I walk into the cafeteria on Friday afternoon after a very exhausting morning and I'm more than pleased to see that Mike and Holden are missing from the lunch table. I take my regular seat beside Tess with a content smile, suddenly in a better mood. "Hey, where are the idiots?"
Tess cracks a smile as Vincent chuckles. "They skipped today."
I nod in understanding as Asher puts his hands down on the table to grab out attention. "So," He says conversationally. "I've been looking at places in the Poconos."
"Yeah?" I ask excitedly and leaned into the table. "Did you find a place?"
"This place is in the mountains and has four bedrooms and two bathrooms. Plus it's right on the lake," As Asher is speaking, Tess literally squeals, a noise I've never heard come out of her. "It's only going to be three hundred for a four day weekend."
Three hundred? Split between the five of us, it will only cost us sixty bucks each. "Only three hundred?"
Asher grins mischievously at me. "The renter is a family friend."
"After buying beer and food, we'll each probably have to pay eighty," Vincent whistles as a smile slowly creeps onto his face. "That's not bad at all."
"Eighty bucks for a four day weekend?" A deep voice asks behind me. "Count me in."
Nathan rounds the table and sits down in the seat across from me with an impressed look on his face. My excitement grows tenfold at the thought of going on a vacation with my new friends, albeit a long weekend. They were all right: the price was reasonable and it was bound to be fun.
"Me too," I add happily with a wide grin to Asher.
"I can't wait," Tess nudges me. "I'm so happy that I'm not the only girl now. Or, the only girl that isn't a Barbie."
"You can thank Asher for the previous Barbies," Nathan muses with a smirk directed toward Asher.
Asher rolls his eyes and gives Nathan a blank look. "As if you didn't take part in that phase of my life."
As much as I hated to admit it, a little pang of jealousy went straight through me at the mention of Nathan with other girls. It was no secret that last year, he managed to get in the pants of countless girls, and then leave them hanging. While I hadn't seen him continue the behavior ever since we've been friends, it still left an uncomfortable feeling on my chest.
"Phase?" Vincent mocks with a smirk. "That's what you call it, Ash?"
"It was a phase for me," Nathan argues, and his eyes dart to me briefly before his gaze rests back on Asher tauntingly. "I can't say the same for you. I saw you talking to Morgan Pratt and Cecelia Yates last Friday night."
Asher just smirks at the memory instead of trying to refute the accusation and I shake my head at the fighting boys. Instead, I dug in my backpack and pulled out the lunch that my mother had been kind enough to pack me. The boys finally settled whatever it was they were fighting about and peace was restored around the table.
"So," Nathan's voice turns serious. "Are the idiots coming to the Poconos?"
Asher smirks a little and glances at me and then back at Nathan. I knew why, too: both of us had referred to Mike and Holden as the idiots. Nathan's brow furrowed as he followed his best friends gaze to me, and then to Vincent, who was smirking to himself.
"What?" Nate finally asks, his deep voice laced with confusion.
Asher's smirk widens before he shrugs. "Nothing," He turns back to look at Nathan and his smirk lessens. "No, they aren't going to come, because they think it's lame. I can't say that I'm disappointed."
This answer satisfies me greatly considering that the last thing I wanted to do was spend a long weekend with Mike and Holden. It seems like this pleases everyone else just as much as it does me because everyone smiles a little brighter after hearing those idiots wouldn't be joining us.
"Perfect," Tess grins. "What are the dates?"
"May tenth to the thirteenth," Asher tells us. "Mark it on your calendars, everybody."
I made a mental note to tell my mom about the vacation and then began to look forward to it. Even if it was three weeks away, I was already counting down the days. I never did anything like this with Bailey and Sasha, and Stephanie and I haven't gone on vacation together in years.
Once the excitement of the vacation died down, Asher asks the table, "What do you guys want to do tonight?"
My gaze lifts and meets Nathan's from across the table. I stayed silent and let him handle it, considering he told me to keep our 'deal' quiet and I didn't know how else to explain that he was driving all the way to Williamsport with me and Steph to attend the football game.
It wasn't very Nathan Rhodes of him to do.
"Tony Klein is having a party," Tess suggests with a tiny shrug.
Before anyone can say anything else, Nathan says nonchalantly, "I have to drive Lauren and her friend to the football game," He actually sounds bored as he says it. "Lauren's car battery is dead."
I lifted my gaze to the silent table and watched Vincent smirk at us. "Isn't the game in Williamsport?"
All of them look amused and Asher smirks smugly. "How kind of you, Nathan. You're really such a gentleman, aren't you?"
My face was beginning to warm as Nathan shot Asher a murderous glare and I heard muffled snickers coming from Tess. Vincent's still smirking at me and but thankfully Tess nudges him and his gaze shifts to her.
"You never drive two hours for me and my friends," Tess complains with a teasing pout on her lips.
Vincent's smirk is completely obliterated and her gives her a blank stare. "I went to Staten Island with you. I've done more than enough."
I stifle laughter which Asher and Nathan openly welcome, and even Tess softens up her mock anger with an innocent shrug. "I swore that I would never go back after what happened that time," Vincent swears fiercely. "You know that."
I lean forward with a renewed interest. "What happened last-"
Nathan and Asher both look at me with a concerning amount of emergency in their tone when they warn, "Don't ask."
I blink at them in confusion as they give me a look that clearly said do not ask any questions about what happened last time so I respectfully followed the silent advice. Instead, I finished eating my sandwich and ignored Vincent as he grumbled under his breath about Staten Island while Tess sat smugly beside him.
I stand up from my seat and mumble, "I'm getting a drink."
Asher pops up from his seat readily and grins at me, "I'll join. I want chips."
I nod hesitantly, a little wary of his bright smile, and we walk through the strings of tables. Asher and I gained plenty of stares and a good amount of whispers in our wake. When we reach the line, I scan the plethora of options on the board and think about what to get.
Of course, Asher couldn't stay silent. "So," He nudges me. "Are you and Nathan staying in a sleeping together in a hotel room overnight?"
My neck warms up and I avoid looking at him in the eye. "Not in the same room, you idiot."
He makes a thoughtful noise that contrasts the knowing smirk on his face. "Sure."
"Next," The cashier calls boredly.
Grateful for the abrupt end in conversation, I step up to the register and smile in exhaustion. "Hi, can I please have a blue Gatorade?"
She grabs the bottle and the money I hold out for her and just barely handed me my bottle before Asher nudged me out of the way. I glare at the side of his head as he gives the cashier his most charming smile and requests a bag of chips.
When he's done, I turn around to start walking back to our table. He followed a few feet away before catching up to me and smirking suggestively. "Have fun in the hotel room."
"Asher!" I cry as my cheeks flush.
But he just laughs and walks in front of me with his wicked smirk and I trail behind him looking like a tomato. I fall back onto my seat and look up to see Nathan watching me with a knowing look on his face, like he knew how obnoxious Asher was. It made me smile a little. He smiled a little, too.
When the bell rang and signaled next period, I was less than excited to be going to science and seeing Brett. Per usual, my shoulders slumped the second I heard the bell, and I practically trudged all the way back to the science wing. When I got into class, I slid down in my seat and only sunk deeper when Brett strolled in moments later.
He sat down and turned around to face me with a hesitant smile on his lips. "Justin said you're coming to Williamsport."
I sat frozen in my seat for a beat when I realized that, for the first time all week, Brett was talking to me. "Yeah," I finally choke out. "I'm coming with Stephanie."
"Cool," Brett says mechanically with a quick nod. He looks down before meeting my gaze again. "Maybe I'll see you there."
This conversation was so painfully forced that I wanted to tell him that it doesn't have to be this weird between us. But my smelly lab partner was sitting beside me, the rest of the class was eavesdropping, and our teacher would start class soon.
"Good luck," I force a smile. "You guys are going to do great."
Brett's eyes actually search my face for a long moment for the first time since the party. And finally, he offers a small, friendly smile. "Thanks, Lauren."
Luckily our teacher walks into the room and shuts the door to begin our class notes for the day. Brett turns around and I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Our brief exchange makes the next forty five minutes not entirely unbearable, which I'm thankful for, and the class period passes by far quickly.
I was only granted of relief for the few minutes it took to walk from the science wing to my English class, where I had to pretend that things weren't incredibly awkward between me and Bailey. I ignore her gaze and make a beeline to the back row, where Vincent was sitting amongst empty seats.
When I drop my backpack next to my desk and slide in my seat, I mumble, "Hey Vince."
"Hey Lauren," He frowns at me as his eyes regard me thoughtfully. "What's up? You look tired."
I give him a tired smile. "Because I am. It's been a long day."
Mrs. Hayes starts class before Vincent can respond and I suffer through the last period of the day gracefully. As the minutes pass and my mind wanders, I start to think about what waited for me after school today. While I wasn't exactly excited to go to the football game tonight, I was kind of looking forward to having Nathan there to make it not totally unbearable.
He will be there as my fake boyfriend. The thought of kissing Nathan in front of Thomas shot a jolt up my spine that could only be described as some electric nervous impulse. I could do this. Right?
"What's on your mind?" Vincent interrupts my thoughts as we walk to the parking lot after English class.
I smile secretly to myself because there was no way I'd ever admit what was really on my mind. Instead, I lie, "Thinking of the Poconos."
Vincent grins genuinely. "Ah, yeah. I'm excited for that, too."
We walk outside and I'm pleased to feel the warmth of the sunlight hitting my exposed skin instead of the cool slap of crisp weather. As we walked out of the school doors, I scanned the parking lot until my gaze rested on Nathan leaning against that shiny black Mustang.
The sunlight on his tanned skin made him look golden. His dark hair was tousled on top of his head yet managed to look put together. Nathan's eyes, which appeared more light blue in the sunlight, brightly contrasted against his darkened skin tone.
Nathan Rhodes looked so attractive right then that I couldn't help but feel a brief victory that I got that boy to fake date me. Surely it wasn't real, but it counted for something, right?
"See you dude," Vincent nods at Nathan with a grin. "Have fun. Bye, Lauren."
Vincent began walking away before I could return his goodbye and left me there alone with Nathan. I glanced at him and I'm not surprised by the bored look etched on his face that gave away nothing.
"Ready?" Nathan asks monotonously.
I smile in attempt to lighten the mood. "Follow me home and I'll grab my bag."
He nods and pushes off the side of the car before opening the door he had been leaning on. I walked over to my car parked a few spots over and put the windows down before driving to my house. The sunlight poured through the open windows and the radio was turned on loud enough that I could hear it over the wind.
The relaxing car ride home was a vague memory when I pulled into my driveway and saw Nathan standing in the center of my front lawn shirtless. There was water soaking the shirt he wore before, which he now held in his left hand, and drops of water slid down his very toned chest. I was practically drooling by the time I reached him.
Luke was standing in front of Nathan with a goofy grin on his face that matched his laughter. Nathan looked amused, too, and I had to physically pick my jaw off the floor at the sight of his tanned and tone chest paired with his heartbreaker smile. Luckily, neither of the boys watched me blatantly chest Nathan out, and didn't even notice me until I stopped beside them.
"Hey Lauren," Luke says casually, but I recognized the way his lips twitched as he fought a smile.
Nathan's bright blue eyes shifted to me and the smile remained on his lips. My eyes zero in on a drop of water sliding down his right cheek before I blink and try to force myself to look amused.
"What's going on here?" I question teasingly, desperately trying to act nonchalant on the outside while I was having an internal breakdown about how hot he looked.
"Luke thought it would be funny to turn the sprinklers on me," Nathan tries to act mad, but he just hits Luke on the arm before cracking a smile.
"It was hilarious," Luke defends through his laughter. "I know you agree."
While they joke around, my eyes subconsciously dip to Nathan's wet chest one last time, and I ogle for a moment. Of course, he had the perfect six pack and his forearms were toned. Nathan Rhodes was a perfect physical specimen.
When they stop laughing, I look up in fear of being noticed, but Luke wasn't looking toward us with a smirk. My gaze shifts to Nathan's quickly and I see a tiny smirk on his lips that confirmed he caught me staring at him. Immediately, my cheeks flush and I look away.
"Luke," I try to say evenly. "Why don't you give Nathan a dry shirt? Because you ruined his?"
He just chuckles and nods. "Yeah, okay. Come on, dude."
I let out a breath once they disappear inside the house and I try to yell at myself for getting so overwhelmed by Nate's presence. I stand there on the lawn for another moment before trekking toward the house to grab my overnight bag, which I thoughtfully left by the front door.
I walk inside as Nathan is coming down the staircase carelessly with a new dark blue tee shirt that was a size too small on him. I wasn't complaining, though. It was hugging his muscles in all the right places and gave me another very good view.
I look up before he catches me looking at him again and attempt to seem as platonic as a person could possibly seem. "Are you ready now?"
Nathan dazzles me with a grin that made my expression waver. "Yes." And then he glances up at Luke, who is standing at the top of the staircase. "As long as you promise not to soak me again."
Luke grins mischievously and it- unfortunately- looks similar to the grin that Asher frequently sported. "Maybe I'll pity you."
Nate turns around with an amused smirk on his lips that melts to a smile when his gaze catches mine. "Okay, I'm ready."
"Then let's go," I force out with a small smile.
"Bye Lauren!" Luke calls in an overly sweet voice that I detested. "Bye Nathan! Have fun, you two!"
I take pleasure when I turn to glare at Luke and see Nathan already scowling daggers in his direction. We continue out the door and Nate pulls it closed behind me as I walk toward his car. After a few steps, Nathan fell into step with me, and I no longer carried the weight of my overnight bag.
I watch in awe as Nathan walks to his trunk and puts my bag beside his carefully. Thomas never opened the door for me, let alone carry a bag for me. Who knew Nathan was such a... Gentleman? He shuts the trunk and turns around to see me staring at him in wonder and he straightened up.
"What?" Nathan asks with a colder edge to his voice. He seemed self conscious that I was analyzing him for a change.
My lips stretch into a wide smile without my consent. "Thank you for carrying my bag."
He looks at me weirdly before he shrugs and ducks to get in the drivers seat. But if I was seeing correctly, I'd say that his neck slowly turned pink after I thank him. I keep the wide smile on my lips as I climb into the Mustang because I think, just maybe, I make him nervous like he makes me nervous.