Chapter Thirty-Two
Elle
“Remind me to never go on a four-hour car ride with either of you ever again,” I said, as the car finally stopped in front the building we were almost positive Kara inhabited. I honestly didn’t have a clue what possessed me to agree to spending four hours in a car with two boys who weren’t exactly on the best terms, one of whom happening to be my ex boyfriend. I must really love Kara.
“Oh, come on, Elle! You love me! Besides, I’m an awesome driver!” Nick said, as the three of us quickly unbuckled our seatbelts, sliding out of the car.
“Are you serious? I’m way better!” John boasted.
“You both suck at driving!” I groaned, thankful that I was given the duty of driving for even a quarter of the trip.
“She’s just jealous that we’re going to be offered to join a NASCAR team and she won’t be,” Nick assured John confidently.
“Elle Paterson!” a high-pitched voice shrieked. I looked up, and smiled as I saw Kara rushing over to us. As usual, she was a blur of pink, every article her outfit possessed coordinating with the others.
“Kara Thompson!” I exclaimed, feeling the impact as she rammed me into a firm hug I had a hunch I wouldn’t be let out of for a good three and a half minutes.
“I missed you so much!” she cried, tightening the hug more if possible.
“I missed you too!” I managed to wheeze out.
“Elle, I honestly don’t know how I’ve been able to survive without you!” she said, overdramatizing the situation as always.
“What about me?” John said, clearly feeling as though his girlfriend had missed her best friend more than him, which she had.
“Oh, right,” Kara said, finally allowing me to breathe by pulling away. “I’ve missed you too, babe!”
“Clearly not enough!” he pouted.
“Shut up! We video-chat, like, every night!” she justified.
“But we don’t!” Nick said, opening up his arms for a hug.
“Nick Ross! Ah! You get hotter every time I see you!” Kara said excitedly, hugging Nick, though with less enthusiasm she had me. “So, what’s your attractive face been up to?”
“Oh, ya know, killing zombies and rescuing princess; so, nothing new,” Nick replied casually.
“Figured. How’s the skanky bitch you’re dating to make Elle jealous?” she asked, peeling away from him, and gravitating back over to me.
“She’s, uh, crazy. Yeah, that’s how I’d describe her. What do you think of Lexie, Elle?” Nick addressed me.
“You summed her up: crazy,” I shrugged, not wanting to talk about Lexie while I was on vacation. The girl was too possessive, and absolutely nuts. The other night, she literally showed up at the condo at two in the morning because she “Missed” Nick. I swear, the girl probably kept forgetting to take her meds.
“Well, that’s nice!” Kara plastered on a fake smile of indifference. “Let’s go in! I can’t wait to show you guys the apartment!”
We all complied, quickly going back into the car to grab our suitcases (I had brought one, John three, and Nick four). After grabbing our luggage, we followed Kara up steep, snow-covered steps until we reached the redbrick building with vines growing up the side that she lived in. It was a nice building, aged but well kept. As we ascended up yet another set of stairs inside the physical structure, Kara told us all about how amazing New York City truly was.
“So, your roommate,” Nick began, “is she hot?”
“Kylie is… how do I put this nicely? She’s a bit of a control freak, doesn’t play well with others, is a daddy’s girl, loves to shop, never stops talking, and is a total bitch! But I love her!” Kara said rather on the ironic side.
“Oh, so she’s your long-lost twin?” Nick concluded.
“No, stupid!” Kara laughed, “She likes the color white. Everything with Kylie must be white! It’s a little scary!”
“So, as I just stated, she’s your long-lost twin,” Nick repeated.
“Ugh. You’ll meet her and then understand. Don’t worry, she’s leaving this afternoon so she can fly home for the holiday weekend,” Kara assured us.
“Kara, how can you deal with all the stairs?” I huffed as we continued to hike up the endless steps.
“It’s called stamina, darling. Besides, it’s wonderful exercise, and that way I don’t feel as guilty when I spontaneously decide to stuff my face with ice cream!” she said cheerily.
“Uh huh,” I panted, as Kara abruptly stopped. “What now?”
“We’re here,” she explained, pointing to a large door that was indeed before us. She stuck her hand in one of her pockets and withdrew a- wait for it- pink key. Quickly, she inserted the key into the door, and we blindly followed her into the apartment. “And this, would be my apartment!”
As I walked in, I had the sudden fear that I would die of anxiety. Everything in the apartment was pink. From the cushy rug on the floor to the sofa and matching chairs in the front area- it was all a nauseating haze of pink.
“Kara,” I blinked, trying to adjust to the scary sight, “did you hire Paris Hilton to design the décor?”
“No,” she shook her head, clearly not understanding my connection.
“What’d you do, Thompson, join a sorority?” Nick gulped, also trying to open his eyes wide enough so he could see where he was going without being blinded by all the pink.
“Yes, actually,” she said, causing all three of our heads to snap to her in surprise.
“You didn’t!” John gasped.
“Yeah, I did, actually. The only reason I didn’t tell you was because I was… embarrassed,” she admitted quietly.
“I would be too if I joined a sorority!” Nick said, dropping his bags randomly on the ground.
“No, loser, I joined one because- because I’m not good at making friends, okay?” she said honestly. “Generally, I don’t know why, girls don’t like me! It’s probably just because I’m prettier than them.”
“Yeah, that’s it,” Nick scoffed.
“Well, I like you just fine,” John said, approaching her and tenderly wrapping her in his arms.
“Like?” she questioned.
“Love,” he corrected.
“The sight of the two of you interacting is sickening, so, Kara, where the fuck am I staying?” Nick said, breaking apart the two lovers who hadn’t seen each other in person in close to four months.
“Oh, about that,” she said, the tone of her voice telling me that something was wrong. “I was originally going to have Elle stay in Kylie’s room, but Kylie said that she would burn her bed if she found out someone else slept in her bed, so that’s not going to happen. But, uh, the guestroom is all set up!”
Before I could fully process her words, she had already headed down a dimly lit, pink hallway. We followed after her in the small corridor, as she opened the first door that appeared. As the door swung open, I analyzed the small room to be the guestroom. It had a queen sized bed, a small closet, a dresser, a desk, and a mounted TV. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a drop of pink in the room, but rather a mix of cool blues and greens.
“What happened, Kara, I thought the entire apartment would be pink!” I said, processing the relaxing change in color.
“Yeah, Kylie said that her boyfriend didn’t like pink and hated white, so we designed the room for him… and then he dumped her for some stupid reason,” Kara explained.
“What was the reason?” Nick pried.
“I don’t know; she slept with his brother or something dumb like that,” she shrugged it off. John’s face grew concerned, and Kara must have noticed, because she added, “But don’t worry, John, you don’t have any brothers so there’s nothing to worry about!”
“Gee, thanks,” her boyfriend said doubtfully.
“I’m just joking! I would never cheat on you, Johnny!” she laughed.
“So, Kara, who’s sleeping in here?” Nick questioned, thinking the same thing I had been.
“Uh, that’s the thing, you both are,” she said. I immediately stopped my head from rotating about the room, and stared in shock at the girl I called my best friend. She had to be kidding!
Nick
“Well, Elle took that better than expected,” I said, sitting on the guestroom’s bed beside Kara as John went after Elle to calm her down.
“You better love me for this!” she said, flicking my shoulder.
“I still don’t understand why you’re doing it,” I sighed.
“I want to see Elle happy. She was never happier than when she was with you. Nick, she really loved you, and I think that she’s trying to convince herself to settle for Jake,” she replied seriously. “Oh, and so that you’ll let me name your first kid.”
“No way!” I shook my head, her request not even being considered for a second.
“Name it after me?” I shook my head once again. “Can I be its godmother?”
“You’re awful with kids,” I pointed out, using my prior knowledge of Kara’s few interactions with children to my benefit.
“I want to be its godmother!” she complained, as I realized that if I resisted, I would not only lose time, but I may also lose my mind talking to her.
“Why?” I said reluctantly.
“Because an Elle and Nick baby is going to be one perfect kid, and I totally want to be a part of its life!” she said.
“Uh huh. How about you take this up with Elle, or, better yet, how about we wait until Elle breaks up with Jake, I propose, she says yes, I marry her, she gets pregnant, and then we have the kid. Sound like a plan? Good,” I determined, knowing that I didn’t want to get into a discussion about Elle and my future with Kara. Though she claimed to be in favor of us being in a relationship, it was hard to deal with Kara, because… she was, well, Kara.
“Whatever,” she sighed. “But seriously, I’m doing this for Elle’s own good.”
“Right,” I nodded.
“We should probably go see if she’s okay,” she said, standing up from the bed. “Come on, Mr. Abercrombie Model!”
“Kara where’s the- Oh! You must be John!” a girl said, entering the room.
My jaw dropped, shocked that anyone would actually mistake me for John Kent. That boy and I had nothing in common. I was cool, and he was a loser. I was attractive, and he… wasn’t. I was an Olympic worthy skier, and he could barely go down a bunny hill. I was Nick Ross, and he, well, he was John.
“I’m Nick,” I said, still horrified.
“Oh! You’re the hot one who’s still hung up on your ex!” the girl said, as I got a glimpse of her. She was a redhead, on the shorter side, and had freckles splattered across every visible part of her face. Overall, she was cute- in the little sister way.
“That would be me,” I said, rising from the bed so I stood beside Kara. “You must be Kylie.”
“Yeah!” she smiled. “So, Kara, where’s your boyfriend, not that he isn’t gorgeous or anything,” she pointed to me.
“Maybe the kitchen…” Kara mused. “Let’s go!”
“Okay!” Kylie grinned joyfully. The two girls left the room, and I followed slowly behind. Yeah, my assessment of the two being long-lost twins was extremely accurate.
After passing through the small hall, I came into the front room to see Elle sitting on the pink couch uncomfortably nestled between Kylie and Kara who looked to be attacking the poor girl.
“So, you’re Kylie?” Elle gulped.
“Yeah!” the orange-haired girl said.
“Uh huh. Kara, Kylie, and Kent. One more K and the Kardashians might have some competition,” Elle joked nervously.
“I don’t get it,” Kylie stated.
“Kyles, don’t you have to go catch a flight or something?” Kara prompted.
“Oh yeah!” she said, popping up. “Well, it was awesome meeting you guys! John, I’m so happy to finally meet you!”
“Yeah, you too,” John said hesitantly.
“Elle, you’re a lot prettier than the pictures Kara has of you!”
“Thank you,” Elle pursed her lips, dislike for the girl radiating off of her.
“And Nick,” she said, noticing that I had joined the room, “you’re a lot cuter than I expected you to be!”
“Uh, thanks,” I said, as she brushed past me to walk over to the door.
“Bye, Kara!” she waved, her hand wrapping around the doorknob.
“Bye, sweetie!” Kara called, as she vanished from the apartment and to the seven hundred flights of stairs. “Ugh! She is so annoying!”
“I don’t like her,” Elle said, proving my suspicions to be fully precise.
“Okay, so, guys, tomorrow I was thinking we could walk around the city in the day and, like, shop!” Kara said excitedly. “Sound good? Awesome! And then at night John and I are going out for dinner!”
“We are?” John questioned dubiously, as I shook my head in amusement of the two’s relationship.
“Yes, John,” she said firmly, giving no room for change in the plans she had already committed to.
“Then what are we supposed to do?” Elle demanded.
“I don’t know,” her best friend laughed, “not kill each other, eat food, get back together; whatever the heck you want!”
“Kara, hate to break the bubble that has formed around your entire world, but I’m currently in a relationship with Jake Anderson, and Nick and I are never, ever getting back together,” Elle said as if it was actually in her control whether or not we got back together and not up to fate.
“You won’t be telling me that at your wedding,” Kara mumbled knowingly.
“We should go get pizza!” John suggested, breaking up the pre-chick fight that was in the early stages of development.
“I don’t like pizza,” I said, wanting to see if Kara and Elle’s little tiff would escalate any further.
“Oh, shut up, Nick!” Elle said. “John, I’d love to go get pizza!”
“Let’s go,” John said, looking at Kara expectantly.
“I don’t want to,” she crossed her arms over her chest defensively.
“Fine,” Elle said, probably still unhappy about the sleeping arrangements. She walked over to the door, and opened the door, stepping out. John looked at both Kara and I, and then followed Elle out, slamming the door loudly behind him.
Kara turned to me, a strained smile on her face, as she spoke. “Well, I guess it’s just me and you!”
“You and I,” I mumbled, bringing out my inner grammar snob.
“She’s going to take you back,” Kara assured me quietly.
“I know,” I smiled, thinking back to all the times I had told myself the same thing. I’d never actually give up on Elle, but, maybe, just maybe, it was finally time to start accepting the reality that was my life.