Wonderful Tonight
The room is still dark when I open my eyes. I stretch languidly and check the clock by the bed. It’s just gone 3am. I feel as though I’ve been asleep forever and now I’m wide awake. I sit up and flick the TV on. After ten minutes channel hopping in search of a decent show I give up and turn it off. I decide to go find a can of Sprite to quench my thirst after catching the tail end of an advert.
I climb out of bed and head down the corridor in search of a drink machine. I find one right at the end and realise I don’t have the correct change. Before I can test my brother’s theory that if you tap it ‘firmly’ (i.e., make like Tyson) in a certain spot the drink will shoot out for free, a nearby door opens. I turn to see Nick standing behind me. He looks like he just woke up with spiky hair and black boxers. I look down at my oversized T-shirt and shorts and groan inwardly. Hardly the sex siren, I-don’t-miss-you image I was going for.
“Just tryin’ to get a Sprite,” I explain redundantly.
“No change?” I shake my head and he goes back into his room, reappearing seconds later to throw me a quarter.
“Thanks.” I feed the money into the machine and get a can. I open it and offer it to Nick but he shakes his head. “Well, thanks.” I head back towards my room.
“Why are you actin’ like such a bitch Starr?”
“Huh?!” I turn around and face him.
“You heard,” he leans against his doorframe.
“So you DID just call me a bitch?!”
“No, I said you’re ACTIN’ like one.”
“What’s the difference?” I ask angrily. He doesn’t answer and I sigh. “So why do you think I’m ACTIN’ like a bitch?”
“Oh gee, where do I start? Ok, tonight. You told me you don’t give a fuck ‘bout me.”
“Uh no, I said I don’t care where you go or who you go with,” I place my hands on my hips angrily. “Which is true,” I add.
“Oh, so if I start datin’ Clare, you wouldn’t care? At all?”
“Correct,” I try to look into his eyes as I say it but fail. I’ve never been good at looking people in the eye while lying.
Nick walks over to me so that he’s standing a breath away. “Now say that again. Only this time look at me.” He reaches out and tilts up my chin so that I’m looking at him. Damn him, he does know me after all.
“Fine. Maybe I’d care. A little.”
“A little?” He smiles slightly. “I’d care a hell of a lot if you started datin’ some other guy.”
“But why?!” I stare at him. “You’re the one who ended it.”
“Ended what?!” He groans. “We were never together. God knows you kept reminding me of that! I ended the lying cos I hated it. And cos I was falling for you and I knew you didn’t feel the same way.”
“How could you know that?” I ask quietly.
“Because I asked ya. Remember?” I shake my head and he runs his fingers through his hair with a sigh. “A few months ago, on the bus… I asked you what was happening to us and you said we were only pretending.”
“You call that asking?!” I laugh slightly.
“Well, I couldn’t come right out with it!” he says defensively.
“Why not?”
“Because.”
“If you can’t say it, you don’t feel it,” I shrug. “That’s what my mom says.”
“Ok, I’ll say it Starr. I like ya, I like ya a LOT.” He pauses and gives me a shy little half smile, the kind that makes me go weak all over. “And I miss kissin’ you.”
“You do?” I feel my restraint melting away but I refuse to totally let go of it just yet. “But what about Clare?”
“Clare?” He looks surprised and steps back. “What about her?”
“Aren’t you guys kinda datin’ now?” I ask, afraid of the answer.
“Dating?! No way,” he chuckles lightly. “I kinda knew she liked me so after we split up, I started spending time with her to try and get over you. I mean, she’s BEAUTIFUL.”
“Yeah,” I hang my head. “She is.”
“But she’s not YOU Starr,” he reaches out to take my hand in his. “And I’m kinda stuck on you.” I look up at him and he leans forward to kiss my lips softly. He steps back and smoothes back my hair with a little smile.
“Wow, poor you,” I whisper pulling him closer to me again.
“I know. I just never had any sense.”
“I noticed,” I kiss his lips lightly.
“I just ALWAYS pick the girl who’s trouble…”
“Uh Nick…” I step away from him with a mock stern expression. “You kinda haven’t got the hang of this makin’ up thing have ya?”
“I haven’t?” he pulls me close again and traces the outline of my lips with a finger. “Let me try again…” He kisses me and I wrap my arms around him as his tongue gently licks the corners of my lips before slipping into my mouth. He manoeuvres me up against my door and manages to get it open while kissing me. A man of many talents I guess. He walks me back to the bed and only then does he stop kissing me. “How was that?”
“Hmm, not bad…”
“Not bad?!” he pretends to be offended and walks back to shut the door as I sit on the bed. “I’ll give ya not bad!” he declares before running and jumping on the bed, pushing me back and rolling on top of me.
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Fiction