𝑻𝐇𝐄 𝑵𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒━━ 𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘯𝘢𝘱

27

"thalia?" as soon as his voice came over the phone, i nearly sighed in relief.

"hey," i said softly.

"why are you calling me at three in the morning?"

i grabbed a fistful of sand and watched as it fell through the space between my fingers. "did i wake you up?" i was stalling for time because i didn't know how to broach the subject.

"no, i've been working on something all night. are you okay?" his familiar voice made my heart ache a little. i honestly hated talking on the phone. i liked to be face to face when i was having a conversation with someone, but of course i was only able to talk to him over the phone due to being at the beach.

"yeah, i'm fine. i just- i did something and now i'm confused about everything."

there was the sound of papers rustling and a loud scuffle before i heard him speak again. "was it something illegal?"

i couldn't help but laugh a little at that. "no, not something illegal. i kissed nick."

"oh?" was all he said at first. "why did you kiss him?"

"we were wrestling and messing around and he got me pinned and i don't know what came over me but i just kissed him," i explained.

"okay... was he upset or weirded out?"

"no."

"did he return the kiss?"

"yes."

"okay. so i'm assuming that you kissed him impulsively and now you have no idea if you actually like him or not because you've never really considered if you like him as more than a best friend," he guessed.

"how the heck did you know that?" i asked. he had a way of reading my mind in a scary way, but this was beyond weird.

"i'm just that good," he said. "so you want my opinion on your feelings?"

"yes. i don't know who else to ask," i admitted.

"well, i've seen you guys together and i've seen you guys apart. you've always complemented each other well and you guys are better together. but that doesn't mean you guys are romantically interested in each other. the only way you're going to know is if you be honest with yourself and talk it over with him. test the waters if you guys need."

"wow," i said, "that was actually good advice. thank you."

"anytime. i love you thalia."

"i love you too, dreamy weamy."

he groaned at that. "we were having a good moment and you had to ruin it."

"i thought it was appropriate." i smiled to myself as i started drawing little hearts in the sand.

"it was definitely not appropriate. i'm hanging up now," dream sang. "i've got to get sleep some before you and nick keep me up all night."

it took me a second to realize what he was insinuating. "is all you think about sex?"

"nope, not at all. apparently it's all you think about, though, because i was referring to the fact that it's almost the time of year when we stay up all night watching scary movies and you and nick scream like little girls the whole time."