After buying ice cream and talking a little, we walked back to the house. I was just too fed up from the house so it felt good just going out for a bit. Although I've been going out a lot these days, hanging out with Will alone was a really good change. He was a funny guy, always joking and not giving a fuck about the world.
I realized that being with Will felt different than being with Ryan. He had a different personality than Ryan. He was funnier and more carefree, while Ryan just felt...safe. Will would joke around a lot and make fun of me, but Ryan never says anything that may sound the least bit of offensive. It's not like Will is disrespectful or anything, but he's just taking everything so easy. Also, Ryan seems to have this sense of sophistication and caution that Will tends to lack.
It was just an ongoing list of differences between the two, but I could definitely admit that I've enjoyed Will's company just as much as I enjoyed Ryan's.
Will caught my hand and stopped me in front of the door.
"I gotta say that stealing your ice cream 10 years ago was worth it," he says.
"Oh yeah?"
"Well, we wouldn't be standing here if it didn't happen," he gives me a side-smile.
"I did have fun so yeah, I guess it was worth it," I shrug. "Still, don't try to steal any food from me or you'll be cursed for the rest of your life."
"Noted," he nodded then started narrowing his eyes at me. "You're a piece of work, aren't you, Nicole?"
I smile at him then enter the house. I find Kat and Rosie in the kitchen, fixing dinner. I follow the smell to the stove and open the pot to meet the amazing fragrance of the soup.
"Look who is back," Rosie said, mixing some salt in the soup then tasting it.
"Can I taste too?" I ask.
"Wait for dinner," Kat said, "Where were you, two?"
"Just out," I answer, sitting next to Will on the counter.
"Get down there or else it'll break with both of you on it," Kat scolded. I roll my eyes and jump down from the counter. Will doesn't move, but, instead, he fetches his phone from his pocket and scrolls down through it. Cody comes back to the kitchen and sits on the barstool.
"What are we having for dinner?" He asks, and when no one answers him, Rosie did.
"We're having chicken soup with garlic bread and some pure di patate," Rose said.
"What?" Both Will and Cody asked in unison.
"Mashed potatoes," I tell them. They frown at me in confusion, and I shrug, "I know my Spanish."
"It's Italian," Rosie corrects me.
"Yeah, I know my Italian…too." The thing is that I actually saw Kat mashing those potatoes, so I didn't exactly know any Spanish or Italian. Will chuckles and goes back to his phone.
It was quite tense at the dinner table. No one said a word. Each just focused on their plates and eating their food silently. Rosie was really the only one trying to open an actual conversation.
"So how's school?" She asked.
"Fine," Cody replied, playing with his food.
"Nicole?" Rosie raises her eyebrows at me.
"Oh, I don't go to school," I say bluntly.
"Really? Why?"
"She didn't find herself there," Cody air-quoted my words in a tone that sounded rather mocking. I frown at him, "Why are you saying it like that?"
"Like what?" He asked in fake innocence.
"Like you're mocking my words."
"Am I?" He asks, looking confused as if I just accused him of something he hasn't done. I roll my eyes and blow my anger through my nose to let the steam out so I could calm down. Everyone noticed what was happening, and it just built up the tension in the air even more. Then again, within every tension, there's someone who tries to cool it down.
"You know, Will, you're going back to school tomorrow," Rosie declares.
"Pure bliss," Will exclaims sarcastically.
"It is a bliss for them to accept you," Rosie trails off, muttering the last words. As if she said it unintentionally loud, she looks around the table with wide eyes. "Anyway, Cody can take you with him if he doesn't mind."
"Of course, he doesn't mind," Kat said her first words since we sat on this dinner table.
"I don't really need a ride from him," Will said.
"Don't say that, cuz," Cody taps Will on the back. "I'll let you tag along."
"Yeah, thanks…cuz."
After dinner, I helped Kat with the dishes, while Rosie was upstairs talking with Will. Kat started wrapping the leftovers and placing them in the fridge, while I rearranged the kitchen and cleaning the dinner table. Cody would usually help us in this, but he was not here at the moment.
"Kat, I wanted to talk to you about something," I start.
"Sure, what is it?"
"I wanna go back to school."
Lat stops and looks at me in surprise. "What?"
"I wanna go back to school," I repeat.
"Are you serious?"
"Absolutely."
"If it's about what Cody did—"
"No, no, it's nothing about that," I say."I've actually taken this decision a while ago, but I was waiting for you to come back so I could tell you about it."
"This is amazing! I'm really glad you said that," she looked genuinely happy by my decision. We talked about it more for a bit, and she told me she'll prepare everything as soon as she can so I can go back. The school year had started for only a month now, so I will be able to keep up easily once I'm there.
"Tomorrow, I can take you to the principal and talk to him about letting you in with Will."
"Cool."
I text Ryan about everything, and I could literally read his excitement in his messages. He even asks to see me right now. He says he has something to tell me, and it can't be told through texts or calls. I check the time to find it 9 PM, and I know that I have to take permission this time with Kat in the house. I ask Kat and tell her that I'm meeting a friend, but she obviously asks more questions.
"Is it a guy friend?"
"Yes."
"Boyfriend?" She asks with excitement showing on her face.
"Boy friend, yes," I say, stressing on the friend part. I don't really know what Ryan and I are at the moment, but I know we're not just friends. She smiled at me for a few seconds before I left her in the kitchen by herself.
Ryan tells me to meet him outside Teddy's, the coffee shop that the gang always hangs out at. I walk there and find him leaning on his car, scrolling down his phone then placing it near his ear.
"Hey, man, where are you?" He says. I walk to him and wave with a smile. He smiles back at me and leans over to give me a quick hug and a peck on the cheek.
"Yeah, I'm right in front of it," he pauses to listen, " No, I don't see you—oh, never mind, I see you now." He waves his hand and hangs up. I look behind me and see a figure walking towards us, which I don't recognize. He grins at me, "How are you?"
"Fine," I respond. "You?"
He nods, "Fine." His eyes look away from me to greet his friend. They greet each other, doing this whole bro hug thing with the handshake, which I still don't quite understand until now, despite having guy friends.
"Hey, dude, how are you doing?" Ryan's friend said before turning to look at me with the same expression I'm wearing on my face.
"Bro, this is—"
"Nicole Shadow," Dylan interrupts Ryan with a frown starting across his face.
"Good guess?" Ryan asked. "You two know each other?"
"He's one of my best friends, Ryan," I say.
"You mean 'the guys'?" He air-quoted and I nod.
"How do you two know each other?"Dylan asked.
"We met at a party," Ryan slung his arm around my shoulder, and I notice Dylan's eyes follow the movement. I also notice him starting to get tensed up, rolling his palms into fists and narrowing his eyes at Ryan.
"So you, guys, are friends?" I ask.
"Of course, we're old buddies," Ryan said. "Right, mate?"
"This is your boyfriend?" Dylan pointed at Ryan.
"Oh, God! Have you been talking to Cody lately?"
"He told me you've been hanging out with some douche we don't know."
"Yup, that douche is me," Ryan remarks next to me.
"Don't say that, D. I was gonna tell you about it."
"Yeah, right, when?"
"In the right time."
"Cody told me about this, and he was right; you stopped telling us anything." By then, I was starting to boil inside. Who did he think he is, coming up to me and repeating nonsense shit he heard from that asshole Cody.
"Oh really? Did Cody also tell you about this?" With one hand, I grabbed Ryan's collar, and with the other, I pulled his face to smash my lips against his. I didn’t give a shit about Dylan nor Cody, nor did I give a shit about the whole world. I just kissed Ryan with all my might, and it felt so damn right. A part of me was doing this show Dylan who the real boss is, but a huge part of me was doing this for the feel of it. And let me tell you, it felt fucking great.
Just when I felt Ryan's palm touch my cheek, and as his arm started creeping around my back, the poor guy was sent flying to the rough concrete. Dylan was glaring at Ryan on the floor with both his hands coiled into fists. He strides towards Ryan again, but I stand in front of him and push his chest hard.
"STOP IT, DYLAN!" I yell at him, "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"
Ryan stands back up, wiping his now bloody nose, "So much for this friendship, right brother?"
"You son of a—"
"Whoa, whoa, calm down, dude," Cody shows up from nowhere, pulling Dylan's steamy face away from Ryan.
"Great! Now you're stalking me," I remark sarcastically.
"Well, excuse me, Nicole, for this, but I don't really know what you're up to anymore," and that was the only thing Cody told me before leaving with Dylan.
After a few seconds of silence in the atmosphere, where it was basically just me and Ryan staring into the direction the guys left us in, I say, "Now that's some drama you won't find in high school."
"I agree," I hear Ryan's voice getting closer behind me before he faced me. "But I liked it," he smirked.
"Oh, yeah?" My voice came out hoarse and quieter than I planned.
"Oh, yeah," he whispered before softly brushing his lips against mine. Unlike the first one, this felt gentle and light. It felt like I was laying all my troubles aside for another day. It felt like a heavy burden was being gradually carried off my shoulders and leaving me free of all the problems.
He slowly lets go of my lips and opens his eyes to look at me dearly. We're both breathing unevenly, looking at each other in similar ways.
"Hey, Shadow," he whispers, "Be my girlfriend."
It wasn't a question, but rather sounded like a demand.
"Are you for real?" I ask, out of breath.
"Is that a yes?"
"No," I cause him to frown. "It's an absolutely."
ns 15.158.61.20da2
