A New Playing Field

Megan’s POV

I can’t think of one good reason why Nate is calling me. First he cheated on me. Then he embarrassed me in front of all my friends. Part of me doesn’t care what his voicemail says, but the other part of me is really curious. I put my phone on speaker so Nick could hear the message too.

‘You have one new voice message.’ I cringed.

“Hey Megan…it’s Nate. I uh, I know this is weird because we haven’t talked in a while. I watched every one of your games on TV. You played and looked great.” There was an awkward five second pause. “Anyway, I’m coming out to L.A. for vacation and if there is any way we could meet up for lunch of something, I would really like that. If you don’t want to, I’ll be bummed but I’ll understand. Even if you don’t want to have lunch, can you give me call me back anyway, please? I really want to see you, but if I can’t, I just want to hear your voice. Hope to talk to you soon, Skipper.” I cringed again. I haven't been called Skipper since...

“First question…Skipper?” Nick asked, interrupting my train of thought.

“When I was in high school, people called me Gibber. To Nate, it sounded like Skipper, so that’s what he called me. Looking back on it, I don’t know why I let him call me that. It’s stupid,” I said.

“Interesting.” Nick paused. “I think you should see him.” I was taken back.

“Y-you what?”

“I think you should see him, but only to show him how happy you are. Look at you. You’re a gold medalist, you’re gorgeous, you’re in a great relationship, and you’re really happy. So, show him.”

“You know, you might be right. Should I call him right now?” Nick nodded. I took a deep breath, and dialed his number. It rang three times before he answered.

“Megan?”

“Nate.”

“Hey! How are you doing?”

“I’m fantastic, how about you?”

“I’m doing alright. I’m so glad you called back.”

“Yeah. So when are you coming out to the West Coast?”

“Wednesday. I would love to see you Megan. Can we do lunch on Thursday?” I looked a Nick and he pointed to the radio. If Nick would be busy then, I’ll do it.

“Yeah, sure. I am free after 12. But I kind of have a problem with going out in public sometimes. I get recognized to easily. Do you want to barbeque at my house instead?”

“That sounds perfect. Thank you so much.”

“Text me when you get out here and I’ll give you directions from your hotel.”

“Alright, so I’ll see you in a few days Skipper?"

“Yes, but Nate, you seriously need to stop calling me that.”

"Oh. Right. I'm sorry," he said, surprised and disappointed.

"It's okay. I'll see you in a few days. Bye Nate." I hung up the phone and hugged Nick.

“I kind of lied to Nate.”

“About what?”

“I don't want to go in public with him because I don’t want people to think I am cheating on you.”

“I didn’t even think of that. You just saved us both a lot of trouble. You’re an excellent thinker, you know that?” Nick kissed me on the forehead.

Still in shock that I agreed to have lunch with the boy that tore my heart in two, I went back to cooking dinner for the boy that put the two pieces back together again.

As Nick and I began to finish up our dinner, my parents came home. They both left work early and met up for dinner at their favorite restaurant. After everyone said their hellos, I leaned over to Nick.

“Wanna see something funny?” I whispered to him. He flashed a smile with a tint of confusion and nodded.

“Hey Mom and Dad, guess who is coming over here for lunch on Thursday.”

“Who?” Mom asked in between sips from a water bottle.

“Nate."

Mom spit all the water in her mouth out onto the floor. Nick tried not to laugh, but he couldn’t help it. I smiled at him with a "I told you" kind of look.

“Megan, did you just say Nate?” Dad asked. I nodded.

“Nate…as in Nate Peterson.,” Mom said.

"Yes, Nate Peterson. He called me today but I didn’t answer. I explained what happened to Nick and we listened to the voice message. His family is coming out here for vacation and he asked if we could do lunch. I told him that I get noticed in public and asked if he could come here instead.”

“But, but why Megan?” Mom asked.

“It was Nick’s idea. Nick said I should show him how awesome my life is right now, and I agree. So while Nick is out at a radio interview, Nate will come over.”

“I think it shows a lot of character that you’ll even see him after what he did. I’m proud of your maturity,” Mom said.

Nick and I cleaned up our dinner and went into the basement to watch a movie. Before we started the movie, I called Tara, my best friend in New Jersey. I told her I was going to seeing Nate and she was definitely more shocked than my parents were.

Nick and I half watched a movie, half had a make out and cuddle session. I drove Nick home at 11:30. After two minutes of kissing in my parked car, I pulled away.

“As much as I want to do continue this, I have to get up early tomorrow. I’m sorry. You know I love you.”

“I know and I love you too. I’ll talk to you tomorrow babe.” Nick gave me one more kiss before getting out of the car.