Her Shattered Heart

9. Nick

I quickly walk to the bathroom, hopefully before he notices that I was blushing. I look in the mirror and see him staring at me, his cheeks rosy red. Oh god he did see me blush. I slam the door shut and start the shower. The water is like heaven to my aching joints and bones. At first it causes pain but eventually I welcome the relief it gives me. I shut the water off and get out. I forgot to grab the mat so I create a puddle on the ground. I tell myself I'll get it later and grab my clothes. I slip on my shorts and shirt and grab my socks. I'm still slightly damp and so I hop around trying to get my sock on. I accidentally get too close to the puddle and I slip. There's a loud thud and I realise that I fell into the shower and hit my head on the back wall. My head starts throbbing and my arms are sore. I can hear Nick run towards the door and knock.

"Maya! Are you ok?!" His tone is urgent.

I try to get up to open the door but I fall again, this time towards the door.

"Knock on the floor twice if it's ok for me to come in."

I knock on the floor twice and Nick rushes in. His shoe gets caught on a loose floorboard and next thing I know he's fallen right next to me. I can't help but laugh at his face. After the initial shock Nick starts laughing too.

"It's nice to hear your laugh. If I can't hear your voice at least I can hear you laugh," his cheeks turn red.

Oh god he's done it again. Told me his true feelings and no matter how hard I fight, I still blush. We lock eyes and it feels like an eternity before we are interrupted.

"Umm what happened here?" It's Ziggy.

"Maya fell getting out of the shower and I came to help but then I, like an idiot, fell."

"Ok and what about the blushing and eye contact?"

"What! We weren't blushing. An eye contact is normal ZIggy. Nothing more," he blushes again.

"Ok sure."

"What are you helping Maya get around now?"

"Yeah."

"Doesn't mean I'll like you. Don't care what you're doing, you still screwed Maya over."

He looks at me again and I look away. I know that that talk will not be fun.

"What are you even doing here Ziggy? I thought everyone was down at the lake?"

"Yeah I just forgot to bring more sunscreen with me. You know ginger's burn really easily. So I'm just going to grab that and I'll leave you guys to it."

Ziggy leaves the room and Nick starts to get up. He goes carefully over to me and grabs me by the elbow. I get up about halfway when my leg gives out and I fall forward onto Nick. He wraps his arms around me to brace me for the fall. Next thing I know Nick is on the floor and I've fallen on top of him.

"Now what is going on? If you've changed your mind about him just let us know and we'll leave you alone."

I look down at him and quickly get up. I shake my head and walk out to my bunk. I grab my shoes and throw them on. I get my notepad and pencil and  grab ZIggy's arm. Before she can even say anything, we are heading out the door.

"So what was that all about? Don't lie to me either, we've known each other since we were babies so I know when you're lying. Do you like him now Maya, cause I saw you blushing?"

I fell getting out of the shower and he helped. I'm confused about how I feel right now. I get butterflies and blush like crazy but I tell myself to stop. I guess I just need time to figure things out.

"Ok. I mean if you like him think about it but you will be spending a lot of time together so don't let that cloud your mind."

I know that Zig. I've been like this since the accident.  Now let's just go relax at the lake with the others.

We get to the lake 2 minutes later and I'm greeted with a bunch of screaming of my name. Deena and Sam come up to me and hug me gently.

"We've missed you so much Maya. The cabin seems empty without you. You've got to promise us that you won't go anywhere without one of us or Nick with you. We don't want this to happen again."

I nod my head and sit in one of the chairs by the water.
"You're not coming in?" Deena asks.

Don't have a bathing suit.

"Well it's your lucky day because I always have one stashed in the outhouse stall that won't open. Give me a minute and I'll get it," Kate says, dashing away.

She comes back a minute later with a red two piece. She hands it to me and signals for me to get dressed. I get up and go into the outhouse. I throw it on and then put my clothes back on. I walk back to the others and see that Nick has joined us. It seems Joan is grilling him.

"Why weren't you with her when she got here?! You're supposed to be taking care of her and you left her!"

"She left with Ziggy so I knew she would be in good hands! I also knew that they would be heading to the lake so I went to my cabin to grab my swim trunks. As you can see, she's fine!"

"One more chance Goode! One more mess up and I'm giving you back to Tommy. Now here she comes so go help her."

Nick sprints over to me, looking mad.

"I've got her Ziggy you go on up ahead."

Nick goes to grab my arm and Ziggy pulls me to the side, right out of his reach.

"You think you can run?" she whispers to me.

I nod my head and she tells me, "be ready in a second."

I take my shoes, shirt,and shorts off and look down at my rib area. The bruises are still fresh but not as bad as I thought.

"Not so fast Goode. You've got to catch us first."

Ziggy and I dart away from Nick. I point towards the doc and we rush that way. I look behind me and Nick is almost able to catch us. I push myself and get some distance between us. I can see the others looking at us, confused at what is happening and also looking concerned.

"Maya be careful!" Joan yells at me.

I put a thumb up and keep running. Nick has us cornered at the edge of the doc and me and Ziggy's feet slip, causing us to fall backwards into the lake. Nick jumps in after us and we swim away, towards the others. On the shore I can see Tommy and his group coming to join us. I dart onto the beach and hide behind Tommy from Nick.

"What are you doing? Nurse Lane said take it easy."

I roll my eyes and keep looking for Nick.

"I'm going to get you Slater! Watch your back."

I giggle and feel arms wrap around me from behind.

"Gotcha."

He picks me and spins me around.

"Now what did I win?"

I signal one minute and grab my notepad and pencil. You've won one of my newest King novels. You've got until the end of camp to read it. Maybe then I'll share my secret on how I get them. 

"Yes! But do I get to choose the book?"

I nod my head and he jumps up, excitedly. He's like a kid in a candy store. It's funny how excited he is about this when his family is one of the richest in Sunnyvale and could definitely get him all of the new books. He runs up and hug spins me. Just then Simon walks over to us.