A/N: Hi everyone! I'm finally back with a new update. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews. I appreciate them! This chapter took me a while to write. It's pretty long, but I hope you enjoy it. And for those of you who wanted more NH, this is definitely a chapter of goodness. And the title of the chapter is named after the song "Heart Skipped a Beat" by The XX. :) Please read and review. Tell me what you think!
2 MORE WEEKS 'til OTH comes back ya'll. I can't wait to see more Naley. I've missed them so much. I'm sure all of you do too. EEk.
Enjoy!
Chapter 8// Heart Skipped a Beat
Everyone was pretty impressed with my baking powers today. The cake that Olivia suggested that I make turned out pretty awesome. It wasn't perfect, but it was close. I asked Merriam and Jonathan if it was good enough to give to the customer and they didn't even hesitate to say yes. They said that the customer wouldn't even notice if it had the tiniest mistake on it especially if it was for a child's birthday. It was food after all. The children would dominate it in a second.
"So Olivia's sick?" Merriam asked, walking behind me as I added the finishing touches to the cake.
"Yeah. She has a fever. Hopefully it will go away soon."
"Poor thing. Did she take any medicine?"
"I gave her some Tylenol," I answered as I puffed a chocolate flower on the edge of the cake. "I'm not sure if it worked since she was vomiting and sweating all night. I stayed up to keep an eye on her. I barely got any sleep. I was really starting to worry about her."
"She should be taking her medication that the doctor prescribed to her," she stated. "It's only helpful for her immune system. She has a horrible immune system, that's why she's been getting sick a lot."
I stopped working on the cake and looked to my side. Merriam was wrapping up a little basket of treats with a red ribbon. Soon my eyes furrowed, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions.
"This has happened before?"
"Oh yeah, plenty of times. I was just like you. She would call me when she'd start feeling a little sick. So I'd run to the nearest drug store to get her medicine. Then buy a couple of bottles of water and juices and head to her house. I'd stay there for about a week to help her recover. It takes a while for her to get better."
At that moment, I remembered some of the letters of Olivia mentioning a fever or a slight cough. She never gave me any details about her health, only about her life on the outside. I wish she had told me though. I mean we told each other everything. I guess she didn't want to tell me everything after all. I know she's old and I know that she will get sick eventually from time to time. But plenty of times? I would start worrying when it got to that point. My mother was always apprehensive about her health when she still lived in California. That's why she was so concerned and iffy about her leaving in the first place. I never thought it was serious though. Let's just pray that this wasn't something to fret about in the future. I didn't come here to see her die. She even told me that wasn't the reason. I hope she's not lying.
"Don't let it trouble you, though. She's been pretty healthy for a while," Merriam stated. "This is the first time in months since she's been ill. So it could be something temporary." I sighed in relief. She finished tying the bow and came over to pat me in the shoulder. "But, I'd watch her just in case," she advised. I nodded and watched as she grabbed the treat basket and walked to the front.
After a while of adding the last minute touches to the cake, I was finally done. The creation was pretty amazing, I thought. I cleaned up my mess and asked Eliza to help me put it into one of the white boxes. I didn't want to mess up the cake before the customer came and got it. Once it was safely in the box, I waited for them to arrive.
I glanced around the bakery for a while and watched over everyone else's creations. Eliza was making cookie monster cupcakes with blue grassy-like icing and Jonathan was making this beautiful three tier topsy turvy cake which really impressed me. I actually wanted one for myself, but unfortunately my birthday landed in February. Merriam told me that I really didn't have anything else to do since all the other orders were occupied, so she said that I could work up front. I knew that I wasn't going to be one of the professional cake bakers here, but Olivia and everyone else figured it would be fun for me to help out. I mean, Eliza was the one who initiated the opportunity for me. And they were right; it was pretty fun for my first day out. Who wouldn't want to work at a bakery? Maybe not the people who are trying to focus on their weight, but normal people would love it.
When I walked to the front, I noticed that Nathan was in the middle of a conversation with a little boy and his grandmother. I didn't want to interrupt so I just stood by the doorway and watched. The grandmother looked almost frustrated, but she seemed quite charmed by Nathan. It was kind of funny. The little blonde boy looked delighted though. It almost looked like Nathan was trying to persuade him into doing something mischievous. But Nathan looked really sincere when he was talking to them, almost like he was a big brother.
"My mother would never let me have any desserts before dinner when I was younger, but my grandmother would do it anyways," I heard him say. "She'd pick me up right before dinner and we'd drive to the store. The bakery was the first place we'd look at and I'd tell her that I wanted the whole store -just like you said. There were cupcakes, cookies, brownies, and maybe even candy. Then my grandmother would look at me and lean down next to my ear and say, 'you're too tiny, Nathan. You can't put this whole store in your stomach.' Then I'd laugh and think she was crazy. Eventually she'd ask me what I really wanted and I'd point out my favorite treat." During that moment, he felt me staring and looked up. He gave me a little smile and then returned to his story. "She'd ask the man for it, buy it with the little money she had. Then she would give me the treat and say, 'I just bought you the whole store.' So what do you say, Mrs. Johnson?" he asked, looking up from the child and towards the little old lady, who wasn't that much older than my grandmother. "Are you going to give him the whole store?"
Mrs. Johnson was hesitant to answer. The little boy turned to her, pleading her with his puppy dog eyes. She couldn't let him down. I could tell that she was debating whether to say yes or no, but when she glanced back at Nathan, I just knew that he had convinced her.
"I suppose I could."
"Yay!" the little boy cried out.
"What do you really want?" she asked him. The little boy scurried along the counter, gazing at all the scrumptious desserts and pointed at one of the brownies. He looked really sure that the brownie was what he really wanted to eat to spoil his appetite. The lady nodded and looked up at Nathan. She didn't even have to say it. Nathan knew. I saw a smile appear on his lips as he pulled out a paper bag, some tongs and started adding a couple brownies inside. The boy was thrilled when Mrs. Johnson paid for them. I couldn't help but imagine Nathan reacting the same way. It was kind of heartening.
As soon as the boy and grandmother left the store, I made my way towards Nathan. He saw me approaching, and suddenly his face lit up like he was happy to see me.
"That was sweet," I said.
"It's my job. I gotta keep the customers coming."
"I think it's been established that they'll be coming back."
"Unless he gets in trouble with his mom, then they'll never return."
"You'll never know. His grandmother might bring him here anyways."
He smirked and said, "You were listening?"
"It was hard not to. You were pretty loud."
"That's what she said," he laughed.
I hit him lightly across the shoulder. "Ew, gross. That's not what I meant."
"I was joking," he chuckled.
"I better hope so, perv."
"You're the one who said it."
"You're the one who thought it."
I rolled my eyes and leaned across the counter. He chuckled and turned around, grabbed the pile of menus from the counter and started placing them on the shelf behind him. While he was doing that, I glanced outside and noticed Brooke and Peyton across the street at the music store. And I suddenly felt myself tense up. I watched as they looked at the CDs that they bought. Peyton noticed me as she glanced up from the CDs and waved. Brooke didn't even bother.
"Haley!" I heard someone call out. I looked towards the kitchen door and noticed Eliza's face peeking out of it.
"Yeah?"
"Mr. Daniels called in and said that he wants the cake delivered to his house instead of picking it up, so I guess it's your duty to bring it there."
"Um, okay," I answered slowly, standing up straight from the counter.
She fully stepped out and pulled out a piece of paper from her apron pocket. "Here's his address. He lives in a cul-de-sac. He said it's easy to miss," she said as she walked up to me, handing me the piece of paper. It was kind of crinkled as I spread it open.
"Well that sounds like fun," I said, sarcastically. "I'm sure I'd get lost trying to find this place. I don't even know my way around town yet. This is a recipe for disaster."
"I'd join you, but Jon is keeping me busy back there," she replied, a little annoyed. I pouted and reread the address, hoping it would turn into a fortune and say 'you'll be fine', but unfortunately it didn't.
"I'll go with you," Nathan stated from behind us. We both looked at him as he finished putting up the menus.
"Really?"
He nodded as he walked beside me. "Let me see the address?" I handed him the crinkly paper and I watched him as he looked at the numbers. I waited to see a reaction, hoping that he knew exactly where it was. Then he lifted his eyebrows and said, "I think I know where this is. We'll figure it out, though." He flashed me a smile and stuffed the address into his pocket.
"Well there you go. You found yourself a partner in crime," Eliza stated.
I didn't answer. The thought of being alone with Nathan in his car again made me wonder if he really was interested in me. Peyton was his best friend and all, so I suppose what she said about him could be true. But sometimes people can fool you even when they are your closest friend.
"Alright, let's get going!" Nathan cried out. We both followed Eliza into the backroom and grabbed the cake from the fridge. We said bye to Merriam and then walked out the bakery towards his car.
When I climbed inside, I noticed that it was cleaner than the last time I saw it. There were no longer any crumbled pieces of paper on the foot area and the scent changed from lemon to strawberry. I looked up at the rear view mirror and saw that a strawberry shaped car freshener was hanging around it. CDs were still spread across the dashboard- AC/DC still plain sight. Then I glanced in the back and noticed his uniform piled on the backseat. He wasn't kidding when he said he was a volunteer firefighter.
"You actually cleaned your car this time," I stated when he climbed inside and closed the door.
I heard him laugh and pushed a few CDs off his side of the dashboard.
"I thought it needed it. You never know when someone's going to need a ride somewhere."
We held our gaze for a bit, both of us smiling. I felt the strange twitch in my stomach again, and at the same time my pulse was racing. It was strange. It's like my body started doing strange things when I was around him. The stare was getting a bit too long, so I quickly looked away and pulled on my seat belt.
"So um, let's get going before the cake melts," I stated, wrapping the seatbelt around me and buckling it. I was conscious that his eyes were still on me until I heard him start the engine.
As we started to drive out of the shopping area and into the neighborhood, Nathan decided to put on his stereo. And I was surprised to hear that hip hop music wasn't blasting from the speakers. It was some Frank Sinatra song. I looked at him astounded as he drove. I remembered mentioning Frank to him on our car ride to the bonfire. I couldn't believe my ears. I felt almost proud that I had influenced him into listening to this kind of music. While I was gazing at him, still in awe, I noticed a smile slowly appear on his lips. He didn't even have to take one look at me to realize how stunned I was.
"When you told me about Frank Sinatra, I decided to check him out," he began. "So I did. I went over to the music store and found a couple CDs of his and listened to them. He's actually pretty good."
Again, I was shocked. My heart suddenly started to flip flop against my chest. This boy was actually listening to me and remembered the things I said. That was so weird. None of the boys in my past have ever listened to a word I said, or even wanted to listen to the type of music that I liked. I was totally taken back by it. It was sweet that he thought of me.
"Wow. Does Peyton know about this?" I asked. I looked over at the dashboard and found the CD case. It said Sinatra's classics. I turned it around and noticed that it had some of his popular tracks.
"What? Does she have to know about this?"
"I don't know. She knows you better than I do. I'm just wondering if she was as surprised as I am right now."
He chuckled. "No, she doesn't know that I have this in my car. She'd probably laugh her ass off right now. You're the first one who's witnessed it."
"Who knew you'd go from listening to songs like 'Candy Shop' to 'Come Fly with Me'."
"I guess I'm an unpredictable guy."
"You're not that unpredictable," I stated.
"Oh really?" he replied.
"Yes, really."
"Am I that readable?" he asked, taking his eyes off the road and towards me.
"Yeah. Just because you surprised me with this," I began as I pointed out the music, "doesn't mean that I don't know what's up your sleeve."
As his eyes gazed back towards the road, I noticed that he seemed pretty amused by me – like I was wrong.
"Then tell me," he suggested. "Tell me exactly what kind of guy I am since you're good at reading people and all." We turned a corner of one of the neighborhoods and I saw a couple of kids riding bikes. Then I turned to him and I had the slightest feeling that he was ready to humiliate me.
"You really want me to tell you?"
"I promise I won't get offended this time. I just know for a fact that everything you're going to say is wrong."
"What makes you think that?"
"You said that I was a womanizer, remember?"
I took a moment to collect my thoughts. The barbecue. It was all coming back to me now. I sighed and I felt my own defeat.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that."
"Now please, tell me what you think of me. I'd like really like to know," he challenged.
I didn't start immediately. I was still trying to gather all my thoughts about him. My feelings towards him were mixing in with it too, but I didn't want them to influence my thoughts about him. I started fiddling with the nail polish on my fingers and then began.
"Okay, here we go," I started. "I see you as the type of guy who likes to charm ladies, women, girls, or anyone else with a vagina." He quickly turned to me with a weird expression, like I was a freak. I didn't take it too personally. I was kind of amused, but then I continued. "I think that because you have this whole . . . physique," I said, trying not to point out his good looks," that I am pretty familiar with back at home. You're popular which means that you think you can do whatever you want because people like you. You could be the ass-iest ass on this entire planet and girls would still drool over you. Boys would still want to be you. Since you're popular, you party. A lot. You listen to mainstream music. In particular, you like the ones that are pretty raw like rap and hip hop. Um . . . oh yeah adding to the fact that you're a basketball player, you get loads of attention by everyone. It kind of boosts your ego. Actually being any kind of athlete and being good at it, boosts your ego. And . . . since you're a firefighter, you want to prove that you're not afraid of anything, especially fire. So you pretty much think you're the unstoppable." I finished and looked at him hesitantly, almost scared to hear his response. Personally, I was describing Aaron and all his stupid qualities, but that's exactly what I thought of when I first saw Nathan. A good looking guy like him can't be a sentimental person especially since he's a basketball player with rich friends.
"How right was I?" I asked when I realized he didn't respond immediately.
We started driving down this one street slowly when we stopped at a four way. Then he turned to me and said, "Those. . . were pretty stereotypical."
"Well that's how I read you."
He smiled a little bit, and then it faded. "You've been here for a few weeks and you still think that I'm that kind of guy?"
"A few weeks are still a few weeks, Nathan. Sometimes people can fool you," I replied. "I'm still trying to figure this place out."
"What's there to figure out? People are still people, Haley," he mocked. "Some may fool you, but you also got to remember that some don't."
I gazed at him for a bit, feeling ten inches tall in my seat. I am so sick of myself assuming the worst in people. I can't help it that I've been fooled so many times before in my life. It's hard to get to know a person – getting attached to someone- and then have them betray you. Trusting someone is a precious thing to me. Maybe I'm so tainted by past relationships and friendships, that trusting others is completely far from possible. But when he told me that, I just knew deep in the pit of my stomach that he wasn't lying to me. It was like he was telling me that he wasn't going to hurt me. He didn't have to say it, he showed it.
"Did I offend you?" I asked, feeling a bit guilty. He returned to the road when it was our turn to go during the four-way.
He shook his head, amused. "No, I told you I wasn't going to be offended. It's just funny to hear you being wrong again. I told you to work on that whole reading people thing," he advised with a smirk. I sighed in relief, glad that he wasn't mad. I guess he was right about being unpredictable. Nathan understood me and he knew how to turn situations around from awkward to fine again. I guess the only fool around here is me.
"And p.s. I'm not a volunteer firefighter because I want to prove people that I'm invincible," he stated. "I do it to overcome my fear of fire and because of something else." I looked at him confused. He's scared of fires, but he volunteers anyways? That would be like me trying to be a ghost hunter when I'm scared of ghosts.
"How does that work?"
"I thought maybe it could help me deal with it. I didn't want to the live the rest of my life being scared. Who wants to live like that?"
I didn't answer him, I just shrugged. "But every time you get called up, doesn't it scare you? I mean isn't that the same thing as living life being scared especially when you have to go through it?"
"I do get scared all the time, but I try not to let it control me. Every time I get called up, it slowly stops the fear because I overcome it. And when I overcome it, I'm no longer scared. Then there's the other reason . . . it's kind of personal, but I'm willing to let you hear it." I noticed that he looked kind of sad at the thought. It made me feel like it was something serious.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," I stated, hoping it wouldn't trigger anything. "If it's really personal you don't have to tell me. I'll be fine with the whole 'fearing fire' reason.
He gave me a sympathetic look. "I trust you." I smiled at him as we continued driving down a street. "When I was younger, I was at my friend Tim's house. A storm had just past so we didn't have any electricity for a couple of hours, so his mom put up a few candles to light up the place. Being ten year old little boys and all, we were bored. His PlayStation didn't work and there was no TV. So in order to entertain ourselves, we decided to play hide and seek. I was it and Tim was hiding somewhere in the kitchen. When I found him under the dining table, we started running around the house. There were candles on top of the coffee table, on shelves, and other places. When we were running, Tim bumped into the shelf knocking down one of the candles in his room upstairs. It fell on the carpet and it lit on fire. It spread across the floor and it went up the walls. Everything after that went by so quickly. The house was on fire and Tim ran off to find his mother. I ran downstairs as quickly as I could and tried to get water to put it out. But the place was getting hotter and hotter. I couldn't go back up the stairs because it was falling apart. Tim's mom was in the living room the whole time when I found her. She looked at me scared when she realized that Tim wasn't by side. I just couldn't think at the time. She grabbed me and yelled for Tim. We tried to find ways to get upstairs. We knew he was upstairs, but it was too late. The firemen came, dragging both of us out of the burning house. And I just stood in the yard, smelling like smoke, wrapped in a blanket besides beside Mrs. Smith. And I watched the house engulf in flames -with my best friend inside." My heart sank."It was probably the hardest day of my life," he whispered.
I reached for his shoulder. "I'm sorry," I said.
"It's okay. It was eight years ago. It was hard to deal with for the next few years. But once I was old enough, I decided to volunteer in honor of him. You know, to pay my respects."
"So you can save people?"
"Yeah," he replied in a whisper. "Especially when I couldn't save him."
"That's inspiring."
"I guess," he replied. He drew a long breath as he continued to drive. "Anyways, speaking of fears, tell me one of yours," he suggested with a smile, quickly changing the subject and making the atmosphere a bit lighter.
I slowly turned away from him, hesitating. "Um . . . I don't have any fears." I lied.
He gave me a look. "You don't have any fears? I don't believe it. Everyone has fears."
"Maybe I do, I just don't want to tell you."
"I just told you mine," he complained.
"I didn't ask you to."
"I also said that I trusted you."
"But who said I trusted you?" I smiled, giving him a mischievous look when he glanced at me.
"You're a tease, you know that?"
"And you're unpredictable."
I glanced at him and gave him a little smile. And again, my body started acting weird. My heart was pounding, blood was rushing through my cheeks, and my stomach was flipping. Then once more, I decided to change the mood.
"Okay, so are we getting any closer to our destination?"
"Um," he began as he craned his neck to check out the addresses of the houses. I looked at him and figured that he was processing something in his head. "I think it's down this street."
I started looking out the window as well, trying to find a cul-de-sac filled with cars. It was obvious that we were going to someone's birthday party. A girl named Beatrice, I might add. Beatrice? Who names their child that? I mean, I'm almost certain that if I knew someone named Beatrice, I'd nickname her Bitch because if you say her name fast enough it almost sounded like bitches. Or maybe that's just me.
"I think you should start marking off some of those things on that list you made about me," he advised.
"What?" I asked looking away from the window.
"You heard me," he smirked, glancing at me and then looking past my shoulder towards the houses. "Eventually, I'm going to start looking mighty fine compared to the guy you thought I was."
I scoffed, amused. "So far, only one thing is scratched off and that's the whole firefighting part."
He let out a chuckle. "Most of the things on your list are completely wrong. I'm not an ass. I don't crave popularity. I don't expect everything to be given to me just because you think everyone likes me. And just because I'm a good looking basketball player doesn't mean I can get with every girl I want." He smirked.
"Who said you were good looking?" I joked.
"Apparently you think so," he replied.
"I didn't say anything."
"Well on your list you said that even if I was the ass-iest ass on this entire planet, girls would still drool over me. And why would girls drool over me? I don't think it's because I'm an ass. I believe it's because they think I'm good looking."
I started shaking my head at the last part and turned back to the window, smiling to myself. I could feel my cheeks heating up from embarrassment. "You. Are . something," I stated.
"It's not my fault all the girls want me."
He really had a way to make me feel bashful and weak and nervous. But at the same time I felt comfortable around him. He mad me feel good. He's completely opposite of what I assumed he was. He's honest and doesn't hold back. He's different from Aaron because tries. Aaron never tried. He just lied.
He spotted the address and turned the corner of the street. The neighborhood was packed with cars every where. I could see the bundles of balloons peeking from the back yard. The neighborhood was quaint - very suburban-like and very warm. The houses were a bit smaller, but still friendly. Then Nathan found a spot and he put the car into park. The music from the house could be heard through our windows. It was louder than Nathan's Frank Sinatra CD..
I unbuckled my seatbelt and held the cake box in my lap. Nathan turned off his stereo, cringed at the sound of the music that was now playing through his windows and unbuckled his seat belt too. Then he turned to me without saying a word. I felt his eyes on me so I glanced up and soon brown met with blue.
"You still think I'm a womanizer?"
"It depends on how many girls you've dated," I replied as I climbed out of the car. He took a minute in his seat before he did the same thing. He locked the car doors and we started walking across the street and onto the lawn of the neighboring houses. "So how many have you dated?" I asked.
We were walking side by side, but I left a good distance between us so we didn't touch. Then I looked up at him, noticing that he wasn't quick to answer the question. It was like he was counting them in his head. I immediately grew annoyed by that fact.
"More than I could count on both my hands and a foot," he finally said.
"Wow. That doesn't sound like a man-whore, at all," I joked. I walked around a lawn gnome and finally landed on the driveway of the house filled with balloons. I really hoped he was lying. Maybe he was the type of guy who dated a bunch of girls, but didn't screw them over like others.
"Hey, that's not a lot of girls. Some guys date more than that."
"Right. So they date more than fifteen girls?"
"You never know. Gene Simmons has been with hundreds of them."
"What planet are you from?" I asked, amused.
"Mars, apparently," he answered.
"You know you're only eighteen. How could you date that many girls in your life?"
"I guess I'm just a friendly guy," he shrugged. I rolled my eyes in disbelief when we finally landed on the front porch of the house. He reached over to door bell and I just watched him, unimpressed by him.
"Man whore," I whispered.
"Liar," he replied just a second before the front door flew open revealing a girl about our age. I ignored Nathan's comment and smiled at the girl. She had long, curly, brown hair and bright blue eyes; they were almost transparent. She was also wearing a pink blouse and jeans.
"Nathan?" the girl asked.
I looked at him to see his reaction. He looked confused.
"Do you remember me?" the girl asked again. Nathan didn't seem to know who she was, so he shook his head. "I'm Zoey. We went to middle school together. I was your science partner in 8th grade."
I glanced at him and noticed the twitch in his eyes when he finally remembered.
"Oh yeah, Zoey Daniels. I haven't seen you in years."
"Yeah, I just moved back a couple of weeks ago."
"Why? The town is boring as hell. " Nathan asked curiously as I just stood there while they chatted.
The girl laughed. "My mom's job transferred her back here and Beatrice really missed her friends, so we came back."
"Not going to college abroad or anything?"
"Nope, I'm staying here and going to Tree Hill U!"
"Unfortunately I'll be going to the same place."
"Maybe we'll be science partners again," she stated with a twinkle in her eyes. I immediately felt disgusted. She was already trying to work her charm on Nathan. And oddly enough, my blood was boiling. I was starting to feel a twinge of jealousy over the girl. She was gorgeous and looked like she'd be the type of girl Nathan would be interested in. It almost made my heart ache. But I didn't want to show it.
I couldn't stand them chit chatting any longer so when the opportunity was available, I interjected.
"We came here to deliver a cake for a Beatrice. I'm assuming she's your little sister," I stated.
They both looked at me. I could tell that Zoey wanted to ignore me and continue talking to Nathan, but forced herself to be kind. Nathan on the other hand looked apologetic, especially for forgetting that I was standing there.
"Yeah, she's more like my annoying little sister," she stated, slowly glancing up at Nathan. "She just turned thirteen today and she thinks she's Miss North Carolina."
I let out a fake laugh and Nathan did the same. Then she motioned us inside the house that was filled with a bunch of middle schoolers parading around the place. I noticed two boys playing with a couple helium filled balloons near the foyer. One boy who was wearing a black 'Let It Be' shirt had two balloons underneath it like a pair of breasts. And the other boy, who was wearing a gray shirt, had a needle in his hand, ready to pop the balloons inside the black t-shirt boy. I almost winced as I watched the boy with the needle get closer and closer to popping the balloons. I even tried to steer clear from them since I was holding the cake. Once I heard the pop, the boy with the black t-shirt jumped backwards in pain, almost hitting me in the process.
I kind of stumbled on my step before Nathan helped me find my balance; his hands on both of my sides.
"Careful there," Nathan whispered.
"Thanks," I replied. He removed one hand and kept the other on me, sliding it from my shoulder down to the small of my back. It was like his fingers had some of type electric energy. The feel of his fingers tingled and I started to get warm. My cheeks were heating up and the only thing I was aware of was his hand on my back. I didn't even care about the cake. I was too worried about Nathan feeling the sudden warmth in my skin just because he was touching me.
He guided me towards the dining table that Zoey led us toward and he finally removed his hand. I was upset for a little bit but I got over it. I placed the white box carefully on the table and opened it. I peeked inside, happy that the cake didn't get messed up and I slowly lifted it out the box.
"Wow, that looks amazing," Nathan stated as if it was the first time he's ever seen a cake.
"That definitely looks delicious," Zoey stated.
"Haley made that," he said, looking at me proudly.
"You made this? That's great." Zoey looked at me, squinting as if she was trying figure me out. "I've never seen you around. Are you new?" she asked.
I slid the cake closer to the middle of the table and nodded."Yeah, but I'm not here for long. I'm only visiting," I answered.
"Oh well, welcome to Tree Hill."
"Thanks and you too," I replied. "I mean welcome back."
After a few minutes, Zoey asked us to stay for a while. Actually, she asked Nathan in particular to stay. She completely ignored me. She was too busy making small talk with Nathan. I don't know what it was, but something boiled in my veins. The way she was twisting her hair and making googly eyes at him – it was annoying. She even laughed at some of the things that Nathan said and they weren't even supposed to be funny. She was making a fool of herself and I couldn't stand it.
We were standing on the back porch where the tweens were swimming in the pool and dancing to the music. I stood there beside Nathan and Zoey with a plastic cup in my hands. I really wanted to leave the place. Nathan was occupied with his conversation with Zoey, so I excused myself so I could go to the bathroom.
"Okay, don't scare any little kids," Nathan advised, jokingly.
I stuck my tongue out and walked back inside the house. Kids were everywhere. Some bumped into me and some looked at me strangely. When I was searching for the bathroom down the hall, someone started poking me in the back. I turned around to see who it was and it was a young girl with red hair and freckles.
"Hi?" I asked.
"Do I know you?" she asked me, with a very stuck up tone.
"No," I replied slowly. "I just delivered a birthday cake.
"Oh, you're the chick who just came into town," she said. I gave her a puzzled look. The talk of me being around has now reached the tweens of the place. "I'm Talulah," she greeted, with her hand out. Talulah? Another strange name.
"I'm Haley," I greeted back. "Did you need something from me?"
"Um, yeah, see that boy." She pointed out the "Let it Be" shirt boy who was sitting on the couch. I saw him glance over and shyly looked away. "He said you were pretty and wanted me to ask you if you wanted to dance with him."
The boy who had two balloons underneath his shirt -pretending like they were silicon boobs- wanted to dance with me? I'm at a fuckin middle school birthday party. Nathan is out flirting with the big sister of the birthday girl and a little boy wanted to dance with me? That's a laugh riot.
"I'm flattered, but I have to go do something," I replied, looking at the girl. I glanced at the little boy and he looked really sad assuming that he overheard, and then I turned back to the red head. "Tell him maybe later."
She nodded and skipped away. I smiled when the 'Let It Be' boy's face lit up when she whispered the message in his ear. I lightly waved at him and then returned to the hallway to find the bathroom. I opened the first door, but found an office. Then I turned the knob on the room after it and found a boy my age sitting on the bed with a guitar in his hands.
"Oh sorry, I was looking for the bathroom," I apologized.
He looked up, not affected by my presence at all. He had light brown hair –tousled and curly- with brown eyes. He also had a little scruff on his chin, but not too much. And he was wearing a wife beater and jeans.
"It's down the hall," he stated, motioning out of the room.
"Okay, thanks," I said, turning away and slowly closing the door behind me. Before I could close it all the way, he called out to me.
"Aren't you Haley James?" Once again, someone I don't know knows me. I refrained from my thoughts and turned to him.
"Yea that's me, how do you know who I am?"
"Oh, I just heard about you. I think I saw you at the barbecue," he replied. I walked back inside the room with my hand still around the door knob.
"Does everyone know everything in this town?" I asked.
"Unfortunately yea," he replied, as he began strumming on his guitar. "So what are you doing in my house? Did you get invited to my cousin's birthday party or something?"
I let out a soft laugh. "Uh no. I just delivered a cake."
"Oh," he sang. He returned back to his guitar and I just stood there waiting for him to say something. But he didn't, so I turned back around towards the hallway again. "I'm Jake, by the way." I heard him say.
I turned and said, "Nice to meet you, Jake." And then I left, closing the door behind me.
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When I returned from the bathroom, I walked back outside to the back porch and found Zoey giggling again with a nonchalant Nathan standing beside her. I rolled my eyes before I strode back next to him and gave her a fake smile and Nathan a real one.
"Are you ready to go?" he asked me.
I opened my mouth to answer until I felt a tug at my shirt. It was the red headed girl that I was talking to earlier.
"He's waiting for you," she stated.
Oh! I totally forgot about the Let It Be boy. I turned to him as music started playing. It was something soft and slow. I couldn't let him down. I did tell him that I would give him a dance.
"Who's waiting for you?" Nathan asked, looking at me confused.
I turned to him, and smiled mischievously. "Oh just a boy." It was funny to see the look on his face. He couldn't figure it out what I was talking about. I quickly turned on my heel and walked back inside the house. I started my way towards the little boy and held out my hand.
"I heard that you wanted to dance with me," I stated nicely.
He blushed as he grabbed my hand and led me towards the rest of the dancing teens. He was sweet and cute – almost like a little brother. I glanced away from him and noticed Nathan and Zoey standing by the clear, sliding doors. Nathan tilted his head, amused by me while Zoey looked humored, almost embarrassed at what I was doing. While I was slowly going side to side, I glanced to the hallway and saw Jake watching me as well. I didn't feel embarrassed at all. I was only doing something nice for someone else because I didn't want to hurt their feelings.
But ironically, I was the person whose heart sunk while I was dancing with Let It Be boy. When I glanced over by the clear, sliding doors I found Nathan and Zoey walking toward the dance area by me, hand in hand. Soon enough they began dancing in each other's arms. I almost felt like someone punched me in the gut at the moment that I saw them. It pinched a nerve somewhere and I couldn't bear to look anymore.
"Is that your boyfriend?" Let It Be boy asked.
I looked down, away from Nathan and Zoey, afraid to show any emotion. "No," I replied. "He's not my boyfriend." I could almost hear the pain in my voice. I didn't like it and I didn't like the fact that I actually liked Nathan. I didn't come here to have some stupid crush on some guy. It was the last thing on my list.
But somehow, it happened anyways.