This Was Not the Plan (gxg)

Chapter 6

Nick dropped me off at my house around 11. I greeted my mom as I passed her to the basement. She was hosting a book club for her and some of her church friends. Their meetings had a tendency to last well into the night. Once in the solitude of my room, I changed out of my sweater and jeans and into an oversized t-shirt and gym shorts.

I collapsed onto my bed, absolutely exhausted. Nick's family was overwhelming to say the least, but they were very friendly. I could only remember a few names of the relatives I met. The rest were just random names swirling around in my brain. While I had a great time with my boyfriend, his cousin was the only thing I could think about.

Kendall should have been the last person on my mind. But I had made her smile. Sure, it wasn't a huge grin, or even that noticeable, but the corner of her lips went up, and it wasn't a smirk. I wasn't sure why it made me so happy, or why I cared to begin with. I tried to think of a reason as to why I even checked on her in the first place. In the moment it just seemed like the right thing to do. Kendall has spent the last year of my life belittling me, throwing things at me, and making my job as team manger hell, and I still admitted to caring about her. Is this what Stockholm syndrome feels like?

I had learned quite a bit about her past – thanks to her cousin, Jordan – that I was beginning to understand her attitude. It humanized her. She wasn't just a stuck-up bitch for no reason, she was hurting. I wanted desperately to know why. The more I learned about her the more questions I had. If you would have asked me a few weeks ago, I would have been adamant that her emotions were surface level, that she truly was exactly as she seemed. But now, I had no idea who she was.

A small part of me also wanted to be the first of Nick's girlfriends to be on her good side. If he and I were going to continue dating, it seemed reasonable to want to be on good terms with her. Sure, she had specifically expressed that she wanted nothing to do with me, but I didn't want to except that. The joy I felt seeing her smile was enough to know I couldn't except it. My mind was made up. It would take an insane amount of work, probably a lot of hurt feelings, but I would make that girl my friend. Even if it killed one of us.

I was finally drifting off to sleep when I heard the basement door open. Loud, creaking footsteps came from the stairs.

"Hello?" silence, "Mom? Dad?" more footsteps, "Tori, I swear to god, if you're trying to scare me again..." I warned the unknown intruder.

"Now, Veronica, you know we don't use the lords name in vein!" Reagan mocked, doing an impression of my mom as she entered my room.

She turned on the lights, causing me to groan and hide under my pillow.

"God, Reagan. What are you doing here?" I yelled into my pillow.

"Your mom let me in." I felt the bed shake as Reagan settled in next to me.

"It's 3am why is my mom still awake?" I asked.

"Her book club is still going." Reagan chuckled, "Say what you want about Janet, but the woman knows how to party."

"I should have guessed." I sighed, "but WHY are you here?"

"I'm impatient," she giggled, "now tell me how it went with Nick's family?"

"Seriously?" I groaned removing my pillow from my face to glare at her, "This can wait until tomorrow."

"It is tomorrow," she said with a cheeky grin.

I noticed she was holding two travel sized mugs. I squinted at her cautiously, "What's in the cup?"

"Here," she said handing it to me, "It will give you energy. At least enough to tell me how it went."