I Think I Love You

The rest of the day, it seemed as if Ez was avoiding me. Avoiding everyone, really. He stayed in his room with the door locked. I felt really bad for what I said. It's not like I intended to hurt his feelings.

It was almost eight, and I was all ready. I was downstairs on the sofa talking to Quellie as people started arriving. "So, do you know what's wrong with Ez?" Quellie asked me. I made sure not to let my facial expression show that I did.

"No, I don't. He didn't talk to me on the way home from Starbucks and he hasn't been out of his room since."

"It's just weird. He's not the type of guy that hides away. Something must have really bothered him."

"I wish I knew."

"Oh well. I guess he'll come down when he's ready."

About an hour later, the entire first floor of the house was crowded with people. Mostly adults, but there was the occasional child. Two of the kids that belonged to mister and misses Boone, Ashley and Laila, were running around the house screaming. I wanted to scream myself. Then there was misses Harvey and her baby boy. He was as good as gold. He was either asleep or awake, but quiet. I went up to misses Harvey and asked, "What's this cutie's name?" She smiled at me.

"This is Kole. Would you like to hold him?" I smiled and nodded. For some reason, the little baby didn't bother me. It was those annoying older kids that got on my last nerve. She handed him over to me and I cradled him in my arms. He looked up at me with the brightest blue eyes I'd ever seen, and it melted my heart.

"Hey there, Kole. You have the prettiest blue eyes," I spoke in a soft voice. He smiled a toothless grin and I giggled. I could hear whispers amongst the crowd as they all watched me with Kole. I wonder when her and Ez will have kids. She'll be a great mother. She looks so comfortable. I wonder if she's already pregnant. All the whispers were starting to get on my nerves, but I didn't want to pass Kole back to his mom. I tickled his little tummy, making him giggle. When he started getting fussy, I gave him back to misses Harvey. I don't do fussy babies.

I mingled with all of the party guests for a little while, then as they started to leave, I helped Abby and Quellie clean up. When all of the guests were gone and we finished cleaning, Quellie and I sat down on the sofa. "I wonder why Ez didn't come down to the party," Quellie said.

"I don't know."

"You do know." I turned to see Ez at the foot of the stairs. I had to play stupid for a bit.

"No, Ez. I don't." He rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, Nikolette. When you decide to stop acting like a fucking idiot, come find me so we can talk," he said before disappearing into the kitchen. I ran up to my room and locked the door. I sat on my bed with my knees drawn up to my chest and I just cried.

After about fourty-five minutes, I was all cried out. I decided to change into my pajamas and lay down with my earbuds. I turned off my lights and laid there in the dark listening to Hemorrhage by Fuel. I was quietly singing along, my eyelids getting heavy. I didn't want to sleep though, it was only ten. I remembered I had to pack a suitcase for New York, so I hopped out of bed and began packing. I packed a weeks worth of clothed and shoes. I decided to pack my other neccesities before we left tomorrow. I took my earbuds out and snuck downstairs. I checked all over to make sure Ez wasn't down there before I decided to stay. Quellie was on the sofa, munching on a bag of Sun Chips. "There you are. Are you okay?" she asked as I sat next to her.

"Yeah. Hey, do you know where Ez went? I need to talk to him."

"He went out back a few minutes after you went upstairs and he hasn't come in yet."

"Thanks." I got up and went out the back door.

"Quellie, leave me alone. I don't want to talk," he yelled from the lounge chair by the pool.

"Too bad," I said as I walked over to stand beside him.

"What do you want?"

"I want to talk."

"Well I don't feel like talking to you right now."

"I don't care. We're going to talk." He stood, towering over me. I reached for his hand but he pulled away.

"Stop making advances. I know you don't want me like that and there's no sense in messing with my head."

"Who said I'm trying to mess with your head?"

"It's obvious. You hug me and hold my hand and giggle like you're in love with me, but I know you're not. All you're doing is making me regret..." he trailed off, looking at the pool.

"Regret what?" I asked, even though I knew the answer.

"Regret agreeing to marry you." There it is. My eyes blurred with tears and my stomach knotted up.

"You can still back out."

"No, I can't."

"Why not? You and I both know this won't work. You're first class, gets what he wants when he wants. I'm lower class, works for what she needs not wants. I'm obviously not good enough for you." The tears in my eyes spilled over. I guess I wasn't all cried out. "You should just... just go back to Valerie. She's rich and prettier than me. You've known her a lot longer and she loves you. She can give you more than I can." I looked down at my socks.

"Do you want to know why I can't back out or are you going to continue to sound pitiful?"

"I'm not being pitiful, I'm being honest." This time, he was the one who reached out and took my hand. He stepped closer to me and touched my face. I looked up at him and he wiped my make-up-stained tears.

"I can't back out of this."

"Why?"

"Because, Nikki. I think... well, I think..." I half-smiled. He was stuttering like a fool.

"Spit it out."

"Nikki, I think I love you."