Chapter 7

7

18 years old - Nick

" N ick!" my mom yells. "Seriously, wake up now and come down for lunch! I won't repeat myself!" I sigh, cocooning myself inside my blanket. So. Tired. It's Sunday now, two days since Tabitha's party. I feel like the worst is officially behind me, but I am still dealing with the aftermath.

"Nick!" she calls again.

"I'm up!" I yell back at her. I put on my sweatpants and grab the T-shirt that I wore last. It's still damp from the rain the day before yesterday. I pick up another one that is lying on the floor. My clothes from that night are still scattered all over. My room looks like a mess. After I came home that morning, I immediately crashed and only left the bed yesterday to get my pizza from the delivery guy.

"Jesus, Mom," I answer her, annoyed. "Calm down, I am up." I rub my eyes and run my hand through my hair, hesitating to open the door and face the world today.

I yank the handle open to find my mom glaring at me with her hands on her hips . "Look, Jeremy, he is still alive after all," she yells to my dad.

I go back to my bed and pull my phone off the charger before following my mom downstairs. My dad is waiting there at our dining table, shaking his head and chuckling as he sees me. "Must have been some party you went to, Nick," he says. No kidding, Dad.

There is already fresh coffee brewing as I grab a mug from one of the cabinets. I glance at the table filled with our lunch. Although my mom is an amazing cook, her pasta dish and garden salad don't look so appetizing right now. I don't get why people get addicted to pills—the aftereffects are fucking horrible. I feel like all of my brain cells are zapped dead and my body feels like shit.

Then again, my mind keeps reminding me of how amazing it felt to be inside Lily like I was, how connected and open I felt during our conversation. I struggle sometimes to find the right thing to say to her, with her not being much of a talker when it comes to her feelings, but Friday night…Friday night, I just said whatever was on my mind. And she did the same.

I wonder how she feels about it. We slept for a little bit in the car after we had sex, but we haven't had a chance to talk about it properly yet. Lily and I woke up to her mom calling her and telling her to come home, so I dropped her off where her car was and we went our separate ways. We have been texting each other, but we have mostly been sleeping the comedown off. I am guessing she feels as horrible as I do because, for two people who probably just had the best fuck of their lives, the back-and-forth messages are pretty sparse.

I grin as I sip my coffee and take it to the dining table. My parents are there, looking at each other, then at me, then back at each other. They must be sensing that something happened last night. They know it has been quite the adjustment for me to be back here. I was livid at my dad when I found out we were going to move overseas five years ago, and even angrier at him when Lily stopped talking to me once we were in Japan. They blame it on teenage angst but knew it was more than that.

My parents decided to move back here when I was finally at a good place in my life. I had friends, a few girlfriends over the years, and was doing relatively well at school. They were scared of what the move and seeing Lily again would do to me. When my mom found out from her cousin, who is a teacher at Elsham Cove High, that Lily had a boyfriend, they were afraid I would act out once we got to Elsham Cove. And I did. I am sure they have noticed the smell of weed and tip-toeing girls coming out of my room. But it's going to be different now. I feel it.

"You're smiling from ear to ear. That's a new one," my dad comments. "You had a good night, I take it?"

Just as I am about to answer him, my phone rings. It's Taylor. My mom reaches for the ignore button. We have a rule in our house that we always eat lunch on Sunday together, without gadgets or guests, just the three of us. Taylor calls again. And again. And again. On his fourth try, I grab my phone and put it next to my ear, earning a glare from my mom.

"Hey, have you seen the senior group chat?" he asks me in a panicked voice.

"No. Why?"

"Open it."

"I'll do it tonight, man. Is it an assignment or something?"

"No, Nick. Fucking open it," he repeats himself, this time sounding sterner than before. "There is a picture of you and Lily. From Friday."

I mumble to my parents that there is a project that I forgot about that's due on Monday, not sure how much they overheard from the conversation I had with Taylor. I rush to my room and close the door, locking it. Whatever it is, it can't be good and I don't want my parents to see it. It either has drugs involved, or alcohol, or... Shit .

I open the group chat with the highest number of new notifications, scrolling up and stopping at a picture that caused all my classmates to go wild a few hours ago. Raindrops can be seen on the window, somewhat covering us, but it is clear as day what we are doing inside that goddamn car.

I take a quick shower and make a beeline toward the garage. She has been ignoring my calls. I don't want to leave the house today, but what choice do I have right now? I hear my mom calling for me as soon as she sees me open the front door. I continue my lie about the nonexistent project, moving my mouth at the same speed my feet are moving.

A twenty-minute drive later, I arrive at the sketchy neighborhood and park outside the rundown house I have been visiting once a week for the past few months. Most people at school usually only come here for one thing—to get some weed. Unfortunately, I was a fucking idiot and started coming here for another kind of escape as well. Never making that mistake again.

I see her brother sitting on the front porch. "What's up, Nick? Do you need something today?"

"Not today, man. I'm here to see your sister. Is she here?" I answer him, cutting right to the chase. He shrugs.

Cameron starts talking to me about the weather when the door behind me opens, and I see Sienna. She crosses her hands in front of her chest and smirks at me.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I ask as I glare at her.

"I thought I'd debut your new relationship and save you the trouble of announcing it yourself," she mocks me. "I'll delete it from my phone under one condition."

My jaw tightens. I don't want to give her any more of my time. Besides, every single senior in that chat probably already saw it, but I entertain her. "What?"

"Dump her."

I laugh in disbelief at what she is suggesting. This girl is fucking nuts, but I was thinking with my dick too much to see it.

"This fight you two have going on is ridiculous, but you crossed a fucking line this time!"

Sienna's evil smirk suddenly turns into a big grin, her icy blue eyes following something behind me. As I turn around to get a glimpse of what she's seeing, I spot Tabitha's car driving past us. Lily sits in the passenger seat of the car, looking disgusted that she has found me here.