Competing With the Star (Star #2) (6 page)

I decided to sit on the other side of his grandpa so he wouldn’t feel left out. Mr. Jenkins smiled at me and reached over to tap my hand with his finger.

“I think he likes you,” Nick said.

“I hope so.”

Nick started talking about the movie and trying to get his grandpa to join in the conversation.

“It’s getting cold,” Mr. Jenkins said. “I’m enjoying this, but can we go inside?”

“Yeah, sorry, Grandpa,” Nick said. “It didn’t feel cold to me, but I know you sometimes get chilled fast.”

Mr. Jenkins seemed to be getting tired, so Nick said we better leave. He asked if I wanted to stop for something to eat on the way home. We stopped for cheeseburgers and I saw him checking his phone a lot. Was he hoping for a message from someone? I mean, as soon as he picked me up, I hadn’t touched my phone. I focused one hundred percent on him, so what was up with him checking it ninety-five times?

“You expecting a text or something?” I asked.

“Yeah, the nurse usually lets me know if everything went okay at dinner. Sometimes Grandpa has a harder time than others and I want to make sure he’s eating.”

Okay, he was seriously the sweetest guy on the planet. Here I was worried about some other chick texting him on the side and he’s checking up on his grandfather? Could I be more in love with this guy?

“Oh, here it is, okay. He’s fine. Sorry, that must have seemed so rude. It’s just this is all so crazy. Almost a year ago he was completely fine and now he’s…well, you know.”

“I think it’s sweet you worry about him,” I said.

“I know you say you like sweet guys, but I’m used to ‘sweet’ meaning ‘friend zone.’”

I laughed. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. Morgan called me sweet, Simone called—”

“Did you like Simone?” I asked, cutting him off.

“Hang on, my phone. Oh, it’s my mom checking in to see how today went. I’m texting back that it was awesome,” he said, and flashed me a huge smile.

I backed down from my Simone questioning, but was wondering if the weirdness of the whole Reagan thing yesterday would come up. I didn’t know how to bring it up, or if I should.

“Did you have fun yesterday?” I asked. I was hoping he’d say something like, “Yes, but sorry about that whole Reagan thing. She was obviously lying to throw you off and I spilled Pepsi all over your fabulous outfit because I couldn’t believe the depth of her lies. I never even kissed her. I never even thought about kissing her. It was always you, my darling. I’ve never loved anyone like I have loved you from the first moment I laid eyes on you.”

Instead he said, “Yeah. Oh, here comes our burgers and fries. I hope they remembered the olives on mine.”

I guess that was better than, “Oh, were you there? All I remember is being jealous my super hot ex was making out with another guy. Do you think they’re serious or can I get her back?”

The waitress put our cheeseburger and fry baskets down and I noticed she winked at Nick when she gave him extra napkins.

“The movie was kind of confusing yesterday. I wasn’t sure I understood the whole plot,” I said. I wanted to see if he had watched it or if his focus was on Reagan, but he shrugged.

“It was okay, but I liked the one today better. They don’t make them like that anymore.”

I nodded and jammed a french fry in my mouth.

“So this week they’re having this fair thing—it’s the last big outdoor fall carnival of the year before it gets cold out. My parents are planning to go and I know Morgan and all of them are going—did you want to go?”

Was he asking me to go with him or if I wanted to go in general?

“I guess. Does everybody meet up there or what?”

“Pretty much, but I thought you and I could go together. People bring blankets and they shoot off fireworks at night. I mean, unless you want to go in a big group.”

“No, I’d love to go with you. What night?”

“It’s this Friday. Great, I can’t wait,” he said, and smiled at me like I was the only person in the room.

We finished eating and walked out to his car. We drove by the water and he parked the car so we could talk.

“Have you given anymore thought to what you want to do for your sixteenth birthday?” he asked.

I shrugged, but I wasn’t sure what to say. He hung around girls like Simone, Reagan, and Morgan, who were the ultimate party girls, yet I was much more comfortable staying home and reading. A party would just make me anxious and uncomfortable. And I’d be worried about who to invite and whether or not I overreached with the guest list. Not to mention freaking out over whether or not anyone would even show up. No, a big blowout was not my idea of fun. But I didn’t want to seem boring to him, so I said I hadn’t decided yet.

“Maybe going somewhere would be fun,” he said.

“Yeah, last year I wanted to go to a Pistons game, but I got sick, so my mom gave the tickets away. We went to another game that season though so it was okay. Lexi came with us and we did birthday cake and ice cream afterward. Then Lexi and I went shopping the next day with my birthday bookstore gift certificates.”

Oh man, did that sound like a little kid birthday? To me, watching a game and then going home to cake sounded amazing. And book shopping the next day? Perfection. But he was probably used to hearing about Simone going to movie premieres and having her picture on blogs across the world. I must seem so dull and boring next to her.

He smiled. “That does sound nice.”

“What would you do for your birthday if you could do anything—say money was no object and you could wish for anything?”

“Honestly, that baseball game with my grandpa that I didn’t get. That would be what I wished for,” he said. “Wait, can I add something to that wish? That was my old wish for my last birthday, this new wish—my amended one—would include someone else going with us. I’d want you there at the game with Grandpa and me.”

My face broke into one of those huge smiles that even showed my back teeth.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, it’d be more fun with you along.”

“That’s so sweet,” I said. I could feel myself blushing and hoped my face wasn’t beet red.

“Maybe next spring we could drive up to Detroit for a game or even attend one of the minor league ones around here. They’re pretty fun too—if you go with the right person.”

I was so excited he was talking about future plans with me that I didn’t catch what he was getting at with the right person remark. Instead, stupid me asked, “Oh, who have you gone with?”

He cleared his throat and shifted. “Um, you know. The gang. Connor, Morgan, and all of them.”

“Oh, like a group thing.”

“Sometimes, yeah. I mean, I did go with Reagan a couple of times.”

“Oh.”

“But she spent half the game on her phone, which was okay because otherwise I had to explain the game to her. Have you ever tried to explain baseball to someone who doesn’t really care?”

I tried to smile and rolled my eyes like I was agreeing with him, but it hurt because he had obviously gone with Reagan during the time he and I stopped speaking because Morgan had lied to break us up. It still bothered me that when Morgan found out he had kissed me, she told him I had a boyfriend back in Goodacre. Nick had stopped talking to me and called Reagan and they got back together. If Morgan hadn’t interfered it would have been me at those games with him and not Reagan.

“That whole thing with Morgan was so messed up,” I said.

“Yeah, I can’t believe she got so confused.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, I asked her about it and she said she misunderstood who you were talking to and thought your boyfriend had called you that night. She was just trying to be a good friend and looking out for me,” he said.

I wanted to say, “Clueless much? She’s the devil.” And then tell him how I never even took one call that night so there was no way she misheard anything. But was it worth getting into? Morgan was just barely tolerating me being in her little clique and I didn’t know if it would do any good to clarify things with him or if I’d just start drama with her.

“I don’t know how she overheard anything when I was never on my phone at that party,” I said. “I mean, you were with me or at least nearby the whole time. Did you see me on my phone at all?”

“Well, maybe she meant earlier or another time. She was just worried you were playing me.”

I wanted to scream, “Do I seem like that type?” But he and I were good now. Still, it bothered me that another mean girl was getting away with crap.

“I guess all that matters is you know the truth now,” I said, trying to keep my tone even.

“Yup, but I hate we missed out on spending the summer together. And it’s super awkward since I have so many classes with Reagan.”

“What?” I asked.

“Yeah, she’s in a bunch of my classes. I thought I told you that.”

Uh, no, I would have remembered that. It would have been seared into my brain right next to the times this jerk from my old school, Brittany Buchanan, humiliated me in front of my ninth grade class by calling me a loser, or the many other times she embarrassed me.

“Nope.”

“Oh, well, it’s no big deal, right? We’re together now,” he said.

“Yeah, but yesterday she made me feel…” Gut wrenching pain. Like I wanted to sink through the floor. Pukey. Like punching her in the face. “…uncomfortable when she said that stuff.”

“Oh yeah…that,” he said, pretending to straighten the napkins in his cup holder.

“It was as if she was trying to make me feel…” like crap, insecure, like your second choice, “…left out.”

“I think she was just trying to make me look stupid because I broke up with her. I mean, remember we broke up over
you
,” he said. “She knew I still had feelings for you and I think she was threatened by it the whole time she and I were together.”

It was odd to think that perfect-looking Reagan could be threatened by me in the slightest.

“And you are over her?”

“Is that what you’re worried about?” he asked with a little smile. I looked away, hoping he couldn’t see me flush.

“I don’t know.”

“I thought you were just embarrassed she was bringing up the past, but yes, I’m over her.”

I smiled, but my heart wasn’t completely feeling it. Sure I was embarrassed and wondering how he felt, but part of me was also threatened by what they had had in the past. Reagan made it pretty clear their relationship had been pretty physical, and even though I didn’t want to know details, the whole idea was making me feel so insecure. I wasn’t ready for anything like that and I had never been in that kind of relationship. Who was I kidding? Nick was my first serious boyfriend and my first kiss, but he didn’t know that. It was one thing for him to have other girlfriends before me, but now it just felt so strange and awkward knowing he and his last girlfriend had been…well, advanced. On a good day I felt like an immature child next to Morgan, Simone, and their group, and now Reagan’s words just made me feel even more like a little kid. It wasn’t that I wanted to be experienced as much as it was that I didn’t want Nick to have had any experiences with her…or anyone else.

“Honestly, Hadley. She and I weren’t right for each other. You and I have so much more in common than she and I ever did,” he said, and I smiled, feeling more relaxed. Then he added, “And you and I have been able to talk to each other from the first day we met. She and I hardly ever talked.”

Fabulous. Now I could wonder what they did instead. Ugh! Stop talking, Nick. Just tell me I’m the only one and that she was exaggerating and then let’s forget she exists.

“I’m way more comfortable around you too.”

I wanted to ask, “Like how a worn out pair of yoga pants are after being in the dryer too many times, or are you saying we’re soulmates and will never be apart?”

Instead I said, “That’s cool.”

“I better get you home or your grandma will hunt me down. Is it weird I’m more scared of her than your dad?” he asked.

I just smiled as my mind was racing too much to give him feedback.

“But just in case I don’t get the chance later,” he said, and then leaned forward and kissed me. He pulled back and looked into my eyes. “I know a lot of girls would be weirded out about going to a date at a nursing home, but that was seriously the best date I’ve ever been on.”

“Yeah, it was.”

“Well, it’s tied for second anyway.”

“What?”

He smiled. “Our first date on the pier was pretty great as well,” he said. “I don’t want to take anything away from that.”

I shook my head and then kissed him. We were comfortable together and that was an amazing thing to have.

Chapter Eight

The next day, Simone called me and asked how my date went.

“It was great. I got to meet his grandpa and we watched the movie together—”

“Wait, that was part of the date? I thought you just went for a visit,” she said.

“His grandpa is important to him and I was glad he wanted to include me.”

“Okay, well, then what did you do?”

I said we went out to eat and then sat in his car by the lake and talked.

“And then what?”

“Nothing. We just talked.”

“You sat in his car talking?” she asked.

“Uh-huh.”

“Sheesh, I didn’t think he was that boring.”

“He’s not. I like hanging out with him and he said he feels comfortable around me.”

“Uh-oh.”

My stomach dropped. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“Simone! What?”

“Well, it’s just been my experience that it isn’t always the best thing when a guy feels too comfortable around a girl—especially not this early in the relationship,” she said.

“What? Why?”

“Well, usually guys like the whole butterflies in the stomach thing—the excitement. You know, the nerves and the fireworks.”

“I felt fireworks the first time he kissed me.”

“Well, you did, but did he?”

I had to admit I had no idea. I assumed he must have because he liked me, but was I the safe, comfortable girlfriend, while Reagan was the sexy, exciting one? Did he need somebody boring and laid back after being with someone as high maintenance as her?

“You don’t think he likes me?” I asked, feeling panicked.

“Oh, I’m sure he does. I just don’t know if it’s the super passionate kind of like, you know? But it’s not so much about him. I mean, don’t you want a guy who you are so consumed with that you can’t think about anyone else and you feel those butterflies when you see him? Like your heart goes on a roller coaster every time he texts you?”

I swallowed hard. That was how I felt about my crush, Jack Brogger. Seeing a new video from Jack and seeing him in person gave me those overwhelming feelings. But with Nick…well, when I was with him I felt like there was no place else in the world I’d rather be. I didn’t even notice anyone around me. I felt a kind of calm—a peacefulness like this was where I was meant to be.

“Yeah, but Nick makes me feel good about myself and safe. What’s wrong with that?” I asked.

“Nothing, if you want to see what marriage will be like when you’re sixty-five, but you’re almost sixteen and this is your chance to have a heart-stopping romance. Not some old people hand holding crap.”

“But what if I like that?”

“Well, you should know that’s
not
what he had with Reagan. They were always all over each other,” she said.

I was starting to feel sick and all I could come back with was, “But he said they fought a lot.”

“Yeah, they’d go from fighting to kissing and making up. It was a very passionate relationship.”

I felt like I had swallowed a brick. “Great, fabulous image to have in my mind.”

“I just want you to know in case Nick is…”

“What?”

“Well, I know he likes you and I even told you he’s more relaxed and comfortable around you than he ever was with Morgan and Reagan. He was always a little shy and awkward around them. To be honest, I always thought of him as being too young for me, you know? Connor and Lucas were always so much more mature and, I dunno, masculine compared to him.”

So she was never into Nick. That was a relief at least.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt if he gets bored.”

“But, Simone, you don’t know what we’re like when we’re together. He can be himself with me and he can share things with me he can’t talk about with anyone else.”

“Yeah, but, honey, do you hear yourself? Talking, being himself? Is he looking for a girlfriend or a buddy?”

“I think you’re wrong. Maybe we don’t have what he had with Reagan, but what we have is sweet and special.”

“But other than that little thing with Will, you haven’t had a boyfriend before, right?” she asked.

“Well, no. Not technically.”

“So you have nothing to base it on,” she said.

I bit my lip. “Guess not.”

“I didn’t mean to upset you with any of this. I was just trying to be a good friend because I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Thanks,” I said. Her words sounded thoughtful, but they didn’t make me feel good. I had been so happy, but now she had put all this weird doubt in my mind. We got off the phone and I felt like I needed to have a heart-to-heart over all of this with someone, but who? Charlotte was my best friend, but I knew she wouldn’t understand what I was feeling. And I didn’t feel like I could confide in Asia because she was best friends with Simone—I didn’t want to put her in a weird position by sharing everything that Simone had said or how she made me feel. But who else could I talk to? I decided the only person was Lexi, so I texted her and poured out my feelings about what Reagan had said at the pizza place and what Simone had just told me.

A half hour later she texted back.

Lexi: Is Nick the guy with sandy blond hair on your social media page?

Me: Yeah, that’s him

Lexi: He’s hot. Good 4 u, girlie.

I waited and she didn’t type anything else, so I sent her another message asking if she had any advice.

Lexi: Yeah, keep the other girls away. LOL

How helpful. Who was I supposed to turn to when I was feeling insecure about one girl and wondering about Nick’s real feelings? Plus, I was also unsure of Simone’s motives in telling me all that stuff. She said she was just being a good friend, but why did I feel so uneasy about it? As much as I felt like I was getting closer to Asia, I could never confide those feelings to her. But who else would understand? Who else had been in my shoes, wondering if someone was still into her boyfriend even though they acted like they weren’t, and was used to dealing with frenemies and crap? Then it hit me—Pilar. But she and I weren’t exactly friends. Sure, she confided in me about her family stuff at the nursing home, but that was probably because she didn’t have anyone else to talk to about it. Morgan would probably roll her eyes and say, “Depressing much?” if she brought any of that up. Plus, Pilar was friends with Reagan and Simone anyway. So that left me with no one. It was weird, I used to have one super close best friend and that was it, and now I had a group of friends and had never felt more alone.