When Summer Ends (14 page)

“What does that mean?”

I sighed. “I just need you to stay away from me; I can’t be
talking to you all the time. Just leave me to get on with it and I’ll struggle
through somehow. I don’t need your help,” I replied, putting my headphones back
in.

He looked a little hurt as I turned the music up full blast.
Without trying to talk to me again, he stood up and set a little brown paper
bag on my desk, before storming back to his desk not looking back at me.

Hesitantly, I looked in the little bag. In there sat a
chicken salad wrap, tortilla chips, and a pot of sour cream dip that had the
name ‘Old Giuseppe’ on the side. That was the name of the Mexican restaurant he
took me to on our first real date.
Damn, he is so freaking adorable! Did he
bring this in for me? Maybe this is his lunch.
I glanced up to see him
eating a wrap of his own so it obviously wasn’t his.
Why is he being like
this? He wouldn’t buy lunch for another student, so why do it for me?

I sighed and pulled open the wrap, just wishing that things
were different, that either I was older, or he was younger. Anything. Whatever
would make this painful situation better. The only thing that I didn’t wish was
that I had never met him. I would never wish that, I had the perfect summer with
him, and I was grateful for every second of it.

My pocket vibrated so I pulled out my cell phone to see an
unknown number flashing on my screen. I snuck a glance at Will wondering what
he would do if I answered my phone.
Screw it, what more can he do?

I answered it quickly. “Hello?” I whispered, sinking lower
into my seat trying to go unnoticed.

“Hey, Chloe. It’s Sam.”

“Oh hi, um, this isn’t a good time,” I whispered, closing my
eyes.

“Really? I thought it would be your lunchtime,” he replied,
sounding a little bemused.

“It is, but I have detention.”

He laughed. “Oh I knew you were a bad girl,” he teased. “But
wait, who the hell gives a lunchtime detention on the first week of school?
That’s just cruel.”

Cruel is right!
“Your brother does. I have one every
day this week.”

He burst out laughing. “You’re in there with him right now?
That’s too funny. Wow, talk about awkward.”

A scowl lined my forehead. “Screw you, there’s nothing even
remotely funny about this situation,” I snapped angrily.

“Whoa, Chloe, chill! I’m sorry, I was just kidding around.
Listen, I just called to arrange that movie.” His voice was apologetic so I
felt my annoyance ebbing away.

“If you’re going to keep making these lame ass remarks then
I’m not even sure I want to go with you anymore,” I countered, pouting even
though he couldn’t see me.

“Well that’s too bad. I’ll pick you up from school Friday. You
finish at three o’clock, right?” he asked.

Friday? I’m not ready to go out yet. I would rather curl
in bed and eat chocolate all weekend.
“What? No, I don’t want to go
Friday.”

He chuckled darkly. “Well it needs to be Friday because I’ll
be getting laid on Saturday.”

“You’re such a man-whore,” I teased.

“Yeah, but being a man-whore is so much fun. Right then,
I’ll be there at three o’clock Friday.”

“Sam, no,” I hissed as the line disconnected. “Damn it!” I
groaned and dropped my phone on the table roughly, wishing the ground would
just open up and swallow me, putting me out of my misery.

“Was that an emergency call?” Will asked, his voice harsh.

“No it was a booty call,” I teased, expecting him to laugh.
He didn’t. Instead, he got up from his desk and walked over to me, snatching my
cell phone from the table and slipping it into his pocket.

“No personal calls allowed in school unless they’re an
emergency,” he snapped, shrugging and walking back to his desk. “You can get it
back at the end of the day.”

“Are you kidding me? Do you enjoy annoying me? Why are you
doing this, Will? Seriously, you’ve turned into a freaking jerk!” I cried,
jumping out of my seat and throwing my stuff into my bag angrily. I pulled out
ten dollars from my pocket, walked up to his desk and slammed it down. “That’s
for the lunch.”

He glared at me. “You have half an hour of detention left.”

“So go freaking report me,” I spat, glaring back at him. He
didn’t say anything so I turned on my heel and walked out, marching to the
cafeteria, spotting my friends sitting there still chatting over lunch.

Amy looked at me confused as I walked up to them. “What are
you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in detention?”

“I feel sick, I’m going home,” I lied, shrugging. There was
no way I was going to see that ass again today, if I did then I’d probably slap
his face, either that or kiss it. I couldn’t exactly do either of those things
in a class full of students.

“You feel sick? You’re not pregnant are you?” Amy joked, looking
at me with a mock horror face.

“Yeah, how on earth did you guess that? I’m only three
months, I shouldn’t be showing already,” I joked, playing along and rubbing my
stomach. I saw Nick jerk in his seat, his whole body tensed up as he looked at
me with wide eyes. I burst out laughing. “Relax, I was kidding.” I winked at
him playfully.

He blew out a big breath and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Christ that scared me.”

“Sorry, Nick.” I laughed. “Amy, can you get anything I need
from this afternoon? I don’t have my cell phone it’s been confiscated so don’t
bother texting me or anything.” I shrugged and shifted my heavy bag on my
shoulder.

“Who confiscated it?” Emily asked, frowning and clutching
her cell for dear life. Emily was someone who believed that you were helpless
without a phone. She would probably have a mild heart attack if she didn’t have
it on her at all times.

“The new guy,” I muttered, not wanting to say his name.

The table of people all laughed. Emily looked at me with
narrowed eyes. “What’s up with you? That guy is awesome, funny, smart, and he’s
a fair too, but you just seem to rub each other up the wrong way. Everyone else
loves him; he’s the best thing to happen to this school since they got rid of
the Thursday meatloaf,” she mused, shaking her head, looking a little baffled.

And there she goes defending him again.
“Really? Wow,
you should tell him that, I’m sure that’ll earn you one of those oh so sexy
smiles,” I replied sarcastically, rolling my eyes. How could he come in here
and have everyone eating out of the palm of his hand so quickly? It was just
plain annoying. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I called over my shoulder as I turned
to walk out.

Just as I got to the front door someone grabbed my hand,
making it hurt a little from the scratches yesterday. I turned back angrily,
expecting to see Will there telling me I had to get back in detention or
something. It wasn’t him though, it was Nick.

“How are you getting home?” he asked, looking at me
worriedly.

I shrugged in response. “I’m walking.”

He sighed and slung his arm around my shoulder. “I’ll drive
you. You can’t walk home if you’re sick.” He led me towards his car. I smiled,
not wanting to admit I was faking. I didn’t want to walk home. I knew it was
selfish but I liked his company, he took my mind off Will for a little while
because he wasn’t talking about how hot he was all the time like Amy did.

He drove me home in silence. When he pulled up he looked at
me curiously. “You’re not really pregnant are you?” he asked, wincing.

I smiled and rolled my eyes. “Nick, I’m not pregnant, that
was a joke, not a particularly funny one but a joke nonetheless. Stop
stressing,” I assured him, smiling apologetically. “Want to come in and keep me
company?” I asked hopefully. Otherwise I’d have to go in and find some other
way of distracting myself.

“As long as you promise not to throw up on me like that
other time.” He turned his nose up in disgust.

I burst out laughing. On our third date I wasn’t feeling particularly
well but didn’t want to cancel so I still went, and ended up vomiting on his
foot in the middle of a busy movie theatre.

“Oh, Nick, I’m surprised you still talk to me,” I mused, still
giggling.

“Me too sometimes.” He rolled his eyes and climbed out of
the car, waiting for me to get round to his side before slipping his arm back
around my shoulders and leading me inside.

My mom wasn’t home yet. She worked until four o’clock so we
had the house to ourselves. Nick pulled me over to the couch and made me sit
down. “I’ll go make you some tea or something, and then we can watch a movie,”
he said, smiling and walking into the kitchen like he owned the place.

I laid my head back on the sofa, silently counting just to
stop my mind from wandering to Will again. After a couple of minutes Nick came
in and set some toast and a cup of peppermint tea in front of me before he
headed to the DVD player.

“Thanks.” I smiled.

He plopped down on the sofa next to me while I nibbled on the
toast, not really wanting it, but not wanting to offend him after he went to
the trouble of making it for me. When the movie started I smiled. It was ‘Love
Actually’, my favourite. I snuggled against his side and sighed.
Why can’t I
just fall in love with someone like Nick? A sweet and adorable guy who is crazy
about me, and more importantly, my age.

After the movie we talked easily for a bit. When talk turned
to my classes my heart sank, knowing he would soon mention Will. “So how are
you getting on in calculus this semester? Think you’ll get buddied again?” he
asked. He knew I hated it last time; I’d ranted about it enough to him.

“I don’t think so; the new guy said I should get a tutor. He
suggested Erika, can you believe that? Her of all people,” I griped, annoyed at
the thought of her again.

“If you need a tutor I can help you. I mean, I’m not a
complete whiz or anything, but I get by easily enough,” he offered, shrugging
casually.

“You’re kidding me! You’d do that for me?” I asked, looking
at him hopefully.

He grinned, holding up one finger. “On one condition.”

I held my breath, praying he wasn’t going to ask me out
again or something. I really liked us being friends again and didn’t want
things to get awkward. “Okay, what’s that?” I inquired nervously.

He smirked at me confidently. “We do it at my house, and as
payment you can cook for me on those nights. At least twice a week.”

I grinned and threw my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly;
I would have cooked for him if he asked me to even without the tutoring. “Deal
definitely,” I agreed happily. He hugged me back and suddenly there was a knock
at the door. I glanced at the clock to see it was just after three.
Who the
heck is that? I’m not expecting anyone.

I jumped up, but Nick instantly pulled me back to the sofa,
tickling my sides. I squealed and giggled as I tried to fight him off me. He
laughed and finally stopped, leaving me gasping for breath. “I’ll get the door.
You’re supposed to be sick, remember? I knew you were faking,” he said, narrowing
his eyes at me playfully.

I laughed as he pushed himself up and went to get the door.
I rested my head back and listened to see who it was and what they wanted. “Oh
hey, sir, um… What are you doing here?” Nick asked, sounding confused.

Sir? What’s that about?
I stood up and walked towards
the door. Just as I got to the corner, I heard his voice.

“Well, I have Miss Henderson’s cell phone. I said she could
have it back at the end of the day, but her friends said she went home, sick. I
know how important a cell is to a girl,” Will replied. His voice sounded extremely
uncomfortable and a little annoyed.

Oh my days, he came to my house? What the heck is he
doing
? I turned the corner to see Nick standing there half blocking the
doorway, his arm on the frame as he looked out at Will. His body language
wasn’t very welcoming. They seemed to be looking at each other strangely. Will
was definitely pissed; I could tell by the clenched jaw.

“She’s sick; I’ll give it to her,” Nick said, holding out
his hand for the phone.

“I’d just rather check she’s okay. She came over a little
funny in detention,” Will replied sternly, using a teacher tone of voice that I
didn’t even realise he had.

I took a deep breath and walked up behind Nick, lifting his
arm and stepping in front of him. Will’s face softened as he saw me. Nick
stepped closer to me and pressed his chest against my back, his hands resting
on my shoulders. Will’s posture seemed to change instantly, his shoulders
tightening again. The air was thick with awkwardness as we just gazed at each
other, not speaking.

Nick broke the silence. “Mr Morris was bringing your cell
phone back.”

I nodded and held my hand out for it. “That’s really nice of
you, sir, but you could have kept it until tomorrow.” I tried to keep my voice
light and friendly in front of Nick.

Will placed the phone in my hand, cocking his head to the
side, looking at me intently. “I also wanted to check you were okay after
lunchtime.”

“I’m fine.” I turned to Nick. “Um, do you think you could
make some more tea? I’m pretty thirsty,” I asked uncomfortably. He frowned and
nodded, walking off. I looked back to Will to see a smirk on his face as he
watched Nick’s retreating back. “What do you really want?” I asked quietly,
pulling the door close behind me so that it would muffle the conversation from
Nick.

“Like I said, I just wanted to give you your phone and check
you were okay. You looked pretty upset when you stormed off,” he said quietly,
cocking his head to the side and watching me avidly.

“I’m fine.” I shrugged nonchalantly. “As you can see, I have
company, so thanks for returning my phone, Mr Morris, and I’ll see you tomorrow
in detention,” I said in my bitchiest voice.

He snorted, his eyes tightening. “Yeah I noticed you had
company. Replaced me already?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at me
challengingly.