No Strings Attached

Chapter 7: Deep Conversations

Aria crossed her arms. "He will love you, Nadine. I am sure of it."

"How do you know that?" I groaned.

"Just give him some time, " encouraged Aria. "Who knows? James might realize his feelings for you sooner than you think."

Speaking of James, he and Marco retreated from the separate guest bathrooms with refreshed faces.

"Ugh, " said Marco, rubbing his stomach. "I am never doing that stupid contest again."

"Ditto, " agreed James. "I don't think my stomach can handle any peppers."

Aria grunted, "Well, we did warn you that Spicy Salsa Challenge was a mistake."

"You can't blame us, Aria, " said James. "After all, we are boys."

"Can't disagree on that," I laughed.

Smiling, Marco rushed over to the living room couch then sat close to Aria on the floor, whilst James settled beside me on the couch.

He didn't notice my cheeks growing hot or my awkward hands started twitching.

However, James only caught me observing him very closely.

"What's up, Nadine?" he asks strangely.

My heart begins to flutter. "What?"

"Is there something on my face?"

I quietly shake my head.

"N-no, sorry. " I stammered, taking the gray tv remote from the coffee table. "Let's watch Stranger Things."

Throughout the evening, we viewed the first two seasons in the living room, while eating batches of chocolate cupcakes and washing them down with milk.

Licking the chocolate frosting from my fingers, I was getting to the part where Eleven attacks the bullies when James asked me a personal question.

"So Nadine, " he began. "There is something I want to ask you."

"Yeah?" I ask, draining my milk.

"Do you like me or something?"

I froze for a second. "Wait, what?"

"Do you have a thing for me?"

As soon as James asked the question, Marco and Aria both turned away from the TV then stared at me, hoping that I would say yes.

But unfortunately for them, I was too nervous to confess my love for James right away.

"Nope." I lied. "I think of you as a friend."

"Really?" James smirked. "Because whenever I look at you, your cheeks get red."

I shake my head furiously.

"It's just allergies, " I lied, giggling like an idiot. "Did you know that Manhattan has the worst pollen season?"

Marco, who is listening to the conversation, asks: "How does pollen make people blush?"

"Uh, science?" I guessed weakly, twiddling my thumbs.

"So, you think whenever people blush, " began James. "It's all because of allergies?"

"Yeah, " I laughed awkwardly. "Weird, am I right guys?"

Marco grimaced. "Nadine, you and I both know that I rarely pay attention in science class."

Meanwhile, Aria crosses her arms and frowns in my direction.

She was disappointed by the fact that I hadn't revealed my feelings towards James.