by Amber Garza
Brooke nodded.
“But she’s gonna let you retake it?”
“Tomorrow,” she said, sticking out her bottom lip. “At lunch.”
Relief swept over me. So if I did flunk the test, at least I could retake it. “That’s cool.”
“How is that cool?” Brooke asked, her eyes bugging out. “It’s totally lame. Doesn’t she know I have a lot going on right now? Teachers always fudge grades for the football players. Why not for the cheerleaders?”
“It’s cause we’re studs!” Derek puffed out his chest.
Brooke rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
Melody joined us. “What’s up?” She eyed Brooke.
“Oh, nothing.” Brooke shook her head. “Just Derek being Derek.”
“Awesome, you mean?” He waggled his eyebrows.
“No,” Brooke said dryly. “That’s not what I mean.”
Derek frowned and puffed out his bottom lip like he was sad, but I could tell it was in jest. Melody and Nick laughed. Brooke rolled her eyes.
I smiled up at Nick. With his arm on my shoulder, the warmth of his body heat penetrating my skin, I was in a daze. All eyes followed us as we entered the cafeteria. It was surreal. Two weeks ago, I would’ve been one of those people staring, wishing I could be a part of the popular crowd. My legs were a little shaky, so I leaned against Nick for support. As if sensing it, his hold on me tightened. I loved that about him. He always seemed to know what I needed.
While Brooke and Melody headed over to get a soda out of the machine, I plunked down at our table next to Nick. I was bummed that his arm was no longer around me. Our thighs were so close they touched, so that made up for it. I didn’t dare move an inch as I pulled out my lunch bag.
“There’s no game this Friday,” Nick said.
My heart sunk a little. Not because I was looking forward to a game. A night off from cheering sounded amazing. But a night off from Nick definitely didn’t.
“So, I was thinking maybe we could go out,” he spoke slowly, a tad unsure.
I cocked a brow. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” One of his lips curled upward slightly into a sexy half-smile. My insides warmed. Reaching out, he took my hand, the pads of his thumbs rubbing against my flesh. Goosebumps rose on my skin, fast and all consuming, as if I’d broken out in a rash. “Wanna make sure I’m sticking to your mom’s ground rules.” How could he make the phrase “mom’s ground rules” sound sexy? I took a deep breath. He leaned closer, his gaze meeting mine. “I thought we could go on a real date.”
My heart lifted. “A date?”
He nodded. “Then we can be alone.”
I swallowed hard, my palms filling with sweat and my heart arresting. When I opened my mouth to say yes, Brooke plopped down across from us.
“That machine totally ate my quarter,” she practically shouted.
Melody slid onto the bench next to her. “You can have my soda if you want.”
“It worked for you?” Brooke’s eyes bugged out.
Melody nodded.
Sighing, I turned away from their stupid discussion about sugary drinks to face Nick. His eyebrows were raised as if awaiting my answer.
“No, I wanted diet coke,” Brooke was saying.
Were they seriously still talking about soda?
Ignoring them, I said, “Yeah, that’d be cool.” A smile broke on Nick’s face. I loved that I could make him smile like that.
“Oh, my god, that took forever!” Katie flung herself down on the bench next to me. It creaked and gave a little. I wanted to reach down and grip it to make sure I didn’t fall, but that would require letting go of Nick’s hand, and that wasn’t happening. Luckily, he lightly squeezed my fingers, keeping me steady.
“What did?” Brooke asked.
“Had to stay late in biology to finish my lab.” She groaned.
“Do you have Mrs. Brownstone? She’s the worst. You have her too, right, Remy?” Brooke asked. Couldn’t she see I was sort of in the middle of something? Irritation swam in my veins.
Nick winked at me, letting go of my hands. “We’ll talk later,” he said before turning toward his friends. It was actually sweet, leaving me to hang with my girlfriends. It was a move I would’ve totally appreciated in my 2018 life. Ian used to get all butthurt when I wanted to hang with Ava instead of him. But Brooke wasn’t Ava, and Nick wasn’t Ian.
Right now, Nick was like my best friend. He was really the only person I wanted to be with.
But Brooke was pretty much my only girlfriend right now, and I sort of needed her. “Yeah, I do,” I answered.
“Oh, my god, did you see what she was wearing today?” Brooke said, eyes wide.
“Yes! Her dress totally looked like a tablecloth,” Katie said.
While they all burst into laughter, I glanced over at Nick, wishing we could resume our conversation about Friday. But he was busy talking to the guys. Sighing, I took a bite of my sandwich.
Too bad it wasn’t Friday now.
TWELVE
I stared down at the folded-up piece of paper with my name on it that Brooke passed to me in class. Huh. I suppose this was as close to texting as we got in 1993. Opening it up, I smoothed it out with my hand.
Friday night. My place. Melody and Katie are coming too. Parents will be gone. I’ve got a full liquor cabinet and Buffy!
Buffy? Was that the name of her dog? And why had she put that in the same sentence with liquor. If only my memory wasn’t so limited. I always felt like I was missing something. Or everything.
Grabbing my pen, I scrawled my response.
I’m sorry. I can’t. Going out with Nick. Also, who’s Buffy?
Peering up, I waited until Mrs. Greene turned toward the board. Then I handed the note back to Brooke. After she read it, the corner of her lips curled downward. Uh oh. She wrote a fast response and then shoved the note back into my hand.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Duh. You know that’s my favorite movie. And you already promised you’d come over this Friday, remember?
My stomach knotted. I had promised. But surely she wouldn’t hold me to that. This was Nick we were talking about. And he had asked me out on our first date. This was huge.
Yeah, but that was before Nick asked me out.
Her response came fast. It was one line, written so sloppily it took me a minute to decipher it.
Chicks before dicks, Remy.
Wow. Vulgar.
Ava and I used to say “sisters before misters”. I suppose they both meant the same thing.
Okay. You’re right. I’ll talk to Nick.
Heart sinking, I held the note out to Brooke.
“Remy,” Mrs. Greene called out. “Is that something you want to share with the entire class?” Her gaze bounced down to the note. My face flamed. No freakin’ way. I had my phone taken away once in class, but the teacher didn’t read anything from it. Did teachers in the 90s read notes in front of the class? I’d legit die.
But Brooke saved me. “Sorry, Mrs. Greene. It was my notes. I dropped them, and Remy was handing them back.” Smiling sweetly, she plucked the note from my hand and set it down on her desk.
I wasn’t sure if Mrs. Greene believed her or not, but she resumed the lecture. Brooke winked at me. I exhaled with relief. Crisis averted.
Now I needed to figure out what to do about Friday night.
***
“Nick’s gonna be out of town on Saturday and Sunday with his parents. Friday night’s the only night we can go out,” I whined to Aunt Kelly later that night. I’d slyly brought up the weekend with Nick on the way home, hoping there was a possibility of moving our date night. No such luck.
“I say go for it then.” Aunt Kelly sat on the couch, legs tucked up underneath her. She picked up her wine glass and took a long sip. “I mean, you only live once, right?” Not only did 1993 Aunt Kelly look different; she acted different too. The Aunt Kelly I’d always known was all about women empowerment. She’d never choose a boy over her friends.<
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Which version of Aunt Kelly was right? Which one should I listen to?
“Nick and Remy sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.” Preston popped out from behind the couch, puckering up his lips and making kissing noises.
I swatted him away. “Grow up, Pres. God, you act like you’re still in elementary school.”
My slam on his maturity didn’t faze him at all. He kept on singing and making kissing noises. I rolled my eyes and groaned.
“Preston, that’s enough,” Aunt Kelly said, but she wasn’t very intimidating.
“What is going on out here?” Mom walked in the room.
Thank god. She’d get Preston to shut up.
“Remy has a daaate,” Preston said in that same sing-song voice.
I was going to punch him in his face.
“You do?” Mom raised a brow. “With Nick?”
Preston opened his mouth, no doubt gearing up for another song, when Mom held up her hand. “No more, Pres.” Frowning, he sulked from the room.
Once he was gone, Mom threw me that questioning look again.
“Well, I’m supposed to have a date with Nick on Friday night…but…” I glance over at Aunt Kelly.
“She doubled booked herself,” Aunt Kelly responded for me.
Mom made her way across the family room and plopped down on the recliner. “Two dates?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Brooke and I sorta had plans to hang out Friday night, but then Nick asked me on a date. And, really, I had completely forgotten that I even said I’d go to Brooke’s.”
“If you made plans with Brooke first, then that’s what you need to do,” Mom said.
“Yeah, I think I’m gonna go with Aunt Kelly’s answer.”
Mom’s head whipped in her sister’s direction. “And what was that? Or do I even want to know?”
“I told her to go on the date. She can have girl’s night anytime.” She raised her glass. “You only live once, right?”
“Says the woman who’s living on her sister’s couch,” Mom answered dryly.
Ouch.
Aunt Kelly frowned into her wine glass before taking another sip. Well, more than a sip. Actually, she finished off the glass. Then she poured another.
Maybe I shouldn’t take advice from her.
“Rem, you don’t want to be the kind of girl who cancels her plans with her friends to be with some boy.” Mom leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees.
“But Nick isn’t some boy.” And Brooke, Katie and Melody weren’t really my friends. At least they weren’t until a couple of weeks ago.
“If that’s true, then he’ll understand when you tell him you already had plans. He’ll probably even respect you for it.” Mom smiled.
Man, my mom was out of touch.
But she also wasn’t wrong.
My first date with Nick, and I was going to have to cancel. Talk about major suckage.
***
After swiping on some lip-gloss, I slipped into my shoes and fluffed my hair. I’d never used so much hairspray in my life. My fine, thin strands had a tough time keeping up with the nineties style. Sighing, I grabbed my overnight bag and headed toward the front door. I was sure I’d have a good time at Brooke’s. It just wasn’t what I wanted to do tonight. I still couldn’t believe I had to cancel with Nick.
He was cool about it though.
Too cool.
Irritatingly cool.
It’s not like I wanted him to be possessive or weird about it, but it would have been nice for him to put up some kind of fight. But he was all like, “Oh, yeah? Girl’s night? That’s cool. I totally get it. Don’t worry. We’ll go out another night.”
But when?
He never said.
Ugh. This night better not suck.
The rest of my family was out to dinner, but Aunt Kelly said I could drive her car. So, I grabbed her keys and headed outside. The air was crisp, and goosebumps rose on my bare legs. Stupid floral dresses. Why did I own so many?
“I’m not the one being ridiculous. You are!” Nick’s angry growl stopped me in my tracks.
“You watch your tone, young man,” A man’s voice boomed.
That’s when I spotted Nick and his dad in their doorway.
“Oh, that’s right. We’re not allowed to disagree with you,” Nick shot back. “Even if what you’re saying makes no sense.”
His dad moved closer to Nick. My shoulders stiffened.
“That’s enough!”
“Agreed.” Nick puffed out his chest. “I’m outta here.”
“Cool down before you come back.” The minute Nick stepped out of the doorway, his dad slammed the door behind him. When Nick reached his car, he hit his palms against the hood, muttering a bunch of what I was assuming was cuss words. From where I stood, I couldn’t understand them.
My insides sagged. I’d never seen Nick like this.
Hurrying across the lawn, I walked up behind him.
“Nick?” I spoke tentatively, tucking my finger under the strap of my overnight bag.
He froze, his neck craning. His eyes were red, his face drawn. My heart pinched. I took a step forward, coming around to stand beside him.
“You okay?”
“Fine.” He sniffed, wiping his eyes. His tone was raspy.
Had he been crying?
My hand moved as if it had a mind of its own, landing on Nick’s arm. My fingertips skated across his bare skin. “You don’t seem fine.”
He swallowed hard and shook his head. “Doesn’t matter.”
When our gazes met, he stopped being Nick. I mean, okay, technically he was still Nick. But he was no longer the popular, hot boy next door I’d been fantasizing about for years. He was simply a boy with real feelings, emotions and problems. A boy I liked a lot – not because he was hot or popular or because I’d been dreaming of being with him since forever, but because he was real and kind. And because I liked the person he was.
“It matters to me.” My gaze flickered to his house. “I heard you and your dad fighting.”
“He’s being a dick.” His jaw flexed.
“About what?”
“Nothing.” He blew out a breath. He glanced down at my overnight bag. “Anyway, don’t you have a girl’s night to get to?”
Surely, Brooke could start girl’s night without me. “I can stay a little longer.” I dropped the bag on the ground as if to prove it. I’d send a text to let Brooke know I was running late. She’d understand. Reaching into my pocket, I fished around, but it was empty.
Oh. Right. Duh.
I extracted my fingers and offered Nick a gentle smile. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“It’s really nothing.” He waved away my question. “Go, have fun with your friends.”
“They can wait,” I assured him. “It’s not like we’re doing anything crazy. Just watching Buffy.”
Nick chuckled. “Ahh, yeah. Brooke loves that movie.”
He said it with such familiarity, my stomach knotted. What was their history? Had they been closer than friends? Were they now? No, stop it Rem. Don’t let your imagination go wild. They’re just friends. That was totes obvious.
My gaze locked with his. “I want to be here…with you,” I said softly.
“A couple of days ago you were pretty adamant about going to Brooke’s tonight,” he said, and his tone carried a hint of bitterness.
It should’ve bothered me. It didn’t.
I was a sucker.
“Are you trying to get rid of me?” I cocked an eyebrow.
He laughed, running a hand through his hair. “Never. I…well, I don’t wanna be that guy.”
“What guy?”
“The guy that makes you miss girl’s night.”
My heart flipped in my chest. “You’re not making me do anything,” I said firmly. “And I’m not leaving, so stop asking me to.”
Flashing me that amused smile of his, he said, “Okay.” Then he leaned his back against the hood of his car and he
ld out his arms. “C’mere.”
Now we’re talking. I stepped forward, and he wound his arms around my waist. Yeah, so much better than a movie at Brooke’s. Pressing my face into his chest, I took a whiff of his familiar scent. God, he smelled good. I could never place it, but it made my pulse race, my palms sweat. It was like every good thing a boy could smell like – leather, mint, soap, some of kind of spicy deodorant. I don’t know, but I liked it. His chin rested on the top of my head.
“Remember how I told you we were going out of town tomorrow?”
I nodded, my skin rubbing against his shirt. His muscles flexed underneath my cheek. The shirt was paper thin, almost like he wasn’t wearing one. Just like he wouldn’t be wearing one this summer when we went swimming. Swimming. In the pool. Wearing bathing suits. Oh, man. Focus on what he’s saying, Remy.
“We were supposed to visit my sister.” A car drove down the street. The wind blew over us. I shivered. He held me tighter.
I lifted my head. “Were?”
“Yeah.” His jaw did that flexing thing again. His muscles clenched. “Dad doesn’t wanna go now.”
Weird. I remember thinking that Stacey and her dad were tight, always playing catch in the yard and laughing and stuff. I only remembered it because it used to make me miss my dad even more.
He let go of me and stepped away from his car, his back to me. “I mean, I don’t get it. He’s always on me saying that ever since we moved here I’ve changed. That I’m not myself. But Stacey’s finally being herself, and he’s trippin’.” His shoulders visibly stiffened. “And how did he not already know? Mom and I did. It was so obvious. He must’ve been in denial.” He’s rambling, but I let him. “And who cares anyway? It’s not like it’s hurting him. It’s her life.” He spun around to face me. “And she’s finally happy, you know?” I didn’t know. I had no clue what he was talking about. But, like an idiot, I nodded. “It’s not like she can help who she loves.”
Ahh, gotcha. “That’s what this is all about? Your sister’s gay?”
He blinked, then laughed lightly. “Yeah. Sorry. Probably should’ve led with that.”
I shook my head. “Nah, it’s okay. I got it.”