“Do you want some popcorn or a brownie?”
His grandpa’s mouth moved as if he was going to say something, but no words came out.
“I’ll get you a little of everything, okay?” Nick said.
I stood up. “I can get the snacks.”
I went over to the table and the nurse gave me a tray. “Mr. Jenkins loves the buttered popcorn, but make sure he drinks a lot of water with it so he doesn’t choke,” he said.
I picked up the tray with the snacks and Nick pulled up one of the little tables.
“Here’s some water for your grandpa,” I said, handing him the cup with the straw. His grandpa put his hands out to hold it, but Nick held it for him and positioned the straw for him. I looked around the room as the other residents came in and realized Mr. Jenkins was one of the youngest people there. There was a group of older people who walked in and acted almost like me and my friends going to a movie. They picked up their drinks and popcorn with no problem. I watched Nick as he stared over at them with a frown on his face.
“So I hear you like Elizabeth Taylor,” I said to Mr. Jenkins.
He looked at me. “Oh yes, Elizabeth Taylor.”
Nick smiled. “We’re watching A Place in the Sun.”
“She was good in that,” Mr. Jenkins said.
Nick turned to me excitedly. “Wow, he picked up on that. Did you see that? He knew who you meant and everything.”
I nodded and tried to match his enthusiasm. Nick’s grandpa was the same age as mine and yet my grandfather was out at an indoor driving range today with his friend. It was so unfair.
I looked across the room and saw Pilar sitting there with her parents and grandma. She was texting on her phone and chewing gum. The nurses went to dim the lights and turn on the film.
Everyone stopped talking and suddenly I became aware of the sound of people using oxygen tanks.
Nick leaned over. “I’m sorry if this is weird or whatever for you. If you want me to take you home, I will.”
“Are you kidding? I have a brownie, gummies, and popcorn, and there’s an older man over there who looks like Jack Brogger’s grandpa—it’s like seeing into the future. I wouldn’t leave even if you made me.”
“So you’re staying so you can observe what you future husband, Jack, will look like?”
“Well, that and the company’s not so bad,” I said.
“Gee, thanks.”
I realized he was feeling vulnerable exposing that side of his life to me and that it had to be weird for him. I slipped my arm through his and leaned over to whisper in his ear.
“What are the chances you’ll end up looking like your grandpa?”
He shrugged. “I dunno. I guess he kind of looked like me when he was younger. Why?”
“Just trying to figure out which horse to bet on,” I said.
He started to laugh. “Who’s winning? Me or Jack?”
“So far you are.”
“Good to know.”
His grandpa was having a little difficulty with his popcorn, getting it all over his cardigan. Nick looked over at me nervously.
“I like him to have his independence, so if he can feed himself then…”
I nodded. “I get it. Just make sure he takes some water with it. The nurses mentioned that to me.”
“This doesn’t bother you?”
I shook my head. “Why would it?”
He didn’t say anything. His grandpa coughed and I picked up the water cup and held the straw up to Mr. Jenkins’ lips. When he had had enough, he sat back and I shook the cup.
“It’s getting low. I’ll refill it,” I said, getting up. The nurse filled the cup for me and I sat back down. Nick reached over and held my hand. I looked over at him and we smiled at each other. He squeezed my hand and we went back to watching the movie. I glanced over to the other side of the room when I heard someone coughing and noticed Pilar staring at me.
The movie ended and a lot of the people clapped.
“What did you think?” he asked.
“It was great.”
He turned to his grandpa. “Did you like the movie?”
Mr. Jenkins nodded. “She’s classy.”
Nick laughed. “Grandpa, do you need to use the restroom?”
Mr. Jenkins said he did and Nick said he was going to take him to find a nurse and asked if I’d be okay sitting there until he got back.
“It could take a while.”
“No worries,” I said.
They left the events room and suddenly I was aware of someone sitting next to me. I looked over and Pilar was there.
“So this place royally sucks,” she said.
“Oh, um…it’s not so bad.”
She raised her eyebrows at me. “Are you kidding me? I’m here all the time and part of the place smells like an unflushed toilet and I feel like the angel of death just walked past me.”
“Is your grandma a resident here?” I asked.
“Yeah, my mom likes us to come to visit as much as possible. She says her generation wasn’t lucky enough to grow up with grandparents so we should appreciate it.”
“Oh?”
“Her family is from Japan, and after the whole bombings there—well, radiation doesn’t just go away over the years so there has been a lot of cancer over the generations.”
“Oh my gosh.”
“Yeah. My grandparents didn’t even live near those areas where the bombs were dropped, but like I said, that crap spreads. My mom’s dad was literally sick almost her whole life and he died when she was fifteen. So my grandma’s been through a lot having to take care of him and her kids too.”
I didn’t know what to say.
She shrugged. “I hate seeing Grandma like this. She used to be a strong lady—she had to be with all she’s been through.”
“Pilar, we’re going to take Grandma out for some fresh air,” Pilar’s mother said. “It’s so nice out today.”
“Mom, this is a friend from school, Hadley.”
“Oh, I remember you from the Fourth of July party,” Mrs. Ito said. “Nice to see you again.”
That party was the night Nick kissed me for the first time.
“Nice to see you again too.”
“Well, see ya later,” Pilar said.
That was the longest conversation I had ever had with her and I realized I didn’t know anything about her. I always assumed she was just Morgan’s little minion, but now I realized she had been dealing with a lot more in her family life. Maybe I had misjudged her.
Nick came back in with his grandpa.
“Is your grandpa tired or would he want to go outside for a bit? Mrs. Ito said it was nice out,” I said.
“Grandpa, you up for going outdoors?” Nick asked.
Mr. Jenkins nodded and we stopped by his room for a jacket in case he got cold. It kind of threw me that we had to go through so many doors with alarms on them to get outside. Made sense that they didn’t want patients wandering outside and getting lost, but it made me wonder how the residents felt. After all, it made me feel a little locked up and I knew I was going to be able to leave whenever I wanted.
“There’s a pond over that way and we can see a little of the lake from there. The view’s nice,” Nick said, pointing over to some benches. I nodded and he pushed his grandpa’s wheelchair over. “Want to sit for a bit?”
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.
Competing With the Star (Star #2) Page 5