I arrive back at the house around 6, hoping that the guys won't somehow notice my absence for the past 4 hours. Ryan and I lost track of time as we chattered and talked about random things. He mostly talked about things that happened in school—lots and lots of drama. I don't know if he was trying to make like school or push me away from it. I have to say though that as he told some of his stories, I would think, "Damn, I wish I was there."
I remove my black converse and sneak up to my room quickly in my mismatching socks. No one in the living room sees me so I quickly run upstairs and in my room. I sit for a while in my room, thinking of an excuse to tell them. When it takes me too long to find something, I mutter to myself, "Screw this, I don't need an excuse. They're not my parents."
I open my bedroom door and find Will right in front of it.
"Where have you been all this time?" He asks.
"I could ask the same thing," I move past him. As I go down the stairs, I tie my shirt around my waist.
"Fair enough."
I enter the living room and find Kyle and Jordan playing on the PS, and Cody was talking on the phone.
"Yeah, make it stuffed crust. Can I have wedges with this too?" Cody said, "Great. Add a 2-liter bottle of Coke, too."
"Are we ordering pizza?" I ask.
"Yup," Jordan replied. "Where have you been, by the way?"
"Nowhere," I say just as Cody hangs up with the pizza guy.
"Nicole, where the hell have you been?" Cody asks and I grunt in annoyance. How many times am I going to hear this question?
"She was with me," Will said, and we all look at him. "She was just showing me around."
Then they look at me and I nod quickly. "Yeah, yes, we were just…hanging around."
Cody doesn't seem to buy it, but he just lets it pass.
After pizza, I went up to fix the guest room for Will. I had nothing to do, so I thought why not? In about an hour, I was just adding the sheets to the bed.
"I didn't know you did cleaning," Will entered the room.
"I made an exception," I smile. I leave him to go to Cody's room to grab Will's suitcase. I bring it back to the guestroom, "Now, you just have to unpack."
He unzips his bag and starts bringing out clothes. I lean on the door frame and stand, watching him unpack. He glances at me but doesn't say anything.
"Where were you in the morning?" I ask.
"I could ask the same thing," he repeats what I said earlier. He folds the last shirt then places the pile of shirts in his closet. "I'll tell you if you tell me."
"I was meeting up with a friend," I say vaguely.
"I was meeting up with a friend, too."
I get what he was doing. He was being as vague as I was. I was curious to know where he was, I don't know why.
"I was at the park having lunch with a friend," I tell him.
"And I was looking for a job," he says.
"A job?" I frown.
"Yeah, I need some cash." He leaves a framed picture on his nightstand and goes to organize some books on the desk.
"And did you find a job?" I raise the frame to look at a picture of Will and a big group at the beach. He had his arm wrapped around one girl in a striped bikini with an awfully amazing body. She had her long, purple-dyed hair brought to one side, and her sunglasses were swept above her head. The both grinned brightly and happily while everyone else did silly poses.
"I did," Will said, "I found one at a small bar with fair money."
I don't answer him and still stare at the picture. It was silent for a few seconds when speaks again.
"Are you even listening?"
"Oh, sorry, I just got distracted," I return the frame back to its place and his eyes follow the movement. "Nice picture."
"Yeah," I noticed a change in his face. His features became darker and I realize something close to secrecy coming out. I get the feeling like he didn't want to talk about it like it was a sensitive subject to him so I don't push it.
When I go downstairs, I find Cody, Kyle, and Jordan watching TV. Apparently, Dylan forgot about a family dinner tonight, and his mom called to ask where he's been. Dylan comes from a rich family. His dad owns a couple hotels in different states, and his mom has her own clothing line. They always throw these fancy parties and expensive events. On thanksgiving, Dylan invited us all for their annual thanksgiving fiesta, and let me tell you that it's definitely not our thing. To say the least, we are not ones to be invited to such things. Heck, I wear my hat backward, thus, I'm a bad influence.
We spent a lazy night with junk food and TV. Through the whole time, Will didn't come down at all. I decided I'd talk to him in the morning, but as for now, I'd rather just go to sleep.
Once Kat and Rosie entered the house in the morning, the place reverberated with laughter. They were wearing matching beach dresses, each with a different color, along with their sunglasses and huge round hats. They looked like little kids who just came back from the amusement park. Rosie was even carrying a balloon.
"Look who came back!" Will said from the kitchen counter then he left his breakfast and walked towards Rosie to kiss her cheek.
"Great! Now we have parental guidance again," Cody joked.
"Hey, kids, have you been behaving?" Kat came to Cody and me and ruffled both our hair.
"I don't know about that—" Cody kicks my leg from under the counter, and I scowl.
"What do you mean? Did anything happen?" Kay lays her hat and shades down and turns around to the fridge.
Cody leans close to me and whispers, "What do you want?"
"A fifty."
"fifty? No way!"
"Fine," I whisper. "Kat, you won't believe what Cody—"
"Alright!" He kicks again and I kick back.
"What's wrong, Nicole?" Kat looked at all of us suspiciously, including Will, who was now chuckling. "What did Cody do?"
"He cleaned the house," I say and actually hear a sigh of relief next to me. "He even cleaned the room, and he changed the sheets of your bed for no particular reason."
Kat looked around the house then back at us. "Well, I'm impressed. I thought I'd come back to a big pile of garbage, but it's actually clean."
"And she fixed the guest room for me," Will exclaimed.
"Well, maybe we should go on vacations more often," Rosie said and Kat nodded in agreement.
Kat and Rosie told us about their trip and how much they enjoyed. Kat mentioned something about a man at the bar, who bought her a drink. Both of them talk about how handsome he is and what a true gentleman he was being back at the bar. Both, Cody and Will, tensed up at the conversation, especially Cody, who seemed rather angry by the whole idea.
"Who's that douche?" Cody asked.
"Cody don't say that about him," Kat said, "His name is Marc."
"Is he your boyfriend?"
"Why do you always think that?" I ask, remembering the way he interrogated me about Ryan a few days ago.
"Cody, he's a nice guy," Rosie said, "and it looks like he's trying to get closer to Kat."
"He better stay away because I don't trust him," Cody folds his arms together and leans back in his chair.
"You haven't even met him," Kat complains.
"Then, I wanna meet him before you two start going out."
"Cody, I hope you didn't forget that I'm your mother, and I can go out with whoever I want without your permission," Kat left the kitchen and Rosie followed her to her room probably. Just seconds later, Kat strides back to the kitchen, "And why aren't you in school?" Then she left again.
"Dude, what is your problem?" I ask him before going to my room.
I change into black jeans that are ripped at the knees and a green muscle shirt with "GEEK" written on it with white. I wear a collar necklace and my black converse and leave my room. Before I can knock on Will's room, he opens the door and grins at me. Something happens inside me, but I ignore it.
"Look at the odds. I was just coming to find you," he said, "Turns out you come knocking on my bedroom door."
"Keep your mind in your head and don't let it take you away. I was just coming to check if the ice cream offer is still on."
"Well, yes, it is. I was actually coming to ask you about it."
"Great, I'm ready."
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