Page 97 of Slumming It
Was I?
Probably.
But if he hurt Emily, all bets would be off.
In the passenger's seat, she was saying, "Do you know what he did to her this past Fourth of July?"
"You mean to your sister?"
"Oh, yeah. So get this. He invites her to his parents' cabin on the lake, but then, when they're almost there, he tells her that he's not supposed to have guests without permission, so the trip has to be kept a secret."
I frowned.He needed mommy and daddy's permission?Just how oldwasthis guy, anyway? "And I'm guessing that was a problem?"
"Well, sort of," Emily said. "I mean, who wants to be sneaking around? But that's not even the worst of it. The cabin is like an hour away, and they get there just fine. But then, as soon as they arrive, Jason gets this phone call. And you wanna guess who it is?"
It was either Nikki or the parents. Considering that Jason was a mama's boy, I went with the most likely. "His parents."
"No. It's Nikki."
Shit.Bad guess onmypart. "Damn."
"I know, right? And she tells Jason that she blew a tire on her car and begs him to come and help her."
"Why him?"
"Because they'resupposedlyold friends."
"Supposedly?"
"Okay, they were friends back in high school, but now it seems like she's always chasing him, you know?"
"And what abouthim?" I asked. "Does he chase her back?"
"That's the most frustrating part," Emily said. "I don't even know."
"Why not?"
"Because that's just the way Jason is." Her tone grew sarcastic. "He'ssucha nice guy. Everyone justlovesJason Smithers."
"You mean everyone but you."
"Pretty much," she said. "And it's kind of a bummer, because I really liked him back in the beginning, when he and Vivian first started going out. He was always so nice. But these days, it seems like he's nice to everyone but her."
I'd met the type. Of course, the type wasn't me. No one but Emily had ever accusedmeof being a nice guy. But now, I was oddly curious. "You wanna give me an example?"
"Okay, back to the Fourth of July. So Jason leaves Vivian at the cabin, telling her that he'll be back in just a couple of hours…"
"And she didn't have a problem with that?"
"You mean with him going off with another girl?" Emily sighed. "Howcanshe when they're supposedly old friends and it'ssupposedlya big emergency?"
"That's a lot of supposedlies," I said.
"Exactly! Just like Nikki issupposedlynot chasing him."
I recalled how Nikki had acted around me at the club. "Maybe she chases everyone."
"Maybe," Emily admitted. "But she knows that Jason has a girlfriend, and she's still always dragging him away at the worst possible times."
