Living with the Player

Chapter 3

Nico and I are silent as Samaya throws up outside. I hold back her hair as he grips her shoes, which are already stained with vomit.

"I'm so sorry, Jen," she sobs, hunched over.

I rub her back softly. "It's okay," I whisper. "It's okay."

She starts bawling, as she always does when she's drunk. When I find whoever she came to the party with and ditched her, I swear.

"You can go," I tell Nico. "Just leave her shoes on the ground." I don't dare make eye contact with him after that whole scene with Brian. In fact, my whole body is turned away from him. Honestly, I just want to get Samaya puked out and go to sleep.

"Do you need a ride back?" he asks, still holding onto the shoes. He doesn't even seem grossed out by them, just concerned.

"No," I answer in a clipped voice. I clear my throat before adding, "Thank you for helping me find her. I appreciate it."

Just because I don't particularly like him doesn't mean I'm not going to say thank you. Normally, I would even attempt to make my voice nicer but I seriously want him to leave so that I can be alone.

"Was that guy your boyfriend?" he asks. It's as if he can read my mind and wants to do the opposite of what it says.

"No," I lie to get him to stop asking.

"Fuck buddy?" Nico guesses. He catches my expressions and tries again, "I'm sorry, 'cuddle buddy'?"

I roll my eyes. "No."

"Really? He seemed-"

"Seriously? I don't want to talk about it," I say. A single traitorous tear starts to roll down my cheeks but I'd rather die than let him see it so I turn away and wipe it quickly. "Come on, Samaya. Let's go home."

Propping her up, I feel some of her weight get lifted off as Nico slides her other arm over his shoulder. I'm about to tell him to leave but he says, "Just to your car. She's my friend, too."

He starts to step forward so I do too. Thankfully, he doesn't say anything else. He just helps her into the passenger seat, cleans her shoes off with the water in my car, and pretends he doesn't hear me sniffling.

---

I spend the weekend reflecting on all of the red flags that I ignored, wondering if I'm the crazy one, and ultimately deciding that Brian can go fuck himself.

Samaya comes over with ice cream, her dad's butter chicken, and her mom's apple strudel, my favorites, and we watch Titanic together. One perk of my dad not really being around is that I can sing sad ballads at the top of my lungs without anyone hearing. Another perk is that when I finally break down and cry with Samaya, he isn't here to see it.

Samaya reassures me that he was ugly and short anyway, and I deserve better. I know that it's true but it's hard to ignore that tiny voice in my head wondering if I'm the problem when Brian's the first guy to ever really reciprocate interest in me.

She spends the night, cheering me on as we burn his pictures and block his number while singing along to, "I Don't Fuck With You." By the time Monday rolls around, I feel better.

Samaya and I walk into the halls, arms linked. The second I walk in, Nico's eyes lock with mine. I glance away immediately while Samaya waves cheerily. He apparently takes this as his cue to jog over to us.

"How you feeling, Singh?" he asks Samaya as I stare straight ahead.

"I'm fine, Nico. Seriously. Thanks for checking up, though," she says with a grateful smile.

Nico nods slowly and, out of the corner of my eyes, I can see his gaze flicker to me. He seems like he wants to say something but he just says his goodbyes to Samaya and leaves.

"He likes you, doesn't he?" I ask Samaya as we approach our shared locker. Ninety percent of the people who meet Samaya Singh fall in love with her.

"Nico? No," she denies immediately. I give her a dubious look as I pull out my Physics textbook. "I mean, he's fun to flirt with, but we're just friends."

"He seemed pretty worried about you Friday night."

She chuckles dismissively. "Nico is just like that."

My face scrunches with suspicion. "Really? The guy who flirts with every girl in the school suddenly becomes Mr. Nice Guy when girls are drunk?" I don't trust it. Then again, I trusted Brian so what does that say about my judgment?

"Like I said, he's my friend," Samaya replies with an easy smile. I'm contemplating this when I catch sight of something. My body freezes as I recognize dark, curly hair.

Brian and Kenzie walk in, hand in hand.

The memories of Friday night crash down on me, breaking down all of my strength. I feel sick. Practically running, I slam my locker shut and storm away from them, catching Nico's eyes on the way out.

My vision blurs as I get as far away from there as I possibly can.

A/N: There's this week's update! Thanks for reading and remember to vote if u like :) Stay safe and I'll see you guys next week <3