Not Today, But Someday(40)

“Next time, go ahead. Maybe she’ll eventually get me my own phone line.”

“You can work that out with her,” he says. “I think I’m already on her bad side. So, what happened?”

“Dad came over to talk to me. He tried to justify everything...” I remember him standing at my door, waiting for me to hug him. The look on his face when I didn’t makes my heart hurt. “It just didn’t go well.”

“I’m sorry, Emi. How are you feeling today?”

“Tired,” I answer.

“About your dad...”

“Tired of it.” He nods his head with a sympathetic expression. “Let’s talk about something else. Where were you today?”

“At home.”

“Painting?”

“Anything but,” he answers. “But I think I’m close with your eye color. I worked on it after school yesterday... it’s gotta be close.”

“I’d love to see it. So if you didn’t paint, what’d you do today?”

“Slept, mainly,” he answers. “I needed it.”

“Late night?” I ask him, remembering Misty – and more importantly, the blonde girl.

“Yeah. A lot of pent up energy...”

“So you painted last night?”

“Not much.”

“What’d you do?”

“Went for a drive,” he answers. “Nothing in particular.”

“Cool,” I say, unsure if I should say anything. I don’t think he’d care if I asked, but I think his answer might change my opinion of him. Why it matters to me, I’m not sure. As intriguing as he is, I still don’t want a boyfriend. I really just want a friend. I want a good friend, though, someone who knows me as well as I know myself. I find it so easy to talk to him. I really think he could be that friend. “So I finished the Knight’s Tale at lunch.”

“Were you happy with Emily’s fate?”

“Fate’s a good word,” I say. “I think she got the right guy in the end, but what a horrible thing to suffer through. Finally finding the man who can win over her heart, accepting his affections after all her doubt, and he dies. That sucked. I think, had she had a choice herself, she would have picked Palamon over Arcite.”

“You think?”

“He prayed to Venus. I think he loved her more.”

“But Arcite prayed to Mars... the rule was, the winner of the battle won Emily. The rule wasn’t who loved her best. And who’s to say Arcite didn’t? He just prayed to the god who would help him win the battle... to be the rightful suitor. To win, fair and square.”

“I don’t know. I hate to think something like war determines a woman’s husband.”

“I think it’s romantic, that a man would fight for a woman. What was it that the knight said?”

I find my book in my backpack and read one of the lines that was already highlighted in the book. “To fight for a fair lady,” I answer him, “that is the height of bliss.”

“And that it’s the meaning of knighthood, right?”

“That’s what he said. So you’d fight for a girl?”

“I hope to meet a girl someday that I would do absolutely anything for.”

“You haven’t yet?”

“I’m not sure,” he answers, a distant look in his eyes.

“Nate, what was the girl’s name that you dated? The one that broke up with you.”

“Why? I certainly wouldn’t do anything for her.”

“No, I was just wondering if she was in any of my classes. I could see what type of girl you go for.”

“She’s a sophomore, so I don’t think you’d have any classes with her. And I don’t think I’d necessarily peg her as my type. She had something to offer that I wanted at the time.”

“Her name...” I press him.

“It was Misty,” he finally says casually. I get that distinct feeling of being punched in the stomach for the second time today. I pull my knees toward my chest, wrapping my arms around my legs. I don’t even care that my boots are on his tan leather seats. Fuck his stupid leather seats. “You okay?” he asks. I never was good at hiding my feelings.

“Is she that girl that was kissing that guy across from your locker the other day?”

He glances at me with a look of surprise. “Yeah,” he answers.

“And who was that other girl? The blonde one next to you.”

“Just some girl named Lauren. No one special.”

“Cool,” I say, realizing my teeth are clinched so tightly that the word sounds funny. “Yeah, I’m in gym with them.” I watch his reaction, seeing him swallow hard and blink nervously.

“Yeah?” he asks, his eyes focused on the road.

“Yeah,” I say. “The good news is, I think I got confirmation in the locker room today that smoking hasn’t stunted your growth... anywhere.”





CHAPTER 14 - NATE





My foot slips off the gas pedal, but I’m quick to recover. “Misty can’t keep her mouth shut,” I tell her, turning the volume down.

“Oh, it wasn’t Misty. It was the other one. Lauren, did you say? The girl that’s no one special.” I can hear judgment in her tone. She’s closed herself off many times since we met, and is about as tightly wound as she could possibly be right now.