The New Normal

Chapter Thirty Four

The hot shower attacked my skin but I was grateful for it because I had been absolutely freezing for the whole day. Also, it gave me time away from Tyler so I could think about conversation starters. Despite us having that kiss on the Ferris wheel, he acted completely normal but I continued to be a fumbling mess. I don't know why I was being so weird, it wasn't like he asked me to marry him or bare his children, he asked me to the Winter Formal and said that he liked me. Recounting the Ferris wheel ride left me feeling giddy and I couldn't help but smile to myself as I did so.

Shutting off the water, I grabbed my towel and wrapped it around me tightly. I could face Tyler, I could act normal. I pulled the shower curtain open and stepped out, trying to find my pajamas, but could only see the clothes that I was wearing before I stepped into the shower. I searched all areas of the bathroom, even under the sink and I couldn't find my pajamas. Slamming the sink cabinet door, I sighed. "Well, shit."

"Sweetness?" Tyler knocked on the door. "What are you doing in there? I can hear you slamming things."

"Yeah, I'm fine," I answered, reaching for the door. There was no use asking for Tyler to get my pajamas from my bag because if he went through my clothes, he'd see my lace thong that I packed for my outfit tomorrow which consisted of leggings. The last thing I wanted was for him to see those and bring it up every chance he got. I opened it and was greeted with Tyler standing incredibly close. "Um, hi."

He eyed me up and down and smirked. "Where are your clothes?"

I rolled my eyes and brushed past him to get my pajamas from my bag. "I forgot them."

I dug through my bag and located the cashmere pajama set that I had bought recently on a shopping trip with Stella and Kimberly. Turning on my heel, I went back to the bathroom and Tyler started to chuckle. "You're cute when you're all flustered."

"Oh, shush," I blushed and closed the bathroom door.

I quickly threw on my pajamas and brushed through my tangled, wet hair. I needed to calm down and act normal. Just be normal, Juliet.

I opened the door and Tyler was lying on the queen sized bed with nothing but boxers on. His right arm was tucked behind his head, meanwhile his left was playing with the remote. He noticed I was done in changing and arched a brow. "Care to join me, Sweetness?"

Tucking my hair behind my ear, I nodded my head and laid beside him. He was going through the channels, trying to find something to watch when a question popped into my head. "Hey, Tyler, why do you call me 'sweetness'?"

He looked down at me with a smile. "Because, you're cute and sweet and giving you a nickname makes the other guys back off."

I let out a big laugh. "You really don't like guys flirting with me, do you?"

"I don't like it when guys flirt with what's mine," he growled, looking annoyed at even the thought of someone flirting with me.

I pulled back so I can inspect his face, amused at what he had just said. "Oh, so I'm yours?"

"W-Well," he started to stutter, his cheeks getting redder by the second. "I mean, I know we haven't like, confirmed anything yet but in my head you are, you know, um, mine."

I had to fight back the urge to awe right in front of him because what he had just said was utterly adorable, so instead, I kept myself as cool as a cucumber. "Easy there, Casanova. How about a date before we stick a label on it, yeah?"

Tyler looked down at me with a grin. "Only if I get to plan the date, start to finish."

I bit my lip at the thought. Tyler planning our first date start to finish was going to surely be something else. But it was definitely something I wanted to see happen. "Fine."

His face lit up like a Christmas tree, however, it quickly dimmed when I held up my hand. "But on one condition."

"What's that?" Tyler mused, looking intrigued with my single condition.

"No heights and no taking me to places you've taken your other conquests," I answered bluntly.

"That's two conditions," Tyler chuckled and kissed me on the forehead. "But I promise this will be the most original, height free date you've ever been on."

The next day, Tyler and I were packing our things into the van when someone came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. Taken aback by the sudden touch, I jumped and ended up hitting my head on the trunk door. Dropping my bag on the slushy ground, I held my head in my hands as I hissed in pain. "Holy shit, that fucking hurt."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Kimberly squealed. "Are you okay? Do you need ice or something? I can run into the hotel and get some before we go."

"Sweetness, are you okay?" Tyler asked, turning from his conversation with Colson as they both were having a smoke.

I waved both Tyler and Kimberly off and feigned a smile. "I'm fine. What's up, K?"

Kimberly paled as took a big gulp before she spoke. "Seth and I, we... we-"

"Did the dirty, I'm assuming?" I finished for her and my friend smacked me on the arm.

"Yeah," she said, nodding her head nervously. "But we forgot to, you know..."

I brought my hand up to my mouth and whispered, "Oh, K, tell me you didn't. Remember no glove, no love?!"

"I know!" she hissed, causing Tyler and Colson to stare at us curiously. Kimberly rolled her eyes and tugged me away from the boys. "What do I do? Seth is like freaking out and when he freaks out, I freak out and it's not like I can talk to Stella about this, I don't even think she knows what sex is."

I put both of my hands on her shoulders and rubbed them soothingly. "Well, you're on the pill, right?"

"Yeah but so was my mom and here I am," she responded sarcastically, biting her nails.

"At least that's better than no protection," I countered. "When we get back into town, you and I can go to the pharmacy to pick up a pregnancy test but you're going to have to wait a week before you take the test."

"What?" Kimberly whined. "Why?"

I licked my lips, feeling awkward that I had to explain this to her. "Because if you are pregnant, it takes a week for the hCG to become prominent in your, um, urine, which is what a pregnancy test detects to determine whether you're pregnant or not."

"Ew, that sounds disgusting," my friend scrunched her face in discomfort. "How do you know that?"

"I applied for nursing school, remember?" I rolled my eyes. "Besides, we learned that in health class."

Kimberly linked her arm through mine as we walked back to Ryan's van. "That's still gross."

"It may be gross, but that's life dude," I laughed, trying to make light of this nerve wracking situation. If Kimberly is pregnant, there are a lot more gross things she's going to endure than me talking about hCG.

Before we broke apart to get in the van, Kimberly looked at me with all seriousness. "I'm so screwed."