Never Let Me Go, page 7
“I think I’m gonna go look at the perfumes,” she said, backing out of the store.
“Well I need a new bra, so I’ll meet you there later.”
I waited until she left the store and then I continued looking through the racks. When I found two matching bra and panty sets that I liked, I prepared to go and pay for them. I found a small, black, lacy negligée that I thought would look perfect on Nic, and then I grabbed a pair of underwear in her size to match with it. I took it up to the register, pulling out my debit card and handing it to the person who rang me up.
“Hi, how are you?” she asked; she was a perky blonde with a wide smile.
“I’m really good, thanks,” I said, returning a smile.
She rang up my items, and I examined the price. It wasn’t too bad, considering that I hadn’t made a purchase only for myself.
She started to put everything in a bag for me, and I shook my head. “Could you put that nightgown and the matching panties in a gift box for me? It’s a gift for someone.”
She complied and I swiped my card. “I really hope you found everything okay, and I hope you come back soon!” she exclaimed as I grabbed my bags.
“Thank you!”
I left the store, finding Nic sitting on a bench in the middle of the mall. She had her legs crossed, her cell phone in her hand. She appeared to be texting someone, so I walked around to the other side and came up behind her. I leaned forward and grabbed her shoulder where I knew she was incredibly ticklish, making her squeal and jump.
“Jesus Christ, Mich!” she exclaimed, putting her phone in her pocket and standing up. She grabbed her bags up off the floor and started walking.
I skipped so that I was behind her, grinning at the fact that I was able to tickle and surprise her at the same time. “So, who were you texting?” I asked, my eyebrows wagging up and down. “You sending flirty dirty text messages to Colin? I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
She averted her eyes, and then pointed at the Cinnabon sign.
“Let’s split a cinnamon roll!” Nickayla walked right over to the stand, ordering a large Cinnabon and two bottles of cold milk.
It wasn’t lost on me that she had avoided my question. That either meant that she was sending dirty text messages to Colin, or she was talking to Brody. It didn’t matter to me one way or another—I just enjoyed teasing her.
I pulled out my cell phone and pulled up the Facebook app. I had about two notifications and one message. It was from my dad, and I opened it up to read it.
From: James Taggaro
Hey, princess. I heard from Alyson that you’re in North Carolina for the summer. I’ve been thinking about you, Michele, and Gemma and I wanted to invite you over to visit with your brother and sister. Call me when you get the chance so we can talk about when you’ll be back in California and we’ll arrange a weekend stay or something. Love you. My number is (714) 555-6785, and if you can’t reach me there, Gem’s is (714) 555-0943. I hope to hear from you soon!
I typed out a response to the message. I had to admit, I was surprised that he’d messaged me, and that his wife actually wanted to invite me over to see the kids.
Gemma and I hadn’t exactly gotten along in…well, ever. And when the twins, Charlie and Rose, were born, she did everything in her power to keep me from seeing them. I didn’t know why she disliked me, but she did. I didn’t know what to think about the invitation.
Not to be rude, but if you and Gemma want me to come visit, I need to hear that from HER. She’s always had a problem with me and I won’t go somewhere that I’m not welcome. You have my number.
I closed the messenger app and then I posted a new status.
Spending the day at the mall with my bestest; this summer is going to be amazing!–with Nickayla Quinn
I looked up from my phone to see that Nic was coming toward me with our Cinnabon and milk. I put my cell phone in my pocket, and crossed my legs.
“God, this looks so good. I don’t know if I want to share.” Nickayla laughed, setting down the tray. She opened up the container and handed me a fork, taking a bite of the warm roll. “So I was thinking that after this, we could head over to See’s. I want to get Colin a pound of his favorite candy.”
I nodded, taking a bite of the cinnamon roll for myself. “Okay, sure. Who were you talking to?”
I was pulling out all the stops. If she was talking to Brody, I wanted to know about it. I was worried about him. I of all people, knew what his home life was like, and summers were the worst, especially if he couldn’t succeed in getting his siblings out of the city while they were out of school. No matter how I felt about him, he was still, first and foremost my friend. I had no doubts that we’d get back to that eventually.
“No one special,” Nic said, her voice dripping with nonchalance. “Maybe after we finish shopping, we can take the bags to the car and see a movie or something? What’s out in theatres right now?”
I rolled my eyes. “Nickayla, stop that.”
“Stop what?” She flashed me her most innocent expression.
“Stop avoiding my question.”
“Avoiding what question?”
“You know what question.”
“I know nothing.” She shrugged, and I threw my hands into the air.
“Nickayla!”
I watched as she took a sip of her milk, flashing me nervous glances every few seconds. “Fine. I was talking to Brody. Are you happy now?”
I grinned, taking another bite of the cinnamon roll. “Ecstatic, actually.” I paused. “So how is he?”
She rolled her eyes, pushing the container away and sitting back in her seat. I could tell that she was slightly exasperated with me, but I couldn’t help myself. From childhood, it was me, Nic, and Brody, all the time. I couldn’t just turn any of that off, no matter how I tried.
“Are you sure that you want to talk about this?” she asked.
God, I loved that girl. She was always looking out for me. “Yes. I promise, hearing how he’s doing isn’t going to break my heart all over again.” I averted my gaze, pretending like I was looking at the design on the table. “I’ve been worried about him, Kales. I know we’re not together anymore, but shit like that doesn’t go away after a few days in a new town and one date with a new guy.”
She sighed, her gaze softening. “He’s fine. He, Cason, and Dalis are at their aunt’s house in Frisco. They’re fine, Mich. And if they weren’t, you know I’d tell you, whether you and Brody are together or not.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, glad to know that Brody was okay after all. I knew his history with his dad, and the best thing for him was to get himself and his brother and sister out of there as soon as possible.
“What happened between you two, anyway?” Nickayla asked cautiously. “I know Colin came over the night it happened, and I know that you and Brody are broken up. But what I don’t know is how, or why.”
“Maybe you should ask Brody. Because I honestly don’t know.”
“Trust me, I have.” She tapped her index finger on the table. “He avoids talking about you like the plague, which, if I know him as well as I think I do, means that he’s hurting bad. I just don’t understand why, and I wish that I did—for both of your sakes.” She took another sip of her milk, her brown eyes meeting mine. “You must have some…I dunno, some kind of hunch about what happened? I’m not trying to pry, Michie, but I know that when you avoid talking about something, it’s worse than I can imagine. And honestly, I can’t imagine anything worse than what I’m imagining.”
I wasn’t ready to have that conversation. In fact, I didn’t think that I would ever be ready. But I owed it to Nickayla to tell her what’d happened—what I knew, and what I’d inferred anyway. She’d told me her biggest secret, and I owed it to her to tell her what I wanted desperately to keep inside.
It was just that the mall wasn’t exactly the ideal place to do that. I told her anyway.
“He abandoned me on prom night,” I finally said, feeling lost. “Right when prom king and queen were announced, he just…left. Then, a few weeks later, he shows up at my house with a box of my things and tells me that he doesn’t love me, and that he’s breaking up with me.” Nickayla grabbed my hand across the table once my emotions got the better of me. “I don’t know why, Nic. But if I had to guess, I’d say that I got too close. You’re the only person that he doesn’t keep at a distance. When you love someone all their lives and all they do is push you away…I honestly don’t know how to explain how that feels. I still love him, you know I do. But I had to get away for my sanity. There’s no way I could have stayed in that town and gone to all the places where we came to know each other…the school where he asked me out for the first time, or Little Sicily’s where he always took me for pizza, no matter what, or the lake house…God damn it, that lake house holds 75 percent of our memories.” I paused, inhaling slowly. “I just…I couldn’t take being there anymore, and I miss him, but I don’t want to. I love him still, but I wish that I didn’t. I worry about him every single second and I want to cry when I think about him. I just…he was everything, we were everything, and then, in the blink of an eye, he made us nothing.”
I wiped my tears away with a napkin, trying to keep myself together. I smacked my hands on the table, standing up.
I wasn’t going to let any of this get me down. Not today. Today was about me and my best friend, and I wasn’t going to let it turn into a day about me and my ex-boyfriend.
“Let’s go to See’s.” I grabbed my bags. “I could really use some chocolate right now.”
Nickayla hesitated for a split second before nodding.
We spent twenty minutes in See’s, and after that, we spent two more hours shopping. I’d totally forgotten about the fact that a shopping date with Nickayla Quinn could easily turn into an all-day affair.
I groaned, pulling out the white strappy sandals I’d just bought and sitting down on a bench. I didn’t know what fucked up logic told me to wear heels to the mall, but I was regretting it a hundred fold by the end of our shopping trip. “Give me two minutes, Nickayla. I need to change my shoes.”
I kicked off my heels and pulled on the sandals. I thrust my shoes into one of my shopping bags and then stood up, ready to venture into whatever store Nic had in mind next.
“Let’s go to the Sephora counter!” she exclaimed.
Oh, she was definitely speaking my language. She knew exactly how I felt about makeup, and particularly about the makeup at Sephora. I couldn’t get my sore feet to move fast enough.
We weaved through the racks and departments at JC Penney until we saw the Sephora counter. I knew exactly what I was looking for, but that didn’t keep me from looking at everything as I made my way through the small section of the bigger department store.
I grabbed the Makeup For Ever foundation in my shade, and a new Too Faced primer. Because I couldn’t help myself, I also grabbed the Naked palette by Urban Decay, and a travel brush set to go in my purse. When it came to makeup, I didn’t hold back whatsoever.
I took everything that I had up to the counter, grabbing a brush cleaner and the Fresh lip balm, then pulled out my debit card to pay for what I’d wanted.
“Did you find everything okay?” the girl at the register asked, her bright red hair pulled into a fishtail braid on the side of her head.
“Yeah, this is my favorite place to shop for makeup,” I said. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her face. There was something about her that felt familiar somehow, like I knew her, or I knew someone who knew her or something. “I’m sorry, you look…really familiar. What’s your name?”
She grinned, punching in numbers on the cash register and handing me my receipt.
“My name is Madilyn.”
My eyes widened. Oh fuck. I took my receipt from her, almost afraid to turn around. I finally got my wits about me, and I turned to see Nic storming out of the store.
“Nickayla?” Madilyn asked, seeming to finally realize who I was. She raised her eyebrows at me and then she turned to one of her coworkers. “Could you cover me for a little bit?”
I grabbed my bag off of the counter and faced Madilyn head on. “You stay away from her. If you follow her out of this store, there’s no telling what’ll happen to you. Don’t say you weren’t warned.”
I took off out of the store, my short legs not taking me fast enough. In that moment, I was more than thankful for the fact that I’d changed my shoes before going into Sephora. I pushed through the people in my way, not bothering to wait for the door to open. I pushed it open as hard and as fast as I could, breathing a sigh of relief when my feet hit the pavement outside. We hadn’t parked too far away from JC Penney, so when I saw Nickayla, angrily tossing her bags into the trunk of the car. I came up behind her, putting my bags in the trunk as she huffed.
She was pissed, I could tell. She was cursing under her breath and shoving things all around the trunk.
“Can you believe the nerve of that bitch? Calling my name like she knows me or something!” she exclaimed, slamming the trunk closed and turning to face me. “We haven’t even been here a week—a week, Mich, and already we’ve run into this bitch!”
I totally understood what she was talking about. I felt the same way every time I had an encounter with Belinda Moreno back home. I despised her with every fiber of my being, and every time I had to face her, I wished that I didn’t have to.
“Just calm down and get in the car, Nic,” I said soothingly. “Let’s go home.”
“Nickayla!” Madilyn called, coming up behind us.
Oh, fuck. I had the feeling that shit was about to get really bad really soon. I whirled around to face her, narrowing my eyes and crossing my arms in front of me.
“I suggest you walk back into that store,” I warned, making sure not to hide my disgust in my tone. “Walk away now.”
Nic’s back was to Madilyn, her entire body shaking. I stepped in front of my best friend, shielding her from Mads’ view. There was no way I was letting her get close to her. I stared her down, giving her my best angry expression.
“Madilyn, leave. You’re gonna get yourself hurt.”
Her eyes widened slightly, and she visibly paled. She stood up straight, stiffening her shoulders. “I just…I just wanted to know how Colin was doing.”
I watched as Nickayla stiffened at the mention of Colin’s name coming from her mouth. She turned around so lethally slowly, the look in her eyes one that I’d never seen before, not even when she argued with me—and our arguments were the worst. She brushed past me, leaving me stumbling as I realized that maybe I was the sane one for the first time in our entire friendship.
“You have no right to speak his name!” Nic growled, her teeth gritted as she spoke. “You have no right to ask about him. If he wanted you to know how he was, he’d tell you himself.”
Mads stamped her foot, and I could tell that she wasn’t satisfied with Nic’s answer. I had never seen anyone actually stamp their foot except in movies. I was entertained to say the least, but I tried to forget about that for a second in an effort to keep this bitch from starting something she knew that she couldn’t finish.
“But I’m his best friend!” Madilyn’s face had gone red.
“No, I’m his best friend,” Nic countered. “You’re just the bitter ex who won’t take a fucking hint.”
I grabbed Madilyn by the shoulders, pushing her away. “Walk away! Don’t do this!” I honestly didn’t want to have to break up a fight, not today.
She glared at me, shrugging my hands off, her brown eyes on fire.
“Don’t touch me!” She stepped forward until she was mere inches away from Nic. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. Colin loves me! You’re just a distraction, just someone to pass the time. Just you wait—he’ll come back to me eventually.”
I was struck by the sheer audacity of this girl. She’d been with Colin for two weeks when they were fourteen, and she thought she had some claim to him? I could see why Kales hated her, why she was irritated at just the sight of her. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Mads was on crack.
“Madilyn! Back the fuck off!” She was getting way too close to Nickayla, and she was hella close to getting clocked. “I’m not fucking playing!”
She and Nic were toe to toe now, staring daggers at each other. I grabbed Nickayla, trying to pull her away, but she wasn’t having it. God, Madilyn sure knew how to pick a fight. “Oh, so that’s why I’m here in Big Springs with him, staying at his family’s beach house? We moved in together a month ago, but he’s going back to you, right? You’re fucking delusional!”
I could see that Nic’s words visibly hurt Mads, but that didn’t make her stop. I’d known Nickayla my entire life, and she’d never been so angry with someone. She wasn’t the type of person who got angry easily, but it looked like Mads was the person who poked and poked and poked until she pushed someone past their limits. From the look on Nic’s face, she was at the end of her rope.
“You’re just a distraction! You’re just some random black girl who thinks she’s worth something, when the truth is, you’ll never be more than a charity ward to him!”
Before I had the chance to react to what she’d said, Nic reared back and slapped Madilyn so hard across the face I could have sworn that I heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh echo off the walls of the mall. Madilyn grabbed her cheek, looking utterly flabbergasted. She stared at me for a moment, and then she cried out, lunging forward and knocking Nickayla to the floor, punching her in the face once. Within mere seconds, Nic had grabbed Mads and flipped her over, straddling her and firing punch after punch into her face. Nic was hitting her with quick and smooth agility, her punches moving so quickly that I could barely keep track of how many she was hitting her with. Even though I wasn’t the one being hit, I winced every time I heard Nickayla’s fists hit Madilyn’s flesh.
“Nickayla, enough! Let’s go!” I yelled, spurred into action by the fact that Nickayla didn’t seem to be stopping. I ran over to Nic, grabbing her by the shoulder, but she shrugged me off, grabbing Mads by the hair.
