Chapter 6 The Kiss
His lips were really soft, Macy thought as she pressed her lips against his. She wondered what kind of chap-stick he used because boys shouldn't have lips this smooth and tender. It felt really nice. She didn't realize how long it was when she first kissed him because she now felt him putting pressure against her lips as well.
Meanwhile, the moment Macy took his face in her hands, Nick's eyes went wide in shock when their lips made contact. It was so abrupt and unexpected but he liked it. Her lips were soft and well, that was what he expected since she was a girl and all. But then he realized that her lips tasted really fruity like that cherry lip balm she gave him that one time. It was like he was eating cherries and that's why he wanted to taste her some more so he kissed her back. They were getting really into it until they broke apart so that they could catch their breaths.
They were breathing heavily now but they never looked away from each other.
"You kissed me…" Nick finally said pointing out the obvious.
Macy was blushing because she was at a loss of words because she was the one who initiated it but then she realized something equally important.
"Yeah…But you kissed me back…" Macy replied.
They both continued to stare at each other, not knowing what to do.
Should I confess? Macy thought.
Should I tell her? Nick thought.
They were both blushing a lot. One of them needed to salvage what just happened. They could either take a step forward or a step back. Who will cave in first? And even though both of them wanted to say what they were really feeling, they also wanted to keep things the same between them.
"Why'd you kiss me, Macy?" Nick asked her. He needed to hear her say the words that he was too afraid to say to her. Maybe if she said it first, I'll confess, too, Nick thought.
However, Macy was too scared to tell him that she likes him. So instead of confronting her feelings, she did what she did best and pretended.
"You see…I kissed you…because –uh-…I think…we should…um…practice, YEAH! That's it. Practice! Since we're pretending to be a couple we need to practice kissing to be more believable as a couple…"Macy rambled on hoping that she was making sense at least. She hoped that Nick would buy this excuse but then she asked him. "That's…um… my reason but what's yours?"
She looked at him inquisitively.
Nick listened to what she just said and even though he was a bit disappointed, he was partially relieved that she chose to keep their relationship as it was because he was also afraid to take the leap to become something more with her.
"Well…um…I was also practicing, too," Nick lied. He laughed nervously because he hoped that Macy didn't suspect anything. He pretended that he was also dismissing their kiss as a vital part of their plan.
"Oh okay. I see," Macy said somewhat disappointed. "So…"
She looked at him and wondered what he was thinking.
"So…" he repeated what she said last. He didn't know what they should do next.
"I should, um, go then," she started to say.
"No!" Nick said quickly. What was he doing?
"No?" Macy repeated somewhat excitedly. What was Nick suggesting?
"I mean, we should…um…practice some more to become, you know, more believable as boyfriend and girlfriend," Nick offered because he really wanted to taste her cherry-flavored lips again.
"YEAH! Okay," Macy said quickly. "We should totally practice!"
"Yeah totally," Nick said and this time he threw the basket of cookies on the floor and put an arm around her waist. He pulled her closer to him and this time he connected his lips with hers. There kiss deepened and at one point Macy realized Nick was pushing her back until her head hit the wall which caused her to open her mouth in surprise. And because her lips were still connected with his, once she parted them, Nick placed his tongue in her mouth. He never did anything so bold before but it felt like something inside of him woke up. They were no longer shy about showing their affection with each other because now Macy followed suit and let her tongue venture into his mouth as well. This was turning into one of those steamy, hot French kisses.
Nick and Macy were really serious about practicing being boyfriend and girlfriend…
They broke away so that they could both catch their breath once more. They stared at each other, not saying a word.
Macy looked up at him lovingly and gently stroked his cheek. She was ready to close the gap between them one more time.
"Nick," she whispered tenderly as she carefully tilted her head up some more.
"Macy..." Nick whispered back affectionately and he was about to dip his head closer to hers again for another kiss but then…
"AHEM!" someone said as she cleared her throat really loudly. "MACY? NICK?"
Both Nick and Macy stared wide-eyed at each other. They both looked over and there standing by the front door, which was left open, was none other than Stella Malone.
"Am I interrupting something?" Stella said as she narrowed her eyes at both of them.
"Oh, hi, Stella!" Nick said nervously. He immediately took his arm away from Macy's waist. "We were just…uh…um…"
"I just came by to give Nick some cookies," Macy interrupted him. "And he was just…um…thanking me…for the kind gesture…right, Nick?"
"Y-yeah that's right…the kind gesture…I was-uh- showing her my…er…thanks," Nick said sheepishly but the two of them highly doubted that Stella would buy into their lie because they both stared at the basket of cookies that was now overturned on the ground. Many of the home-made chocolate fudge cookies lay broken on the patio, completely inedible now.
"But what are you doing here Stella?" Macy asked her quickly hoping to change the subject fast. She and Nick tried to straighten up their appearance thinking that this act alone could erase whatever the blond-haired girl just witnessed.
"I was just dropping off the new clothes for the boys," Stella said narrowing her eyes even more at them. Macy knew she was going to say something that would make the situation even more awkward than it was, but she interrupted her before she could say anything else.
"Well, I should go, Nick," Macy said loudly.
"Okay, sure," Nick said quickly. "Let me help you get those."
He picked up her crutches that were on the floor for her to grab and at one point, his hand brushed against hers causing them to feel that connection they experienced minutes ago.
"Bye, Nick," Macy said breathlessly as she stared at him. She really wanted to kiss him again.
"Bye, Macy," Nick replied in the same manner as he continued looking at her. He really wanted to embrace her once more.
They must have been staring at each other for a few seconds because Stella once again loudly cleared her throat to get them out of their trance.
"What are you guys doing!" Stella yelled at them furiously.
They both knew what she was referring to but they both decided to play dumb and so Macy replied, "Well, I have to go and help my mom out in the store."
"Yeah, and I need to finish my homework," Nick answered. He was still staring at Macy. "But thanks for the clothes, Stella."
He quickly took the shirts and pants Stella made for them and headed back inside.
Macy was out the front door and hurried, as fast as she could, to the bus stop. She really hoped that the bus would come soon because she really didn't want to explain anything to Stella right now.
"MACY!" Stella called after her. "MACY MISA! I WANT TO TALK TO YOU!"
Stella normally wouldn't have outrun the petite brunette, because she didn't have any athletic ability in her body whatsoever but because Macy was on crutches the blonde-haired girl easily crossed her path.
"Macy, stop!"
"Hey, Stella," Macy said nervously. "I'd love to stay and chat but I really need to go because my mom—
"Why on earth were you and Nick making out?" Stella asked her bluntly.
"Uh…um…we weren't making out," Macy scoffed at that idea. "We were just kissing but it was nothing, really."
Like that correction would really make the situation even more sensible.
"Macy, you weren't just kissing him!" Stella replied exasperatingly. "If a boy and girl are sticking their tongues in each others' mouths, that's considered making out."
"It is? I mean, NO! We were just practicing…"
"Practicing what? How to make out with each other?" Stella asked her incredulously.
"No…um…you see…" Macy started to say. "We needed to practice on how to be more believable as a couple. You see, it's what actors call method-acting. You really need to feel the part. That's why Nick and I were kissing. No big deal."
"So what you're saying is that all of that was fake?"
"Exactly!"
Stella had an urge to literally shake some sense into her best friend but because Macy told her she sprained her ankle and that's why she was on crutches, she had to refrain from this sudden urge.
"Macy! You can't be serious! If all of that was pretend, then you and Nick should win an Academy Award or something because that definitely looked real," Stella said sarcastically. "You guys were really— and I mean really— getting into it."
Macy blushed because Stella was right. She wanted Nick. She really, really wanted him. If Stella didn't interrupt them, she was pretty sure that she would still be at the firehouse sucking face with him and who knows what else they could have been "practicing" after? That thought alone made Macy turn an even deeper shade of red. In a way, she was relieved Stella barged in on them at that moment. She and Nick could have lost control of an already intense situation.
"Just tell me the truth, Macy," Stella said more calmly. "Do you like Nick?"
Macy bit her lip and looked at her best friend in the entire world. There shouldn't be any secrets between them and that was why Macy suddenly felt guilty because she didn't want to hide it any longer, especially from Stella. So Macy took a deep breath and looked into her eyes.
"Fine…I'll admit it, Stella…I think I'm starting to have feelings for him…" she said slowly.
"Then you should tell him instead of continuing with this stupid plan to pretend-date each other!" Stella cried out frustratingly.
"I want to but I'm scared…" Macy confessed. "I don't want to get hurt again."
"Macy—
"Please, Stella…don't tell anyone, okay?" Macy begged her. "I want to do this on my own time because I'm not ready to tell him how I feel just yet…"
Stella looked at her best friend. It really took a lot of guts for Macy to admit something like this so even though she was mad that it took Macy this long to realize this, she gave her a hug and said, "Fine, Macy. I won't tell anyone about this but promise me that you'll tell Nick eventually because I have a feeling he feels the same way about you, too."
"You think so?" Macy asked her hopefully.
"Oh, yeah! Are you kidding me!" Stella answered brightly. "We both know what kind of guy Nick is and he definitely wouldn't just stick his tongue in any girl's mouth. You should count yourself as one of the few if not the only girl he considers doing this to."
Macy blushed because Stella was right. Nick was far from being called a playboy so for him to have kissed her like that, there had to be another reason behind it. Maybe he was afraid to confess too? Macy thought to herself.
"Anyway let me give you a ride home since I drove here. But I want you to tell me everything! Like when you started feeling this way about Nick. Okay?" Stella said excitedly.
Macy smiled and nodded her head. She was really relieved to have her secret crush out in the open. And so they went to the nearby ice-cream parlor and Macy told Stella everything like the extended hand-holding during the double-date, the bicycle riding lesson in the park, and the fundraiser event when Nick carried her.
Meanwhile, Nick was left to ponder many things concerning what just happened between him and Macy. He kept replaying that scene over and over again in his head. He can't believe he was so bold to have made their kiss even more passionate than it initially was because Macy may have started it all, but he definitely kicked it up a notch. It was their first kiss after all…yes, his first kiss with Macy Misa. Nick could feel himself blushing just at the thought of it. He really liked her. He really did.
It was dinner time and the rest of the Lucas clan came back from their trip in New York. All four Lucas boys and their mom and dad were having a nice dinner in their round table eating New York style pizza.
"Nick?" asked his little brother Frankie.
"Huh?"
"Why do you have that goofy grin on your face?" he asked him bluntly.
"What?" Nick replied as he tried to straighten his appearance. He was thinking about Macy ever since she came over and he didn't realize that it was affecting his behavior.
"It looks like Nick got hit with the Love-bug again," Kevin teased Nick.
"What happened? Did Penny kiss you or something?" Joe asked him boldly.
"Penny?" their mother repeated. "Is that the girl Nick has been obsessing over these past couple of weeks?"
"Yeah, the blonde-haired girl right?" his father now piped in.
"I saw her once," his mother said. "She's pretty cute. You should ask her out, son."
He wanted to say something but Kevin interrupted him.
"Oh, he tried but he can't because Nick keeps staring at her being speechless and all," Kevin answered. "It's quite funny when you see him lose his cool. Hahahaha."
"Yeah, he's like this," Joe said while doing a good imitation of a flustered Nick Lucas.
Nick couldn't believe they were having a conversation about him while he was still there! He wanted to say something but everyone was now talking at once about who the girl Nick was obviously thinking about but they got it all wrong because Nick Lucas was not thinking about Penny at all but Macy –the girl he just kissed earlier that day
"I'm not thinking about Penny!" Nick finally interjected. "It's just that something good happened today."
"Oh? And what's that honey?" his mother asked him. Everyone was looking curiously at him now.
Nick didn't want to give them the full details of how he made out with Macy. That wasn't proper table conversation anyway so he just said, "I discovered that I really, really like cherries."
"Cherries?" Joe repeated obviously confused by his statement.
"Yeah, cherries," Nick said again as he remembered Macy's lips which tasted just like the fruit and then he added quickly. "Do you mind if I excuse myself from the dinner table? I need to finish up some homework."
"Sure, sweetie, go ahead," his mother said.
Nick went up the stairs two at a time and pretended to pour over his textbooks but what he really wanted to do was talk to Macy again.
What should I say? He thought to himself. He checked his phone because he wasn't even sure if he had her number. Scrolling through the contacts listed under the letter M, his face fell when he noticed that Macy's name wasn't even in there. Crap. But when he continued looking through his phone he realized that he stored her number under another name: Psychotic Fan. Nick winced when he realized what a jerk he was for labeling her under that title because clearly he no longer considered her to be this, judging by the way he kissed her that afternoon. He quickly erased Psychotic Fan and replaced it with Macy. He was tempted to put a heart next to her name but thought otherwise, just in case his brothers would manage to go through his phone, which they often did.
Without anything planned, he dialed her number.
Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.
Come on, Macy, pick up, Nick thought to himself. His heart began to beat rapidly and his palms began to sweat as he anticipated for her to answer his call.
"Nick?" Macy said quite surprised when she noticed his number on her phone. But she was secretly jumping for joy that he called her.
"Hey, Macy," Nick said. He was getting nervous. He really had nothing important to tell her. He just wanted to hear her voice.
"So…" was all she could say because she really had nothing to tell him. She just wanted to hear him speak.
"So…um what are you up to?"
"I'm just helping my mom cook dinner," Macy answered. "She's making her famous pasta, with her tomato and artichoke sauce. It's really tasty."
Nick wished he could eat that right now. Heck, he'd eat whatever Macy was eating.
"Oh wow. That sounds good…" Nick said. He never realized how nice Macy's voice sounded like over the phone.
"So..um...what did you have for dinner?" Macy asked him shyly because that was all she could think of to ask him.
"Well, my parents brought home some pizza from New York," Nick replied. He wanted to hear her voice some more.
"That sounds delicious," Macy commented while blushing because she just realized that Nick had such a manly sounding voice over the phone. "I wish I had some."
"I could, um, save you some, if you want," Nick said quickly. If Macy wanted pizza, he would get it for her in an instant. "And I can bring it over..."
"No, that's alright," Macy said while she laughed a bit because it was cute that Nick was willing to go out of his way to give her a left-over slice. "But thanks for offering."
"No problem," Nick said. He was blushing now too. He wanted to talk to her some more but he could hear her mother calling for her through the phone.
"Sorry, Nick but I have to go," Macy said regretfully because she really wanted to continue speaking to him. "But I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Y-yeah definitely."
"Bye, Nick."
"Bye."
Nick was sitting on his swiveling chair by his keyboard and when he turned around to get up he noticed Kevin and Joe standing behind him with highly amused smirks on their faces.
"What are those looks for?" Nick asked them as he tried to play it cool. He didn't want to give them anymore love-struck evidence but as he got up to go away from them Kevin put his hand on his shoulder.
"Who were you talking to, lil' bro?" Kevin asked. "Was it your secret girlfriend?"
"What? N-no. That's preposterous!" Nick said faking how absurd that notion was.
"Then why are you as red as a tomato?" Joe pointed out. "So who is she if she isn't Penny?"
"Can you just leave me alone, you guys!" Nick yelled at them. "I need to do some homework. Mr. Peterson, is already on the verge of giving me detention."
"Just tell us who she is, please?" Kevin asked him again as he pouted his lips and clasped his hands together as he playfully begged Nick to reveal his secret girlfriend. His brothers can be so childish at times.
Joe wasn't really serious when he said what he said next.
"Well, who else could it be...hm...Wait hold up! Is it Macy?"
"WHAT! HAHAHAHA," exclaimed Nick while giving them his best fake laugh. "Psh… no it's not Macy. Are you kidding me? Hahahahahaha. Macy! That's a funny one! You crack me up, Joe."
His brothers looked at him suspiciously.
"Okay, well then why can't you tell us who you were talking to just now?" Joe pestered on.
"It's just one of my other classmates," Nick said curtly because he was getting frustrated with them. "You don't know her. But can you please just drop it? Sheesh."
Kevin and Joe could sense that he was getting irritated with them and they didn't want to get on Nick's bad side because well, it was pretty scary when he got mad.
The next day in school, Kevin was telling Joe and Nick one of his amusing stories but Nick wasn't really paying attention. He kept looking at the entrance waiting for her to arrive.
"And then I said no you take the donkey back to the zoo!" Kevin said to conclude his tale.
Joe shook his head and laughed. Even though Kevin was the oldest, he was just plain silly at times.
"Nick? Did you get it?" Kevin asked him because he was waiting for his reaction. But both of them noticed that he wasn't paying attention to them.
"What are you waiting for?" Joe asked him while giving him a nudge on his shoulder.
"Huh?" was all Nick could say.
"It's like you're waiting for someone." Joe answered.
"No, I was just…um…admiring the structure of the…uh…doorframes…"
"What—
"Oh, well I got to go!" Nick said quickly when he spotted Macy making her entrance into the school's corridor. He ran quickly to her.
"Hey Macy!" Nick said happily. He could feel his heart fluttering.
"Hi, Nick," Macy said as she smiled brightly at him. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She liked him…she really, really liked him.
"You want me to carry your bag for you," Nick offered since she was on crutches.
"Yeah, sure," Macy said as she felt her cheeks becoming red. "Th-thanks."
They walked to class together and throughout the rest of the day, she and Nick were being very nice to each other.
It was lunch time and Stella wanted to show Macy the new bag she made out of her old pair of jeans. It was pretty spectacular looking and she wanted to show Macy because like Stella, Macy actually enjoyed collecting bags. It was one of the few shopping items that they both liked to stock up on. She made her way to their usual lunch table but was disappointed to find that her best friend wasn't there.
"Hey, guys do you know where Macy is?" she asked Kevin and Joe since they were the only other occupants in their usual lunch table.
"Well, Nick said he and Macy needed to work on a project together," Kevin answered. "They must be around somewhere but I really don't know where in particular."
"Oh," Stella said while pouting her lips.
It was in one of the abandoned classrooms where the missing Lucas boy and the petite brunette occupied themselves. But they surely were not working in any project together because their books and bags were sprawled on the floor. Instead, Macy found herself pinned against the wall as Nick covered her mouth with his. They both decided that it was really necessary to skip lunch so that they could "practice" some more. And that's exactly what Nick and Macy told themselves when they decided to go make out in one of the empty classrooms.
"You lose," Nick said smiling.
"No, I didn't," Macy protested.
"Yeah, you did, Mace," Nick replied as his smile broadened. "You broke away first."
Because both of them were quite competitive, they decided to spice up their "practice sessions" by playing a game with each other in which the loser was the one who ended the kiss first.
"I had to because you bit my tongue, Nick!" Macy argued. She didn't like to lose especially when her opponent wasn't playing fair.
"I did not!" Nick cried out indignantly but he really did and then he said rather playfully as he tightened his embrace around her. "Want to go again?"
"Of course," Macy replied as she brought his head down to meet hers. The sensation of having Nick's tongue in her mouth wasn't new anymore. In fact, it became such an integral part of their make-out sessions for them to engage in a little tongue-duel. They both heard the bell ring signaling the end of their lunch period but neither Nick nor Macy broke away from each other at first. In fact, it seemed as if Nick wasn't planning to end their "practice session" any time soon so reluctantly, Macy had to end their kiss once more.
"Ha! You lose again, Macy!" Nick announced.
"That's not fair!" Macy complained as she pouted her lips. "I had to! We needed to stop because we're going to be late for class, Nick!"
"Fine," Nick said somewhat disappointedly.
She could sense his distress and so she suggested, "Practice session after school?"
"Definitely," Nick answered as he planted a quick kiss on her lips. He helped her with her stuff and they noticed that the hallways were now flooded with students.
"Nick, there you are!" he heard Joe call him from afar.
"Oh, hey, Joe," Nick said nervously. Macy saw him too and they both didn't want to seem like anything happened between them so they tried not to stand too close to each other.
"Hey Mace," Joe greeted her.
"Hi, Joe," Macy said. "Well, um…I should go. I'll see you in class, Nick."
"Okay, bye Macy," Nick said quite depressed because he wanted to walk with her to class but his stupid brother just had to interfere but he tried to contain his anger when he asked. "Any way what do you want, Joe?"
"Well, mom called a little while ago and she asked if you can pick up and baby-sit Frankie after school."
"Why can't you or Kev do it?"
"Kev has cheerleading practice and well, I have a date with Stella after school so can you do it, please?"
"Why can't you reschedule with Stella?"
"Because I already cancelled on her last weekend and she started using the silent treatment on me. Come on, Nick, I can't mess up again, please do it?" Joe begged him.
"Fine," Nick said as he let out a sigh of frustration because this meant no practice session with Macy after school.
"Great! Thanks a lot bro," Joe said and he was about to leave him when he noticed something quite peculiar about Nick's appearance. "What's that red stuff on your lips?"
"Huh?" Nick said quickly as he brought his hand to wipe away any lip-gloss Macy must have worn today. Sure enough his hand had a red streak after he brushed it along his lips.
"Is that lip-gloss?" Joe asked him inquisitively.
"Uh…"
"Nick…" Joe started of to say suspiciously. "Were you kissing someone?"
"Uh…"
And then a light-bulbed turned on in Joe's head because he remembered seeing a certain brunette girl with him moments ago, and he asked him excitedly, "Were you kissing Macy?"
"Uh..."
"Nick! You so were!" his older brother exclaimed. "Oh my gosh! It all makes sense now! The weird love-struck behavior! The secret phone calls! And now skipping out on lunch to be with Macy Misa!"
Nick hit him behind the head and hissed at him, "Can you be any louder?"
"Okay, I'm sorry," Joe replied now in a whisper. "But it's Macy isn't it?"
Nick let out a big sigh because there really was no escape from this so he said in a very low whisper, "Yes, it's Macy but please don't make this into such a big deal."
"But it is!" Joe retorted. "Oh my gawd! Since when did you start hooking up with Macy? And speaking of which, what happened to your plan to win Penny's heart? I thought you liked her?"
"Well, you see, that really didn't work out. I mean Penny is a nice girl and all but being with Macy is a whole different story. She seems so different now and I like being with her…I mean I didn't intend it to happen. It just sort of did. We spent so much time together and one thing led to another so…yeah…"
"So are you guys together now?"
"That's the thing. I really don't know if Macy feels the same way about me like how I feel about her," Nick revealed solemnly. "We haven't really confessed or anything like that."
"Then why would she be making out with you if she didn't like you?" Joe asked him honestly.
"She said it was necessary practice for our plan to pretend-date," Nick said quite scornfully because he really hoped that Macy wasn't still trying to stick to the plan since he no longer was. His eyes narrowed when he realized something. Macy pretend-dated Joe, too… did they have practice make-out sessions as well? No, Nick thought to himself. Because Joe was a kiss-and-tell kind of guy, he would totally admit it if he locked lips with the brunette girl. And he never said anything about kissing Macy. Besides, she was best friends with the girl Joe was completely in love with. He would never do something so low as to make out with her best friend. Right?
"Joe…" he said slowly. He didn't know why he was clenching his fist. "When you pretend-dated Macy, did you kiss her?"
"WHAT! Of course not!" Joe cried out in horror because the idea of even doing that with Macy, for him, was completely and utterly ridiculous.
"Okay good," Nick said now relieved that Joe didn't make out with Macy because it would have been just too weird for him to hook up with a girl that's been with his older brother.
"Besides, Macy can't be serious about this pretend stuff anymore," Joe continued. "She's probably too afraid to confess first. Most likely she's waiting for you to make the first move."
"You think so?"
"I know so," Joe said. "How do you think Stella and I got together? I had to practically spell it out to her that I like her."
"So you're saying I should confess to Macy that I like her and then she'll confess too?"
"Exactly," Joe replied. "Man up and profess your love to Ms. Macy Mis—OW!"
Joe exclaimed when Nick hit him behind the head again.
"Can you be any louder?" Nick said again while glaring at him.
"Sorry, Mr. Grumpy-pants," Joe said as he rubbed the back of his head.
The school day was almost ending and Macy had tennis practice after school. Normally, Macy loved being on the court. It was an all time high for her when she played tennis. She really was the star player of the school's varsity tennis team. Coach Martin put a lot of time and effort to shape up the other girls in the team so that they could play at Macy's level. However, today what Macy wanted more than anything was for the clock to hit 4:30 because she wanted to go meet Nick and be in his warm embrace once again. She was in the court stretching when she heard the voice she wanted to hear call her name.
"MACY!" Nick called from the sidelines. She hurriedly rushed over to meet him.
"Hey Nick," she said happily. She tried to look into his eyes but she couldn't help but stare at his lips-lips she wanted to kiss so badly.
"Bad news," Nick said sadly. "We can't have our practice session after school. My mom wants me to baby-sit Frankie."
"Oh man, really?" Macy said evidently upset by this news.
He noticed that his news saddened her so he quickly added, "But I was wondering if you wanted to, um, go to dinner tomorrow night. Just the two of us?"
"Oh wow," was all Macy could say. Was Nick asking her out? "Sure I'd love to. But what's the occasion?"
Nick could feel himself blushing. He wasn't going to tell her right then and there so all he said was "I have something important to tell you."
"What is it? Are you going to tell me you're no longer a Yankees fan?" Macy joked.
"As if!" Nick retorted but then he took her hands into his and said. "It's something bigger."
"Oh okay, then yes, I'd love to have dinner with you Mr. Lucas," Macy said happily. What could this be about?
"Great," Nick said as he placed a kiss on her cheek.
"HEY! MS. MISA STOP FLIRTING OVER THERE WITH MR. LUCAS AND DO YOUR WARM UPS!" yelled Coach Martin from across the court.
This made the two of them blush even more because when they looked over they both noticed that now everyone was looking at them.
"Sorry, Nick but I have to go," Macy said but she really didn't want to part ways with Nick.
"Yeah, you should go practice," Nick said. "But tomorrow, I'll pick you up at 7?"
"Sounds good, Nicky-boo," Macy said humorously.
Nick shook his head while smiling. Macy really was something else. Somehow, this time he didn't mind when Macy called him that because that was her personal nickname she had for him. No one else but Macy called him that. He liked that.
Macy was known for her strong backhand but today it seemed that Penny Madison was challenging her status because she was hurling shots at her at almost 80 mph.
"Wow, Ms. Madison! I didn't know you possessed such great strength in you!" Coach Martin marveled at the usually dainty Penny Madison. "Keep it up!"
"Thanks coach," Penny answered but she was still glaring at Macy from across the court.
However, Macy didn't notice anything amiss because she was completely and hopelessly in love with Nick Lucas that nothing else even mattered. Since she had a good work-out today, Macy decided to hit the showers and take her time. She wasn't going to see Nick after school so she was in no rush. But she kept thinking of what it was Nick wanted to tell her tomorrow night. Was he going to tell her he likes her? She hoped to God that was the news he wanted to say because Macy would literally jump up for joy and profess her love for Nicholas Lucas as well.
She was making her way to the lockers after she finished drying her hair but she paused when she heard someone sniffling in the locker room. The person seemed to be crying really hard because she wasn't quiet about it. The noise coming out of her mouth was truly heart-breaking. The girl, Macy could hear, was sobbing so much it sounded like she was choking. She hurried over and saw that the girl in great distress was none other than the beautiful blonde-hair blue-eyed girl.
"Penny! Oh my gawd! Are you okay?" Macy asked her as she ran over and put an arm around her.
But she was surprised when Penny moved away from her and yelled, "Don't you dare touch me!"
"Penny what on earth—
"Oh don't Penny me," she yelled at her now enraged. "You're the last person I want to see right now."
What was going on? Macy thought. Why was Penny mad at her?
"I'm sorry Penny but I don't get why you're so angry with me," Macy said honestly. "I am only trying to help."
"You were trying to help?" she repeated disbelievingly. "Stop this whole innocent-girl act, Macy. Maybe everyone else will buy it but I sure don't! You know what you did, you little witch!"
"No, Penny, honestly I don't," Macy said earnestly. She didn't let her name calling get to her because this whole conversation was really strange.
"You took him away from me, Macy!" Penny said angrily. "Don't tell me this wasn't part of your plan because I could see right through your act. You're not fooling me."
Macy gulped because she now understood. This was about Nick. But how did Penny know about their plan, a plan she admit she was no longer following?
"How... could you...do this?...You took…him…away…from me," Penny said in between sobs. She put her head in her hands as she continued to weep openly.
"Penny…I…um…" Macy was at a lost of words. "I don't know what to say."
"There's absolutely nothing you can say to fix the situation!" Penny yelled at her furiously. "You have him in the palm of your hand now. Why don't you just go run along to him!"
"Penny, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—
"Please, Macy I don't want your apology because I don't think I can EVER forgive you," Penny answered as she got up. She walked over to her and said, "But are you really admitting that you like him too?"
Macy wasn't sure what Penny was going to do to her but she truthfully answered how she felt about Nick.
Macy looked away from her when she said, "Yeah…I like him too…"
"I can't believe this!" Penny cried out incredulously. "You two are the most manipulative people I've ever met! You're perfect for each other."
She sat back down and continued to cry intensely.
"Penny, I'm really sorry but I didn't mean for it to happen—
"SHUT UP! DIDN'T I TELL YOU I DON'T WANT YOUR APOLOGY?" Penny yelled at her now consumed in complete rage. "Just please leave me alone! I'm begging you, please... just go."
Macy was afraid of what she might do to her so she rushed out of the locker room but she didn't get far because she remembered that look Penny had on her face…it was the same look she had when her ex-boyfriend Tyler left her for her former best friend. It was so heartbreaking to see Penny like that. Then she realized something much to her dismay. You see, if she analyzed the situation correctly, it was she, not Nick, who was just like her ex-boyfriend because she was the one who didn't realize that her actions could hurt another person. She was being selfish because she only cared for her own happiness. And that's why Macy felt so horrible to have caused Penny so much pain. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair at all…She needed to fix this...but how?
Closing Remarks:
I initially wanted to write two more chapters (including this one) to wrap up the story, but I decided to cut one chapter in half because this was already long as it is and I didn't want to write a very, very long chapter. This is already 7000+ words AGAIN! My goodness! So expect probably 2 more chapters and an epilogue. The epilogue is already written up so I need to concentrate on finishing the final two chapters. Hopefully, I'll have it done in a week or two. But please be patient with me if I need more time since I have a lot of exams coming up. Yes, reality is finally taking its toll on me.
Anyway, what do you think will happen next? I think it's pretty obvious what Nick wants to tell Macy. But how will she react especially after her encounter with Penny? Whoever can guess what will happen next will get a shout out at the end of the next chapter! (Hm...but is this really an incentive, though?)
Speaking of which...
Shout out to one of my reviewers , speedtexter, for totally guessing that I plan on using Stella to interrupt Nick and Macy's steamy kiss.
Oh the drama, drama, drama...you gotta love it though!
REVIEW. THANKS! :-)
-Penelope36
