My Undefined Romeo

The rest of school was bearable, I guess. People were still whispering behind my back and pointing fingers, but now suddenly, I didn’t care as much. Ever since Nate’s announcement to the whole cafeteria (practically the whole school), I just didn’t care what other people still thought. Nate told them that we weren’t sleeping together, and most people believed him.

Nate doesn’t lie. He doesn’t talk about people behind their back really, and he doesn’t put anyone down. He’s nice, honest, sincere, and any girl would be more than lucky to have him.

And I did. For whatever reason, Nate Carter wanted me. I wasn’t as pretty as other girls, or as smart or fun, but still, there was something about me that he liked and I couldn’t put my finger on it.

“I’m home!” I shouted as I entered the house. There was talking in the kitchen, so I went in there to find Mom and Dad cooking up a storm. “Whoa!” I said. “What’s going on?”

Mom turned and smiled at me. “Oh, sweetie, I forgot to tell you. I invited the Carters over for dinner. They’ll be here in about an hour. You could help me get things ready if you-” she stopped talking as I rushed out of the kitchen and up to my room.

I slammed the door behind me and sat on my bed. Nate was coming here. I had completely forgotten that I overheard her saying how she was going to invite them over to something. Nate Cater was coming over to my house... The butterflies in my stomach were going wild and I began to feel nauseous.

I pushed myself up from the bed and went to examine my closet. What should I wear?! My mom was always big on formal dinners so maybe a dress? I went through all the dresses until I found one that I thought was formal, but not formal. It went to my knees, was a deep royal blue, and had three finger straps.

After getting dressed, I quickly washed my hair then blow-dried it to where it was nice and fluffy. I put on some light foundation and all that crap, then tossed on some black ballet flats and I was done. I examined myself in the mirror and didn’t mind how the girl looked. She actually looked somewhat pretty.

I looked at the clock and saw that it was 5:57 p.m. They’d be here any minute now. I still felt somewhat sick at the thought. This is what Nate did to me. He made me so nervous just to be around him that I felt sick all the time.

Ring Ring!

I jumped at the sound of the doorbell. My heart was practically beating its way out of my chest. Hopefully they wouldn’t be here that long. God, it was going to be so weird with Nate here. I doubt Mom even knew that we were… friends.

“Emma!” I heard her shout up the stairs. “Come down and greet the guests.”

I took one last look in the mirror. My blond hair was being very good today. It was light and bouncy, and the blue dress made my brown eyes smolder. I smiled awkwardly at my reflection then left the room. I slowly walked down the stairs, trying to listen to where everyone was, and wandered into the living room. Mom and Mrs. Carter were sitting next to each other on the couch while Dad and Mr. Carter were standing behind the couch talking. I looked around for Nate but didn’t see him.

“Emma?”

I jumped, extremely surprised at the voice, and whipped around, stumbling over my feet. I would have fallen, but Nate quickly grabbed my waist and held me up. My cheeks began to burn as I looked up into his eyes. His hair was tussled around, and he had a slight smirk on his face.

“What would you do without me?” he muttered quietly.

I didn’t say anything back. I couldn’t. Our faces were only inches from each other and his hands were held securely about my waist. I was almost sure he could hear my heart beat pounding…

“Oh! Emma!” My mother said excitedly, suddenly standing besides us. “This is Nate-”

“We’ve met,” I said interrupting her. I quickly pushed Nate’s hands away from me and backed up a little.

She seemed a little shocked. “Really? You two know each other?”

I felt like groaning. Even my own mother could see how incredibly impossible it was that Nate and I were at least acquaintances. After all, I wasn’t popular, not even close. And Nate was as popular as they come.

Nate grinned and tossed an arm over my shoulder, causing me to blush. “Actually, we’re really close friends.”

Mom stood there speechless for a moment, but quickly recovered. “Well that’s just splendid! I didn’t know you two… knew each other already.”

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, Mom.” She stood there smiling at us until Mrs. Carter suddenly enveloped me in a hug.

“Oh! It’s so nice to finally meet you!” She said. She was a very beautiful lady. She had dark brown hair that was pulled back casually, rich green eyes, and pale skin. She wore a long emerald green dress that I believed was way too formal for a casual dinner. “Nate has told us so much about you!”

Mr. Carter laughed. “You’re all he ever talks about.” Mr. Carter was also a very handsome man. He was a plump man, but well built. He had short brown hair and blue eyes, and was wearing a suit. And it made me think of how nice Nate looked.

Nate was wearing some nice dark washed jeans, with a black long-sleeved sweater type thing. Of course it wasn’t as formal as his father, but even I must admit, he looked pretty hot. The sweater hugged his body fittingly and showed how toned he was.

“Well!” My dad said, clasping his hands together, “Lets eat! I’m starving!”

Everyone nodded and flowed into the dining room… except Nate and me.

“So…” I said slyly. “You talk about me?”

He laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. “Not much…”

I smiled and hesitated with what I was going to say next. “Nate, I want to thank you for what you did today at lunch. You don’t know what you saying that meant to me.”

His eyebrows rose. “You’re thanking me? I should be giving you an apology. I got you into that mess. It’s my fault people are calling you… that. Maybe we should have never become friends.”

My stomach dropped at that. “What?”

He sighed. “I mean, look, if we stay friends the rumors will only get worse for you. Maybe it’d be best if we just cut off our-”

“No,” I said firmly. Nate stared at me surprised. “No. I don’t care about the rumors.” I silently hoped to God these words wouldn’t come back to bit me in the butt. “I want to be your friend, Nate. I wouldn’t cut off our friendship for anything.”

A slow smile spread across his face. “Seriously?”

I nodded, not believing I was fixing to say this. “I’ve, uh, become too attached to you. I wouldn’t be able to let you go.”

God I felt like an idiot saying that. But it was true. I was used to Nate. He was like ivy. Eventually, it wraps up around an object without the object ever really paying attention what is happening until it’s too late.