White is for Virgins (29 page)

Fox knew that was impossible. “No he didn’t,” he said confidently.

“How would you know?” Lily challenged.

“You haven’t told her, which means she hasn’t asked you. Which means she’s clueless.”

“I bet she’d hate me and side with Nick if she ever found out,” Lily shrugged menacingly.

“If you told her your side of it,” Fox said cautiously, “She would understand. I know she would.”

“Why are you doing this all now?”

“Because he’s my best friend, and he still loves you.”

Lily kept her mouth shut, even though she wanted to scream and swear at the boy in front of her. She wanted to attack him with questions; she deserved answers. Yet she held them in – that was something she had become used to.

“You act like you know her so well,” Lily accused, referring to the comment he’d made about Emery.

“She’s not that hard to read,” Fox shrugged.

“You’re not exactly what I’d call ‘Rocket Science’ either.”

Fox arched his brow and gestured for her to continue. “Enlighten me.”

“The look on your face in the cafeteria on Monday said it all,” Lily said, smiling slyly.

“What look?” Fox asked in a monotone voice, leaning against the brick wall of the school building.

“The one you had when you found out Nick and
Em
had plans for the weekend…”

“...What would you describe it as?” Fox asked, still not quite following.

“Hurt, pained, disappointed…
desperate,
” Lily listed with her fingers.

“You got the first three right,” Fox smirked.

Lily narrowed her eyes.
Where was he going with this?

“Enlighten me,” she prodded, crossing her arms.

“I
was
pained,” he said, circling Lily as part of the act. She stood her ground, trailing him with her eyes.

And so he continued, “The realization that I spent a Saturday night with you for nothing was almost too much to bear.”

He completed his act by placing his hand on his heart in mock-sincerity, and puppy-dog eyes. Lily punched him in the arm.

“Shut up,” she growled, allowing a smile.

Fox chuckled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him.

“As for desperate…” he whispered into her ear, “You
ain’t seen nothing yet.”

***

.EMERY POV.

Wednesdays were usually as traumatic for me as Mondays. Since they marked the middle of the week, and you realized you still have to endure a whole entire
Thursday
before you got to Friday. But since today was a half-day, meaning our day was cut shorter than usual… I wasn’t filled with as much dread as I normally would have been.

By the time Health ended, I was ready to run out of the building. But I kept my cool as I got my books from my locker and walked down the hallway with my hair in my face. My bruise was slowly healing, but the colors were bright as ever. No amount of foundation or cover-up could conceal them.

“Emery!” someone called behind me.

I stopped, and swept my bangs to the right of my face. Nick ran up to me, grinning.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi,” I replied awkwardly.

“So, you have any plans for lunch today?” he asked sheepishly.

“Umm,” I started. I didn’t… but I wasn’t sure if I wanted any.
Me and Nick… going out for lunch?

Then again, lunch was a harmless meal. It was just as innocent as breakfast. We weren’t talking dinner.
No, that was this weekend.

Shit!

He narrowed his eyes and cocked his head, waiting for my reply.

“Yeah, I kind of have plans with my dad,” I told him finally. Technically, it wasn’t a lie. Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t spent time with my dad in
a while
.

“Oh, cool,” he nodded. If he was hurt, I couldn’t tell, which was good.

“Don’t you have track?” I offered as we walked slowly through the parking lot.

“Not until three,” he shrugged.

“Oh,” I said.

This conversation is going nowhere.

“Hey!” someone called behind us.

“Nikki!” he repeated.

Oh, God.
This just keeps getting better…

Nick and I turned around, watching Fox run toward us. I smiled as I watched him dragging Lily behind him.

“Sup,” Nick said.

“Lily and I might catch some lunch,” Fox shrugged. “You guys
wanna join?”

“Can’t,” Nick said, “She’s busy.”

Fox turned to look at me; his eyes were smiling knowingly, but his lips were parted. I gulped at the sight of him.

“That’s too bad,” he finally managed.

“Yup,” I added, just to feel like part of the conversation.

Lily remained silent.

“So the real reason we wanted to talk to you guys,” Fox said, pausing to smile adoringly at Lily, “was to propose our brilliant idea.”

It was official. Fox and Lily were a ‘we’. A collective noun.
An item
.

Nick and I just stood there, waiting for Fox to continue. But of course, he was big on putting a show. He craved the attention; the suspense.

“You wanna tell them, Lil?” he asked her. She glared at him and then cracked a small smile.

“No, I’ll let you do the honors,” she replied.

Did they get married over night? Because they sure as hell are acting like it.

“Well,” Fox said finally, “We were thinking we could all double for Saturday.”

My stomach clenched. It felt like someone was mercilessly ringing it dry. Doubling…?
As in… I’d have to witness Fox and Lily together?

Wait, why does this bother me again?
I thought, looking at Nick for some kind of response. His face was expressionless as well.

He seemed as caught off guard as I was. Compared to a double date, rented movies and Scrabble seemed ideal.

“Sure,” I found myself saying. It’s not like I could’ve objected. And Nick sure as hell didn’t offer up any kind of clue as to if he was interested.

“Excellent,” Fox grinned, flashing his white teeth in our direction.

“Yeah,” Nick muttered, looking over at me. “Do you need a ride home?”

“No, I’ll just walk,” I shrugged.

That was obviously the wrong answer, because Nick gave me a quizzical look.

“You sure?” he asked.

“Positive,” I confirmed. I liked Nick. I really did. I just… preferred to walk home. I didn’t like people seeing where I lived, especially when they had the luxury of a car, and a mansion to call home. Plus, the fresh air would do me some good. I needed some time to think.

“Right,” Nick said, nodding his head in Fox’s direction.

“Bye guys,” I muttered, pulling out my iPod as I set off in the direction of my house.

The bright colored leaves crunched under my feet as I cut through my small front yard and went around to the back door.

I unlocked it with my set of keys and placed my backpack on the table. I heard shuffling from the living room and curiously picked up the pace.

“Dad?” I asked, staring at the back of his white, wrinkled t-shirt. His hair, or what was left of it, was all disheveled and messy. He had definitely just woken up.

He turned around, holding a pillow and horribly folded blanket. He looked guilty.
As he should be.

“How long have you been sleeping on the couch?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

***

You know that feeling you get when your parents are fighting? When they’re disagreeing? They raise their voices an octave or two, and tend to say things they don’t mean? Or, at least, you
hope
they don’t mean…

The feeling of… wanting to interject and just tell them to shut up and offer them a reasonable solution?
The frustrating restraints of adolescence that were holding me back were seriously pissing me off.

As I rummaged through my pathetic excuse for a closet, I tried to block out their hateful altercation and busied myself with the task of finding a decent outfit.

Finding an outfit for your first date, let alone
double
-date, was hard - especially if you didn’t know where you were going.

“The one day you’re home you decide to go out!” my dad shouted from downstairs. I bit my lip and feverishly swiped at a few more clothes on the hangers.

I outgrew this two years ago. Why did I ever buy this? I actually thought this was cute at one point? Christmas ’06… Pathetic.

“Can you blame me for not wanting to spend a day cooped up in this pigsty you call a house?” my mother retaliated.

I winced, humming some random song in hopes of tuning them out.