Page 36 of Clichés & Curses

‘He likes you too.’

I quickly shook my head, dismissing her words. ‘Don’t do that, don’t give me that hope.’

‘The night of the party at the baseball team’s house when he finally arrived,’ Nina continued, ignoring what I said. ‘The first thing he did was he went up to Miles and asked him whereyouwere. When Miles said he didn’t know, he went to look for you.’

‘And how did you know that was what happened?’ I asked, even though I could already guess how.

‘I was with Miles when he asked. It was like nothing else mattered to him than getting to see you.’

The butterflies in my stomach were pretty much out of control at that point, no matter how hard I tried to calm them. Normally I wouldn’t trust anyone’s accusations of these things, but that came from Nina, who had only ever looked out for me and said things as they were, even if they were hard pills to swallow. This just made her accusations a lot harder to brush off, and really making the spark of hope in my chest grow bigger.

‘Evenifyou are right,’ I finally said, ‘These are still merely your observations. I’ll only believe Colton actually likes me back if he ever says the words, “I like you” to me.’

‘That’s fair.’ Nina nodded, ending that conversation.

As we continued eating our meal, and my mind finally calmed down over everything that we discussed, something struck me over what Nina said just then.

‘Hold on a minute. What do you mean, used to be on Miles? Is there something going on between you two that I should know about?’

And lo and behold, my best friend and roommate flushed on the spot.

‘There is,’ I exclaimed.

‘We’ve just been texting. That’s all. I mean, midterms and training have pretty much filled my time this week, but it was nice to text him once in a while,’ Nina said, sheepishly.

‘And?’ I urged her to continue.

‘And nothing. That’s the extent of it.’ She shrugged.

‘Well, I’m happy for you,’ I said.

‘And I’m happy for you for going on a date tomorrow. But what exactly do you need my help with?’

I couldn’t help but laugh at her question, her joining me seconds later.

‘Gosh, how did we stray so far away from the main thing I wanted to talk to you about,’ I said, after calming myself down. ‘Ineed help picking out an outfit and I need your brutal opinions and fashion sense, please.’

‘Consider it a done deal. My training is until mid-noon, so I’ll be home to help you out. The date is at night, right?’

I nodded. ‘He’s asked me to be ready at six.’

‘Yup, I will definitely be home by then,’ Nina confirmed.

We spent the rest of the dinner catching up with whatever had happened that week, no matter how small or big. As I sat there listening to Nina recount what had happened during her training the day before, I couldn’t help but be grateful to have stumbled upon her in my life.

‘I’m glad you’re my best friend,’ I said once she finished her story.

She gave me a giant grin. ‘I’m glad you’re my best friend too.’

Chapter Nine

I was lounging around on the couch with Nina, rewatching an episode ofF.R.I.E.N.D.S., when I got a text message from Aiden.

Aiden: I’m here.

It was finally Saturday, which also meant it was the day of my date with Aiden.

He had texted me the other night, informing me that for our date, we would be catching a movie at the theatre and have dinner afterwards. I chose a more comfortable outfit, since we would mostly be sitting all night. After Nina annihilated my closet, she finally decided on what I would wear, which consisted of a casual dress paired with a cropped cardigan in case the theatre was cold.

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