Ch. 13
"You feeling better?" Jessie asked Amy as she walked into the house. Amy looked over at her, sitting on the couch. "Yeah. I'm fine now." Jessie sat up from her slumped position on the sofa. "What happened?" Amy stopped from walking into her room and turned to look at Jessie. "Let's just say, I received a very unwelcome surprise when I called my grandmother." Jessie read the expression on her friend's face. "Lance was there, huh? That bastard.." "Yup, that bastard was there. Seems, he realized his mistake and had come to take me back." "What did you tell him?" "I told him that I still loved him but I couldn't let him hurt me again." "Good for you. Man, I can't believe that he did that." "I can. I knew it was going to happen someday and now I'm glad it's over with. Now, I'm tired of talking about him so I'm gonna go get a shower and go to bed." She nodded. "Okay. Kevin brought your stuff in while you were gone. I'm glad we had the top deck. It hadn't sunk yet so our stuff remained dry." "Good. I could use some warm dry clothes on my wet clammy skin. Good night." "Good night." Amy went into her room, grabbed some clothes, and got in the shower. About twenty minutes later, she walked out, towel drying her hair. After that, she sat down at her desk and started brushing her hair. As she looked in the mirror, she started gazing at her reflection. Why do things like this always happen to me? she asked herself. It's because of my looks. If I had been as pretty as that cheerleader, I'd still have him. I knew it. It's all my fault. I don't know.. She then looked out her window and found herself looking straight into Nick's room which was right across from hers. He was sitting on his bed talking to someone, but she couldn't see who it was. I wonder what he thinks of me, she pondered, It's weird cuz one minute, we're going on about how good of friends we've become and then next thing you know, we're about to kiss. Anyhow, he probably thinks I'm crazy after tonight. I know Mandy didn't dump him because of his looks. Man, if I had dumped him and treated him like she did, I'd be kicking myself in the ass right now. She started thinking about it some more. "Hmm..I wonder what it would be like to be his girlfriend," she thought outloud. That caught her in a jerk. What am I saying? Am I falling for him? Ugh..I need some sleep. She got up and turned the light off. Before she climbed into her big bed, she took one last glance at Nick. Would he ever fall for me? she wondered. "Doubt it," she said to herself. She crawled under her sheets and fell asleep with her right arm dangling over the side of the bed. While she slept, the "promise" ring slipped off of her finger and rolled under the bed. Nick leaned against the wall and pulled off his soaked Nike. He didn't feel like untying them so he tried to force them off. His left shoe flew across the room, just missing Brian as he walked into the room. Brian ducked. "Whoa. Did I come at a bad time?" Nick looked up from pulling his right shoe off. "Nah." Brian walked in and closed the door behind him. "Can I talk to you?" Nick pulled out his desk chair and sat down, pulling off his wet socks. He patted the corner of the bed. "Sure. Sit down here." Brian sat down. Nick pulled his socks off and his nose turned up as the scent of his feet whirled around him. Brian made a face. "Pshoo, boy. That kind of smell will eat up the OdorEaters." Nick gave him a smirk. "Now, what do you want to talk to me about?" "Amy," Brian answered, "What happened tonight?" Nick looked down at the floor. "I don't know if she wants me to talk about it." Brian nodded in understanding. "Oh, I see." They grew quiet. Nick sighed. "You swear not to tell anyone?" Brian nodded. "I promise." Nick took a deep breath. "See, Amy had this boyfriend before she came here. They had been going out for like a year and a half and she loved him a lot, y'know? Kinda like I loved Sarah. Well, about a year after they started going out, she heard a lot of rumors going around that he was cheating on her with this cheerleader. Well, a couple of weeks before she came here, he called her to break it off with her. Seems he had been cheating on her and he'd even gotten this girl pregnant. This really tore Amy apart.." Brian had a pained look on his face. "I can imagine," he sympathized. "That's not the worst of it. When she called her grandmother to tell her that she was here, he answered the phone. He had come over to apologize and to beg for her to take him back. It was just too much for her and she crumbled." Brian shook his head slowly. "Man..That guy was a jerk, but how do you play into this?" Nick looked at his hands. "We met last night at that club looking for that ring he gave her. I asked her about it and she just spilled it. Then, today, I wound up telling her about Mandy. We've almost become each other's lifeline for getting over our exes. We know how each other feels and we know how to help each other out. Besides you, she's one of my closest friends." Brian nodded. "Hmmm.." He looked out the window and noticed out the window into the girls' house that Amy was looking in from her window. He looked back at Nick. "Do you like her?" Nick looked up at him. "As a friend? Yes. As more? I'm not sure, especially after what happened today." Brian smiled. "What exactly happened now?" Nick rubbed his face with his hands. "I don't know. It was a big spur-of-the-moment thing. She was so scared, Bri. As I was holding her and comforting her, something came over me and I kissed her. I don't think she even kissed me back, I'm not sure. It was weird. Now, it's like we're friends, but we're more. It's all really confusing." "So it is. Do you think you could ever have feelings for her?" Nick shrugged his shoulders. "I guess all I can say is only time will tell. I don't think neither of us, if she did ever have feelings towards me, are ready for a relationship right now. I guess we'll just have to see what all happens." Brian stood up. "Well okay then. I just wanted to see what was going on. You can go take your shower now." Nick smiled at him. "Oh, thank you for your permission," he joked. Brian laughed. "Big tip: Scrub them feet." Nick nodded. His face grew serious. "Remember this is between you and me." Brian opened the door and turned around to look at Nick. "I know." He walked out, closing the door. Nick grabbed his bath stuff and his clothes and went into the bathroom. As he showered, he thought about what he said about having feelings for Amy. He did feel something but would it develop, was he ready and most of all, was it mutual? "Kelly, you have got to invite the guys over tomorrow," Tat insisted, "Amy's my friend and all, but Nick is mine." "Fine," Kelly said, "But what makes you so sure that Nick'll fall for you and not Amy?" Tat smiled. "After tomorrow, he won't even know who Amy is. The only thing on his mind will be moi." Kelly shook her head. "This isn't right," she muttered, "It just isn't right." "No, what isn't right is her getting to meet him first. That isn't right. Now we gotta get everything planned just right so that it'll be perfect when they come." "When who comes?" they heard their mom ask. They turned and flashed their most innocent smiles. Their mom raised her eyebrows at them. Nick stepped out of the shower and dried off. When he got dressed and went into his room, he grabbed the little portable hair dryer he had stowed away in his luggage. He stood in front of the mirror and blowdried his hair, singing to himself. He leaned down to grab his brush and noticed that his ring was missing. He looked around. It was gone just like had disappeared. He laid on the floor and felt under the dresser, just missing it the whole time. He stood up, shrugged his shoulders, and continued to dry his hair. When he finished, he climbed into bed and turned off the lights. He propped his hands behind his head and laid there, staring at the ceiling. He kept thinking about the kiss and he kept wondering what was going through Amy's mind as they kissed. He still wondered what was going through his mind. Shut up, Nick, he thought to himself, Go to sleep. You can think about it tomorrow. He closed his eyes, but didn't go to sleep for about an hour or two because he couldn't stop analyzing every detail of his and Amy's "kiss". The next morning, Amy heard a knock on the door. Amy looked at her clock. It was 7:20 a.m. "Go away!" she screamed,"It's too early!" Jessie opened the door looking all happy and cheerful. Amy looked at her with one eye opened. "What kind of drug are you on?" she asked. "We didn't come on vacation to sleep, Amy. If we were gonna do that, we could have saved our money and stayed home." Amy eyed her carefully. "Where's Matt?" Jessie looked at her innocently. "In the living room, why?" Amy gasped and sat up quickly. "Ya'll must have done it this morning. That's the only explanation I have for you overcheerfulness." Jessie gave her a wicked smile. "No more than you and Nick in that closet." "Jess, we kissed, ya'll, well, I don't really care to know the details." "You know you wanted to though," Jessie teased. Amy just shook her head. "You just won't quit, will you?" "Not until you admit that you're in love with Nick." "I'd be lying if I said I was." "No, you'd be lying if you said you weren't." "Ha!" Amy laid back down. "Would you like for me to go get Nick to wake you up?" Jessie teased, "Maybe he'll give you a kiss." She walked over to the window and pulled the curtains open. She saw Nick's window opened and looked at Amy. "Whose room is that?" Amy covered her eyes with her arm and shook her head. "I'm not telling.." Jessie smiled and looked back out the window. "It's Nick's, I know. Ya'll had it all planned out, I know. It's okay." "Jessie?" "Yeah?" "Shut up." Jessie laughed and looked on the front porch. "Hey! There's that little dark girl on their porch talking to A.J. I think it's that Kelly girl. There's another one though, and ooh, she's flirting with your man!" She opened the window and screamed out: "Don't you flirt with him! That's Amy's man!" Amy screeched and ran over to Jessie in just her long, sleeveless nightgown. "I'm gonna kill you if you don't leave me alone!" she threatened, "Now, get out of here!" She started to push Jessie out of the room. "Fine!" Jessie threw her hands up, "I know when I'm not wanted!" "Then why haven't you already left?" "I'm leaving now!" "Good!" "Amy and Nick.." "Shut up!" "All right already!" Amy slammed the door and walked over to the window to shut it. She saw Tat flirting with Nick and felt a slight pang of jealousy. She stood there and stared. She didn't even hear Jessie pop her head in. "Uh-huh! Caught you!" Amy jumped, turned around, and flipped her off. "Go away!" she screamed. Jessie left. Amy turned around, closed the window, looked at them, and shrugged her shoulders. He ain't mine so I shouldn't care if he talks to her, she thought. But she did. She went over to her bed to make it up and realized her ring was missing. She looked under the bed but didn't see it because it was in the dark corner. She stood up, made up her bed, got dressed, and went into the living room. "So will you come?" Kelly asked A.J., pulling at his hands, giving him a pleading look, "Please.." He had to laugh. "All right, all right. I was going to say yes earlier but I wanted to see you beg." She smiled wickedly. "You like doing that, don't you?" she flirted. His eyes widened. "Maybe a little. Especially watching a girl give me that pleading look. What it does to me.." She made the face again. "You mean this one?" He nodded. She grinned. "So you're coming tonight?" "Yeah, I'm coming and I'll bring everybody else too." She hugged him. "Thank you." "You're welcome," he laughed. She let go of him. "Say, do you know of any good places to eat breakfast around here?" She thought about it for a second and looked back at him. "Only a Mickey D's." "Good enough for me. Let me round everybody up so we can go. Wanna come?" "Are you kidding? Of course." "Great," A.J. replied, "Why don't you ask your sister to come too?" She looked over at Tat. "Hey, Tat! Wanna go to Mickey D's with us?" Tat looked up at Nick. "Depends..If you're going or not.." She let her fingers trail down the sleeve of his shirt down his arm. He looked at her strangely. "Uh, yeah..I'm going." She smiled back at her sister. "Okay, yeah. I'm coming." A.J. nodded. "Great. Let me go wake Kevin, Howie, and Brian. Hey, wanna see what they look like asleep?" Kelly giggled. "Okay." "C'mon then, but if you hear this awful noise.." "Yeah?" "It's only Howie." Kelly laughed. A.J. held the door open for her. "Hey Tat! Come on in." She looked at Nick. He started walking towards the door so she did. As they went in, Nick looked next door to see Amy come outside in her nightgown to get some fresh air. He backed up. "I'll be back in a second," he muttered. Tat turned around and looked next door to see Nick talking to Amy. She frowned. "Nick is mine," she muttered. "Come here, Tat!" Kelly yelled, "You gotta see this!" "Coming!" she yelled back. She gave one last glance at Nick and Amy and went back inside.Ch. 14
Amy sat down on the step and looked out into the crystal blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean. By the looks of the beautiful clear skies, you'd ever know what they had gone through the day before. A warm salty breeze whipped through her hair and blew right through her thin nightgown. She took a deep breath and inhaled the scent of the ocean. "Hey, you," she heard Nick say. She looked down the stairs at him, smiling. "Hey, yourself." He smiled at the satisfied look on her face. "You are in a really good mood today." "That's what nine hours of sleep does for you. Besides, how could I not be in a good mood? It is so beautiful and so peaceful out here." "I know. Do you, uh, mind if I join you?" She scooted over. "Not at all." He climbed up the stairs and sat down next to her. She looked over at his house. "I see you met the notorious Santos sisters and you've already gotten to know one of them pretty well." Nick looked over at her with an interested smile on his face. "Do I detect a tone of jealousy in your voice?" She shook her head and tilted her head sideways at him, giving him a grin. "Why should I be jealous? Do you have something really great that I should be jealous about?" He laughed, looked down, and smiled back up at her. "No, just my killer looks and charming personality, not to mention, my nice ass.." She cracked up. "Plus, how every girl is attracted to me but you. What's up with that?" She shrugged her shoulders. "Heaven must have put a block on me cuz if I were attracted to you, none of those other girls would have a chance." He nodded. "Maybe it's good I'm not attracted to you too then. I might have given you a chance." He looked down at her hand and noticed that her ring was missing. "Hey! What happened to your ring?" "I lost it somewhere. I noticed you weren't wearing yours either. What happened to yours?" "I lost mine too." Their eyes met. "Weird.." Nick pretended to breathe in and gag. "Your breath stinks." "No more than yours. And at least I have an excuse. I just got up. Yours just stinks." "Aren't we just so nice to each other?" they heard someone ask. They looked down the steps to see A.J. standing there. "Uh-huh!" they said. "What do you want?" Nick demanded. A.J. chuckled slightly. "And to everyone else..Uh, are you going to Mickey D's with us or not?" Nick looked at Amy and back at A.J. "Yeah.." "Well, you better come on then cuz I'm starved." Nick stood up and brushed his butt off. "Don't brush that junk on me!" Amy snapped. She popped Nick on the butt. He straightened up and looked down at her. She just smiled at him. "Sexual harassment!" he yelled. Amy scoffed at him. "Boy, you wish someone would sexually harass you." He smiled wickedly at her. "Are we volunteering?" he joked. "I don't volunteer, I get paid for what I do." Nick and A.J.'s eyes lit up. "Oh, really?" Amy turned bright red. "That didn't come out right." They laughed at her. "Amy, would you like to join us?" Nick asked. She sighed. "I guess so," she said. "Contain your excitement," he joked sarcastically. She smiled. "I'll try to," she joked, "Now, help me up please." She held her hand out and pulled her up. She dusted her butt off and ran inside to get dressed. She pulled on a pair of tan Old Navy drawstring pants on and a blue tank top. She looked in the mirror and a little bit of self-consciousness crept up. "Where are we going looking all nice?" she heard Jessie ask. She brushed her hair and looked at her friend. "We aren't going anywhere. I am going to McDonalds with Nick, A.J., and Brian to eat breakfast." "Whoa. Just you and the boys, huh? I thought you said their breakfast tasted like crap." "I did, but I can tolerate crap. I do it all the time, like now for instance." Jessie smirked at her. "Well, have fun then." Amy closed the clasp on her cross necklace and turned to look at her friend. "You too but.." She walked by her on the way out the door. "Use protection." She started laughing and ran out the door, just missing Jessie's shoe being thrown at her. Her laughter died and her smile disappeared when she got outside and saw Tat hanging all over Nick. "What was so funny, Aim?" Tat questioned. Amy narrowed her eyes at her. "Don't call me that. Only one person is allowed to call me that." Amy caught the look in Nick's eyes when he realized that person was him. "Nothing was funny. Now, let's go." She started walking off. Tat smiled to herself. Nick jerked himself free and ran over to Amy. Tat's jaw dropped. "Hey, Aim," Nick called out, catching up to her. She smiled up at him. "Testing the waters, huh?" He laughed. "Had to see if I was the person you said that could only call you Aim." She nodded. "I thought you knew by the look you gave me." "Had to check.." They started talking and laughing. Tat crossed her arms and looked at Nick and Amy. "Give it up," Kevin snapped as walked by her,"He likes Amy." She glared at him. Brian touched her arm. "Don't listen to Kevin," he reassured her,"He's just a little grumpy. Nick and Amy are just good friends. He confirmed it with me last night." She smiled at him. "You'd never know it." "Yeah, they're just really close. Your name's Tat, right?" She nodded. "You can call me Tat or Tatiana, whatever you want." He smiled. "And you can call me Brian or Bri, whichever you want, Tat. So, what brings you here?" She smiled back and started talking to him, forgetting about Nick for a few minutes. They walked into McDonalds and found a seat. Nick slid into a booth and just as Amy came over to sit by him, Tat came out of nowhere and flew into the seat almost knocking her down. She slid into the booth across from him and gave him the strangest looks towards Tat. He snickered at her and looked out the window. Brian sat down next to Amy, Kevin squeezed in next to him, pushing Amy right up against the side. "Help..," she squeaked. Brian looked over at her and laughed. He pushed Kevin slightly. "Get up. You're squishing Amy here." Kevin got up, grabbed a chair and put it up in front of the table. Brian slid back over. "Thanks," Amy said. A.J. and Kelly sat in the booth behind them. Howie decided to stay at home and sleep. Nick looked at everyone just sitting there, all half-asleep. "Now, the food just ain't gonna be brought to you. Who wants what? I'll get it." "Sausage biscuit, hash rounds, Coke, Sprite, coffee, orange juice, Quarter Pounder.." they all answered at once. Nick threw his hands up. "Whoa, whoa! Wait a sec..A Quarter Pounder, A.J.? For breakfast?" They all looked at A.J. He gave a straight look. "Yeah." Nick gave him a funny look, gagging slightly. He looked at everyone else. "I'm not gonna remember all that. Let's see...there's seven of us so each one pick someone and decide who's gonna order what." Tat looked over at Nick to ask him. She opened her mouth to ask him but it was too late. Nick was asking Amy. "What do you want? I'll get it." Amy looked down at her hands shyly. She never expected him to ask her. "Umm..a sausage biscuit with cheese and a medium orange juice." He jumped over the seat and went to order. Amy looked over at Tat who was giving her the iciest look. "I didn't ask him so don't be looking at me like that," she snapped. Brian looked at Tat. "What do you want?" he asked. She shook her head. "I'm not hungry anymore." "You will be especially when everybody starts eating. Now, I know you're hungry." Tat looked up at him. "I guess you can get me an Egg McMuffin and a chocolate milk." "That I'll do." He looked at Kevin. "What do you want?" He looked at his cousin. "The same I guess." Brian got up and joined A.J. and Nick at the cash register. Kevin got up and walked off to the bathroom. Amy and Tat looked at each other. The silence was deafening. "So..," Amy began, twiddling her thumbs. "I heard you and Lance broke up," Tat spoke up, "What happened?" Amy looked at her hands. "He cheated on me with some cheerleader," she mumbled. Tat let out a low whistle. "Whoa. I bet you're still hurting." Amy nodded. "Yeah, that's why I'd rather not talk about it right now." "Well, you seem to be moving on pretty quick with Nicky over there." Amy looked up at her. "Nick and I are just friends. That is all. Nothing more. He's not a rebound for me and I'm not one for him. We are just really close friends. There's no romantic involvement. So you can have him." "Oh, really? You don't care at all? What happened to 'I'm so in love with Nick' or 'I'm gonna marry Nick one day'?" Tat was really testing the waters. "Three words, Tat. I grew up." "Oh, so now you don't feel anything beyond friendship towards him?" Amy calmly shook her head. "Nope. He's nothing more than a friend. Tat, if you still like him, go for it. I have some advice for you though. Don't try so hard. Pushing yourself on him will get you nowhere." "Yeah, you should know." "What the hell is that supposed to mean? I've never pushed myself on him. He comes to me. Know why? Cuz I treat him like a normal person, not like some god." Tat just sighed and shook her head. "Well, it's obvious he'd never like me. He's too caught up with you." Amy gave her this look. "What are you talking about?" "Amy, c'mon! Why is he always with you, talking to you, around you, getting your breakfast for you? He could be with me having a perfectly normal conversation and then then you just stroll on by and he completely ignores me to come over to you." "Do you really think I meant to do that? We're friends, no more no less. I don't mean to take him from you. I didn't realize that you didn't want me around. Try telling me sometime. I ain't no damn mind reader." Tat sighed. "I didn't say I didn't want you around, just not around Nick." Amy slammed her hands on the table and stood up. She leaned down and looked at Tat. "Is that what you want? You want him to yourself so bad that no one else is his friend but you? Fine! Have it your way! Tell me how it turns out!" She stormed off as Nick walked by with their breakfast. "Amy, where are you going?" Amy turned and looked at him. "Apparently I'm not wanted here. See you later." "Wait!" She was already out the door. Brian and A.J. walked over to him, trays in hand. "What happened?" Brian asked. Nick looked at him. "I'm not sure, but I know who does." Angry,he walked over to the table and slammed the tray on the table. She smiled sweetly up at him. "Hey, Ni..," she began. "Listen, I don't know who you think you are, but you will not talk to my friend the way you just did. I don't know what you said but you just made one of your best friends, I think that's what she told me you were, feel very unwelcome here. I realize that you have feelings for me and all and I'm flattered, but I never date or even befriend someone who can't respect the other girls in my life. If you want to be with me much longer, you better get used to me hanging around Amy too. She was my friend first and is one of my closest friends. So, deal with it." He picked up Amy's food and grabbed his and walked out. Tat just sat there, absorbing everything that Nick had said. He was right but it still hurt. Brian sat down next to her and gave her food to her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Here you go." She didn't look up. "Thanks." She picked at her biscuit and ate it in silence. Nick opened the door and looked out. She couldn't have gotten far, he thought. He looked down and saw her sitting on the sidewalk next the newspaper stands, her knees pulled to her with her head between them. She didn't hear him walk up. "I thought you were leaving," he said softly. She looked up and quickly wiped her eyes. "You know I would if I knew the way back." He sat down next to her and handed her food to her. "Thanks." "No problem." "I'm sorry about Tat." "You have nothing to be sorry about. She does." Amy took a swallow of her orange juice and nodded. "It's just that she really likes you and she, ha, thinks you like me and she thinks I'm trying to sabotage her chance with you. I don't do things like that but I guess I can see where she's coming from." "Well, that doesn't give her an excuse to act like a bitch. I had a talk with her so I don't think she'll act that way again." Amy looked up at him and brushed crumbs off of her mouth. She swallowed. "What all did you say to her?" "Just that she had no right to say what she said to you and that she had to learn to respect my friends if she wanted to be my friend." Amy was a little pissed for him yelling at Tat but she swallowed it with the rest of her breakfast. When she finished, she stood up and brushed off. "You know, I think I know how to get home now so I'll just go. I think I'm gonna go get in the water or tan on the beach or something. See ya when you get there." He stood up. "But.." She looked at him. "Stay here with Tat. She thinks you don't want anything to do with her especially now that you yelled at her. Prove to her that you want to be her friend. For me." She gave him a smile and walked off. He watched her and turned around and went back inside.
