Chapter
13
When the movie was done, Angela was leaning up against Nick, her
head resting on his shoulder, his arm draped around her shoulders. Angela lifted her head and yawned. “What time is it?” she asked.
Nick glanced at the wall clock.
“Going on eight,” he replied.
“I should probably head home soon,” she said with a sigh. “My dad and Lynn were expecting me home hours
ago.”
“Will they be mad at you?” Nick asked, worried he’d gotten her in
trouble.
She shrugged. “I don’t care
if they are or not,” she said. “Lynn’s
not my mother, and she has no control over me.
And I don’t really care what my dad thinks.”
“Sounds like you don’t care much for them,” Nick observed.
She shrugged again. “Well,
my dad is my dad, and I love him.
He’s made some bad decisions in his life, but regardless, I love
him. As for Lynn… well, frankly, I can’t
stand her. I didn’t like her before
Justin died, but ever since, she’s been even worse.”
“How come?” Nick asked.
“Her trying to be a mother to me.
I can’t stand her parenting me.
And even worse, when she’s not trying to be my mother, she’s trying to
be my ‘friend’. She always wants to
talk to me, give me advice, but it’s all stupid and pointless. And then she tries to bribe me into liking
her by buying me all this crap, just cause she’s got money. Which I might add, belongs to Justin. Speaking of him again, when he was alive, he
was her pride and joy, but now that he’s gone, she wants another kid to dote
on, and I’m stuck being that kid. And
believe me, it’s no picnic. I can’t
imagine how Justin put up with her.” She
rolled her eyes.
Nick shrugged. “Well, this
might sound rude, but I couldn’t imagine how anyone put up with Justin. It must be something in their genes.”
Angela laughed. “I agree,”
she said. “Justin was friendly enough,
but I noticed he stared more at my chest than my face whenever he talked to
me.”
Nick rolled his eyes and put his arm protectively around
Angela. “Well, don’t you worry. As much as Justin and I used to be compared,
we’re nothing alike.”
“I already know that,” Angela replied, smiling. She stood up.
“I don’t want to leave yet… but I know I have to.”
“I understand,” Nick said, standing up as well. He put his arm around her waist and walked
her to the door. He helped her with her
jacket and led her out onto the front porch, where they had shared their first
kiss only hours before.
“Goodnight, Angela,” Nick said.
“I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay,” Angela said.
“Thanks, Nick. For everything.”
“No problem,” Nick replied.
He leaned closer to her and kissed her tenderly on the lips. “Goodnight.”
Angela smiled, forced herself to turn away from him, and walked to
her father’s car, which she had borrowed for the day. She waved to him, climbed in, and pulled
slowly out of the driveway.
Nick waved and stood on the front porch, watching until her car
disappeared into the cool night.
***
