My Girl

I pulled the hair tie out of my hair and stared at the dark brown color fall across my shoulders. Letting out an exasperated sigh, I fell back down on my bed, staring at the my ceiling. My phone rang next to me, but I ignored it. Sylvia was probably just calling, even if it was only 5:40 in the morning. The way we left things off last night, I’m pretty sure she would be coming back for my forgiveness anytime now. At least I hoped.

Instead of wearing my ugly uniform, I was wearing a pair of shorts and a purple v-neck with a white cami underneath it. My phone buzzed again and I rolled my eyes. I slid the phone open and shut quickly, hanging up on Sylvia, although I hadn’t checked the caller ID.

I walked out of my room, slipping on my converse before I walked downstairs, where my mom had left a note on the kitchen counter.

ELISE, HAVE A GOOD TIME WITH YOUR FRIENDS. I WONT BE HOME UNTIL LATER TONIGHT.

Short and sweet, I guess. A knock came from my front door unexpectedly and my hands instantly clutched onto the paper in my hand, making it crinkled. I threw it down on the counter and ran to the closest mirror, inspecting my makeup and hair. I didn’t want to look too over dressed, so it didn’t look like I was trying to hard.

I realized I probably took too long to answer the door and paced to it, opening it slowly. Nick was wearing a pair of shorts similar to the ones he was wearing yesterday, but he had a band (that I had never heard of) t-shirt on, and his hair wasn’t in a hat.

“Hey.” My voice sounded different than it usually was, but I grabbed my golf bag and keys from behind the door and smiled at Nick politely when he took it in his hands. We walked down the driveway together to his car. I still couldn’t believe it. A car. I wanted to text Sylvia, but I remembered we were in a fight. Over him.

He said some mean stuff about you. I watched Nick as he carefully put my bag next to his in the backseat and glanced at his face. He looked somewhat content, but still focused.

“How was your Friday night?” Nick asked when he successfully put the bag in the back. He walked to my side of the car and opened it for me, quickly throwing a book bag into the back underneath the seats. As I sat down in his car, I noticed that everything else seemed to be put in place. His dashboard had no dust on it, his CD’s in the compartment above us were neatly organized, probably by alphabetic order or something. Even the change in his cup holder was in the slots that I thought no one ever used.

“Um, it was pretty uneventful. I watched Gilmore Girls for most of the night.” I laughed, wondering how pathetic he thought I was. He had probably gone out to some party and found a girl way better than me.

“That’s better than babysitting your little brother while the rest of your family is busy.” Nick stated, pulling the shift into reverse and swiftly exiting my driveway. I smiled and flipped my bangs out of my eyes.

“So you like Gilmore Girls? So does Mandy.” My stomach tightened.

“Mandy?” Nick glanced at me.

“Did you get my text? I sent you one earlier this morning. I thought you just didn’t respond since I said I was going to be there in a few minutes.” Nick watched as my expression stayed the same, confused and speechless.

“Mandy is going to be at the clubhouse, so I told her she could meet up with us today.” He stared sheepishly down at the steering wheel. “Sorry, I should have called or something.” I cleared my throat and shook my head.

“No, it’s totally fine. I bet Mandy is great.” Mandy. Elise, you dumbass. Of course Nick already has a girlfriend. Why the hell did he ask me out to this anyway? Was it some kind of sympathy date? Did he feel bad for me? Did he…get dared or something?

“She is.” I swore I heard him say, but I was too caught up in my own thoughts to pay attention. Maybe he did have some joke going on…with Joe or someone I didn’t even know. It made sense, that’s why he said whatever he said to Sylvia yesterday.

“Did you happen to say anything to Sylvia about me yesterday on the way back to the clubhouse?” I asked suddenly, watching Nick’s cheeks turn red at the tops of them.

“Uh-uhm. Why? What did she say?” I glanced at him, trying to read his expression. It honestly looked panicked.

“W-well. This might sound really dumb, but she said you were talking…bad about me.” The car swerved slightly and Nick laughed shortly.

“No. I didn’t say anything like that…at all.” Nick convinced me. Strange as it seems, he didn’t have to say anything else to convince me.

“Then, what did you say?” I questioned. Before he could answer, Nick’s ringtone erupted through the car. He glanced down at the caller ID and put the phone up to his ear.

“Hey, Mandy.” My stomach tightened again. “Yeah. Shut up! Your so loud.” Nick laughed, rolling his eyes slightly. I felt really uncomfortable. “Yeah, like…two minutes. Mhmm. You too.”

“I’m sorry. I thought she was going to say she was lost or something.” Nick said, sliding his phone shut and putting it into the cup holders between us. I glanced down at his background, obviously him and the girl I was assuming to be Mandy. They were in some pose where her tongue was stuck out and her eyes were squeezed shut, in a non-freaky way. Nick’s eyes were wide, a somewhat surprised look on his eyes, his lips set into his permanent small smile. The backlight turned off and the screen was back, where I could slightly see my reflection in the screen.

We were silent the rest of the few minutes there, and when we got there, I could instantly tell who was Mandy. Not only because I had just seen her in a picture, but she was the only person in the parking lot that was under forty years old. She got up from the hood of her own car as Nick pulled up next to her, quickly walking over to my side to let me out. I had already opened the door. Why even bother? He should be being polite to his girlfriend, not me.

I couldn’t help but feel a little edge of jealousy as Nick introduced us. “Elise, this is Mandy.” Nick motioned to the girl, and I smiled icily.

“Hey. Nice to meet you.” I said somberly, forcing a small smile onto my face. Mandy glanced at Nick and wriggled her eyebrows slightly, smiling brightly at me.

“Hey! Nicholas wouldn’t shut up about you last night.:” She said this as happy as her greeting was. She smiled as Nick stepped out in front of her and looked at me.

“That’s not true.”

“Oh, it so is.” Mandy said, peeking over Nick’s shoulder. He turned around and probably gave her a look, but I just stood patiently. Nick walked over to his car and took our golf bags out of the back seat.

“I’ve got it.” He said when I reached out for my bag. I thanked him and glanced at Mandy. She was still smiling at me.

“Mandy, your going to freak her out.” Nick mumbled, walking past us. I followed him, Mandy falling into step next to me.

“Sorry.” She rolled her eyes at Nick’s back. For being a couple, they sure didn’t act like it.

We had gotten a golf cart, Nick driving of course, since Mandy couldn’t seem to stand still, and I couldn’t drive that thing for money, and made our way out to the course.

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We were far away from the clubhouse by now and I had slightly improved on my swing, although it always seemed to tilt one way or the other.

“Do you want me to get soda’s? I saw a machine on the trail when we were on our way to this hole.” Mandy had seemed bored the entire time, since she had no idea how to golf…whatsoever. She walked up to the tee, glanced at the ball, and wacked at it. It took her about a matter of five seconds.

“Your going to walk?” Nick questioned, looking up through his hat. When the sun had risen, Nick had put on a hat. He looked hot either way.

“Yeah. It’s not that far away.” Mandy said, shielding her eyes from the sun with the back of her head. Nick shrugged his shoulders and looked at me.

“Do you want something?” He asked, pulling a few dollar bills out of his wallet in his back pocket.

“Diet Coke?” I said, glancing at Mandy. She nodded her head and smiled at Nick.

“Same for you.” She stated, like it wasn’t even a consideration of him drinking something else. She grabbed the money out of Nick’s hands and skipped across the green.

“What am I doing wrong?” I questioned, gripping tighter onto the driver that was in my hand. Nick laughed and stood up from the seat in the cart, standing right next to me.

“Your too uptight.” He answered, staring down at my pose. I rolled my eyes.

“Well, thanks. I meant with my stance. Not me in general.” I joked, smirking lightly down at my point. Nick sighed and walked up behind me. I felt his fingers trace up the backs of my arms. If this was supposed to make me less uptight, he must me crazy.

“Just…relax.” He gripped onto my arm and squeezed it lightly, coming closer to my body. I felt my entire body turn warm as he placed his hands over mine, his arms resting on top of me.

“Feet shoulder length apart.” He was quieter now, his breath lingering on my ear. I obeyed what he said and matched my feet up with his.

“Eyes on the ball.” He took his hands off of mine and backed away. “Now slowly pull back.”

I did so and waited for him to say swing. “And swing.”

Like he had worked some sort of magic, the ball went soaring. Way further than I had ever made it go before. I smiled and watched as it landed on the clear path a ways away from the two of us.

“Alright!” Nick said, smiling and holding his hand up for me to high five. I connected my hand with his and watched as our fingers intertwined. Our eyes met and I quickly pulled away, trying to find Mandy looking at us from a distance. She wasn’t anywhere that I could see.

“Is something wrong?” Nick asked, his face falling when I started to return the golf club back to it’s spot. I stared down at my bag as I talked.

“It’s just…your girlfriend.” It was silent for a few seconds, and I glanced behind me at Nick. He had an incredulous smile on his face.

“Girlfriend?” He laughed, taking his hat off of his head. Even with hat-hair he looked amazingly gorgeous. “No. Mandy is not my girlfriend. She is my best friend.”

I felt my cheeks turn hot as Nick smiled again. “W-well, I just assumed since she was here…” I trailed off, feeling suddenly ashamed.

“Do you want to know why she came?” Nick asked, sitting down in the chair next to our golf clubs. I nodded my head and stared at him. “It’s going to sound dumb.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Not as dumb as I just sounded.”

Nick smiled slightly and stared down at his fidgeting hands as he spoke. “I was really nervous this morning. Being out here with you. I don’t know why, but you are so…intimidating.”

My eyes widened and I pointed to my chest. “Me?”

“Well…” Nick pursed his lips and smirked, nodding his head. “Yeah, I mean…your so cool. And, beautiful. And I like you and all. I just get nervous around you I guess.” I was honestly flattered. Every guy I had ever liked called me hot or cute, never…beautiful.

“You shouldn’t be nervous.” I assured him, leaning up against our bags. Nick glanced at me and nodded his head.

“I know, I just didn’t know how to tell you. So I thought bringing Mandy would help. Since I wasn’t even sure you felt the same way.”

“Well…” I saw Mandy walking up behind Nick a few feet away and she paused, spotting the two of us talking. She was balancing two Cokes in one hand, a Dr. Pepper in the other. “I sort of do.”

Nick looked up from his hands, his brown eyes making me lost so easily. We were both interrupted by someone clearing their throat next to us. Mandy.

“Here is your drinks.” She said, handing us the two cans. She glanced down at hers, and then back at Nick. “Dude, I totally forgot. I have this huge exam to study for. I should get going.” She pretended to glance at her watch and smiled back up at us. Seriously, wha

“We should get going too.” Nick told me. “It gets really busy Saturday afternoons.” I nodded and walked over to the other side of the golf cart, sitting down. Mandy climbed behind me and popped open her soda. Nick took the final seat.

The entire drive back to the clubhouse, it was silent.

But there was this funny thing going on. Nick would look at me, I would see him from the corner of my eye, he would turn away. I would look to him, he would see me, and I would continue to watch him. Our eyes would meet, and all we could do was smile.