"Rough night?" Breanna asked as I played with my food at the lunch table. I knew I must have looked awful after another sleepless night; my face was all puffy and my hair was a mess. And next to Bri, who was somehow always put together, the contrast was even more evident.
"Remind me to never have late night coffee again." I smiled and ate a piece of toast on my plate. I felt Sophie eyeing me wearily and gave my hand a quick, subtle squeeze in reassurance.
I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and I took it out to see a message from Jacob, making my heart race nervously as I read.
"What is it?" Sophie whispered to me. I turned my phone to show her. I'd already caught her up on what had happened at my house yesterday night.
"He wants to talk after school."
"Hey, I told you, you got this. If he really likes you, he'll be completely fine taking it slow, and if he doesn't, dump his ass." I nodded, but I got a knot in my stomach, feeling a pang of guilt and embarrassment from the outburst.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." I smiled, going back to pushing my food around my plate.
***
He was there, his backpack slung across one shoulder, sitting on a bench outside next to one of his friends. His eyes were darting around, and he looked almost as nervous as I felt. When his eyes landed on me, he said goodbye to his friend and walked over to meet me.
"Hi." I said, my voice low and careful.
"Hey." He smiled easily at me. "Listen, Sam, about yesterday, I'm sorry if I was too-"
"No, Jacob, I'm the one who should be apologizing. I- I don't know why I freaked out on you like that. It's just-" I stopped for a moment, trying to be careful with my words and stop myself from accidentally telling him about my anxiety attacks. "I just... want to take things slow, if that's okay."
Jacob looked away for a quick second, almost like he was the slightest bit annoyed, or expecting some further explanation. But then turned back to me and nodded with that same, sweet smile. "Yeah, of course that's fine. We'll take it slow." I nodded along with him, but there was a small part of me that was afraid I'd disappointed him.
I felt more at ease when he laced an arm around my shoulder warmly. "Come on, I'll give you a ride home."
***
Alex
'Tomorrow 10 am?'
I took out my phone to see the text from Sam, reminding me of our study session tomorrow for my English quiz. I was sure I'd pass it, but she insisted I needed more practice since I'd always get distracted.
'Sounds good. See you there' I typed back.
"Hey, we should go watch that new action movie that came out tonight."
'And remember to bring me my candy bars!'
I read the text from Sam and smiled. I couldn't remember what other stupid bet I'd lost to her, but apparently I owed her two Milky Way bars. I made a mental note to stop by the store later and get them.
"Alex."
"Sorry, what did you say?" I pocketed my phone and turned to Kimmy, who was sitting next to me on the couch as the tv blared.
"I said we should go catch a movie later."
Oh, yeah, sure. Let'd do it."
"So, who were you texting?" She asked absentmindedly, running a hand through her long brown locks. Kimmy had a type of unique beauty that made you look twice at her when she walked into a room. Maybe it was in the way she carried herself, but I found myself attracted to her since I first laid eyes on her.
"Just Sam. She's helping me study for my English quiz."
"Oh. That's good. You know, I could help you study. Not to brag, but I get straight A's in that class." She nudged me jokingly and smiled.
"Nah, don't worry about it. It'll be boring for you to watch me trying to cram Shakespeare's 'The Spanish Tragedy' in for two hours."
"Wow, I guess you really do need to study, since The Spanish Tragedy was written by Thomas Kyd, not Shakespeare." She smirked and leaned in closer to me.
"See? I'm telling you, I'm hopeless." She giggled and I closed the distance between us, kissing her. "Come on, let's go watch that movie."
***
I woke with a startle when I heard a door open. I took a look at the clock, the numbers 4:13 am the only light glowing in the dark room. Nick.
When I heard clattering again out in the hallway, I stood up and opened the bedroom door to see Nick with messed up hair, stumbling drunkenly into his room with a girl, giggling as they kissed and started to take his jacket off.
Another girl again. He would do this often lately since they took Cassie on some trip to try and make it up to her: come home at four in the morning after being out all night, usually accompanied by some chick he'd met that night.
He met my gaze for a split second, but his eyes were glassy and distant, as if he wasn't even registering anything he saw. He turned away again and shut the door behind him.
I rolled my eyes and went back to bed. I felt anger boiling inside me. After everything that had happened; the lies, the shady things he had going on, and what happened with Sam, I could barely stand to be around him.
I hadn't really talked with Nick since that night I blew up on him, aside from the few inert exhanges we shared when necessary, like: "Remember it's your turn to wash the cars this week." and "Pass the salt."
I was relieved that Sam had finally realized Nick was just messing with her head. Nick was the last thing she needed, and now she was dating someone else. But the thought of Jacob and her together rubbed me the wrong way, and I wasn't sure why, but something about him was off.
I drifted back off to sleep eventually, but I couldn't shake that feeling.
***
Samantha
"Hey, I'm here." I said when Alex picked up the phone. I was standing outside his house, my pile of books close to my chest. I'd rung the doorbell, but he hadn't opened the door.
"Hey, sorry, I was taking a quick shower. I think the door's open, let yourself in and I'll be right down."
"Okay." I said and grabbed the doorknob, hesitating for a second, hoping I wouldn't cross by Nick. I sighed and walked in nervously, closing the door behind me.
I heard a door open from top floor, my eyes darted up expecting to see Alex, but my eyes went wide as I saw a blonde girl I instantly recognized as Avery, a rude and conceited girl I couldn't stand from one of my classes, walk out of Nick's bedroom with just a shirt and socks on. Nick's shirt.
I could feel the indignation and anger rise in my throat as I watched. I knew perfectly well this was probably what his days consisted of, but actually seeing it, and seeing a girl like that walk out of his bedroom in his clothes was like another reality check.
"Oh, hey." Her raspy voice said as she saw me, seemingly unphazed.
I was stunned as all I could muster was a half smile and an awkward wave. She started down the stairs, a bundle of what I presumed were last night's clothes in her hands. She paused when she reached the foot of the stairs and gave me a nasty once-over. "What?" I asked, irritated.
"You're stepping on my bra."
I looked down at my shoes to see a black lace bra under the soles. "Are you going to stand there or hand it over?" She said with an impatient scowl.
My jaw was twitching as I fought the urge to kick it away, but I picked it up with my index finger and thumb and dropped it on her bundle of clothes. "There you go. Have a good walk of shame back home." I spat out without thinking, a soft smile on my face as I spoke, unable to contain myself. Her eyes went wide and she scoffed as she stormed past me, her cheeks getting red from anger.
I turned back to see Alex walking out of his bedroom door just as she left. When he saw her leaving in a hurry, he got an annoyed, but unsurprised look on his face. "I didn't think she was still here. He usually makes the girls he brings back leave before morning." He made his way down the steps, his dirty blond hair dripping wet from the shower.
"He sure knows how to pick 'em. Her bra was littered on the floor. Real classy." I rolled my eyes, irritated from the interaction. Alex just laughed, his dimple forming on his cheek, showing off that perfect smile and took the pile of books from my arms.
"That's Nick for you." He said, and I nodded. Of course he'd take a girl like Avery home. I was hardly surprised, and maybe that was why my stomach was doing twists, as I realized this was how he'd always been, and I'd somehow been hoping he'd be different with me. This just served as a reminder of how naive I'd been. "I'll set up in the living room. Get some snacks from the kitchen?"
"You got it." I turned on my heel towards the kitchen when Alex called out.
"Oh, and two Milky Ways may or may not be in the second drawer."
I grinned widely at that. "Please remind me to keep betting with you. The payoffs are always so amazing."
I made my way into the kitchen and rummaged through the drawer until I found my candy, then grabbed a few chips and some soda and exited through the other side, stopping in my tracks when I looked up to see Nick peeking from his bedroom door towards the other side of the room, towards the front entrance, where Alex was.
"Oh, good, Avery's gone." Nick said, only noticing Alex as he walked out shirtless. I turned red and looked away. "Ah, shit, I think she took my shirt."
Alex rolled his eyes. "Any idea when you plan to stop bringing girls over every other night?" He said, annoyed.
"I'll let you know." Nick responded simply and impassively as he shrugged another shirt on, his back muscles flexing as he pulled it over his head.
He turned then, seeing me, his expression registering surprise for a moment. I stopped breathing for a second as he paused suddenly, his sharp stare burning into me. But less than a second later, he broke his gaze and said nothing as he walked back into his room.
I felt Alex's stare on me, his eyebrows slightly narrowed. "What? Come on, you have some serious studying to do." I said, trying to deflect just how nervous I was.
"Yeah, right." He smiled and walked over to me, opening a bag of chips as we opened the first book.
I'd been looking forward to eating my candy bar, but for some reason, I'd lost my appetite.