September 3, 2009
Don’t make decisions when you’re mad…
They had to bring two of the guys to the nurse’s office to get proper treatment. After he walked angrily away from Rachelle and the son of a bitch, Nick’s mood had gone from annoyed to murderous. He had always known how to control his temper but this morning had almost made him lose it. First, he found out about the photos then he got into an argument with Liam Milton.
And that wasn’t even the worst part.
Rachelle’s frustrated outburst had hurt a lot but the fact that he walked away from her believing that she said those words to deliberately upset him made him feel ten times worse than a heel. He knew that Rachelle would never have such an intention. But he was angry and he wanted to get back at her. She would surely get depressed about what happened, especially now that someone was trying to resurrect certain dark parts of her past.
Now he was angrier at himself than he was at Rachelle.
A growl escaped from his lips.
This was all that Liam’s fault.
It had always been easy for Nick to trust Rachelle’s ex-boyfriends but there was something about Liam Milton that raises his suspicions. Maybe it was because the incidents happened coincidentally with his arrival. Granted, Jessica Kirsch got back to Heartlake at the same time but accusing Jessica of the attacks was just too obvious. Liam, on the other hand, was a suspect with a mysterious background. The fact that Rachelle seemed so enamored of him made Rachelle totally vulnerable. If it was up to Nick, he wouldn’t have allowed her to trust anyone as of the moment, considering how they still had no idea who was behind the letter and photos.
There was also something about the way Milton looked at Rachelle. Nick had been witness to all the looks that men had constantly thrown at his best friend but none was like Liam’s. The guy looked at Rachelle with a mix of triumph, annoyance and tenderness. How he could pull it off without anyone else noticing was beyond Nick’s understanding. How Nick could easily describe Liam’s expression was something Nick was thankful for. With that, he was sure that there was something more going on inside the new guy’s head than a mere infatuation to his best friend. The fact that he didn’t seem to be exerting effort to befriend Rachelle’s best friend and family didn’t help alleviate Nick’s doubts.
Liam was not someone that could be trusted. That much, he was sure. It wasn’t just jealousy that made Nick wary of him. There was a dark aura that seemed to emanate from the new guy despite his charm. And Rachelle was apparently his victim.
Nick shook his head then sighed. Now, he was starting to sound like some character from a fantasy-themed anime.
He looked around and decided that he should apologize to his team mates. It wasn’t right to use judo practice to vent out his anger. Who knew what would have happened had the other members allowed him to do as he wanted? Those two guys would probably be hospitalized.
As he walked out of the judo club’s locker room and into the school yard, he prayed not to encounter Rachelle or Liam on his way to the nurse’s office.
His prayer was not answered.
Worse, the two of them were together. Rachelle looked like she wanted to come over and talk; but before she could move a single foot, Nick looked away without sparing her a pause or another glance. Better not to talk to her while he was still mad.
He entered the main building then continued towards his destination. He was greeted with wary glances when he arrived. The two guys he had injured occupied two of the three beds while three other club members were either standing or sitting around, talking with them. Nick raised his hand as a silent plea for the guys to drop their defenses.
“I came here to apologize,” Nick began in a steady yet gentle voice. “I shouldn’t have let my temper take over me during practice. It was unfair and unethical.” He made a bow as a show of respect and said, “I’m sorry.”
He looked up to see the others’ reactions. Henry, one of his victims, smiled and told him in a cheery voice, “Don’t worry too much about it, Cap. These are just some bruises and a sprain.” He glanced at his bandaged shoulder. “Nothing we don’t usually get during practice.”
Allan, his other team mate added, “Yeah. This ankle sprain was nothing compared to that time when I fell off the stairs at home.” He grinned. “That hurt an awful lot.”
The others laughed and Nick joined in the laughter. He said another apology then went on to ask about the extent of the damages. They told him and when Nick was about to leave, Allan remarked about the incidents surrounding his best friend.
“So sorry about Rachelle, Nick. Just so you know, we don’t think she’s a disgrace or anything. And I’m pretty sure the two of you would work out your differences.”
Everyone else nodded in agreement and Nick could only smile before he closed the door. News travelled fast, and St. James was only a short journey. This morning’s episode had most likely reached everybody’s ears by now. His hands had begun to clench again into fists and he tried to calm himself down. This day was probably the worst of his life.
Before he knew it, he was climbing up the stairs and was on his way to the school’s rooftop where one of the smaller greenhouses was built. He seldom went there but he found out the first time that the place had a calming effect on him.
The moment he opened the door to the rooftop, however, he realized that he wouldn’t be alone. Someone was already there, playing Ave Maria on the violin. He decided to listen for a few seconds. When he was about to leave, she missed a note, causing her to make that ear-grating sound on the violin. She growled and stomped her foot as she turned around to find him standing there, holding the door knob.
Grace’s eyes widened and Nick surmised that she somehow looked like a cornered rabbit. Come to think of it, Grace could also be the person behind the letter and photos. She once found Rachelle’s journal and she probably read something there. Nick knew about Grace’s crush on him and he realized that attacking Rachelle because of him could also be the culprit’s motive. Nick stared at Grace again and decided against it. She didn’t look the type. Besides, after the stalking issue had been resolved, he had given up on Grace having any kind of malice in her bones.
But it’s also possible that she was merely acting and trying to earn their trust. Right?
He mentally shook his head. Today had just made him think that he was probably watching too much of his mother’s favorite dramas. Right then, he decided never to join his mom when he got bored again.
She now had a hesitant smile on her face and he realized that he still hadn’t acknowledged her. He removed his hand on the door knob and walked towards her, one hand in his pocket.
“Hi,” Nick greeted her.
“Hello,” Grace replied.
He reached the bench beside her and sat down.
“Uh, I didn’t know you play the violin,” he said, pointing to the musical instrument in her hand.
“Oh, it was something I learned a long way back,” she informed him. “This isn’t even mine. I just borrowed it from the Music Club.”
“I see,” he replied with a nod.
There was an awkward silence as Nick sat there, staring at the greenhouse’s entrance and Grace standing with the violin.
After a few more seconds, Grace began putting the violin back into its case then leaned on the chain-link fence.
“Uhm,” she said, breaking the silence. “I was with Rachelle and Liam during lunch.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Nick interrupted.
“Don’t worry, I’ll do the talking,” Grace assured him.
“I forgot anyone can be sarcastic if they chose to,” he retorted with a sigh.
“Exactly,” she agreed, one eyebrow raised. “Now about this morning.” Nick sighed again but Grace only paused for a second before she continued, “I think you owe her an apology.”
“If anyone should say sorry it should be Milton.”
Grace rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Fine. Let’s just say that all three of you should apologize to each other. How’s that?”
A few seconds passed before Nick answered, “I guess.” He turned to look at her. “But not today. I’m still pissed at that guy who thinks he knows Rachelle more than I do.” His sentence ended with a growl.
“Okay. I think that will do,” Grace gave in. “Rachelle was really upset and kept blaming herself for what happened. The only thing Liam and I could do was tell her something encouraging. And those photos showing up everywhere didn’t help either,” she said with a shrug.
“Stop trying to attack my conscience,” he muttered. “It’s killing me already.” He did a frustrated gesture by wiping his whole face with both hands. “But I can’t just accept Milton when every time he’s with her, something bad happens.”
“Don’t keep on connecting him and the scandals. There is such a thing as a coincidence,” she insisted.
“Whatever you say.”
Grace apparently didn’t think anything was wrong with Liam Milton and Nick was tired of getting into an argument about it. Maybe he really was just jealous. He sighed.
I’ll be damned.
He looked at Grace from the corner of his eyes and saw her playing with her fingers as if thinking about something she wanted to say. It was soon followed by a constant tip-tap of her foot.
“What?” he asked.
She abruptly turned towards him and for a moment looked confused. Nick recognized the moment she understood his question because her eyes widened and she mouthed the word, oh.
“Well,” she began, “the thing is, uhm...” Her pause made him think she had no intention of saying anything more but her sigh told him otherwise. “It’s about Friday night.”
He should have expected her to bring it up sooner or later but the truth was, he had forgotten all about it. Nick never intended to but things came up and well, Grace’s drunken confession ended up a bit less relevant. He smacked his head mentally.
“What about it?” he replied with a laugh meant to make things a bit lighter between them.
“Errr...What exactly happened that night?” Grace asked, her face slowly turning tomato red.
“You don’t remember anything?”
“Well, I do remember one thing.” She covered her face with her hands and said, “I puked on someone—Matt, I think.”
Nick smiled despite her discomfort.
“That’s right.”
She frowned and her embarrassment spread to her ears.
“Anything else?” she asked, obviously afraid of what she was about to hear.
There was something adorable about Grace when she was trying to get over her shyness. Sort of like when Rachelle tried to overcome her embarrassment when she did something silly. Blushing but brave.
He sighed.
Rachelle had the tendency to creep up to his thoughts when he didn’t expect her to. Right now, he didn’t even want her there. He closed his eyes for a moment to get his focus back.
Grace removed her hands from her face and turned to him, expecting an answer.
“Aside from that, there was a bit of harassment from some drunken guys, an argument with Matt and a confession telling me you love me.” He nodded as he looked at her. “I guess that pretty much summed it up.” He added a smile to make Grace a bit less horrified. He didn’t know if it was right to treat things lightly especially because a declaration of love did not seem ‘light’ in his book.
She looked ready to faint. Just as he thought.
“Now, now. Why don’t you take a seat?” he said as he gestured for her to sit beside him on the bench.
She did as he said and then in a soft voice, “I’m so sorry.”
He kept his lopsided smile for her then said, “Don’t worry too much about it. Things like that always happen when someone’s under the influence of alcohol.”
Grace gave him an upset, close-lipped smile.
Five seconds passed. He was about to tell her that maybe it was time to leave but he heard her take a deep breath as if preparing to say something difficult.
“When I told you I love you,” she began. Nick suddenly felt his heart thumping loudly with nervousness. “It was true.”
He had a hard time processing her words and when it registered, he sat there looking at her, dumbstruck for all of three seconds. Grace had become a good friend to both him and Rachelle in the past month. She was a do-gooder and naturally quiet. The opposite of Rachelle, actually.
Nick thought she was pretty in her own way and even though he was sure of his feelings for Rachelle, he decided it was time to give himself the chance to look at other girls differently. He had tried before and failed, but maybe, Grace was a special case. It wouldn’t be too hard to like her and he was tired of being on love with someone who would never see him as a boyfriend.
Maybe he’d see things more clearly if he wasn’t always jealous of that Liam Milton. Because he had Grace. Maybe then, he’d find out the real person behind the letter and photos.
She stood up abruptly, obviously intending to leave. “Forget about it.” A fake laugh escaped her lips and she started waving her hand as if erasing her previous words. “That was actually a joke. Haha. I was just gauging your reaction. You know, so I can add it to the article before it gets published on Friday.” She inhaled then said, “Let’s go?”
Grace started walking but Nick held her wrist to stop her.
He looked up straight into her eyes and made his decision.
“Go on a real date with me.”