Caught Up In You (10 page)

Nathan steps with his eyes, blocking his
view of me. “No. She’s not interested.”

Mike looks puzzled. “This your girl,
Daley?”

I know his back is to me but I swear I
can see Nathan tense up just a little bit. I do the same thing as I wait for
his reply. “She’s not interested.”

“Why don’t you let her talk for herself?”

Nathan takes a step closer to Mike. “I’m
talking for her.”

Wow, Nathan’s really close to him now.
What are they going to have some sort of stand off before the big game? They’ll
both be suspended, probably. No way was I going to let Nathan get in any
trouble because of me. Not to mention that when my dad found out it had
anything to do with me I’d probably be shipped away again. I want to stop it, I
want to get in the middle of them but I’m frozen in place. It’s like I want to
move but my legs just wont listen. I think Mike’s going to make another smart
comment or challenge Nathan in some way and things are going to go from bad to
worse, but he must think better of it. After a second he just shakes his head
and walks away mumbling something about cock blocking.

Well, that went down better than I
thought it would. For a minute there I was worried it was going to turn ugly. I
pull my dress down a little and readjust my purse. Oh well, all is well that
ends well.

“Thanks, he was really annoying me. He
just kept talking and talking and…” I trail off when I see the look in Nathan’s
eyes.

The look of anger, It’s like a glimpse of
a burning fire deep within.

“What is wrong with you?” He’s looking at
me like I’m a complete and total idiot. Like he’s addressing a four year old
that isn’t obeying him.

“Nothing! I didn’t do anything! I was
just standing here minding my own business and-“

Nathan sighs and puts his fingers up to his
temple rubbing his head like I’m starting to give him a headache. “Well, can
you blame him when you’re…you’re…“ he holds his hands out and motions up and
down my body.

I know what he means but I want to hear
him say it. “When I’m what?”

Nathan pauses and looks away. “Looking
like that.”

“How do I look?” I’m playing dumb and
looking for a compliment. It’s desperate, I know it is, but I can’t help it.
I’m grasping on to straws with him. Hoping for the slightest bit of attention.

He’s too smart. “I’m not playing that
game, Victoria. This is typical, you’re always getting yourself in situations
you can’t handle and I always have to come to your rescue. I guess some things
never change.” He shakes his head at me again.
 

What did he mean my rescue! I didn’t need
to be rescued! I could take care of things on my own. But now that I think
about it he was always kind of cleaning up my messes before, hmm.

“Well, who said I need rescuing? And who
asked you to come over here and save the day, anyway? Not me! I was doing just
fine before you came over here!” This isn’t true, of course. Mike was annoying
me and he wasn’t going anywhere so my choices were limited, but whatever,
Nathan didn’t need to know that.

“Oh, yeah, you looked just fine over here
backed into a corner with Mike all up on you.” Nathan laughs after he says it
like he can’t believe how ridiculous I sound.

“Maybe I liked it.” The words are out of
my mouth before I have time to think them through. I’m being immature and awful
trying to get a reaction out of him but I don’t even care. Who did Nathan think
he was marching over here giving me shit about what I was wearing and who I was
or wasn’t backed into a corner by? He had a girlfriend and he also used every
opportunity possible to yell at me or act like he could care less about me.
God, what did he want from me at this point?

“You liked it?” His voice is low now and I
can’t tell if he knows I’m full of shit or not. But I swear there’s something
in his town that makes me think he hates what I just said.

“Maybe,” I shrug, looking around like I’m
bored. “What do you care?”

Nathan chuckles all full of sarcasm. “I
really don’t. I just think it’s ridiculous.”

“What’s ridiculous? That a guy could want
to give me attention? Gee, thanks, Nathan.”

Nathan just stares at me for a second
with an expression I can’t read across his face. He opens his mouth as if he’s
about to say something but he must think better of it because he snaps it back
shut again just as quick. I’m about to tell him to say something if its on his
mind but Angelina and Eric pick that moment to finally make their way back
through the crowd and toward me. They both have their hands full. Angelina has
a slice of pizza and water.
Eric with two slices of pizza, a
hot dog, and two huge soft pretzels.
I guess someone was hungry.

Nathan follows my gaze to where Eric and
Angelina are and rolls his eyes. “Of course.”

What exactly was his problem with Eric anyway?
He didn’t even know him. I want to ask him but I don’t get the chance because
Nathan doesn’t even say bye instead he simply turns around and starts to stomp
off.

When her and Eric reach me Angelina
shoots me a look like “what was that about.” I try to send her a mental note
that I’ll explain later.

“Sorry it took so long,” Eric says,
already chewing. I notice one of the hot dogs has a huge bite taken out of it.
“Angelina didn’t feel like she should have to help me carry all my food so it
took me a little longer to get back.” He doesn’t say it like he’s mad at
Angelina for it or anything. He just says it kind of matter of fact, like it’s
not really a big deal and he’s just trying to explain what took so long. I know
Angelina enough to know this is probably driving her crazy.

It doesn’t really matter though because
to be honest I’m not really paying that much attention to them. I’m to busy
trying to keep track of Nathan’s head disappearing through the crowd.

Chapter
Eight

I may be way off here but that little
chat with Mike before the game seemed to really motivate Nathan. Not that I’ve
been to a lot of basketball games, but I’ve never seen him play like that before.
He completely dominated, especially when it came to his defense against Mike.
Anytime he had the ball it was like he didn’t stand a chance. Nathan made steal
after steal and point after point.

I had chosen a seat in the very back of
the gym in the last row of bleachers careful to take perfect notes on
everything Nathan did. I was willing to do whatever it took to make it clear to
him how serious I was taking this. I would have chosen a seat closer, but I
knew that Nathan’s mom and my dad always sat in the front close to the court
and the last thing I needed was for them to see me and think I was trying to
chase Nathan around. (Even though I was. Ha-ha.) I had even made Angelina go in
first and scope it out so I knew right where they were sitting and I made sure
to go in the other door and sit far away from where they were. Luckily, it was
a pretty big gym and tons of people had come to the game.

The whole time, as I was watching, I
couldn’t help but feel like I had something to do with it. Like maybe Nathan
was so extra aggressive and motivated because of what he had seen between Mike
and me before the game. I knew it was pathetic to think about and hope that was
the case but I couldn’t help it. Deep down I still wanted to have any kind of
hold on Nathan, even a little one.

After the game (We won by 10, thanks to
Nathan.) we had snuck out right away because I didn’t want to risk running into
my dad or anything. I had still consumed myself with over analyzing the whole
situation the whole time though. I was so busy obsessing over it that it didn’t
even bother me to hear Angelina and Eric fighting the whole way home. In fact,
I could pretty much tune it out with the sound of my own thoughts. It had
lasted the whole way home. Even past Angelina and Eric coming in for ice cream.
After they left I was tossing and turning in my bed, still over thinking it.

When I had finally drifted off into a
restless sleep I had gotten a little peace of mind, but as soon as I had opened
my eyes the next morning the same thoughts and questions filled my brain all
over again.

I’m still thinking about it when I walk
toward the kitchen in our hotel to get a cup of coffee before school. In fact,
I’m so occupied thinking about it that it takes me a second to realize that my
aunt is sitting at the table with a cup of tea and a bagel looking at me
expectantly like she’s waiting for some type of response.

“Morning!” I figure it’s better than wait,
what? And also pretty safe. I mean, most people say good morning when they see
someone first thing, so I’m sure it’s the right thing to say.

My aunt smiles her perfect smile with her
flawless teeth, pushing her long hair behind her ears and I see a sparkle of
diamond flicker from her ear lobe. She already looks perfect at 6:45 in the
morning. She’s wearing a long brown sweater with skinny jeans and white heel boots.
God, I wish I could pull those boots off. “Well, come on then!” And then she’s
getting up jumping around like a little kid. Before I know it she’s grabbing my
hand and pulling me toward our private elevator.

Apparently she had taken my good morning
as excitement to whatever she had said when I first walked in. Damn Nathan and
him taking up my thoughts once again. Now I was on my way to who knows where.

“Um, this won’t take to long will it?
Because I really shouldn’t be late for school!” I’m pleading as she shoves me
in the elevator, hitting some random floor I can’t make out. She looks like
she’s really excited, like she’s about to jump out of her skin or something.
Where was the guy that usually took us down anyway? Seems like she gave him the
day off or something. She’s been doing that more and more lately. I had been
grateful for it the day Nathan had come over but now it was just annoying me.

“I told you!” She’s still holing my hand
and she squeezes it even tighter. “I already called them and told them you
wouldn’t be there today!”

She had done what??? What did she mean
she had called and said I wasn’t going to be there today! Had she lost her
mind? I couldn’t miss anymore school! I was already so far behind! I needed all
the help I could get. Plus, wouldn’t they notify my dad or something? That’s
the last thing I needed, throwing him any red flags to make him come snooping
around. And you won’t get to see Nathan today, a little voice in the back of my
head whispers, but I push it out. Or I try really hard to but it just seems to
get louder.

“Oh, I really couldn’t. I mean
,
I’m already so behind!” It comes out more like a plea than
a statement. I immediately regret it when I see the hurt expression on my Aunt
Jenna’s face. She was clearly really excited about whatever she had planned for
us and I hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings, but of course, I had. I silently
curse myself for once again not thinking before I spoke. I really needed to
start being more cautious, especially with all the lies I was spitting out left
and right these days. I try my best to back track. “It’s just, I still have so
much work I’m catching up on.”

Her face relaxes. “No problem, I told the
school it was a family issue but that you would be there this afternoon to pick
up any work you had today!” She says it like this fixes the problem, which it
doesn’t really. I have to actually be there to learn the stuff they teach. I’ve
never been the best at teaching myself. “Plus, you wont be sorry. Trust me,
you’re going to have a great afternoon!”

How could I argue with that? “Sounds
great.” I force a smile then feel bad for being so selfish. My aunt’s clearly
excited to be spending the day with me. I should stop being such a brat. Nathan
would still be there tomorrow. Hopefully.

The second the doors open to the lobby my
aunt is flooded with questions. Men and woman of all ages and sizes come
rushing over with clipboards and headsets and nervous or anxious expressions.
This is what happens whenever I arrive somewhere in the hotel with my aunt,
everyone seems to need her approval for one thing or another. It usually takes
us about twenty minutes to walk from one side of the building to the other when
it should normally take us about three or four. I stop and wait for my aunt to
work through the task of figuring out what everyone needs from her on this
morning.

To my surprise my aunt stops in her
expensive white boots and holds her hands up in the air. Everyone around her
stops in their tracks waiting to hear what she has to say. “This morning is
reserved for my family! Whatever it is, figure it out until this afternoon.”

A few people scurry away clearly to busy
to worry about the fact that my aunt has just left them alone to figure out
whatever it was they needed help with in the first place. A few more people
look shocked for a second and then slowly start to back away. But one girl just
stays put looking at my aunt like a deer stuck in headlights.

She’s younger than most of the people
I’ve seen on my aunt’s team before with light brown hair that falls to her
shoulders and a pale complexion that is canceled with very little if any make
up. She’s wearing a dark blue skirt that just passes her knees and a perfectly
ironed white button up with a navy sweater over it. She must be new here or
something because I’ve never seen her before and she seems really nervous about
being away from my aunt for any amount of time, especially a whole day. In
fact, she looks like she might have a nervous breakdown at any moment. My aunt
has her hands on her shoulders now and is talking to her in a quite voice,
almost as if to reassure her that everything is going to be okay. It must work
because after a minute she begins to nod slowly, taking my aunts words in, as
if missing a single thing could be a life or death matter.

My eyes move down to her feet and I
realize she’s wearing black shoes with a little strap in the front. They’re the
kind of shoes that you see little kids wearing all the time with ruffled socks.
It’s such a small detail but I find myself staring at them, taking them in. My
throat feels like it’s closing up a little and my mouth is suddenly dry. I
stumble back a little bit but manage to re-gain my balance. My mom. I’m having
flashes of my mom going in and out of my mind.

She used to dress me in shoes just like
that. She used to love it. I had them in both black and white with all different
colored ruffled socks. My mom had literally bought a pair of socks for every
color dress I owned. She used to love to get me all dressed up in them and take
pictures. I can hear her voice in my head now, laughing. “Beautiful, Victoria,
just beautiful. You look like a model!”

I feel a pain start to twinge behind my
eyes and suddenly I’m feeling more emotional than I have in a while. My mom, I
miss my mom. If my mom were here none of this would be happening. I don’t even
realize that I’m crying until I feel the tears that have dripped down my cheeks
start to drip into my mouth and I slightly taste the salt from my own tears.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I’m
aware of the fact that I’m standing in the middle of the hotel lobby with people
milling in and out around me and that at any moment my aunt could turn her head
and spot me. She would see me frozen in place, stunned beyond belief. I can
hear the voice in the back of my brain telling me to pull myself together, to
move, to do anything. Still I cant. I feel like I’m not even in control of my
own body.

And then he’s here, Eric, saving me. Just
like he has been more and more lately. His arms are strong and pulling me away
from the crowd over to the corner where the sofas surrounding the lobby are.

“Here.” He takes the cap off a bottle of
water and shoves it into my hand. “Drink.”

I do and the cold feels to good on my
throat. Before I know it I’m gulping it down like it’s the only source of
liquid I’ve had in days.

“Whoa, easy there.” He takes the water
from me gently as if he’s scared doing it will cause me to start to break down
again. He’s wearing
a
Under Armor zip up and track
pants, I realize he must have been up early working out. His hair is wet with
sweat and his eyes full of concern. He looks flawless, as always.

“Relax.” He reaches out and slowly starts
rubbing my shoulders. “Everything is fine, nothing bad is happening.”

I feel my heartbeat start to fade back
down to normal and the color starts to come back into focus in my vision and
thoughts.

“Are you okay?” Eric takes a small sip
out of the water bottle now and tries to not look nervous. “You were having
some sort of panic attack in the middle of the lobby!”

He says it like I had a slight case of
amnesia and must have forgotten what happened in the last few minutes.

I grab the water bottle back from him and
hold it in my hand for a moment without taking a gulp. “Oh, don’t be dramatic.
I was not.” Even though what was happening to me sounds exactly like a minor
panic attack, but whatever. La, la, la.

I’m trying to lighten the mood but Eric’s
not buying it. “Tor, I’m being serious. Are you ok?”

I want to just shrug it off, to act like
it was nothing, but the truth is I’m not really sure if I’m okay or not. It had
been a really long time since the thought of my mom upset me like that. A
really long time since the thought of her was enough to send me over the edge
like that. I knew Eric would understand. If anyone understood about complicated
family emotions it was Eric, but was this really the place for it?

Eric must be getting nervous about how
long it’s taking me to answer him because suddenly he’s squeezing my shoulder
again. “Is it about Nathan?”

Just the mention of his name pulls at my
heartstrings even under the deep amount of misery I feel over my mom. Then it
occurs to me that Eric’s still here being a good friend to me even though I
haven’t exactly been completely honest with him about all the stuff going on
with Nathan. He’s a really good person to have in my life and I don’t even deserve
him. This realization only makes me feel worse.

“No.” I rest my hand on top of his hand
that’s still lightly grazing my shoulder. “Listen, about that I-“

“Ahem.” My aunt clears her throat from a
place in the room that’s way to close for comfort. I jump a second too late and
realize that she’s literally right next to us. I was so caught up in my own
head that I hadn’t even noticed her creeping up on us. How long had she been
there? Did she hear anything that we had said?
About Nathan?

God, I hated all this sneaking around. It
was really hard to have conversations out in the open because of it.

My aunt raises her eyes at me, and for a
second I think she must know, but then I remember Eric and me are practically
holding hands. I take a step back a little too quickly and I see a look of
amusement pass over Eric’s face. Great.

“Well, who do we have here?” My aunt
crosses her arms across her chest, and a snug look comes over her face.

“Eric is who you have here.” Eric takes a
step forward and sticks his hand out to my aunt before I have a chance to jump
in. “And you must be Victoria’s Aunt Jenna. I’ve heard so many wonderful things
about you. Of course, someone forgot to mention just how beautiful you are.” He
shoots me a look out of the corner of his eye.