The bell went off for last period, but instead of going to class, we snuck out and went to his house to talk, right here, on this very bed. I laid in his arms, just like I'm doing now, and poured my heart out to him. He listened to me go on and on, crying for a good hour, and when I was all cried out, he ordered us a pizza from Pete's. He told me to pick my favorite kind. I told him he wouldn't like it. He ordered it anyway. It was the pineapple-bacon one, which happened to be his favorite too.
When I left his house that night, I knew we'd be friends forever.
There's a knock on the door. "Nate? Are you in there?"
"Yeah, Mom. What do you need?"
Kathy opens the door, smiling when she notices me sitting next to Nate. "I see he found you. The second he got home, he went to go find his Riley. Didn't even give me a hug."
I whack his arm. "Nate, you should always hug your mom."
He laughs. "I did hug her, but it was quick. More like half a hug. Still counts."
"It's fine," Kathy says with a laugh. "I'm glad you two are back together. Nate just isn't the same without you."
I look at him and see a hint of pink on his cheeks. Is he blushing?
"Mom," he says. "Riley and I were talking. Did you need something or are you just saying hi?"
"Both. I left work early because I feel like I'm coming down with a cold. I'm going to go rest so you'll need to figure out dinner on your own."
"That's fine." He smiles. "And Mom, you don't have to keep making me dinner. I'm 22. I can make my own."
"Oh, I talked to your Aunt Sheryl. She said Brad won't be coming until Friday now."
"Yeah, he told me."
"Did you tell Riley about Brad?"
"A little. She'll meet him this weekend. We're all going out Saturday night."
"Oh, good. That'll be fun." She smiles at me. "Brad's a very nice young man. Funny. Smart. And very handsome. I think you'll like him."
"Mom, you sound like you're setting her up with him," Nate says.
"Isn't he still dating Jess?" Kathy asks.
"It was Tess, and no, they broke up months ago."
"And he doesn't have someone new?"
"Not that I know of."
"I'm surprised. I can't imagine a boy that handsome going that long without a girl."
"Um, Mom, what are you trying to say here?"
She shakes her head really fast. "Oh! No! Honey, I'm not saying you're not handsome. I just meant that Brad usually has a girlfriend. I'm surprised he's gone this long without one."
"Maybe he didn't want to get involved with someone knowing he'd be moving back to Arizona."
"I suppose. Well, I'm going to go lay down. Let me know if you need anything."
"Okay, Mom. Hope you feel better." He waits for her to close the door. "Did it sound to you like she was saying I'm ugly?"
I laugh. "No. And you're not ugly. You're hot."
He turns to me, a slight grin forming. "You think I'm hot?"
"You know you're hot. That's why you had so many girlfriends in college. You had so many I lost count."
"Those were dates, not girlfriends."
"You had a few that were girlfriends, and you wouldn't have had all those dates if you weren't hot."
"They could've just been dating me for my personality," he kids.
"Yeah, because a good personality is always what girls look for first in a guy."
"Hey, it's possible." He brings his knee up, resting his arm on it. "What do you look for?"
"In a guy?" I pause to think. "Shouldn't you already know this? You know me better than anyone."
"Not when it comes to this. You never talk to me about guys."
"Because I haven't dated anyone in forever. There's nothing to say."
"So what are you looking for?"
"I'm not looking. Even if I was, there isn't anyone here I'd want to date."
"No one?" he asks, his brows rising.
"Why are you asking like that? Are you thinking of someone in particular?"
"No. I'm just surprised you're not looking."
"I don't want to date someone until I've figured out what I'm doing with my life. Right now I'm in this dead-end job, living with my mom, driving a truck that's not even mine. This wasn't how my life was supposed to go, but I haven't figured out how to change it, and until I do, I don't want to get involved with someone."
"But maybe that someone would lead to a new life. One you'd actually like, maybe even love."
I look at him funny. "What are we talking about here? I feel like you're trying to tell me something."
"I'm telling you not to close any doors just because you think you have to wait until you have everything figured out."
"Close doors? I don't get it. What are you trying to say?"
"Forget it." He gets up from the bed. "Let's go to a movie. Or we could get a drink. I never got that beer at lunch. You want to go to the brewery?"
Hopping off the bed, I go up to Nate as he grabs his phone from the charger. "What just happened?"
"What do you mean?"
"What were you trying to tell me just now?"
"Nothing. Just forget it." He goes around me to his closet.
"Nate, tell me what you meant."
He grabs a sweatshirt and walks over to me. "It was just a general statement about being open to new things. Graduating from college has got me thinking about that stuff."
"What stuff?"
"Life, and what to do with it. Now that I'm done with school, I have a lot of decisions to make. Decisions that could affect the rest of my life."
"Yeah? So? That's true for everyone."
"Which is why I told you not to close any doors. You never know what's going to happen. You have to be open to what's right in front of you. See new possibilities where you didn't see them before." He grabs my hand and pulls me toward the door. "Let's go."
"I still have no clue what you're talking about."
"Just think about it," he says.
When I'm home later, I do think about it and it still makes no sense. What's right in front of me? What possibilities am I not seeing? Does he mean with my job? I have thought of asking Renee if she'd give me more responsibilities, along with a bump in pay. I've also thought of getting a job somewhere else. I've worked at the salon since high school and only got the job because my mom is a stylist there. Maybe it's time to find something new, a job I would actually like.
It's something to consider, but I don't think it's what Nate meant when he said all that today. Why didn't he just come out and say whatever he was trying to tell me? He's usually so direct. So why wasn't he today?
Chapter Four
Riley
"Okay, don't be mad," April says as she races up to me in the salon. It's noon, and she just got here for her afternoon shift.