Childhood Crushes

Chapter Forty-three - Rejection Is Hard, But Not When You're Engaged

A/N: Wow, there's a lot of chapters in this book. I'm sure when I edit it there'll be less, they'll just be longer, but this is still a long book. To those of you who have stuck it out and are still reading this, thank you for being patient with me. I truly thank each and every one of y'all! If it weren't for the feedback I've been getting, this would have been deleted by now and went into the metaphorical dusty shoe box under my metaphorical bed.

Like Craig had said, many of his friends were at the restaurant when we got there. The waiters had to push three tables together to fit half of them, and then still had to cram a few extra chairs in there. Everyone was bumping elbows and awkwardly trying to maneuver around each other to pick up their drinks. Craig, sitting across from myself, leaned over and laughed, "They must hate us; we come here at least twice a month and always cause a scene."

"I bet they enjoy the money, though." I smiled back nervously, trying to find a way to be comfortable. I was squished between two fairly husky guys, both football players I guessed, and both had huge appitites for the breadsticks they kept bringing to the table. Every time they reached for a breadstick, I would be smacked in the shoulder by their elbow. I couldn't help but think about if Bale was here; he would never let this happen to me.

"We're terrible tippers." Craig winked before leaning back and talking to the guy sitting next to him. I couldn't hear anything but the senseless chatter all these people were saying. Mellisa, being squished, like me, between two men, was giving me a sad glance. We both regretted our descision to come here, and it showed on our faces.

"So, Annabelle!" The husky man to my right boomed. "Tell us what it's like in the cute little south!" He said it with sarcasm, simply dripping from his mouth.

Oh God, please don't make me speak - no, scream - above all these people, blabbering about what they've been up to this week, the parties they're going to, or the people they've slept with. Thinking about it, my southern life was way too innocent and sweet for them to even care about. Reading with my dad every night? Going fishing with my friends? Having a welcome home party? If I wanted to be heard, I'd have to tell something better than that.

"Well, it's more exciting than you'd think, Nick - that's your name, right?" I asked.

"Yepp, and I'm guessing by exciting you mean boring as hell, right?" He smirked, elbowing around me - kind of - to his friend who was also squishing me.

"Actually!" I yelled over their whoops at his 'burn'. "You'd be surprised to know my arch enemy offered to make me her maid of honor while her husband-to-be kissed me and then punched me!" Well, he didn't punch me, but he might as well have.

They all fell silent, looking at me with confused glances. I smirked to myself; knowing I had gotten their attention. Instead of explaining further, I decided to enjoy this moment of silence and figure out what I wanted to order. Pulling out my menu, I continued to read, with a smile, while everyone whispered about me. A couple of them accused me of being an attention seeker, while others said there's got to be more to it. Well no duh, Sherlock.

Mellisa was the first to speak directly to me, though. "Um...care to share?" She asked quietly, trying to sit forward a bit so she wasn't constricted to death by her neighbors.

I shrugged, "It's pretty boring, though, according to Nick here." I cocked my thumb over to a dumbfounded Nick, probably feeling pretty stupid for thinking I had no problems.

He quickly shook his head, "No, go ahead."

With a giggle I set down my menu, "Alright. Well, it all started on my graduation day; I got a letter from my dad, whome I hadn't talked to in six years..."

By the end of the night Nick saw me in a different light and even asked me out. (I still left out the fact I was engaged by the end of that eventful summer). I politely declined and told him I already had someone back home waiting on me. It was true; Tennessee was my home and it always would be. We were all standing in the parking lot, filling up the entire area with loud college kids, while people honked their cars, trying to get out of there. Mellisa, who I hadn't seen much of that night, ran up to me when a disappointed Nick walked away. Her eyes were big as she excitedly jumped around, "A really, really, really, really, really, really cute guy just asked me out!" She squealed.

I smiled, "A nice guy just asked me out, too."

"Ooh, when are you two going out?" She asked.

I shook my head. "Never,"

She stopped jumping around right then, "And why not? Didn't we already have a talk about this?" She reached out and grabbed my left hand, wagging it in my face. "NO RING!"

I laughed and took my hand back, "I can't go out with Nick; nor do I want to. He disrespected my hometown!" I playfully winked and started heading back to my car.

"Alright, but that doesn't answer why you can't go out with him." Mellisa continued, following me in the parking lot. On the way, we passed by a Craig, saying goodbye to friends, telling them he'd see them at some sort of party.

"Bye, Craig." I said, tapping him on the shoulder. "Thanks for taking us out; it was a nice change to Jiffy."

He smirked, "Not a problem; I'm glad you guys had a good time. I found out Tennessee is actually pretty interesting. Maybe I could go sometime."

"You should, us country folk are quite entertaining." I turned to Mellisa, "Ain't that right, city girl?"

Mellisa scoweled at me. "I already know I'm not from the south, as you pointed out before."

I laughed and looped my arm with her, escorting her to my car. "Alright, let's get outta here!"

"Hey, Annabelle, wait up!" Craig called, running after us. I stopped and turned, looking at him expectantly. "I guess you heard, but there's a party this weekend. I was wondering if you two wanted to go? It'll be a lot of fun."

While Mellisa was already answering 'yes!', I was weighing the probabillities. I wasn't stupid; there were going to be guys, and there was most likely going to be alcohol and hookups. "I don't know." I finally answered.

Craig shrugged, "Well, if you want, my offer stands until 8 o'clock on Saturday night, at Parkin's place."

"Parkin's place? That's Nick's place, right?" I grimaced.

"Yeah, why?"

"He just asked me out, and I said no. Maybe I shouldn't go..." Yay, an excuse.

Craig waved away my comment, "Don't worry about Nick, he asks out every girl he sees. He's used to rejection by now."

I frowned before nodding and saying I'd think about it. "Good," He smiled again before walking away to his car and a few remaining friends. I looked over at Mellisa, already knowing what face she was making, and I was right. She was giving me the 'WHAT THE FLIPPIN HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!' look.

"What?" I asked.

"Um, it's a party, why don't you want to go?"

I shrugged, "Reasons, I have reasons."

"And why won't you tell me?" She demanded.

"Well...I just don't want people to judge me. Where I come from, it's not really unheard of, and I don't want proffessors or friends to think it'll make a difference in my work or whatever." I shook my head. "It's just something I don't really want to share right now. Let's just go home? I want some peanut butter with chocolate sauce."