Ned Gets Stood Up

Chapter Eight

Addie jumped up and grabbed hers. "Oh my god. Are you okay? I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," Nisha said, though it wasn't fine at all. "I'll uh—" She looked around and her face warmed, realizing the scene they were making. "It's fine," Nisha said, though it wasn't fine at all. "I'll uh... Let me just run to the bathroom."

"Oh, okay, yeah," Addie said, as hectic as Nisha was on the inside. Addie started mopping up the spilled milkshake with the pathetic three sheets of napkins until one worker came over to help. Addie unleashed a slew of apologies, while the worker assured her this happened all the time.

It may have happened all the time, but how often did it interrupt a love confession? Miserably, Nisha dragged herself to the one room bathroom with the horror lighting that revealed every pour in her face. Nisha grabbed the edge of the porcelain sink and took a deep breath.

Thankfully, this wasn't Nisha's lowest.

She had been lower.

Her freshman crush on the former cheerleading captain had her handing out flyers for a charity car wash dressed in a giant chipmunk mascot uniform. It was a used suit. And Nisha spent the next week scrubbing the smell of sweat and desperation off her skin.

Sighing again, Nisha worked up the energy to clean herself up from a mess to something decent. A soft knock on the door told Nisha Addie was still feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, Nisha," she said, her voice so soft and sad it made Nisha even sadder. "This isn't really how I was planning to go today."

"It's really okay, Addie," Nisha said and opened the door. In Addie's hand was a bundle of clothes Nisha instantly recognized. Nisha smiled. "I'm just happy I got to see you before I leave."

Addie offered the clothes. "Here. It's just my practice clothes. They're clean—" she quickly added.

"Thanks, Addie." Nisha hugged the clothes to her chest and wished that Addie could spontaneously gain the power of mind reading, so she'd stop worrying.

"Well, uh." Addie nervously rubbed the back of her neck. "I'll let you get dressed."

Then she scurried away, and I leaned out of the bathroom to watch her go without thinking I was watching. She shook her head, whipping around her hair into a mess. Grinning, Nisha sunk back into the bathroom and changed out of her date outfit and into what would hopefully be her tomorrow girlfriend's track pants, T-shirt, and sweatshirt. Everything was a little baggy and Nisha had to roll up the bottom of the pants. She slipped her letterman's jacket back on and sighed.

Another knock on the door scared the crap out of Nisha. "Just a sec!" She squeaked.

"Nisha!" Addie said with more horror than Nisha had ever heard.

"What is it?" Nisha pushed the door open as she shoved her feet back into her shoes. "What's wrong?"

Addie pushed her head inside, searching. "Did I hand you The Gregor by accident?"

"Huh?" Nisha queried her brow. "Uh, no-"

"Are you sure?"

Nisha frowned. "I think I would know if you handed me a lawn gnome."

Addie's eyes widened. All the color in her face vanished. "Oh, no."

#

TWO DAYS AGO

"It's not fair that the cheerleaders never get to hold onto The Gregor," Addie said to Trevor, the quarterback for the Creekside Chipmunks. He was technically a friend. They all ran in the same circles, played at the same parties, and usually worked together to make homecoming great.