In the Open

"What else would I lick it with?"

Forty minutes and a lot of blushing later, we're sitting across from each other in the diner we visited the other day.

"Nick. Nick. Nick." I whine repeatedly, poking him in the arm each time his name leaves my lips.

He completely ignores me and continues to eat his burger. That only compels me to poke him harder.

"Nick. Nick. Nick. Nick. Nick."

Nothing.

Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke. Poke.

"Ni-"

"Say my name one more damn time." He grabs my finger and squeezes hard, warning me not to poke him again.

"Buy me ice cream then." I cross my arms and pout. I've been wanting to get ice cream all day, and as soon as I saw their menu of desserts, I nearly lost it.

I immediately begged Nick for some, but he just shook his head and ordered our food.

Which forced me annoy him up until this point.

"Shut. Up." I can hear the annoyance in his voice, but I refuse to concede until I get ice cream.

"Pretty please?" I give him my puppy eyes, but his face stays irritated and shows no signs of changing.

"Nick."

"I'm going to shove a napkin in your mouth." He glares harshly at me, his patience running thin as I continue to annoy him.

"Shove ice cream in my mouth you jerk." I glare back, leaning against the booth with determination evident in my eyes.

His glare deepens and I nearly run out of the diner.

Just as I think he's about to literally shove something in my mouth, he sighs and stands up. A sliver of victory swells inside me as he walks up to the counter. Minutes later, he comes back to the table.

Holding an ice cream cone.

My grin almost stretches to my ears. I get up and stalk towards him. My hand stretches out to grab the cone...

And then he licks it.

He. Licks. It.

"You licked it! With your tongue!" He is struggling to contain his laughter at my expression of rage and disgust.

"What else would I lick it with?"

His tongue reaches for the glistening scoop of ice cream, and my eyes narrow into tiny slits. Just as his slimy organ was about to make contact with the ice cream, I grab it. The look in his eyes is priceless as I pull on his tongue, preventing him from taking another lick of the sweet dessert.

"Wet gwow of my tongue!" He demands with impaired speech as I pull on his tongue even harder.

"If you don't buy me a chocolate ice cream cone, I will cut off your tongue and feed it to you." I threaten, not a hint of humor in my tone.

No one gets between me and my ice cream.

"Otay! Wet gwow now!" I comply, smiling victoriously as he saunters up to the counter with a defeated stance.

Minutes later, he returns with a pouty expression, and I laugh as I take the cone out of his hands. I sigh in bliss as my tongue makes contact with the cold, sweet ice cream. We sit in silence as we eat our cones, and don't say a word as we exit the diner and slide into the car. Turning to him, I see him still sulking in his seat.

"Are you done pouting?" I question, rolling my eyes at his childish behavior. He responds by glaring at everything.

"You know that glaring at the road won't make this drive any shorter, right?"

He stays silent.

"I had a lot of fun today. That was my first time skipping school, and I'm glad I did it with you." I say honestly, feeling thankful that he gave me that experience. I have never skipped school before. I've never even missed a day, now that I think about it. Even when I was feverish and ghastly, mom said that "staying home would show that you can't handle the pressure of life".

I mean, who even says that? Nick has given me more in the last few days than my family has given me my whole life. I don't know why he is helping me. I don't know what he could possibly get out of this. I have nothing to offer him. He has everything he could ever need. He doesn't care what other people think. He has girls lining up to be in his arms. He seems to have no worries whatsoever. He lives simply.

Freely.

I envy him and his simple, fun filled life.

"Whatever." He says, acting as if this whole day was just...normal.

But it wasn't normal. It isn't normal. He just comes into my life and all of a sudden I'm skipping school and jumping into a spring with a total stranger. And he doesn't seem to care about any of it. But I do. I care because the adrenaline hasn't left my body. I want to skip school again. I want to jump into a spring and speed down the road with my hair flying in all directions.

I want everything that I shouldn't want.

So no. This is not normal.

***

When Nick pulls up to my house, I don't get out of the car. I just sit there, staring at the house that I have called a home for so many years. I have done everything there. My first steps were in the living room. The first word I spoke was in the kitchen. I studied at the dining room table after school everyday, for hours.

It was my place. My sanctuary at the end of the day. It was my home.

But looking at it now, I don't see it that way. I see it as the place where I first realized that my parents didn't love me. I see it as the place where I wasted my life away trying to impress people that couldn't care less. This house was a jail cell, and I was completely oblivious to it. But now I know.

I don't get out of the car.

"Get out," Nick says after we sit in silence for at least five minutes, "I don't have all day Reynolds."

I roll my eyes, but step out of the car, barely shutting the door before he speeds out of my driveway without so much as a goodbye.

Jerk.

I take in a deep breath, and steel myself before entering my house. Stepping into the living room, there is nothing I want to do more than to run back outside and just go. Mom, dad, and Amelia are laughing as they all embrace each other in an affectionate hug. I restrain myself from groaning and attempt to sneak up the stairs.

Key word being attempt.

"Nadine, you know to take your shoes off at the door!"

"Sorry mom." I walk across the living room and place my shoes on the shoe rack.

Then, I walk up the stairs, not hearing another word from any member of my family.

Typical.

I lay back onto my bed with a bounce, and just stare at my ceiling. What am I going to do? I know that going down this path with Nick is a bad idea. He doesn't even bother to hide his lack of tolerance for my presence. He hates me. For what reasons? I haven't the slightest clue. But that didn't stop him from giving me a glimpse of what living feels like.

I can't just go back to my boring routine. I can't go back to living that life, when I'll be constantly craving for another.

***
Author's Note:
     This chapter is slightly shorter than the others. I don't know if you guys would want shorter chapters or not, but sometimes they might be extra short or extra long. Tell me your thoughts so far!
Thanks, loves.💕