* Chapter 17 *

"Hurry up," I heard Meg yell through the bathroom door. "You’re going to be late."

"Am not," I insisted as I walked out of the bathroom and headed for her bedroom.

I had laid out my outfit on her bed before I got into the shower so I could change quickly after I got out. I went in and noticed that the clothes I put on the bed were replaced with ones that Meg must have picked out.

"What’s wrong with the clothes I picked out?" I hollered down the hall.

"Nothing," she replied. "But the ones I picked are cuter."

"Whatever you say," I said as I shut the door and went over to the bed to check the clothes that she had picked out.

‘It’s not like I’m dressing to impress the guy’ I thought to myself as I slid on the new pipes that Meg set out. She also set out a white Roxy baby tee with a wide silver stripe across the front so I put that on too before I grabbed my socks and headed to the living room where my shoes were. I sat down on the couch and slid my socks on while Meg plugged in a blow dryer and started drying my long hair with it. When my hair was dry and my shoes were on, we made our way back to the bathroom. I worked on putting my make-up while Meg started curling the ends of my hair.

"Just curl the ends so they curl under," I said. "I’m not going to get all dressed up for some meeting at a pizzeria."

"Fine," she replied. "I think you look cute."

"Thanks."

"No problem," she said as she pulled the curling iron out of the last piece of hair. "All done."

"Good," I said turning around to face her. "I’m done too. How do I look?"

"You look great!"

"Thanks Meg," I said as I gave her a hug.

"No problem girlie," she replied as she handed me her car keys and a paper with directions on it. "I’m having my friend pick me up in a little so you can drive my car."

"Oh my gosh Meg!" I managed to get out. "Thank you so much."

"Like I said, it’s no problem," she said with a huge smile. "Have fun tonight."

"I promise I’ll try," I said as she walked out into the hall.

I just stood there for a few minutes, still surprised that Meg was basically giving me her car for the night. I mean, if I was her and it was my car, I’d be like freaking out about who could drive it and stuff. Meg was just one of those carefree type of people. ‘I wish I was like that’ I thought as I headed out to the living room to find my little bag. After I found it, I put some necessities in it and made my way to the front door.

"Bye Meg," I yelled out to her. "I’m leaving now."

"Ok," she replied. "I won’t wait up and there’s a key to the door with the car keys so you can be as late as you want."

"Bye," I said before shutting the door behind me.

The drive over to the pizzeria was short due to the fact that I was thinking about what would happen when I got there. I hope everything would go well without a scene. I didn’t want anything bad to happen because I still wanted to be Nick’s friend, even if he didn’t feel the same. I wanted to tell him that I was confused about what was happening, but that would all fall into place if this night went without a glitch. I pulled into the small parking lot and pulled into an empty space by the building.

"Hi," I said to the hostess at the counter. "I’m supposed to meet a friend here at 7."

"Your name?" she asked.

I gave the hostess my name.

"Aww yes. Right this way," she said as she led me to a small private table towards the back that was empty.

"Your waiter should be right with you to get you a drink. Here is our menu that you can look at until your friend comes," she said handing me a menu after I sat down.

"Thank you," I said to her before she left.

I sat at the table for a few minutes until the waiter came.

"Hi. I’m Jeff. I’ll be your waiter tonight," he said with a gentle smile as he took out his pad to write down my order. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I’ll have a Mt. Dew."

"Mt. Dew it is," he said back to me before he turned around and walked away.

After about a minute, he was back with my drink.

"There ya go," he said as he set it in front of me.

"Thanks," I replied. "I’m supposed to meet a friend so it might be a few minutes before I’m ready to order."

"Alright," he said as he put his pad back into his pocket. "Flag me down if you need anything."

"Ok. I will," I said before he walked off to help someone at a different table.

I took a sip of my drink and sat back slightly in my chair with my hands sitting on my crossed legs. I sat and wondered where Nick could be for a few minutes until I got tired of thinking about it. Out of boredom, I held out my hands in front of me and looked at the rings on my fingers. I slipped off my High School class ring and held it up to my eyes to inspect it for about the billionth time. It had an alexandrite stone on the top, a Spartan with 1999 above it on one side, and music notes with Liz above them on the other side. The alexandrite was my birthstone and the Spartan was my High School mascot. I turned it so that I could see the engraving that was underneath the stone. It only said my name in script, but I loved to look at it. I turned it back over and looked at the stone. Looking at this ring became sort of a ritual that I did quite often when I was bored and had nothing else to do. I set the ring down on the table between my right thumb and left index finger and set it off into a gentle spin. I watched it as the stone glittered in the light of the lamp that was above the table. I did that a few more times before seeing Nick walk towards the table. I instantly sat up and quickly grabbed the ring to try and put it back on my finger before he saw what I was doing.

"Hey," he said taking a seat in the chair across from me.

"Hi," I said back to him, sliding the ring onto my finger.

"Sorry I’m late," he said with a sigh. "Traffic was a beast."

"That’s ok," I said in reply as I took a sip of my Dew.

"Hey, can I look at that ring?" he asked while pointing at the ring that I was just playing with.

"Sure," I replied as I took it off and handed it to him cautiously.

"Don’t worry," he said. "I’m not going to steal it or anything!"

"I know," I told him. "I just don’t usually let people see it cause it is worth more than I can afford to lose and besides, it’s my favorite one," I said with a small smile as I pointed to the other rings on my fingers.

I had a silver band with a black onyx heart on my left pinky finger, a silver band with footprints engraved into it on my left index finger, a beaded band ring on each of my thumbs, a silver ‘CTR’ (Choose The Right) ring on my right ring finger, and a plain silver band on my right pinky. My class ring belonged on my left ring finger. I loved wearing rings and I had a whole lot more of them at home.

"Dang girl!" Nick exclaimed when he saw all the rings that I was wearing. "You have almost as many rings as Bone."

I didn’t know what to say so I just chuckled at his outburst. I watched him as he looked my ring over carefully and stopped when he saw the engraving on the inside. He looked at it a few more seconds and turned it back over. He set it on the table slowly and set it spinning like I had a few minutes earlier. He looked up while it was spinning and gave me a sly smile. He obviously had seen what I was doing to amuse myself. I quickly slapped my hand down on the ring to stop it from spinning off of the table. I picked up my prized possession and stuck it back on my finger as Nick grabbed the menu and began to look it over.

"Double cheese with pepperoni," I blurted out randomly while admiring my other rings. "That’s what I want."

"Ok," Nick said. "That sounds good."

He flagged down the waiter and ordered the pizza while I sipped the last drop of my Dew.

"Can I get some more Mt. Dew please?" I asked Jeff with a smile.

"I’ll take one too," Nick added.

"Sure thing," he replied before leaving to get the drinks.

It was less than a minute before Jeff came back with the drinks in hand.

"Here ya go," he said as he placed the drinks on the table. "Your pizza should be done in a little bit."

"Ok. Thanks," I replied as he turned to help someone else.

I sat there in silence, not exactly knowing what to say. I could feel Nick staring at me as I moved my gaze from my hands on my lap to the picture that was on the wall. It was an enlarged picture of an old stamp that was probably at least 50 years old. It was kind of interesting to look at. I could still feel Nick’s eyes looking at me as if his gaze were singeing my skin. I couldn’t resist the urge anymore so I turned my head and met his eyes with mine.

"I...I...I’m so sorry...about...the other night," I managed to get out as I dropped my eyes to look at the table. "And yesterday," I added.

He just sat there staring at me silently so I continued.

"It was all too weird after that last dance at the club. I was confused and I decided to run away from you instead of talking to you," I blurted out. "And yesterday was torture for me. I truly didn’t want to be there."

I looked up and saw him looking at his hands that were on the table.

"I’m sorry for yelling at you when you came to my room," I continued. "I just wasn’t ready to talk right then."

"No," he said. "That was my own fault. I should have waited to try and talk."

"No, it’s not your fault," I said, still looking at him.

I felt like my gut was being ripped in two. I didn’t want to make it seem like it was his fault because it wasn’t.

"Nick," I started. "Look at me."

He looked up into my eyes.

"None of this is your fault," I said in a reassuring voice. "None of it."

Just as I said that, Jeff walked up to the table with our food. ‘Perfect timing’ I thought to myself. The mood of the moment was getting a little tense, so it was a good thing Jeff came when he did.

"Good. I’m starved," I said with a goofy look on my face as Jeff set the pizza down on the table.

I heard Nick laugh a little as Jeff laid some plates down on the table for us to use.

"Thanks," Nick said to him before he walked off once more.

Nick reached over to take the first piece but he was too late. I already grabbed it.

"Beatcha!" I exclaimed as he grabbed different piece.

After eating a few pieces, Nick decided to check out the selection in the jukebox. He came back a few minutes later with ‘Sometimes’ by Britney playing over the speakers that were placed in the ceiling and walls of the building.

"Care to dance?" he asked while pointing to the small dance floor by the arcade games.

"Actually, I’d rather not," I said looking down at my hands again. "Remember? That’s how this whole thing got started?"

"Yeah, but I like dancing with you," he replied. "I like you."

"What?" I asked looking back up at him completely confused.

"I said I like you," he repeated as he sat back down.

"Wait," I said while shaking my head. "I thought you like my sister."

"Yeah, she’s great as a friend. She’s great to hang out with," he replied. "But I want you."

Upon hearing those words, I suddenly felt like I was going to puke.

"I’ll be right back. I’ve got to go to the bathroom," I said as I wearily stood up and slowly walked towards the bathrooms.

I stood in front of the mirror for a few minutes just staring at myself. I was feeling a tiny bit queasy but I knew that I wouldn’t throw up or anything. After straightening my shirt and brushing back a few pieces of flyaway hair, I went back out to the table. Nick was sitting there eating another piece of pizza as if nothing was wrong. I sat down in my chair and waited until he was done. I had lost my appetite as of five minutes ago, so I didn’t touch anymore of the pizza.

"You must be really hungry," I said as he finished eating the piece he was working on.

The pizza was only cut into eight pieces. I ate two and there was one left. That meant he ate five pieces!

"Haven’t eaten since this morning," he answered with a smile. "You ok now?"

"Yeah, I’m fine," I replied.

"Good," he said as he wiped his hands on his napkin. "So, you have any plans afterwards?"

"Nope," I said as I picked up the bill and looked at it. "Why?"

"Well, I was wondering if you’d like to come meet my family," he said with a hopeful smile. "My parents are hosting this party at our place and I promised I’d be there later...so. Do you wanna come?"

"Well," I said as I thought about it.

Nick shot me a puppy-dog face that I couldn’t resist. He looked so funny that it was almost impossible to say no.

"Fine, fine," I finally gave in with a laugh as Nick put a few bills on the table with the bill for the food. "But, I’m driving for myself...I’ll follow you."

"Ok," he said happily while he wrote something on the bill. "I’m in the green Durango."

I stood up after he did and made my way towards the front doors with him behind me. He walked me out to Meg’s car in the parking lot.

"This your car?" he asked totally confused.

"No, I’m borrowing it from a friend," I answered.

"Oh," he replied as he watched me get in and roll down the window half way.

"Where ya parked?" I asked.

"Over there," he replied, pointing to a dark green Durango a few cars down.

"Well go already!" I exclaimed.

"Ok, ok," he said with a laugh. "I’m going."

I watched him get into his car and I started Meg’s bug as he started his. I backed up and waited for him to back up in front of me. After following him for about 20 minutes, we pulled up to a large house with a long driveway blocked by a gate. I pulled into the driveway after Nick when he pushed the button to open the gate. We drove slowly in-between about 15 cars that were parked on the sides of the driveway before Nick finally parked in front of the big garage. I pulled up behind him and turned off the car. I met him outside of the little bug after he watched me get out, lock the door, and put the keys in my pocket.

"I’m not really into these parties that my parents have," he explained as we walked to the door. "At least I’ll have fun tonight," he said as he gave me a little smile.

I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, so I just smiled back as he led me in the door and into the living room.

"There you are sweetie," said a woman that walked up to Nick and gave him a hug and kiss.

"Hi mom," he said blushing a little. "This is Liz," he said turning to me.

"Hi," I said shyly with a small wave.

"Hi Liz. I’m Jane," she said with a warm smile as we faintly heard another song come over the speakers that were in the backyard. "Everyone is out back. I’m just getting a few things in the kitchen, so go say hi to everyone."

"Ok mom," Nick said after her as she headed for the kitchen. "Let’s go," he said happily as he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the sliding glass doors.

We went out into the backyard and we were instantly overwhelmed by the music blasting from the speakers. I just stood there on the steps and looked at how many people were in the backyard as Nick went down and got lost in the crowd. I looked over across the lawn where everyone was dancing. There were people everywhere. Some people were in the pool, some were sitting at tables that had been set up on the large lawn, people were playing pool on a pool table located on the patio, and the rest of the people were talking amongst themselves in little groups.