What Love Has Lost (13 page)

Rolling her eyes, she answers. "It's never a pleasant sight to frown, because you want your guests to stay for another round."

I raise my eyebrow as I listen to the catchy phrase. Not saying anything, Alyce places a genuine smile across her porcelain face. At least it's a more pleasant sight to see, compared to Hattie's smile. I honestly think she has claws on those fingers.

We all gather around the dining table. Nathan and Hattie sit next to each other. Nathan is across from me. Alyce is on one side of me and Roger is on the other side. Nathan's mother is sitting next to Hattie.

"Okay, everybody let us pray." Nathan's mother says, grabbing each person's hand.

Closing our eyes, she continues to bless our food with the Lord's Prayer.

♠♣♥♦

Hattie and the rest of the family starts howling about whatever happened in the past.

"I remember Nathan took all my makeup and placed it all over his face!" she reminds him.

He never tells me anything about his embarrassing moments. I guess I don't know Nathan as much as I thought I would. I bet Hattie wants to impress him so much, he'll probably choose her over me!

Laughing, she takes a sip of her glass of water. I just hope she chokes on her food or something!

"I was five years old! I didn't know makeup was for girls!" Nathan exclaims, trying to cover up his embarrassment.

"Oh, you haven't told me anything about your childhood. Tell me more, Nate." I suggest, placing a hand onto my cheek. Nathan glares at me, but I bat my eyes, wondering if my charms will make him yield.

He clears his throat. "Mom, is there any desert for us?" he asks, trying to avoid me.

We finish our dinner and desert. Roger and Nathan walk outside in the backyard. Hattie and I help Nathan's mother to clear the table and wash the dishes. However, Hattie rudely bumps into me. "Oops, sorry." She pretends to apologize.

How much does this girl hate me?

"So, Mrs. Hampton, I have a present for you, your husband, Alyce and Nathan." She shrills.

Everytime she runs her mouth, nails on chalkboard screeches in my ear. Is this jealously? I don't think it is because Nathan has a chance with me, more than this wicked bitch of the West. Sure, she has known Nate more than I have, but he shares his feelings towards me. However, I can never be so sure about it.

"Oh, you didn't have to!" she obliges.

Hattie turns around and faces me. "Stay away from Nathan; he's mine. He's been my best friend, since we were in diapers, and I think I have a better shot with him. Do we have an agreement?" Hattie spats.

"I'm sorry...what?" I ask, acting oblivious towards her.

"Nathan likes me, and I like him as well. So, don't do anything reckless to ruin our relationship!" Hattie finishes and bumps me on purpose.

I so want to wring her neck right now!

Chapter Twelve

Why So Jealous?

When Nate and I dated, I would always make him jealous. It humored me, but I thought that I took it to the extremes. I kept asking him if it kept bothering him. He shrugged. Sometimes, I wondered how much I could annoy him. Sometimes, I let things go, as if it never happened.

I remembered that Nathan tried to make me jealous. Turns out, it didn't succeed. I didn't care how hard he tried to make me jealous because I knew that deep inside, I was the only girl for him. He should know that he was the only one for me.

I knew I shouldn't toy with his heart, but I wanted a challenge. I wanted to see if he took me very seriously. I wanted to show him that love could do anything, good or bad.

Anyways, back to the main subject.

Right now, Hattie gave me death glares when I was near Nathan. I never understood what her problem was towards me. Could she really be jealous of me, being with Nathan, or did she want him all to herself? They weren't dating, not that I know. Maybe Nate was keeping something from me. Maybe he was playing this suave operator, just to make me fall for him.

My mind went through all these doubts. Most of them were definitely negative thoughts. Sure, I knew that Hattie and Nathan were best friends, since they were in diapers, but Nathan and I shared something meaningful.

I had to know what was going through his mind.

Nate's mother called everyone for breakfast. She even called Goldie, Nate's dog, to eat her scraps. I adored dogs, the most. I've always wanted a dog, but my parents didn't want me to keep one. My mother was also strict about keeping the house spotlessly clean, meaning there should be no mold, dirt, or hair lying onto the floor.

Absentmindedly, my arm felt a cold hand, pulling me away from the rest of the folks. I turned around and saw those emerald eyes. "I missed you." He whispered in my ear. Okay, maybe he did miss me, but it didn't satisfy me about his true feelings. He could lead me on, and then crush my heart in the end. I couldn't face those horrible memories of pain.

"What are you doing?" I retorted - my eyes seething into his flesh.

Chuckling, he ruffled his hair in a sophisticated way. "Ah, you're so paranoid as always."

"I'm not!" I denied, hoping he would drop this whole façade and leave in my life, forever. He shook his head, vigorously. I huffed, surrendering. "Fine, what do you want?" I seethed, waiting for his response. Instead of replying, he crashed his lips onto mine - feeling those same emotions again.

"Do you still love me?" Nathan breathed. Chewing onto my lower lip, I hesitated. Placing cold hands onto my cheeks, he motioned my head to face towards his. Our eyes met, and once again, my heart raced. Pounding so hard, I didn't want to develop those same feelings for him. I was scared. I didn't want him to feel so obligated for me to fall for him and then know that he didn't reciprocate the feeling.

Could I tell him the truth? Honestly, I didn't want to be in love with him, not again.

To my dismay, Nathan's mother called for us.

"Do not bring this up again. This is the end of our discussion, and it will stay that way." I spitted. Turning away from him, my heart started to ache as I continue to walk further away. What have I done? I should've told him the truth.

Then, what was the truth? Was I in love with him again?

♠♣♥♦

"Hattie, why don't you and Inna spend girl quality time together?" Nathan's mother suggested. In reality, I wanted to bang my head against the wooden table, but it would be drastically silly to do. It would give Hattie the benefit that I was withering inside about her comments, ordering me to stay away from Nathan. The truth was that Nathan would not want to stay away from me.

"Of course, we will have such a great time together! Won't we Inn?" Hattie pulled out a fake act towards Nathan and his family. To be utterly disappointed, they obviously believed this fake blonde, trying to be my new best friend as if she was Paris Hilton, and I was Nicole. Ugh, she irked me so much.

Since when did she call me 'Inn'? I didn't command her to call me that unless... Nate? Did Nate tell her that he gave me that nickname because he copied it from Grady, but why would Nathan think that Hattie and I would get along? She obviously hated me from the start! She was just a jealous bitch who wanted Nathan all to herself! Humph, I didn't even smack her across her plastic face!

Suddenly, Nathan chimed. "May I come with you girls?"

Ugh, how much torture could I take from him? Obviously, I knew there was something under his sleeve. If this was going to torture me as much as him, then I guess I should give him a shot to join us with the mall.

"Oh, I want to shop, too!" Alyce agreed. Nathan's mother chuckled. She nodded, getting out of her seat and places her dishes into the kitchen sink. Hattie followed, rolling her eyes at me. Nobody was paying attention to her, but me. Part of me wanted to wring her neck and the other part of me wanted to kiss Nathan in front of her, whispering sweet nothings in his ear.

Ha, that would definitely make her jealous!

♠♣♥♦

Nathan drove us girls to the mall. He was our chauffeur.

Unexpectedly, Hattie grabbed my hand and dragged me inside the mall. For a petite girl, she was definitely the strong type. She probably took athletics or something, not as if I care about the girl because she hates me as well.

"C'mon, Nathan, you're such a slow poke!" Hattie exclaims, leaving Nathan and Alyce behind. Turning around, I saw Nathan form a small smirk across his gorgeous face. My heart raced a million miles after I saw him half-smiling. I hoped he didn't hear my heart beating loudly.

Hattie continued. "Where do you want to shop, first? Oh, we could go to Abercrombie, since your clothing of style is very poor. I mean, who dressed you - your mother?" she assumed. The more she spat fire out of her mouth; the more I became angry at the bitch. She was so prime evil that she had this master plan from the beginning.

She laughed. "I bet you bought those clothes in K-Mart!"

Grumbling, I wanted to tell her to go to hell or something!

"No, I bought them on EBay. Is that a problem, Hattie?" I smirked, crossing my arms across my chest. Hattie didn't seem to bulge. She showed no fear towards me. Knowing that she could be competitive, I tried not to show any fear towards her as well. Honestly, I was deathly afraid that Nathan would choose her over me.

Finally, Nathan and Alyce caught up to us. "What do you girls want do?"

"Oh, Nathan," she cooed. I was literally dying inside. She sultry walked towards him, in her poor skills of flirting. "I was just telling little Inn that we should buy clothes for her." She continued.

Nathan didn't smile or laugh. He just raised his eyebrows and looked at me. Suddenly, I saw that same smirk, forming across his delicate face. "Alright, I think Inna should find a new wardrobe." He agreed.

My eyes grew wider. "Are you fucking serious?"

Hattie giggled. Nathan shrugged. Alyce just rolled her eyes.

Then, Nathan took my hand and dragged me to the first store that caught his eye. Of course, he always acted his perverted self, so he took me to Victoria's Secret. Why do I need to buy new bra and underwear, when I have good pairs in the first place? Ugh, I've always wondered what was going through this boy's head besides sex.

"Why are you taking me here?" I asked. Nathan ignored me and started finding lingerie for me.

"Oh, Nate, are you buying anything for me?" Hattie interrupted. Could someone bulldoze her out of my life? I seriously wanted her out of this, but no, she had to come along at the wrong, fucking time! She kept droning on and on about Nathan buying her something from this particular store. Obviously, she wanted Nathan inside of her. Ugh, that picture didn't show up very delightful!

Nathan sighs, rubbing his forehead. Ha, that was a sign from him - being annoyed! Wasn't it?

Watching Nathan grabbing something from the table, he threw the fabric at her. "Here you go."

Abruptly, Hattie's facial expression turned from happy to upset. Then, she snapped her head towards me, giving me an evil glare. I stuck my tongue at her, gloating for victory.

Ha, take that Hattie! Nathan still loves me! Does he?

♠♣♥♦

Still shopping in the same store for a couple of minutes, Nathan found the perfect outfit for me.

"Oh yeah, now that looks so sexy on you." Nathan complimented. I stare at my reflection in the mirror, completely nauseated to see myself in this particular clothing.

"Are you kidding me? I'm practically half-naked!" I shrieked.

Nathan shook his head and scooted his body closer to mine. Did I mention that it was just us two in the fitting room? Yeah, he decided to watch me undress in front of him, but I was not very bothered since he already saw me.

He pulled a piece of my hair and tucked it behind my ear. Billions of electricity triggered my insides as he started leaning his head towards my ear. He whispered. "You should get it, because you look absolutely beautiful, no matter what you wear. I think this would be good for a special occasion, which will be coming very soon."

As his voice echoed through my thoughts, I thought I was going to lose it. Feeling a hand trailed up on my back, loads of shock came to my senses. I couldn't have this publicity act right here! What if Hattie would barge into the fitting room and saw us doing something that we shouldn't be doing? Then, again, that would make her utterly jealous.

"Nate," I breathed. Shutting my eyes, I felt Nathan's hand go southward. "Stop," I pleaded. He didn't obey. He kept proceeding on what he was aiming to do. What does he want? I couldn't move. It felt as if I wanted this again. It felt as if I wanted to be with him, again. No, to spend the rest of my life with him - it felt. I didn't know why, but my feelings for him seemed to be growing much stronger.

I couldn't let him succeed. I had to let him know that I was fighting for release, not pleasure.

"Nathan, stop what you're doing!" I command. Those words flowed through my lips. To my default, Nathan's hand dropped. Instead of arguing, he opened the door and slammed it after he walked out. Trying to fight those tears, I could barely see myself as I shudder at those words in which I spoke.

I definitely scarred him.

♠♣♥♦

While we were driving out of the mall's garage, Nathan completely ignored me. I sat next to Alyce as Hattie sat on the passenger side, trying to reach her hand closer to his. It pained me to see that he could reach for other opportunities out there. For example, Hattie with her beautiful long, blonde hair and her piercing crystal blue eyes. It was as if life size Barbie doll was in front of him. He would definitely shoot for a type of girl, such as Hattie. However, I didn't understand that he took a shot with me, the redhead hick with boring brown eyes.

"What do you guys want to do next?" Hattie changed the subject. I rolled my eyes.

"I want to go ice skating!" Alyce suggested. Nathan's eyes cornered at his sister and then cornered at me. I sulked into the chair, hoping that this seat would swallow me whole so I could forget this whole thing occurred.