A Change Could Do You Good
A Change Could Do You Good
Chapter 15
By Sarah Donnen
I woke up the next morning in a recliner in the living room. A soft green blanket covering me. I yawned and stretched, looking around. Aaron and Angel were asleep on one end of the couch, leaning against each other, and Leslie was on the other end. No one else was in the room. I sat back in my chair and closed my eyes again, remembering what happened last night. Nick and I had avoided each other all night, not even attempting to be in the same room. If we passed each other, we totally ignored each other, and he stayed upstairs with his friends. My mother and Jane were talking the entire time in the kitchen, with BJ hopping in and out of the conversation. She told me that they were talking about me and Nick the whole time, and how Jane thinks that Nick has a crush on me. I thought the idea was preposterous, Nick and I hated each other, how could he like me? BJ told me she thought the same thing, but I told her to forget it, we hated each other, then she said that she thought I liked him too. I argued with her until Aaron and Angel came in and bombarded us, tackling us both. We had a tickling fest for a while, then the twins started getting tired and we brought them to the living room to get comfortable for the ball drop on TV. They fell asleep by about ten and BJ and I talked about almost nothing for the next hour. Jane interrupted us and asked us if we would like anything to eat, so we followed her to the kitchen and helped ourselves to the pizza.
Everything was going all right until Nick and his friends came down and ate up the kitchen. If looks could kill both Nick and I would be dead, we were shooting each other daggers through our eyes, I’m surprised no one noticed. I was about to kill him when the phone rang and Jane answered it. It turned out to be Sarah, she was calling from New Jersey as a surprise, and my mom had given her the number. I was so happy to talk to her, as soon as I got the phone I couldn’t stop talking. It had been more than a week since I’d last talked to her, on Christmas. I walked out of the kitchen holding the phone and started talking a mile a minute with her, with everyone else staring after me, amazed I could talk that fast. I talked to her until after the ball dropped, we were still on the phone as we both watched it. As soon as I watched it drop, I walked outside and started to cry with Sarah on the phone, it hurt so much to be away from her. She was like my other half of my being, like a twin. She and I were best friends for so long, and being away from each other hurt. She and I said goodbye and I hung up, just sitting in the backyard by the canal crying. I couldn’t help but cry, I missed Sarah a lot.
I heard someone come over to me and sit down next to me. It was Nick, and I nearly started to yell at him, but I could only choke out for him to leave me alone. He didn’t, though, and it was almost comforting that he refused to leave me alone. He just sat with me, letting me cry, and he didn’t say one mean word. I finally stopped crying and looked at him. I had a thought for a moment that he actually had a humane side, but then he joked with me saying that he didn’t know I had the heart to cry. I nearly cried again, but instead my anger overflowed and I hit him, hard, on his arm. I know it was hard enough, my hand stung terribly, and I ran inside, leaving him suffering on the ground. I couldn’t believe the gall he had, he was so incredibly conceited it made me sick. I went into the living room and sat in the recliner, closing my eyes, trying to forget about everything. I don’t know who gave me the blanket, but I was thankful, I was pretty cold.
I got up from the recliner, wrapping the blanket around me, and walked to the kitchen. No one else seemed to be up and I took an apple and a banana from the fruit basket and walked outside. I sat on a lawn chair, wrapping the blanket around me, trying to block out the chill of the Florida morning. I ate the banana first, then started on the apple. I sat in the chair for a long time, then I heard the patio door open. I turned to see who it was and my face hardened.
"Go away," I said coldly to Nick.
"Why should I? This is my house," he said, walking over to me.
"Because I said so, you make me sick," I said, looking away from him and back out at the water, wrapping the blanket around me closer.
"I’m sorry."
I looked at him curiously. "For what?" I asked.
"For being snotty to you when I saw you in the kitchen, for being mean when I talked to you on the phone, for last night," he said, his voice gradually growing softer. I couldn’t help but notice how, the softer his voice got, the deeper and more soothing it seemed to get. It was melodious, I loved the sound of his voice.
Nick squatted down next to my chair and looked me in the eye. His eyes were captivating, so blue, so like the ocean I could stare at for hours on end. He looked at me so sincerely, I thought I would melt. "I’m sorry I was mean to you, I shouldn’t have ever acted so immaturely," he said, almost whispering.
I nearly started to cry he looked so adorable, like he was begging for forgiveness, and I wanted to give it to him... so bad, and I didn’t know why, but I just wanted to.
"And I’m sorry, for all those times I was so mean to you, I shouldn’t have, I don’t know why I was," I said, equally as quiet. I don’t know why I was forgiving him. "And I’m sorry for hitting you last night, it was wrong, I don’t even know why I did it..." I trailed off, at a loss for words.
Nick shushed me and moved closer to my face. I involuntarily closed my eyes and tilted my head to the side, then felt his lips touch mine. As we moved away from each other, he smiled at me.
"What?" I asked him.
"Nothing, you just..." he started to laugh.
I could feel my anger returning, slowly rising inside of me. "I can’t believe you, I just forgave you and said I was sorry for being mean to me, than you laugh in my face?! What kind of sick, twisted thoughts are going through your head?!" I demanded, standing up. I left the blanket outside and hurried inside. I started pulling on my sneakers in the hallway and Nick came running after me.
"Wait, Aly, let me explain," he started, stopping next to me.
"No, I don’t want to hear it. Dammit, Nick, you just don’t get it, do you? I’m not some naïve little girl you see in whatever school you may go to, I have a brain and I know how to use it and I’m not stupid. I know when a guy laughs in my face after I kiss him, it can’t be because he did something stupid, its because of me. You are an immature little boy and I wish I’d never met you!" I exclaimed, stomping on his sock-covered foot. He howled with pain as I ran out the door, bypassing Jane. I ran all the way back to my house and sat in the backyard, crying.
