Chapter Ten

April walked in the house, hoping Nick didn’t see her flaming cheeks.  She was never
gonna go  with him and his friends again, the day had been terrible.  Everyone looked at
her with speculation after AJ’s little comments and it was apparent that when she had left
for the restroom, Nick had gotten pissed at him cause AJ hadn’t said a word after she
returned.  In a way, she was grateful that his comments were halted but on the other
hand, she had the feeling that the others didn’t know what to say.  With a sigh, she
plopped down on the couch and slipped off her shoes.  Nick sat down next to her and did
the same.
“ Gross,” She joked, wrinkling her nose.  He made a face at her and they sat in the quiet
of the house for a few seconds.
“ Did you have fun?” He asked, already knowing what the answer would be.
“ It was...very interesting,” She nodded and he laughed before growing serious again.
“ I’m sorry about AJ. I don’t know what’s up his ass,” He apologized and she forced a
smile.
“ Yeah, not your fault.  Doesn’t matter,”
“ Of course it matters.  All that shit he said isn’t true,”  
“ You do believe me, don’t you, Nick?” She asked tentatively.
“ Yeah,” 
“ April?...”
“ Yes?” 
“...Do you at all resent the fact that your parents aren’t home often?” She sighed.
“...Yeah, I do...”  Silence.
“ Have you said anything to them about it?” 
“ Nick, I’m leaving for college soon. It’d be pointless.” 
“ Not really...Maybe you should talk to them about it,”  She didn’t say anything.  He
stretched his legs out on the couch, resting his arm around her.
“ April, I want things to be the way they used to be...”He said quietly.
“ I know you do, Nick.  But there are things you can’t  step away from,” 
“ Like what?...I have an amazing idea...How about we get married and then you’d never
have to worry about anything again,” He said, bringing up what they used to say to one
another when they were younger.  She laughed a little, too tired to spend energy on it.
“ No, I mean it,” He said, sitting up and looking at her.
“ We can move away from all this b.s.  You could always tour with me and we’d travel
the world.  And we could live in really cool places like Australia,”
“ Right, Carter...”  He leaned back on the couch.
“ I just don’t want you to be unhappy anymore, April.  And neither do your parents
though it may seem otherwise at the moment.  But forget about your parents.  Think
about coming on tour with me.  Wouldn’t that be kickass?” 
“ You’re dreaming.  I have to go to school.”   He drifted off, a little depressed at their
conversation.  Of course he hadn’t expected her to marry him, he just wanted her with
him for awhile.  Just so he could be reassured that she was okay.
“ You’re sleepy.  Go to bed.  You’ve gotta be up early,” April said, glancing over at him.
“ Yeah...Are you coming with us tomorrow?” She shook her head.
“ No. I’ve got some stuff to do,” He studied her face for a second before standing up.
“ When are you gonna go to bed?” 
“ Um...I don’t know...Little later,”
“ Okay.  ‘Night,”
“ Goodnight...” He went upstairs, leaving her to the darkness of the living room.  He
walked past her room and glanced in before pausing.  Her bag was on the bed, contents
spilling out as if she had just thrown it on there.  He heard the voices of a sitcom blaring
from downstairs and felt a wave of guilt.  It would be wrong of him to look through her
stuff...That would be the sort of thing peeping toms and stalkers did.  And yet the doubts
that had lingered in his mind resurfaced and pushed away the guilt.  He wouldn’t find
anything, I mean, what was it exactly that he was looking for?  A couple of ounces of
marijuana?  He took a few steps in her room and scanned the contents on the bed.  Usual
stuff; lipstick, brush, her phone.  He reached for her bag and snuck a peek, knowing she’d
kill him if she found out.  He opened her wallet and the first thing that caught his eye was
a picture in the slot.  It was of her, taken a few years ago with her parents.  He studied her
face, her eyes, and could see a happiness that was lacking now.  He closed the wallet and
replaced it in her bag, his hand brushing against something wet.
“ Shit,” He muttered, retrieving his hand and seeing that somehow he had managed to get
pen ink all over it; the pen must have exploded.  Nick went into her bathroom and turned
on the hot water, running his hand under it.  Some of it came off but most of it stayed
smeared on his hand.  Opening the medicine cabinet, he searched for some soap but
instead found a package of blue razor refills.  He stared, the ink forgotten, wondering
why on earth she had razor refills, his mind blank and uncooperative against any
reasonable answer.  
“ She’s a girl, she shaves...” He finally said aloud, hoping to allay some of the fears but
found no reassurance.  He walked over and pulled the shower curtain aside, hoping to see
a razor but there were only shampoo bottles and body wash.  It didn’t mean anything, just
that maybe she had one in her duffel bag, right?  He let out a frustrated sigh and decided
he had better get to his room in case she came upstairs...






Main Page

Table Of Contents