Nate’s POV
The feel of her body so close to mine made my whole body feel hot. Damn, she’s beautiful. What the hell was I thinking brushing off her care like that.
” Your what?” She said and I released her before that bastard called Rex comes here and makes me flip a switch on my calm demeanor.
” Disorder,” I said, putting my hands in my pocket.
” It’s called alexithymia, it’s a -”
” – I know what it is.” She said passing her hands through her hair as the realization hit her.
” That’s why you’re such a jerk”
” Yeah,” I said chuckling.
” Does anyone know about this?”
” Umm… Yeah”
” Who?”
” Jake, Zach, Rachel -”
” – Rachel… no wonder” she muttered.
” Mr. Jenkins and my therapist”
” Is the therapy any good?” She asked as she started heading for Spanish class.
” Yeah, so far. I mean, I just started going a couple of days back. Before I got attacked at school” I said following her.
” Oh… any idea who they were?” She asked with so much concern that I was startled.
” What?” She asked again, laughing a little. My heart started to race just because she smiled at me, I never thought I could be the reason Tory smiled.
” Uhh, nothing. Mr. Jenkins said he doesn’t think they’re students of this school and I agree with him. No one in this school would’ve dared to do that to me”
” Oh… That’s strange. So you just found out about your disorder?”
” Yeah, after what happened with Rachel I thought it’ll be best to get help”
” Good call,” she said before she said, ” I’m sorry for all those insensitive things I said. I meant them at the time but I realize I don’t anymore,” she said and it took so much effort to not kiss her there and then.
After all the horrible things I’ve done, she still apologized?!
She’s an angel.
” I’m sorry too. I was just confused”
She smiled and said ” you’re not so bad for someone who can’t express himself properly”
” I still suck” she laughed and damn that made me so happy. If people weren’t still loitering in the hallway, I would’ve jumped! I never thought that I could do or say something to make Tory genuinely smile.
” See you later. I’ve got Spanish class”
” I’ve got Spanish too”
” Oh…”
Call me crazy but I think I saw a tinge of excitement in her eyes before she turned around and took her seat. I didn’t want to get her feeling uncomfortable so I sat elsewhere.
********
Tory’s POV
Nate isn’t SO BAD, he showed a lot of humanity today and he was gentlemanly, that was nice to see.
Throughout the rest of the class, I was intrigued by him, how he seemed to be struggling with not being an asshole to people today. Did I make him do that? I mean, he did say that he saw a therapist after what happened with Rachel, so…. maybe this new calm attitude was because of me.
He caught me staring a couple of times and I’d just shrug and he’d smile. Why did that smile make him look so innocent and adorable as a teddy bear? He looks cute and snuggly. There’s something about this new Nate that leaves me confused.
*******
After school, Rachel, Janelle, and Joanne came over to my place to chill.
We were in the pool having girls talk.
” Honestly, Jake is the perfect boyfriend. I don’t know why I never dated him before” Rachel said as she sat at the edge of the pool with just her legs in the water.
” How about you Joanne, what about Zach?” I asked to annoy her.
” I don’t know, you guys know he’s bisexual right?” She said with a nervous smile and we shook our head as we moped at her in surprise.
” He is, he said it himself. Plus, I’ve seen the way he looks at Trent, so, I don’t know if he and I could ever have a chance. Maybe the closest I could get to having him is the Date-A-Thon”
” Don’t say that, I’m sure you could get him to like you before then, besides the Date-A-Thon isn’t a sure way to get your dream guy” I said and they nodded at Joanne.
” Exactly, Tory did this whole thing to spite Nate at first but this could be a good thing for some people. You might spin that wheel and the name you get is Zach’s!” Rachel said smiling dreamily as we laughed.
” Yeah, use that day to get your man!” Janelle said with a wink.
” That’s only if I get it,” Joanne said with a sigh.
” Victorya!!” My mom yelled causing me to fall into the pool in shock as they laughed. The laughing seized when my mom came dragging Tia along.
” Mom, is everything okay?”
” Why didn’t you tell me that Tia is pregnant?!”
I looked at Tia and she seemed to tell me to forget about denying it.
” I -”
” You chose to keep it from me for what reason?!”
” Mom what’s wrong, I heard you shouting,” Toni said, she was still in her uniform, I have no idea where she’d been.
” Where have you been!” Mom suddenly said and Toni frowned.
” I’ve been in school preparing for our test”
” Oh really? or were you preparing to become a mom like Tia?” Mom said already losing her temper.
” What?”
” I didn’t tell her,” Tia said as she folded her arms around her stomach. It was starting to swell a little.
” You’re….. pregnant?” Toni asked in disbelief.
” I’m sorry Toni, I couldn’t tell you because I needed time to talk to Brian”
” Ummm…. excuse me, rewind, did you just say Brian, like which Brian?” my mom asked popping off now.
” Our driver,” Tia said nervously.
” Oh my God! Victorya did you know this?” I said glaring at me. I said nothing and mom just looked in the sky and gritted her teeth.
” Well then, there goes your future as a model ruined because you’re gonna have a driver’s baby”
” Mom!” Tia said, tears gathering in her eyes at my mom’s word. She has always wanted to be a model and mom had promised to help her get a gig but that statement meant Tia was on her own.
” Tory good job. Help your sister destroy the perfect life your dad and I was trying so hard to make sure she enjoys. That’s just how you almost ruined yours!”
” Wow mom, real mature thing to say, that’s just the perfect thing to say to your daughter just because she fell in love with a great guy and is carrying an innocent baby! Great way to go!” I lashed out sarcastically.
” Don’t you dare talk to me that way Victorya! Did I ever raise you girls to be so careless?!”
” No mom, you didn’t. You never raised us” I said finally tired of holding back the truth. My mom stood there completely shocked at my words.
” Dad raised us while you were away at your fancy meetings and shit that I totally understand you have to do so we can feed!” I said yelling every word that came out of my mouth.
” He was busy too, but he made time for us! Tia and Toni worship you because you’re the mom they always wanted to spend time with but you’re always SO busy!”
” Tory, how can you say that?”
” It’s the truth mom” Toni said surprising me if there was anyone who sided mom the most it was her.
” You don’t get to be home only once or twice a week and expect us to be perfect girls,” Toni said with a glare.
I got out of the pool, pulled Tia inside the house. She headed for her room and I headed straight for my room, slamming the door after me.
” Trust mum to find a way to blame someone instead of her to step up to her responsibilities!” I fumed as I took off my bikini.
I wondered what Rachel, Janelle, and Joanne would be doing since we just left them out there with my mom. I found my phone on my bed and dialed Rachel’s number.
” Umm, hello?”
” I’m sorry Rachie, but you guys can hang in the pool if you want”
” How can we do that when your family is in a sour mood. We are gonna leave, see you later okay?”
” Okay, later” I said before I hung up.
I gasped when I saw a text from Rex asking if I wasn’t coming to see him at the arcade, anyone, like we previously discussed and quickly sent him my reply before I got dressed in matching denim pant and jackets, with white Nikes and rushed to have my hair dried up before applying some makeup and running out.