Vienna

chapter five

I'm not sure if I have ever felt worse in my life.

After I went back inside last night, I had three more shots with Ellie. We spent the rest of the night together while Daisy and Hannah were off with their guys. We partnered in beer pong against Noah and Finn.

Let's just say we did not win. Not even close. That's probably a big reason why I woke up feeling like absolute death.

Most of our friend group slept over after the party. I woke up on the beanbag in Ellie's bedroom and spent a good ten minutes cleaning myself up in her bathroom.

As I came down the stairs, I wasn't sure if I was going to throw up or rejoice at the smell of pancakes coming from the kitchen.

Noah, Lucas, Nathan, and Logan had woken up early to clean the house while us girls slept.

I was a little nervous to see Lucas again after our interaction last night, but he pretended like nothing happened so I just moved past it.

Daisy, on the other hand, came down with the biggest smile on her face. She spent the whole night with Aiden and was planning on hanging out with him again later today. Let's just say she had the smile of a girl who got lucky.

I shoveled down as many pancakes as my stomach could handle before gulping down two glasses of water. That instantly made me feel ten times better, but I knew I needed a long shower and nap before I'd be back to one hundred percent.

Now I am currently laying in my bed watching Netflix. I took the longest shower of my life and napped for three hours. I woke up a brand new person.

Tonight, my dad and I were planning on going to Giolinno's for dinner. He'd been gone on a work trip for the past week and we needed some time to catch each other up on our lives.

I still had a few hours to kill before dinner, so I binge watched New Girl. I definitely have a crush on Nick.

Daisy was keeping me updated on her day with Aiden. He's going back to college tomorrow so they wanted to spend all day together. She says it's just a fling, but I think it's pretty obvious they have feelings for each other.

She sent me several texts about how he surprised her with a picnic on the beach and now they're going to watch movies at her house.

I can't help but feel a little jealous when I see all of these couples around me. I haven't even had my first kiss yet, let alone been in a relationship. I've never really minded though, it seems like too much of a commitment.

I started getting ready for dinner around seven. I just threw on jeans and a nice top, not bothering to apply any makeup since it was just gonna be me and my dad.

"You ready, hun?" my dad yells from downstairs.

I was ready, so I simply made my way downstairs instead of responding. "You look nice," I compliment as I reach the bottom of the stairs.

Dad has always been very handsome. The stress of the past few years has aged him a bit, but nothing more than a few wrinkles and graying hair. I don't look much like him apart from our hazel eyes. Not my brother though, everyone has always said Ethan looks just like our father.

Ethan is only a year older than me. He's away at his first year of college. Luckily he goes to school only an hour away, so he promised he would come visit as much as possible. We weren't super close growing up, but we grew closer the past few years when our friend groups overlapped. Ethan was on the football team with all of the guys, so I saw him around a lot.

Him leaving for college was tough for me, not that I'd ever tell him that. With our dad gone all the time, it left me alone a lot.

The restaurant is only a 5 minute drive from home, so we get there pretty quickly. Giolinno's has been my favorite restaurant since I was a kid. Their pizza is to die for.

We sat down at our usual table and ordered our usual meals.

"How's the rescue? Melissa still treating you alright?" he asked casually. My dad and Melissa actually went to high school together. They both grew up here and ended up staying, so they've known each other their whole lives. That's how he got me the job at the animal rescue.

"It's great," I smile fondly. "And yes, she is. You know, sometimes when it's slow she tells me some stories from high school," I tease.

He gives me a guilty smile and shakes his head, "Anything she says is a lie. She has a very vivid imagination."

I hum teasingly.

"You hear from Ethan lately?" I asked my dad.

"He called the other day. He seems good, he really likes his roommate and new teammates. If the team is any good this year, maybe we can drive up and watch a couple of his games," he offers.

My eyes widen in surprise and I nod excitedly, "Yes, yes, yes!" Even though I know this is most likely another one of his empty promises to spend more time together, I can't help but get my hopes up.

"How's your team so far? You went to the game last night, right?" he inquired.

I nodded. "Yeah, I think they're going to be really strong this year. They won!"

"Good, good," he responded. "I was worried they'd be a little weak without your brother this year, but I looked at the new quarterback's stats and he's almost as good as Ethan."

New quarterback? I wonder who filled Ethan's position.

"You should come to the next game if you can get away from work, I bet the team would love to see you," I say. My dad would always let Ethan host team bonding nights at our house, so he loved talking to the boys whenever he was home.

We finished our dinner I decided to walk home and enjoy the nice night. I wave bye to my dad as he drives away and I head over to the ice cream store next door. 

Ice cream is a gift from heaven. And I am simply doing the polite thing and using the gift.

Luckily there's no line, so I quickly get my cookies and cream ice cream cone and continue on with my walk home.

My feet come to a stop when I see the old park I used to go when I was younger. I would always climb the trees while my little sister watched. Mom always said she was too young to join me. I don't think Gigi minded though, she just liked watching.

It was too late in the day for families to be out so the park was fairly deserted.

The occasional jogger passed by, but none spared a glance. I was glad. I really didn't want anyone seeing me lick my ice cream cone with a smile on my face like a damn baby.

"Gray?" a familiar voice snaps me out of my trance.

I look up to see the one person that could only make my good mood turn sour.

"What are you doing here?" Nathan continues.

"Sitting," I reply dryly.

"Oh really? Thanks for telling me, otherwise I would have had no clue," he says sarcastically. Pausing, he looks between me and my ice cream cone, "Well, I gotta run, but thanks for the ice cream!"

"What do you mean thanks for the-" he cuts me off by grabbing the ice cream cone out of my hand. He saunters away with it, licking my ice cream like a braggy child.

My jaw falls to the floor. Is this real life? Nathan Cole is a dead man.

No one steals my ice cream.

I decide to hell with the park, and walk all the way back home. By the time I reached my house, I had come up with a concerningly long mental list of all the ways I could murder him.

Number 37 is my personal favorite.

Luckily I have a carton of ice cream in the freezer, so I grab that and a spoon and head up to my room. I spend the rest of the night filling my stomach and binging tv.