The Last Good Thing About This Part of Town

The next day, I was at Pete and Patricks house hanging out with all the guys so that we could get to know each other better. Me, Joe and Pete were playing Call of Duty while Patrick was writing some new lyrics he came up with. I couldn't stop thinking about how Nicolette just left last night. She seemed in a hurry, like something was wrong. I mean it was past her curfew but she already told her mom she was going to be late. I thought our date was going really well. Why would she just leave like that?

“Hey man, you okay?” Joe asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah dude, you seem real distracted today” Pete said, pausing the game.

“Sorry guys. I’m kind of just thinking about last night” I confessed to them

“Was it that bad?” Patrick asked, cleaning his glasses.

“No and thats the thing. It went really well, at least thats what I thought, until I dropped her off. I was totally gonna kiss her but she seemed in a hurry to leave. All she did was give me a kiss on the cheek” I told them.

“Oh, sounds rough man” Pete said

“And heres the thing, I didn't ask her out on the date, she basically just told me that we were gonna go on it because thats what she told her ex boyfriend. So its not like she didn't want to be there” I added

“Maybe she forgot about something and needed to get back home” Pete said, trying to ease my thoughts.

“Yeah maybe, but it seemed like she was just distracted you know?”

“Well why don’t you just ask her about it?” Joe said

“I guess so” I said. “Thanks guys, but for right now, I just want to kick your asses on COD” I said, my mind focused on the game rather than Nicolette for the first time since I dropped her off.

“Oh okay whatever, we’ll see about that” Joe said

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next Monday at school, I was waiting at Nicolette’s locker with a cup of coffee for her. She finally showed up about 10 minutes before the bell rang. I was really happy to see her since the way we left things were kind of weird, but I decided I was just going to ask her about it. I’m not really into playing games with girls.

“Hey! Is that for me?” She asked, pointing to the coffee.

“No, I just needed the extra caffeine today” I said, laughing, handing her the cup. “So I kinda need to talk to you about something”

“Yeah so do I” She said as she opened her locker. “About Friday night, it was amazing. Actually it was quite perfect,”

“But?” I asked

“But when you dropped me off, I didn't really get a chance to give you something, even though I really wanted to.”

I was surprised at what she was saying. So she wanted to kiss me but didn’t? Why?

“Someone, I can’t really say he was an ex, was there when we showed up. Its a really long story but basically, I was in love this guy who strung me along for a really long time, but stopped talking to me when he got a girlfriend, and he wanted to talk to me because they broke up.”

“Well, I wasn't expecting that.” I said, trying to process everything Nicolette just said. “But you're still in love with him, aren't you?” I prepared myself for what she was about to say but her answer came as a shock to me.

“No! Of course not! I sent him home and slammed the door in his face.” she said

“So, you're over him?” I asked

“Completely. I wouldn't have told you any of this if I wasn’t.”

“Well, I’m glad” I said relieved. “So what was it that you wanted to give me?” I said smiling. I knew exactly what she was talking about but I decided that it would be fun to make her blush a little.

“Well” she said, closing her locker and taking a step towards me. She put her hand on my chest and tilted her head up and elevated herself up onto her toes for a kiss, and I had to look down a bit since she was quite a bit shorter than I was. We were so close but just then, I heard a guys voice calling Nicolette.

“Nicolette!” a guy with blonde hair, quite shorter than me but about as muscular as me interrupted, and she just sighed, elevating herself back down to the ground. It was some guy I haven’t seen at school yet.

“I’m sorry.” She said, looking back up to me.

“Well, moments ruined” I said “I’ll just see you in class” And I turned around and walked into class.

“I can’t catch a freaking break” I said under my breath, as I walked into class. I walked to my seat and just waited there until the bell rang and Mr. Martins started taking attendance. Nicolette still wasn't there, so I Just waited, wondering what could be taking her so long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What do you want Damien. I told you to leave me alone” I said, trying to move past him. But he grabbed my hand and pulled me back.

“I know you did and I totally get why you don’t want to talk to me. I totally screwed you over and thats something I can't forgive myself for.” He said apologetically.

“Well, It’s too late for apologies. I have to get to class, I’m gonna be late” I said, breaking the hold he had on my arm. The hall stated to clear out because the bell was going to ring in less than a minute.

“Since when do you care that you're late to class?” He asked

I turned around and shot back at him “Always. Why does it matter to you anyway?”

“Look, I know you hate me but, I started thinking about you for the past few months and I wanted to talk to you, but I knew you wouldn't give me the time of day if I was still dating Melody.”

“Great, so you're telling me that I’m the reason you broke up with her. Wonderful! Now she hates me more than she already does.” I exclaimed

“Well she kinda broke up with me.” He said, looking at the ground.

“Oh god I can’t deal with this right now.” I turned around and tried walking into class again. But was stopped in my tracks by what Damien said next.

“But I’m glad she did.” he said “It means I have another chance with you, to do things right.”

I didn't even know what to say. I didn't even turn around. I couldn't look at him.

“I realized way too late that I went for the wrong girl. I never stopped having feelings for you and just realized too late. If I could take all of it back, I would.”

He walked towards me, my back still turned towards him, and grabbed my waist, turned me around, trying to lift my chin to look me in the eyes, but I didn't want to look at him. I moved my face away from his hand.

“Come on Nicolette. I love you. I always have. I was just to caught up with Melodies games to realize it.”

Why now? I thought. Everything was going so well with Andy and Damien just has to swoop back into my life and make everything complicated. Just then the late bell rang but I really didn't care at that moment.

“Think about it okay. I know we’d be something really special.” He kissed my cheek and walked off to his class.

I couldn't even move from the hallway. I felt my eyes start to water, and I came back to me senses. I tried my best to compose myself before I walked into class, but as I walked in and saw Andy, I felt a tear roll down my face.

“Nicolette, I thought we had started to kick the habit of being late, but I guess I was wrong” Mr. Martins snarked

“Sorry.” I said trying to sound convincing and walked to my seat next to Andy.

“You okay?” He asked, noticing that I was trying to keep calm.

“Yeah, I’m fine” I said, trying my best to sound as if the guy who broke my heart didn't just tell me that he loved me.

But he could notice that I wasn’t, and I felt his hand reach for mine under the desk. When his fingers intertwined with mine I looked toward him and he gave me a reassuring look that made me feel that everything was going to be okay. At that moment, I didn't even care about anything else but the fact that Andy was there for me. I even stopped thinking about Damien for a split second when he grabbed my hand. But he quickly popped back into my head, I just squeezed a little tighter and he rubbed the side of my hand with his thumb the entire period. I didn't really want the period to end, because I just wanted to spend all day with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the period ended, we walked out still holding hands. It just seemed like she never really wanted to let go, and neither did I.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” I asked.

“Do you wanna get out of here? I can't really handle being here right now.” She said, looking around like she was trying to look for someone.

“Um, sure. I guess. Where would we go though?” I said hesitantly. I knew I shouldn’t considering that it was only my second week at a new school. But I honestly wanted nothing more than to help Nicolette.

“Well theres this park down the street I always like to go to to get away for a little” She said, pulling me towards the parking lot.

“We can walk. Its not that far, then you can walk with me back to the school for practice”

We walked a few blocks down to a park where there was maybe one or two adults sitting on benches. We walked up to the playground and we climbed to the highest tower that we could. Nicolette sat down and curled up into a ball. Something was bothering her and I needed to find out what it was. It physically hurt me to see her like this. I came up and sat down right next to her, wrapping her up in my arms and I could feel that she was crying. I lifted her head off of her knees and looked at her.

“Whats up?” I asked

She started to calm down a little bit, turned her body towards mine and started to talk quietly.

“The guy that came up to us in the hall, that was Damien. The guy I told you about that just strung me along for a long time”

I suddenly felt a surge of jealousy go through me.

“What did he say?” I asked, still comforting her, trying not to sound like a jealous, overprotected boyfriend, because, well, I’m not her boyfriend.

She told me all about her past relationship with him, from the multiple girls he dated, to Melody, to him being at her doorstep when I dropped her off. She even talked about how she only started dating Aaron to get back at him because him and Aaron were best friends. She told me that they both told her they loved her.

“I’m really sorry for dragging you into this.” She said “I’ve only known you for a week and I already like you so much more than I‘ve liked anyone else. Aaron hates you because I like you, Damien is trying to move back into my life, and now I know I’m going to start a fight between two best friends over this. Its not fair that you just moved here and already have people who don’t like you because of me.” She said, apologetically.

“You don’t have to worry about me. I like you too. Honestly more than I’ve ever liked anyone else. It’s new territory for me but, honestly, it’s worth it” I said, holding her a little tighter in my arms.

“You’re perfect you know that?” She said, snuggling her head into my chest.

“Nah not really. But being here with you feels perfect” I said, honestly. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else at that moment.

“What time is it?” She asked

I pulled out my phone and looked at the time “Dang its already 2:15” I didn't realize how long we had been sitting there.

“We should get back to school. I have practice soon.” She said as she started standing up.

“Do you have to go to practice?” I said, giving her my best puppy dog face.

“Sadly, yes. We have our time trial today and if I’m not there, I don’t run on Saturday. Come on” She said as she helped me up. “Why don’t you stay and watch me run?” She asked “I would love for you to be there cheering me on.”

“Why so that you have a reason to do good?” I said jokingly.

“Well yeah” She said giggling “But its also a big part of my life and I want you to be there to share it with you” She said, seriously, with a small smile on her face, then sliding down the slide to get down from the tower.

“I won’t get beat up by Aaron and his group of scrawny runner friends?” I yelled down to her, going in the slide after she was already out.

She started to laugh pretty hard “Please! I think you’ll be fine.” She grabbed my hand and said “Please. It’ll really mean a lot to me”

I kissed her forehead and whispered “Fine, if it means that much to you” Then we walked all the way back to the school and when we got there, she kissed my cheek, and went into the locker room to change.

I felt weird being there by myself, I’ve never been to one of these things before. I didn't really know how they worked. I walked out to the field where the start of the course was and saw flags leading from the start to a trail behind the school. The course was marked off with arrows on the ground and flags.

I was standing there for about 5 minutes then saw a group of guys make their way to the course. I recognized Aaron in the group and saw a lot more than I needed to see from the short shorts he was wearing, All of the guys were wearing those actually. It was not a sight I wanted to see.

I saw a guy walk up to Aaron and I didn't think much of it at first but then I realized, it was the guy that interrupted mine and Nicolette’s moment we had in the hallway this morning. Damien.

“Shit” I mumbled to myself, hoping he wouldn't see me. I don’t want to make a scene and get kicked out of here. So I just tried acting naturally, hoping he would mind his own business.

Not long after the boys walked out, a group of girls walked out all talking to each other and laughing. I caught a glimpse of Nicolette and for the first time, realized what an amazing body she had. She had on a pair of plain Nike black Spandex, a turquoise blue and white polka dot racerback, and her bangs were braided up into her long wavy pony tail.

She was talking to Erika and they were holding hands and laughing at something. I honestly loved how close she was with another person. I’ve never really had a best friend like that and I even envied her a little bit. I noticed myself staring when she spotted me and started waving and walking towards me.

“You look like you have absolutely no idea whats going on” She said walking up to me with Erika by her side.

“Uh I don’t. Cross country wasn't the most popular sport at my old school, therefore I never cared about it.” I said

“Well all you have to know is that lowest score wins, and only the top 5 score and top 7 make varsity. After that no one else really matters” Erika said laughing

“Okay so do I just stand here the whole time and wait for you to come in or?” I asked, genuinely curious

“Uhh, just follow the coaches” Nicolette said “We have to go warm up. I’ll see you at the finish line?” She said as she started jogging a warm up lap around the field, looking back at me.

“I’ll be there” I yelled back at her

I turned back around and Saw Damien coming over towards me. ‘Shit’ I thought. He must have seen me talking to Nicolette. He didn't seem mad walking over, but I still kept my guard up, just in case.

“Hey man” He said “I’ve never seen you around here before” reaching out his hand for me to shake. “I’m Damien. My best friend is on the team. I used to be on it but then I got into football”

“Uh, Andy” I said, shaking his hand reluctantly.

“So you come out here to cheer on Nicolette?” He asked and I was surprised by his lack of subtlety.

“Uh, yeah. She asked me to come.”I said, trying to talk to him as little as possible.

“Sweet well they're gonna start soon, why don’t you stick by me. You look like you've never been to one of these” He said, motioning over to the starting line

“Um, sure” I said, hesitantly. I didn't know anything about this sport and he offered to help. Plus he acted like I knew nothing about what he told Nicolette. I didn't want to bring it up and start any drama here.

We waited about 5 more minutes. Damien was just talking about football and how he thought it was better than running for three miles just for fun, until the coach started to walk out in the middle of the start with a starting gun.

“Runners to your marks. Set!” Then he shot the gun and the runners sprinted towards him and he ran out of the way as soon as he could. Everyone started to cheer on the people they had come for and once the runners were out of sight, everyone started running towards different spots on the course to see the runners pass.

“Come on man, I know the best spots” Damien said as he started running to the first mile marker. When we got there, the runners got there about a minute or so after.

“Lets go Aaron! You're looking good” I heard Damien cheer. Aaron was the first one to the first mile marker, followed by a few boys shortly after him. About a dozen boys passed before we finally saw Erika and Nicolette in a pack with a group of boys.

“Go Nicolette!” I yelled, not really knowing much else to say. She looked so focused and in the zone. It’s like how I am when i’m playing my drums. And I finally realized that she loves running as much as I love being a drummer. I respected that. In fact, it made me smile.

“Come on man, we got a few more spots to go to!” Damien nudged me, pulling me out of my thoughts. I followed him to a few more spots on the course.By the middle of the race, Erika started pulling away from Nicolette, but she managed to stay behind her a couple feet the entire time.

The runners started piling into the finish line, Aaron was first by about a minute ahead of the second guy. There were about 15 guys that finished before Erika came through the finish line and about 30 seconds later, Nicolette came through the finish line followed by a pack of girls about 10 seconds behind.

I was waiting for Nicolette at the end of the chute and she came through holding hands with Erika and smiling, proud of herself for staying as close as she was to Erika.

“I think thats the closest I've ever finished behind you since the end of sophomore year” She said

“I’m so proud of you!” Erika said, hugging her. “I can’t believe this is the last time trial I’m ever going to run with my best friend” She said, looking like she was about to cry.

“Oh my god stop!” Nicolette said as she pulled in Erika for a hug “I’m gonna cry”

“Ew stop, its sickening” Damien walked up next to me.

An uneasy look came on Nicolette’s and Erika’s faces. I gave them a reassuring look that nothing bad was gonna happen.

“Were cute as crap” Erika said, giving him a look of disgust. “Okay I gotta go. Luis is waiting for me” I suspect she was talking about her boyfriend, and she walked up to a tall, muscular guy and jumped into his arms and kissed him.

“Well I’m gonna go talk to Aaron, I’ll see you guys later. It was nice to meet you Andy!” He said then walked off to Aaron.

“So now you're friends with Damien huh?” Nicolette asked jokingly.

“Nah, he likes to talk about himself too much.” I sail, pulling her in for a hug. “What did you see in him anyway?” I asked jokingly

“Ugh, I was young and naive, don’t even ask me that.” she said then laughed, wrapping her hands around my waist. “So what did you think? Will you come to all my meets now?” She said, then laughed like she was just kidding.

“Uhh its a little overwhelming, but it was interesting. I think I could squeeze in a few of your meets.” I smiled, and I looked down and locked gazes with her. Was this another moment we were having? Should I kiss her with Damien and Aaron within 20 feet of us?

After just gazing into her eyes for a few seconds, I didn't care about any of that. I just knew I had to kiss her. I smiled, leaned forward, and crashed my lips against hers. I moved my hands to her waist and felt her tongue start to feel into my mouth, and I did the same thing. Her lips were soft and warm and felt like nothing like any of the other girls I've kissed before. All I knew at that moment, was that I didn't want to stop.