White is for Virgins (31 page)

“Yes!” I smiled victoriously.

Nick smiled at me as he grabbed his ball and once again faced Fox.

“Hey Lily, you wanna feel me up for good luck too?” Fox joked mercilessly.

“I’m good,” Lily sighed, stepping away from him.

This time both Fox and Nick got strikes.
How is it that guys basically own at everything? Is it in their genes? A chromosome girls are missing?

We continued the game and at the last round Lily decided to go to the bathroom and Fox challenged me.

“Ready, Price?” he murmured, arching his eyebrow in an intimidating way.

I rolled my eyes and rolled the ball. He stood straight and watched as my green orb swerved to the right and hit three pins miserably.

I tried to suck it up as he flawlessly hit a strike.

“I hate you,” I muttered, grabbing the ball and going again. I managed to hit all but one of the remaining pins.

“Emery, don’t be a sore loser,” he smirked.

“Well I can’t help it,” I protested, “You’re on like… bowling steroids.”

“Bowling steroids?” he snorted. “Nahh, it’s just all natural skill.”

“And Wii Sports,” Nick interjected.

“Shut up,” Fox laughed.

By a small margin, Fox and Lily won the game. I tried to convince myself I didn’t care, and it wasn’t too hard; the fact that they were trying to convince the whole world they were
madly in love
bothered me more than losing a bowling match.
Like honestly all the snuggling, the cooing, the unnecessary PDAs  seemed…
too artificial
. Too good to be true.

Nick and I walked back to his car and I sighed thankfully.

Just when I was about to thank him for the
wonderful
date, Fox announced we were going to dinner.

I almost screamed. Almost.

We pursued Fox’s car one again and parked at grassy clearing by a lake just as the sun hit the ground on the horizon.

We got out and sat on the large plaid blanket that was sprawled out near the Willow. I could hear the crickets chirping, and I smiled at how peaceful this place was.

We all got bottles of Sprite and burgers, which Lily had picked up on her way ‘back from the bathroom’.
Clever, I’ll admit.

“This is nice,” Lily commented, leaning against Fox.

I was surprised that he wasn’t making dirty jokes or annoying her in the least. I’d only seen him affectionate with Holly, and they were related.

Why was it so hard to believe Fox had a heart? Maybe because I was
jea–no.

I devoured my burger and lay down on the blanket next to Nick, staring up at the starless sky. It was getting darker by the minute, and I was shivering beneath my pull over. It was warm, but my bare skin wasn’t too fond of the autumn breeze that was finding its way over my stomach.

Nick pulled me close to him, and I smiled. I felt comfortable with him; a friendly kind of affection. I sat up to get another sip of my Sprite and noticed Fox and Lily were incredibly close.

I licked my lips and sighed, staring out at the lake as the moon’s reflection danced on the still water.

I couldn’t exactly pinpoint my feelings, or decipher why I was feeling them… but they weren’t good. They bothered me.

“I think we should get going,” Fox said, clearing his throat.

“Yeah,” I murmured automatically.

We packed up and retreated to the warmth of the car.

Fox knocked on my window. I took a deep breath and rolled the window down, reluctantly, I might add. He folded his elbows on the door and rested his head on his arms.

“Well, this was fun guys,” he said sleepily, “We should do it again.”

I clenched my jaw and stared straight forward, pretending to be mesmerized by the view of the lake.

“You ok,
Em?” Fox asked, cocking his head.

“Will everyone just stop asking me that?” I snapped, readily putting my finger to the window button.

With a frightened expression on his face, he stepped back with his hands up as a sign of surrender.

“Goodnight,” he smirked, smiling as he shook his head and draped his arm over Lily’s shoulders and they walked back to his car.

I watched intently as he shook his head in a defensive manner and Lily nodded as if she’d discovered an embarrassing secret of his or something.

I shivered as Nick turned up the heat in his car. Picnicking on a November night is not the brightest idea, considering the Connecticut climate doesn’t look kindly on those that are underdressed.

I returned my gaze to the road ahead of me, surrounded by dark pine trees and the occasional street lamp.

The entire time that we drove back, while I managed some small talk with Nick, I couldn’t help but wish I was in someone else’s car…

Chapter 20

I took on a whole new perspective as Nick’s Rover pulled up the small driveway. It was pitch black, except for the small patch of light the living room window gave off.
Dad was still up…

“So…” Nick started.

I sat there, feeling almost… mad at him.

I felt used. And stupid. And embarrassed.

Definitely
embarrassed…

My hand clutched the door handle, and I was ready to leave. I heard Nick press the lock button, sending the whole car into a loud spasm of clicks.

“What is it with men and holding me hostage?” I muttered under my breath.

Craning my neck, I glared at Nick. I guess it was obvious that I was ticked off.

“What’s wrong, Emery?” he asked genuinely.

“What, you’re not going to make a move on me?” I asked sarcastically.

He sighed and ruffled up his dark mass of hair. He looked stressed; guilty.

“Look,
Em, I know you probably don’t like me right now,” he said softly, “But there is an explanation for all of this.”

“There always is.”

He stayed quiet. So I waited, for a long time. Crossing my arms I turned in my seat so I was looking at him directly. I knew it was dark, but he could see me giving him a questioning look.

“You’re saying there is a reason why we were on a
date
tonight, rather than just
hanging out
like you’d suggested, and you won’t tell me?” I asked, chuckling menacingly.

“It’s a long story,
Em,” he sighed, his face pained, “But it’s not completely mine to tell.”

I shook my head, turning in my seat to look forward. I went for the door handle again, but he pressed the lock button once more.

“Will you just let me go? I have nothing more to say to you.” Geez, I sounded like I was breaking up with him.

“Emery, I’m an asshole for doing this to you, I know. But this has just gotten a little out of hand, and Fox was the one to–”

“Fox is in on this?” I growled.

“He started it,” Nick growled back with equal ferocity, “He loves getting into other people’s business.”

“By people you mean,” I gasped, piecing it together, “You and Lily.”
It made sense now.

Nick said nothing. He just sat there. The car erupted in simultaneous clicks and I realized I was free to go.

“So what now..?” I sighed as my hand enclosed the door handle for a third time.

“I don’t know, Emery,” he shook his head. “All I know is tonight was a mistake.”

“How about we hang out tomorrow,
without a crowd
,” I suggested.

Nick smirked. “I owe you that ‘hanging out’ day, don’t I?”

“I do believe so.”

“I’ll pick you up at noon,” he smiled.

I smiled in turn. “Okay then.”

“Goodnight,
Em,” he said, and I returned a goodbye before getting out of the car. The living room light was no longer on.

Nick and I are just friends,
and Fox is an asshole,
I repeated under my breath as I marched up to my room. The fact that my house was as dead and dark as a cemetery allowed the anxiety to seize control of my wandering imagination.

***

I tapped my pen against my desk rhythmically as Mrs. Sawyer passed out our term paper rubric. My head throbbed and I set it down on my desk, using my arm as a pillow.

My eyes, stinging with every blinking motion, burn as I close them. I was beyond tired.

Spending the entire day with Nick had definitely not been the brightest idea. It’d been fun, though. So fun in fact, I’d forgotten about the stack of homework I’d left in my book bag. Procrastinating had never been my thing…