Like You Like Me ✔

8

My first instinct was to go after Celia, then I remembered that option wasn't available. Nicole was there along with a whole bunch of other witnesses. But watching her walk away, while pretending I was okay didn't make my heart crack any less.

It's not what it looks like this time, Celia...I promise.

I hadn't realised I'd zoned out until Nicole started talking to me. Her voice sounded far away like she was in another room. But my brain eventually caught up, and I was able to spit out a response.

"I asked if you wanted to dance," she smiled.

"Uh, yeah, sure—I'm down," I smiled back and offered my arm.

It was time to go back to playing my position. Having a game face on doesn't mean you're not getting punched, tripped or elbowed by anxiety. It just means that to the spectator, you look calm and ready, capable of keeping everything steady. It's all about looking the part.

None of what happened with Celia was Nicole's fault, and fake date or not, I was there with her. The least I could do was make sure she had a good time, even if on the inside, I felt like a Nike jersey: hashtag torn.

I led the way through the packed hallway until we got to the family room where the bass from the speakers made my chest rattle. One of Bieber's hits was blaring as we found a spot near the edge of the crowd. We had just started busting moves when I caught sight of Conner over by one of the bookshelves. He was trying to throw some signs at me, but I couldn't make them out.

When Nicole turned around to see where I was looking, Connor stopped and pretended to sip his pop.

"Did Connor want something?" she asked, mid-dance.

"It can wait," I replied, playing it cool.

But when Connor held up his phone and pointed to his pocked, then it hit me: check your phone. I did a Dougie while making two thumbs up to let him know I'd picked up what he'd thrown down. And it was smooth enough that Nicole didn't catch on. I was itching to check my phone, but I couldn't do that without being rude or looking suspicious.

Nicole and I danced to a couple more songs until a slow jam all but cleared the room. The sweat beading on my forehead made me wish I had left my coat in the car. So when Nicole suggested we grab some air, I wasn't about to say no.

We made our way back to the porch, but this time, we opted to chill on the steps facing the woods. The cool, fall-smelling air felt amazing on my skin. Nicole and I sat down, exhaling as our ears adjusted to the lack of bass. For a minute, neither of us said anything, then Nicole brought up the look on Mike's face, and we both had a laugh as our breath frosted in the breeze. The silence came back as Nicole looked up at the sky while hugging her shoulders; I instantly realised she felt cold and offered my coat.

"Thanks," she smiled, wrapping the jacket around her.

"Pas de problème," I said, which drew a giggle from Nicole.

"Tonight's been really fun—it's making me wish I went out some more."

I shrugged. "Yeah, it's been pretty real, and I'm glad you had a good time."

"I guess a lot of this going out stuff comes down to who you go out with."

"Yeah, for sure..." I replied as my voice trailed off.

I hadn't realised our faces were being drawn to each other like two magnets. The distance of our lips made a hair look thick when something shaking the bushes made snap our heads towards the woods.

"What was that?" I said.

"I don't know," Nicole clutched my arm. "Maybe we should go back inside."

"Yeah," I nodded, rising to my feet, swearing I saw some kind of shadow moving between the trees.

Once we got to the kitchen, Nicole gave my jacket back.

"Merci," she smiled.

I grinned. "Bienvenue."

She was about to say something else when Kayla grabbed her by the arm.

"What gives?" Nicole wrinkled her forehead.

"Bathroom now," Kayla hopped from one leg to the next.

Nicole mouthed the word sorry before adding "Be back soonish."

I nodded, and they rushed off down the hallway. I breathed out as I stood there by myself for a second. Then the realisation of what almost went down on the back steps hit realisation hit me like a Skeleton arrow to the head.

I almost kissed Nicole.

My head felt like it was spinning. I couldn't believe I was inches away from letting that happen. I felt grimy like I needed to hit the showers.

Was I leading Nicole on? It was just supposed to be part of the date act. We were supposed to have a good time, rub it in Mike's face and call it a night. I didn't mean for that to—Celia wasn't supposed to—crap! My phone.

I whipped out my phone and read Connor's texts. A pit started forming in my sinking stomach. He tried to warn me that Celia was heading my way earlier. And apparently, after storming off, she went upstairs somewhere with Rachel following behind her.

Without a second thought, I left the kitchen and started making tracks towards the stairs. On the way up, I started rehearsing an explanation, hoping I hadn't screwed things up to the point of no repair.

At the top of the steps, I whipped out my phone and gave Connor a ring; I needed some support.

"Bro, where are you?" I asked, walking towards the hallway.

"Uh, I'm in the basement," he said, sounding half out of breath.

"Can you meet me by the staircase?"

"Uhm, I'm...kinda...tied up at the moment."

"I almost made out with Nicole," I sighed.

"Bro, what?"

"Look, I wanna find Celia," I whispered her name. "And I could use some backup."

"What? No! I mean—why are you looking for Celia?" he cleared his throat.

I heard what sounded like someone saying something under their breath. "Who's there with you?" I wrinkled my forehead.

"Uh, no one's here—Ow! Be cool," he said.

"What?"

"What?"

There was an award pause in our conversation. I was about to grill Connor some more, but as I was rounding the corner, I crashed into Rachel.