m a d e l y n
"I'm wearing a skirt, just give me a few minutes to make sure I don't flash anyone tonight," I hushed my brother as I pulled on a pair of biker shorts under my skirt. They were just long enough for them not to be seen.
"Fine, hurry up," he huffed. He was always rushing me. It was perfectly normal being late to a party. "I'll be downstairs, Mads."
I grabbed my phone and purse before throwing some shoes on and padding down the stairs.
"Ready," I took the car keys from the foyer and called my brother. "I'm sure Nate's just getting ready."
He asked me to come with him to the hotel yesterday to check things out. Like I told him, everything was fine. He also told me that he decided he did like Andrea, and he was going to ask her out at the party.
I really should've prepared myself for that better. I knew it would happen, but I was clinging onto the idea that he might miraculously come to the conclusion that he didn't actually like her like he thought he did.
Sucks to suck, Maddie. I guess I just had to avoid them tonight.
Nate was hyping himself up in the car all the way to the party, and Archer was helping too. I'd never seen him that nervous to ask a girl out before. It honestly kinda sucked. I was hoping he didn't like her as much as he did, but I had to remind myself that I told him to go for it, so I had no reason to feel sorry for myself.
"You know the drill," I locked the car once all three of us got out. "Call or text if you wanna leave, and we leave by twelve thirty because Dad said we have to be home before one."
"Yes, mom," Archer rolled his eyes. "I have to ask Lance something. I'll see you guys inside. Lance!"
Nate turned to me, his nervousness obvious to me. "Wish me luck, Mimi."
I gave him a small smile. "Good luck, Pickle. You got this. You're the Nathaniel Reed, after all, you have nothing to worry about."
He winked at me. "That's right."
I followed him inside, and he was immediately surrounded. Nate was a very friendly, social guy, and that meant there were always people around him at parties.
"Hey, Maddie," I felt a tap on my shoulder, making me turn around.
"Hi," I greeted Claire. I didn't know why she was suddenly talking to me, it wasn't like we were very close. "Did you need something?"
She nodded. "I was just wondering if Archer's dating anyone right now. I heard he got a girlfriend this summer, but I don't like to believe in rumors."
Ah, that's why she was talking to me.
Can't say I'm surprised. A lot of girls liked to talk to me to ask me to set them up with my brother. I was used to it. I was decently popular at school, but for some reason, about one of four times people talked to me, it was to talk about Archer.
"The rumors aren't true," I informed her. "My brother didn't get a girlfriend over the summer."
"Really?" her eyes widened. "Then why was that model chick in his Insta stories? Everyone's saying they're dating. Isn't she like twenty or something?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Model chick? You mean Adrienne Connor? She's a close family friend. And what if she's twenty or something? Like I said, they're not dating."
"So if it's not her, it has to be that other girl in his stories, the one from New York. I forgot her name, but she's Sofia Nilsen's niece," Claire insisted.
"Ew, she's our cousin," I cringed. "And how many times do I have to tell you that my brother did not get a girlfriend this summer?"
"Okay, fine," she conceded. "Then if you say your brother's single, can you—"
I stopped her before she could finish. "I'm not doing that. If he wants to ask you out, he'll do it himself. And if you really want to go out with him, ask him yourself."
"Fine," she sneered at me.
Well, that's a sure way to get my brother not to date you.
"Maddie, you won't believe what I just heard!" Alexia ran over to me.
Okay, this girl, I could trust not to ask me about my brother. Believe it or not, when we were freshmen, she actually turned him down. Good for his ego, honestly.
"Nathan Reed is going to ask Andrea Zyler to be his girlfriend tonight," she gushed. "Oh my gosh, I wish I was her."
You and me both, Alexia. I didn't take her comment too seriously, though, because she changed crushes faster than an electrician could change a lightbulb.
"And you think I don't already know this because..." I waited for her to finish the sentence.
"Fuck, sometimes I forget that The Wires is a thing and that you and Nathan are close," she scrunched her nose. "But now that I remembered, do you think that you—"
"Not happening," I cut her off.
She'd asked me a bunch of times over the summer to set her up with Nate, semi-jokingly, or at least I hoped it was, but I could never do it. I'd had a crush on him since forever, and yet I still couldn't tell him.
Like I said, working on boldness. I had the love part down.
"Why do you always say no when it's Nathan, but you're so willing to set me up with your brother? And when other girls ask, you don't set them up with Archer?" she wondered.
"They both hate it," I explained honestly. "And if they find out that the other girls asked me to sway their opinions, they'll just get mad at them. But I like you and I trust you enough to be with Archer. It won't be fake."
"That didn't answer my first question," she pressed.
I bit my lip. "Well, I can't do it now because he's asking Andrea out, and I didn't do it before because Nate would hate you if he found out that you asked me to set you two up, he's a destiny type of guy. And he will find out. I don't want that for you. Also, I don't know how happy Archer would be if his best friend started dating a girl he used to like."
Okay, that was true, but those weren't the only reasons. Obviously. Nobody knew about my crush on Nate, and I was happy with it being that way.
"Fine, I guess you're right," she agreed. "Wanna get drinks?"
"I'm supposed to be driving home tonight, but I can get a Sprite or something," I decided. "I'll make sure you don't do anything stupid."
"Sounds good to me," she shrugged, grabbing my hand and dragging me to the kitchen.
I miraculously found an unopened can of Sprite in the cooler and leaned on the counter while Alexia got herself a drink. "Ready for our last year in school together?"
"Don't remind me," she frowned. "I already know I'm gonna miss you. I hate that my parents are making me stay in Korea with my grandma for a year."
"The gap year will do you good," I advised. "You can figure out what you wanna do, and you'll get to spend time with your grandma. Besides, you might find a cute boy or girl there, and you'll never wanna leave."
"I better find someone cute," she pouted playfully, making me laugh.
A boy walked past us. "Can I talk to you outside?"
I could tell that voice apart in a hundred person lineup. It was my pickle boy.
"Oh my gosh, I think he's about to ask her out," Alexia gushed, watching the people behind us. I didn't wanna look.
"Let's let them have their privacy," I pulled her out of the kitchen. "Look, the boys are playing beer pong, let's go watch."
The rest of the night was pretty boring. It was just the usual party, tipsy people bumping into you, loud music and a ton of sweaty people dancing around.
At least this time, nobody threw up in the pool. That was gross.
"I'm gonna go now," I waved goodbye to Alexia and our other friend, Lily. She was Alexia's ride. "I'll see you guys Monday."
"Bye, Maddie," Alexia slurred. "Hope someone told you that you look really pretty tonight."
I smiled at her. "Same with you, Xia. Lils, take care of her, okay?"
"Don't worry about her, I've got it handled," Lily asserted. "Love you. See you Monday."
Within five minutes, I'd said my few goodbyes, made my way to my car and leaned on the driver's side as I waited for my brother and Nate. It was a little before twelve thirty, and as long as the boys knew how to read time, they'd be out soon.
Archer was walking out of Andrea's house at exactly twelve thirty. He had a red cup in his hand that he passed off to some random kid he was talking to. I figured Nate would be there with him, but he wasn't.
"Have you seen him tonight?" I asked Archer.
"Last I heard, he was making out with his new girlfriend," he shrugged. "But he'll be out soon."
"Oh," I nodded. "Okay."
Five minutes later, Nate stumbled out of the front door, his arm draped over Andrea's shoulder as they laughed with each other. They looked happy.
"Uh, you're riding with her?" Andrea hiccuped as she eyed me.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Archer and I scowled. Guess our twin telepathy worked that time.
"Chill, guys," Nate chuckled. "Andie, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. I'll see you at school."
She huffed. "Fine. Good night, babe. You too, Archer."
And me?
"Good night," I muttered, apparently loud enough to prompt her to wave in our general direction without looking back.
I rolled my eyes and got in my car, turning the engine on. Archer and Nate eventually followed suit.
"You sleeping over tonight or am I dropping you off?" I locked eyes with Nate through the rear-view mirror.
"I'm taking the guest room," he confirmed.
The ride back home was silent. Archer passed out beside me, and I didn't know what to say to Nate.
"So... I guess I really had nothing to worry about, huh?"
My grip tightened on the wheel. "Told you so. You're you, after all. Any girl would be lucky to date you."
"You," he pointed at me. "Are very right, Mimi."
Fed his ego as usual, great.
"Hey, Dyl," I hesitated. "How do you know she's the one?"
"She's not."
My eyebrows shot up. "What?"
"I mean, I don't know if she is," he corrected himself. "You don't really ever know, right?"
But I'm pretty fucking sure you're my one.
"Oh, that makes sense," I agreed. "But I can tell she makes you smile a lot, and that's all that matters to me for now."
"For now?"
"Yeah," I nodded. "Obviously, it's just the beginning of your relationship. You being happy is all that matters so far. But in the future, we don't know what other factors will come to play."
He nodded. "Yeah, you're right."
I smiled and continued to drive. We were pretty close to home.
"Mimi?" he spoke again.
"Hm?" I raised an eyebrow, glancing at him through the rearview mirror. "What is it?"
"Thanks for being there and always looking out for me."
Honestly, I didn't know how to feel when I heard that. If I heard it in any other context, I would've been really happy, but this time, it was... bittersweet.
It was like he was thanking me for being a good friend. Just a friend and nothing more. It stung really bad.
Tears welled in my eyes, but I made sure none of them fell. I also made sure not to look at Nate. "Always, Dyl Pickle. You can count on that."
~~~
I never woke up for water, but for some reason, my body just wanted me to go down to the kitchen at two in the morning and pour myself a nice cold glass to quench my thirst.
I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw that a light was on in the kitchen. That wasn't normal.
Calming my nerves, I crept towards the kitchen slowly, making sure my steps were silent. I took a quick peek at who the random person in my kitchen was, and that's when I almost fell on my butt.
Nate stared straight at me right when I peeked in, and I genuinely thought a burglar caught me snooping and was gonna kill me.
"Holy shit," I put a hand on my chest and tried to slow my racing heartbeat. "You scared me."
He had an amused look on his face. "Sorry. Just came here for a glass of water. I forgot to bring one up to my room earlier."
"You've been trying to sleep for the past hour, haven't you?" I walked over to him and poured myself my own glass of water.
"What makes you think that?"
I gave him a look. "You need a glass of water before you sleep every night or else you can't sleep. If you don't have water in your room, that means you haven't been able to sleep."
"Yeah, I didn't know why I thought you wouldn't know that," he shook his head. "But why are you here? Weren't you already sleeping?"
"Needed some water too," I replied. "Let's go? You have to wake up early in the morning."
♢♢♢
Author's Note
Chapter 2! What are your thoughts so far? Love (or hate) anyone yet? Any predictions? I'd ove to hear your thoughts!
♡,
dani :p
If you love something, let it go. If it was meant to be, it will come back to you. — Cecelia Ahern