Delia & A Trail Of Broken Hearts

14.

"You look haunted."

I felt haunted. Haunted and really, really stupid. How could I not have seen it? I still wouldn't have if my subconscious hadn't dug up a memory I always thought of fondly but that's where it stopped. I never looked past the nice moment.

It was junior year and for the first time it was going to be just Mona and I celebrating Valentine's Day together. Raven and Jorge had been dating for almost a year and so he had talked our heads off about his big plan to cook her dinner and give her these diamond earrings. Except his cooking skills were shit so he enlisted all of us to help him out.

My dream picked up after the food was served, though. Raven loved the fact we'd all helped with dinner, so that was a success, and Jorge promptly kicked us out. Nix drove so he took Johnny, Mona and I home. Despite living the closest to Jorge, I was dropped off last, Nix was saying how he'd never gone to those lengths for a girl before.

I told him how I never really cared for the holiday but it would've been nice to receive flowers from someone other than my dad. The next day I woke up to a bouquet of roses and a box of chocolates from Nix and a text from Mona with a photo of her gift too. We baked Nixon a cake as a thank you.

That actually happened a lot. Nix and I ending up in a car alone. Nothing creepy or unusual, I'm just now realizing how much gas he wasted taking the long route to places. That's why he was late a lot of the time, he liked the scenery of Nevada. One reason he never wanted to leave the state.

Another reason was because of Tanner's Creamery, this whole in the wall ice cream parlor. The product was shit, ice cream that was basically sugar water. His favorite thing to get was the ice cream Sunday because it was 90% fudge and he'd ask for 12 cherries. It was a spot Johnny's mom used to take them when they were kids, Mona hated it so we didn't go as a group often. I can remember a few times he and I went cause he was craving it, or we were in the area.

One time, he was pissed about something Mona had said so he dropped her off after the football game and then hit the road. I was half asleep in the passenger seat, just enjoying the quiet after their argument. He didn't say anything, just went inside and got a Sunday and came back out

Back then he drove his grandpa's old Ford Mustang and placed an extra spoon on the seat between us. I honestly didn't care for the ice cream either but I had a slight sweet tooth, so I took it and we shared the Sunday.

"This is it."

"Hm?" I hummed, spoon in my mouth as I sucked off all the fudge. The fudge was thick so it took me a while, and the whole time I cleaned the spoon, he didn't say anything. I peaked open my eyes and caught him staring, "This is what, Nix?" I asked around the spoon, sounding like an idiot.

He averted his eyes, we were sitting in the dark so I wasn't one hundred percent sure, but I think he was blushing. "This is my ideal first date." He said, reviving the conversation from lunch earlier that day, Johnny's girl friend had asked us all and Nix hadn't answered.

"Really?" I asked, taking my spoon and diving in for more fudge. "Why?"

He shrugged, facing forward. His arm was resting on the steering wheel as he twirled his spoon between his fingers. The light danced on the clear plastic, we both just watched. "Cause, it's chill. There's no distractions so we can have a real conversation and I can figure out if I even like the bitch." He said honestly, glancing over at me with a cheeky grin. "Plus, if she likes me, there's plenty of room and privacy for her to give me head."

"Oh my god," I laughed, nose scrunching with an eye roll, I didn't understand what was so great about head. I'd tried giving it to this guy I dated for three months but his mom came home early. "You're such a pig."