The Wrong Guy

Chapter 10 Laura's Guy

                That Saturday night didn’t come too long. It was Winnie’s birthday, and I promised I would come. I haven’t talked to Nick since that Math class, so I was terribly nervous about going. It was four o’clock, and I was already dressed. Well, I just wore my favorite shirt, jacket and shorts, all of them of red. That’s my favorite color. I wore my boots that reached up to my knee.

                Mom was not home, so I was basically bumped at home, a little scared. I tried calling Laura, but she wasn’t answering. I didn’t know what to do. I told Laura I would pick her up by three, but I didn’t know what to do with Nick. He was totally speechless after I denied him in front of Alex. I felt so sorry for him, but I couldn’t help but leave it like that because I didn’t want it to somehow affect Alex. I was frustrated with all that had happened, but I couldn’t help but get excited. I felt like Alex was totally in to me especially after he asked Winnie about me, having a boyfriend. I was filled with thoughts as I was feeling buried down our couch.

                I was just about to flood myself with further anxiety when I heard a knock at the door. I didn’t know who it was. I just thought it could be Laura. But Laura’s house wasn’t nearby, so I still wondered. When I went and opened the door, I was surprised to find Nick. He was wearing a black sweater. It didn’t take long for me to realize it was the sweater I gave him before for Christmas. He shot his hands into his pockets as he smiled and said, “Hi.”

                “Nick!” I gave that as a response. “Hey!”

                “So, you up for the birthday?” he chuckled buoyantly, like there was nothing bugging him. That got me wondering. I thought he was still mad or something, but somehow, I felt glad that he was fine.

                “Yeah!” I smiled back, hoping it was all okay. “I was just waiting for Laura.”

                “Okay. You mind if I go with you?” his smile went down, but it didn’t seem like a bad thing; he just seemed shy.

                “Sure!” Finally, I had to do him a favor. I pulled the door open and said, “Come in! I’m sure Laura’s on her way.”

                “Thanks.” His smile went back up as he walked in.

                I closed the door and walked him to the living room. He didn’t seem to be up to something, or maybe I was just taking myself too high. I just thought a casual conversation could work.

                “So, how’s the baby?” I started as he sat on our living room couch. “I mean to thank you for doing it for me.”

                “It’s okay, and the baby turned out fine and easy to deal with.” He smiled.

                “Really?”

                “Yeah,” he shoved a chuckle and started to explain how the baby works, “It was actually just in the mechanics of the baby. I talked to our neighbor who graduated in Neptune High, and he said they were given the exact same assignment last year by the SexEd teacher.”

                “Wow,” I gave as a fake reaction though I truly didn’t care. “Pretty sneaky.”

                “Well, what’s sneaky is that I got those things figured out.”

                “What? The dolls?” Suddenly, I was interested.

                “Yeah,” he laughed and slapped his thighs. “You see, the baby has a timer in it. You are graded based on how less the time of crying the baby does. The bottle reacts like a signal or whatever, but it stops the baby from crying. So, what I did was find the battery and take it off. That way, the baby won’t be doing any crying.”