Two Girls in West Egg

Chapter 16:Carmine and His Ships

It was afternoon time the next day and I couldn't stop smiling. I still couldn't believe they kissed!

I walked to the kitchen with a huge grin on my face. Carmine was busy organizing utensils when he heard my footsteps and turned around. He looked at me confused.

"Are you okay, Miss Kelsey?" he asked. I looked at him and brought my smile to a minimum. "Yeah, I'm fine." I say back.

Carmine nods but still looks skeptical. He then suddenly smiles.

"You and that Nick fellow are quite friendly, aren't you?"

Are you kidding me? He ships Nelsey too?! Carmine is such a fanboy. See what I did there?

"Yeah, he's really close with Karmen and I." I respond nonchalantly. Carmine still has that look on his face.

"But, he's closer to you, right Miss Kelsey?" I shrug.

"Maybe, I don't know." Carmine gives me the, don't lie, honey, look. I pretend to be oblivious. "Are you suggesting something Carmine?" I ask.

"I don't know Miss, he and Jordan seem to be drifting apart lately......"

I look at him. For a while, there is complete silence. Finally, I speak.

"What a shame." I say as I exit the kitchen leaving Carmine there with a knowing smile.
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"What do you think it meant?" Karmen asks me. We were sitting on Gatsby's dock with our feet in the water. Straight ahead of us was the Buchanan house.

"What do I think what meant?" I ask Karmen back. She sighs. "The kiss." she says. I smirk.

"It means that Daisy is gonna be seriously jelly." Karmen laughs.

"No, but I'm serious. Do you think he......likes me?" I laugh.

"Are you kidding?! He obviously likes you!" I exclaimed.

"You really think so?" she asks. "Duh." I say back.

Karmen looks out at the water and smiles. Then, she turns back to me with a smirk. "So, you and Nick?" I shrug.

"He's cute." I say. Karmen squeals and I laugh. "You won't believe, even Carmine ships Nelsey." I say to her. She laughs.

"That's so cute!" Karmen exclaims. "Nick's with Jordan though. And I wouldn't want to interfere with what they have." I say after a while.

"Oh please," Karmen starts, "you saw what happened in the movie. The only person left with Gatsby in the end was Nick. He and Jordan have nothing." I look at her. After a while I agree with her.

"Yeah, that's true."
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Later on that day, I saw Gatsby and Karmen sitting together in the living room. So, being the good friend I am, I decided to let them do whatever they were doing. I walked to the front door, trying to not be seen. But, of course, that didn't work. As always.

"Oh hey Kelsey." Karmen says. I turn to the two and smile, I then begin to walk back to the front door.

"Where are you going?" Karmen adds. I turn around again.

"Nick's house." I say as if it was no big deal.

Karmen smirks. "Okay, see you later." she says. I say bye to the two then quickly exit the house.

As I walk out the door, I sigh. It's no big deal, I'm just gonna hang out with my homie, as friends, I think to myself.

Yeah, whatever you say, I hear a small voice in my head tell me. I roll my eyes and begin to walk to Nick's house.
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I knock on the door and wait. After a couple of seconds the door opens.

Nick sees me and smiles. Awww, he has a cute smile, I think to myself. Woah, where did that come from?

I smile back at Nick. "Hi! I'm sorry I came over without saying so."

Nick shakes his head. "No, no, it's fine. Come in." he says while moving aside. I walk in and sit down in the living room on one of the couches.

Nick follows suit. "So, what brings you here?" I shrug. "I wanted to give the lovebirds some time alone." Nick chuckles and nods. "Well, I'm glad you decided to come here."

The rest of the afternoon I spent with Nick. We had some pretty interesting conversation.......

"So, how are you and Jordan?" I ask like I'm uninterested. Nick's face suddenly changes to sadness. Just a little though.

"We're not really together anymore. Not that we ever were."

I hide a smirk. "I'm sorry to hear that." I respond. Nick shakes his head with a slight smile.

"It's quite alright, besides, I like someone else anyways." He looks up at me. We stare at each other for what seems like forever. Suddenly, I turned and looked out the window to see the stars were out.

I stood up disappointed. "I should probably get going." Nick pouts. Cute.

Together, we walked to the door, I stepped out of it as he stayed inside. I turned around towards him. "Thank you for today, Nick. I had fun. Even though we did absolutely nothing." I say laughing.

Nick laughs along with me. "You're welcome anytime."

I smile. Then, I stand on my tippy toes and kiss his cheek. "Bye Nick." He blushes and says bye back.

I then make my way back to Gatsby's house, smiling the whole way.
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Karmen had already fallen asleep before I came back. So, of course, I just made my way to the library. On my way there, I saw Carmine. We smile at each other.

"How was your day with Mr.Nick?" Carmine asked me.

"Quite alright, thank you." And with that I quickly make my way to the library. I can hear Carmine chuckling behind me.

I get to the library to see Gatsby already there. He's staring off into space.

"Hello." I say as I sit down across from him. He looks up and smiles.

"No Gatz tonight?" Gatsby asks. I smile whike shaking my head.

"He was too tired." I say. Gatsby chuckles.

We sit in awkward silence for a while. I finally speak.

"Do you love her?" I ask him. Gatsby looks at me, his eyes twinkling, with an unreadable expression on his face.

"I'm not sure who I love yet."
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The one with the elephant on it is mine and the coral colored one is Karmen's. :)

~kelso~