiff of the potatoes nearly sent me over the edge.

Just when I thought Nick was going to pass the trash to the next victim, he grabbed the serving spoon and plopped a huge chunk of the mashed potatoes, about the size of a baseball, onto his plate. My eyes widened in fear.

"Nick, don't do this. You'll die," I warned under my breath while picking up the burnt chicken from the center of the table.

"If I don't make it, tell Elise that she still owes me money," he whispered back as he snatched his spoon from the side of his dish. After eyeing the white glob suspiciously, he placed his utensil into the potatoes. Nick then proceeded to gobble down a spoonful.

This was when the fun started. Hot tears began brimming on his eye-lids. His face gradually turned from a pale white to a grass green, and his eyeballs rolled to the back of his head. I scooted my chair away from him frantically. There was no way that I was going to get puked on. Especially by Nicholas Monroe.

After taking an obvious gulp,he commended quietly,"This is delicious, Mel. That's your name, right?" His blue eyes flickered over to my sister who was convulsing in her seat.

My hands took the maroon red napkin from my plate and wiped the drool cascading down Mel's face. She had been staring at Nick like he was a piece of meat. My eyes narrowed, and it seemed like reality came crashing down for her.

"Y-y-yes," she stuttered, embarrassed to be caught. "My name is Mel."

"Yep. She's Mel, my married and pregnant older sister."

Mel rolled her eyes and forcefully kicked me under the table. When I called home yesterday to tell my family that I was bringing a guy home, Mel and my mother nearly had heart attacks. They were huge fans of Ash, and they didn't want me to be dating someone else. However, after Nick walked through the door, Mel pulled me aside and gave her my blessing. Obviously, Nick was extremely attractive, and his wealthy background was icing on the cake. My mother, on the other hand, wasn't too keen of the brown-haired guy sitting in the seat next to me.

Awkward tension filled the room. I lifted up my glass of water to take a sip.

"So, Nick, how many serious relationships have you been in?" my mother asked. Her voice was soft and sweet, yet her glare was harsh and cold.

I spat out my drink, coughing loudly. A firm hand slammed hard into my back, causing my upper body to bang into the table. When my head turned to the left, I saw Nick snickering. 

"How many serious relationships?" my mother repeated. Her lips set in a firm line, and her eyes narrowed.

Shit was about to go down.

"Well," Nick sighed while running his hand through his brown hair, "One. She broke my heart and cheated on me with my best friend; he got her pregnant. We were dating since middle school."

I resisted the urge to grab Nick into a hug. Girls could be brats, and it probably sucked to get his heart broken. Maybe that was the reason why he was such a jerk all the time. His heart was torn into pieces. 

"Really, Nick?" I asked, my shoulders hunching over slightly. 

"Sorry," Mom mumbled earnestly. She was obviously expecting a different outcome since she definitely couldn't reprimand him for the actions of an unloyal girlfriend.