I Think I Love You

"So, when's your birthday?" I asked Quellie as we waited at a red light.

"Saturday. I'll finally be eighteen!" I smiled.

"What do you want for your birthday?"

"You don't have to get me anything, Nikki."

"I want to."

"Well, I like all kinds of clothes and shoes. My shirt size is small, my pant size is two and my shoe size is seven." She has almost the exact same sizes as me! The only difference is my shoe size is a seven and a half.

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind."

"Enough about me. Where did Ez take you for lunch?"

"Tatem's." She whipped her head around to look at me, a grin plastered onto her face.

"Really?"

"Yeah." I didn't get why Quellie and Abby were so excited. "Why?"

"I was just wondering."

We pulled into the parking lot of Pure Elegance about ten minutes later. Quellie was about to burst with excitement. "You girls stay here, I'll be right back," Abby said. She took the keys, leaving Quellie and I without the radio. It was quiet for about two seconds before Quellie broke out the questions.

"Have you kissed him yet?" I was taken aback.

"Excuse me?"

"Have you kissed Ez yet?" I stared at the back of her head in disbelief.

"Quellie, I just met him yesterday!"

"I know, I know, but Ez and Val kissed the day they started dating."

"Yeah, but did they go to school together?"

"Yeah."

"Did they grow up around each other?"

"Yeah."

"Did they know each other for more than a day?"

"Okay, you've made your point." She sighed. "I just don't understand why you don't like him. He's really nice and smart and he's not bad looking. If you ever tell him I said that, I'll kill you." I smiled.

"Quellie, I do like him. As a friend." Abby started walking towards the car with Quellie's dress draped over her arm in a protective cover.

"Can you do me a favor?"

"Depends on what it is."

"Can you try to get to know Ez as more than just a friend?" I rolled my eyes.

"I guess, but don't expect anything."

"Thank you, Nikki." I could tell this really meant a lot to her.

*

When we got home, I went looking for Ezkiel. I found him out back lounging by the pool with Wes and Zac. I was a little nervous, but approached Ez anyway. "Nikki!" Wes said. He jumped off of his chair and ran over to hug me.

"Hey, Wes."

"I just wanted to say thank you."

"For what?"

"Telling off Valerie! None of us had the balls to do it." I laughed.

"It's no big deal." I rested my hand on Ez's shoulder. "I was wondering if you could take me shopping for Quellie sometime before Saturday." He smiled up at me.

"Sure."

"Thanks." I headed back inside to find Abby. She was on the sofa reading a book. "Abby, are we going anywhere else today?"

"No, why?"

"Just wondering." I went upstairs into my room to kick off my shoes. I pulled the blinds up and opened my windows, then kicked off my shoes. I grabbed a bra and a pair of panties and went down the hall to the bathroom for a shower.

Once I was out of the shower, I wrapped my hair in a towel and dried my body off. I pulled on my bra and panties, then went back to my room. The cool air coming in from my windows gave me goosebumps. I let my hair down and patted it with the towel. I brushed it out and put in some mousse, then pulled it into a ponytail. I got dressed, then went to close the window because I was getting cold. When I went to shut the window, I saw Wes, Zac and Ez all staring up at me with these goofy grins on their faces. I wondered why, then it hit me. I had mistakenly left the blinds up while I dressed. I just knew my face was beet red. I quickly shut the windows and lowered the blinds, then went downstairs. I grabbed a bottle of water and went outside to see the guys lounging around, acting as if nothing had happened. "You three have an awful lot of explaining to do!" I shouted. They all ignored me, so I threw my bottle of water at the back of Ez's head.

"Ow!" Wes and Zac laughed.

"Don't laugh because you're next." They both stopped.

"Nikki, I'm sorry. I didn't see anything."

"The more you lie, the worse it gets."

"I'm not lying. Wes and Zac were looking, not me."

"He's not lying," Zac said. "He wasn't looking."

"Shit, I was!" Wes said. I tried not to laugh, but it was really hard. "With that perfect little body of yours, it was hard to resist." I giggled. "If you and Ez are just keeping it friendly, that means you're free. Am I correct?" I looked at Ez. He had this blank look on his face, so it was hard to tell what he was feeling.

"Well Ez and I are just friends."

"So, it's cool if we go out sometime?" Ez looked annoyed by this time.

"No, not really. Look Wes, I like you, but I don't think it's right for us to hang out as more than friends."

"Oh, okay."

"I'm sorry."

"It's cool. Hey guys, I'm going to head out. I'll see you tomorrow, Ez."

"Yeah man. See you tomorrow."

I went inside and up to my room. I turned on my TV, flipping through the channels until I found something I wanted to watch. I laid down and ended up falling asleep.

*

I woke up hungry a little after ten. I went down to the kitchen, noticing that everyone else was in bed. I opened the pantry to look for something to eat. I spotted Doritos and grabbed the bag. I poured some into a small bowl and headed back up to my room. After eating the chips, I turned off my TV and curled up under my blanket, quickly falling back asleep.