A Couple
Lesley was helping BJ to set the table when Nick walked in the front door. He looked at his two sisters and they shook their heads.
“You’re in trouble.” Lesley said, eyebrows raised. Nick shrugged, even though he knew he would have to face his mother.
“Nicky? Is that you?” She called from the basement. Nick stopped before going up the stairs to his room.
“Honey, where have you been? I got worried. You know you’re supposed to walk home with your sister. I don’t want her out on the street alone.” She continued to fold the clothes that she pulled from the dryer.
“Oh come on, Mom. I wanted to hang with my friends for a while. That’s all. Besides, BJ is old enough to walk home by herself. She can walk with Lisa down the street.” Jane put the folded shirt in the basket and looked at her son.
“Ok. But next time call me when you know you’re not coming right home. Now, go upstairs and wash up for dinner. Wash that lipstick off of your face before you come down too.” Nick felt a chill race through his spine.
It was later in the night when Nick started thinking about Thai again. He couldn’t believe that for a whole year he pined for her, and the first day of school, they were dating. Were things going too fast? They’d only hung out for a day, and already Nick was planning their future. He kept thinking about how they would go to high school together, then college, then get married.
“Ok, we’re not even officially going out.” He said to himself. “But then again, she makes it seem like we are. She did ask if I ever had a girlfriend before. God, I can’t wait to see her tomorrow. I wonder how her hair will be. What color her nails will be. What’s she’ll be wearing. How she might smell. Today was kind of flowery. Maybe tomorrow she’ll smell like vanilla. And oh my God I’m obsessing over her.” Nick quickly turned over in his bed to try and fall asleep. Sleep would definitely get his mind off of Thai Donovan. But it didn’t.
He realized she wrote down her number and put it in his pocket when he walked her to the Myers’ house. He reached over on the floor and pulled the paper from his pocket. He picked up the phone and it was just his luck that his mother wasn’t talking to one of her friends. He dialed her number, knowing for sure that her mother was still working.
“Hello?” She asked.
“Hey. It’s Nick.”
“Hey, I knew you’d call. Whatcha doing?” She asked.
“Nothing. Just lying in bed. How about you?”
“Same, writing in my diary.” She responded.
“About me?” Nick said boldly.
“Maybe.” She giggled.
“Listen, I wanna ask you something.” Nick said.
“Yeah?”
“Are we like friends? Or are we together? Like, dating?” She laughed a little at Nick’s question and he felt a little stupid.
“Put it this way, blondie. I don’t kiss my friends. But I love kissin’ you. That a good enough answer?”
“Yeah, I can live with that.” Nick smiled from ear to ear.
“Ok babe, I gotta go. My mom’s coming in the door and I have to warm her dinner. See you tomorrow, ok?”
“Ok, bye.” Nick put the phone back down and tucked himself back into bed. He couldn’t wait to see what the guys at school were gonna say when they found out he was with the sexiest girl in the school.
The next morning at school, Nick waited for Thai at the front door. She came off of the bus and ran up to Nick wearing a smile. As soon as she caught sight of his clothes, her face changed.
“No, never.” She yanked his shirt out of his jeans. Then she took a comb out of her purse and added her own touch to his hair.
“Tucking in your shirt and wearing your hair with all that mousse makes you like Zack from ‘Saved By The Bell’. You look way better this way.” Nick looked at his reflection in the window and was satisfied with her changes.
They walked through the hallway together, Nick’s arm around her waste. They were approached by a boy Thai dated the previous year. Nick’s face shied away and he avoided eye contact.
“Well look at this. What a cute couple. Thai, I thought you had better taste that this. You went from me to him, what a downfall.” He shoved Nick and started to walk away.
“Yeah Joey, I left your sorry ass cause you paid more attention to other guys that I did!” Joey turned around startled.
“You hear that fellas? Better watch your asses around him in the locker room!” Every kid in the hallway laughed. Nick did too.
“Where’d you learn to talk like that?” He asked, a little surprised.
“Hey, I didn’t grow up in Brooklyn for nothing. Come on, we gotta get to class.”
Chapter 3 ~
Contents Page ~
Stories ~
Home