Chapter 23
Della: Three Months Later
“All right, see you in a bit. Can’t wait to see you.” I hung up my phone, walking to the kitchen to make sure everything was ready. Grams had helped me pack up a picnic lunch last night before her and Grandpa had taken off for the annual trip to her sister’s house.
The house seemed oddly quiet as I grabbed an oatmeal raisin cookie to munch on while I waited. The summer had just begun, and I had certainly been looking forward to it. After a rollercoaster of a ride with Justin, I was ready for a much needed break from all of the drama.
The past few months had been hard on me, not the hardest I had ever experienced but more difficult in a different way. My time with Justin had been some of the best times of my life. I was really in love for the first time, and I really thought that we had been in it for the long haul.
That day at his house ruined everything. I felt like my world had been ripped apart all over again and fell into a deep depression, not knowing how he could have done something like that to me. Luckily, my mother wasn’t around to force me into hiding when I fell into the blackness, so my friends were there to pull me back into the light before I slipped too far.
It had taken some time, but with Callie and Zoey, and even Nash being there, I think I was able to put most of my heart back together. I think Justin would always hold a piece of it, and I would admit I was a little bitter about that.
He had tried his hardest to win me back, so much so that I eventually quit Shorty’s because I just couldn’t handle working with him any longer. Every time I saw him, it just brought back memories that almost seemed too good to be true. I had almost given into him a few times, but had stopped myself before that could happen.
I couldn’t forgive him for what he had done, and I don’t really think he had forgiven himself. If it was possible, he looked even more miserable than me the times that I had allowed myself to sneak a glance at him in passing on campus or the occasional run in.
He had even tried using his mother to attempt to win my forgiveness. We had bonded after meeting and became quick friends, she had called about a month after we had broken up, just saying that she was checking in with me, but she threw in a few subtle hints, saying how broken hearted Justin was. I appreciated her efforts but told her that things just weren’t going to work out. He had betrayed my trust by not telling me himself, and I couldn’t forget that.
A knock at the door brought me back to reality, and I slapped a lid on those thoughts. Today was all about relaxation and some fun. “We’re here,” Callie squealed as soon as I opened the door, skipping into the house to hug me tightly.
Zoey followed closely behind, rolling her eyes at Callie’s excitement but giving me a wide smile. “Cal, it’s only been two weeks since we moved out of the dorms. You act like you haven’t seen Della in years. You should have seen the welcoming she gave me, I think my parents were a little worried that I switched teams.”
After the three of us reluctantly moved out of the dorms for the summer, Callie had gone home to spend a little bit of time with her family. Zoey and I had gotten together a handful of times to hang out, but it was nice for the three of us to be back together. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
“Well, I’m glad you guys are here. We can put your bags up in the guestroom for now and you can unpack later. I figured we could head out to the lake and get started on our tans early.” I led the way upstairs into the room that had two twin beds that Grams had prepared for the girls. I think she had wanted to stay behind just to hang out with us, but it would be nice for it to be just the three of us again.
“Hopefully that water is cool enough,” Callie commented, fanning herself with one hand while digging through her suitcase with the other. “It’s ungodly hot out there. I am so ready for that water to cool me off. I definitely like Ohio summers over North Carolina’s.”
We all changed into our bikinis, Callie and I spraying on tanning oil, while Zoey slathered on about a pound of sunscreen onto her fair skin. I grabbed the picnic basket that was loaded down on the way out the door, and we all kicked off our flip-flops once we reached the shore.
Not many of the neighbors were out, so we pretty much had the lake to ourselves. They all were pretty much older, so they tended to see the lake as scenic and nothing more.
All three of us stepped into the water at the same time, squealing when the water touched our bare skin. “Yeah, it definitely hasn’t warmed up yet, but I think we’ll survive.” It took us awhile to suck it up but we eventually made it to the floating wooden raft that was bobbing in the water a few feet out.
“Okay, totally forget what I said,” Callie managed to say through chattering teeth as she hoisted herself up. “I’d like it if this water was a whole lot warmer.”
We all rolled onto our stomachs and caught up on each other’s lives in the short time that we had been apart. We were all ready planning on living together next year, and we wanted to look at some off campus housing while Callie was in town for the next two weeks. Hopefully, we would be able to find something quickly and get a lease signed so we would be all set.
“So, have you heard from Justin anymore?” Zoey asked, sliding her sunglasses down to the tip of her nose to question me. Callie and Zoey had both been pissed at Justin, almost more than I was when we had broken up.
They had offered on numerous occasions to do some kind of bodily harm to him, but I told them I didn’t think that was necessary. I’m pretty sure the guilt had eaten Justin up enough, and he was the one who had to live with himself now, knowing that he ruined what we had together. Some people might think that I overreacted, but that was there opinion. Yes, we hadn’t really been official, but we had agreed not to see other people. The fact that Justin had totally broken my trust was just something I couldn’t get over.
Zoey had seemed to have gotten over her hate for Justin lately though. She had asked me more than a few times if I had ever just thought about talking things out with him, but I flat out refused. We were done and over with, even though I missed him every day. I just didn’t want to put my heart out for him, only for it to get broken again, when really it wasn’t even whole right now.
“Nope,” I said with an audible pop, burying my face against the wooden planks so I could avoid both of their eyes on me. I hadn’t heard from him lately, but I hated the way they looked at me whenever he was brought up. Like they thought I would break at any moment.
“And I’m not planning on talking to him, so you guys don’t need to bring him up every time we have a conversation. I’m over him.” I wished that was true, and I’m pretty sure they could see right through me, but I was sick of talking about that whole topic.
“Touchy, touchy, aren’t we?” Callie countered.
“Okay, this is the last time I’ll bring it up then, but I think you should give him another chance. Or at least have a nice long talk with him. What you guys had was special, and I feel like you’re just letting it slip by. I don’t want you to regret it someday. I’m not saying what he did was right, but it did happen when you guys weren’t ‘serious’.” I rolled my eyes at her air quotes and pretty much everything else she had just said. Yeah, I got what she was saying, but I still had so much pent up anger by the whole situation, and she just didn’t understand.
“That doesn’t matter, Zoey. It’s the fact that he lied to me on more than one occasion and never fessed up until I heard the truth with my own ears. Maybe he would have told me, maybe he wouldn’t have, I’ll never know, but it doesn’t matter.”
“Well, sounds like you have your mind pretty made up then. I promise this is the last time I’ll bring it up. So now we’ll have fun together for the next few days.” I smiled at Zoey, who I knew was only trying to be helpful, but I was glad that we were done.
We all rolled over onto our backs and Zoey pulled out the sunscreen she had brought out to apply it to the front of her. Seeing her look like a lifeguard with a layer of white across her face, made me glad that I didn’t have to worry about fair skin.
“What about things between you and Nash?” Callie asked after we heard Zoey’s heavy breathing, a sign that she had all ready fallen asleep.
I shrugged my shoulders, because I wasn’t really sure how to answer that question. Nash had been there for me a lot after the break up, comforting me whenever the girls weren’t around. He had become almost a permanent fixture at our dorm and often ended up sleeping on the couch when we would stay up late watching movies and eating take out. But we had definitely stayed in the friend’s zone, I hadn’t been ready or wanted to jump right into another relationship.
“I don’t know, he’s a great friend, and I’m not sure if we’ll ever be more. I mean, yeah I’m attracted to him, who wouldn’t be? But I’m not sure if we would ever work out in any kind of relationship besides being friends. I don’t know if I really want to risk our friendship to find out either. I don’t even know if I’m ready to move on.”
“I think you are,” she replied confidently. “Maybe that’ll be with Nash or someone completely new. You handled yourself a lot better than you think, Della. You’re strong. And I think Nash would be willing to give things a shot with you, if you were. Even if things don’t work out, I think he’ll always be there for you.”
I nodded my head at her, chewing on everything she had just said. I didn’t even know if Nash wanted that type of relationship with me anymore, he hadn’t mentioned anything of the sort to me in awhile. I hadn’t seen him with any other girls, and I didn’t know how I would handle that if I did.
I must have dozed off after awhile because droplets of water rained down on my skin, making my eyes pop open instantly. I wondered how long I had been laying there because my skin felt like it was being scorched by the sun that was now glaring down on us, and the water didn’t have that chill to it like earlier.
I felt another sprinkle of droplets hit my foot, so I sat up to find a smirking Nash bobbing in the water by my feet. “What are you doing out here?” I asked, smiling as he shook his head back and forth, looking just like a wet dog with those big brown eyes.
“Well, I’ve been watching you for awhile. I was out mowing the grass for my mom, and I couldn’t believe you were out here just laying in the sun while it’s so f*cking hot. Want to go for a swim?”
I looked over at Zoey and Callie who had both fallen asleep as well and nodded my head, really needing a cool off. “Sure.” I slid into the water, letting out a loud sigh as it cooled my body down and grinned when Nash splashed me.
I chased after him as he took off in the opposite direction, creating a typhoon of water around him as he took broad strokes. I looked around for him when the water finally became still and knew what was coming when I couldn’t find him.
I felt a tug on my ankle seconds later and was pulled under, holding onto his hand as he dragged me back up to the surface. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly as I spit a mouthful of water onto his face. “I just can’t help myself, you’re such an easy target.”
“It actually felt pretty good thanks. I needed it. I won’t be surprised if I actually end up burning.”
“I wouldn’t mind helping you rub some aloe on that,” he replied, no smile present upon his face as I stared back at him. I didn’t know if he was joking or not, so I ducked under the water again to avoid him. When I came back up that serious expression was gone as he floated on his back, and I swam to the edge of the raft. “How are your sister and your niece doing?”
“Good, I was actually thinking of taking Madison to the zoo tomorrow while Serena’s working. Do you think you would want to come with us?” I looked up at Callie and Zoey who were now awake and both gave me quick nods of their head when they heard his question. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. They were so worried about my love life. It’s not like I needed to have a boyfriend at all times.
“Sure, that sounds good.” Nash knew I wasn’t very comfortable around kids since he now knew about the abortion. He had taken it shockingly well, better than Mariah had probably expected and didn’t judge me at all. I was kind of shocked that he was asking me.
“Awesome, I’ll pick you up around nine if that’s all right. Madison likes to get an early start to her day.”
“Sounds great.”
“All right, well I better head back in and see what else I can do around the house for my mom while I’m home. The guys and I are taking a road trip next week, so I might as well let her use and abuse me while I’m here.” I grimaced at his choice of words, abuse making me think of all that he had suffered over the years from his dad, but the smile never disappeared from Nash’s lips, so I tried to not let it bother me.
“You have fun with that, I think we’re going to head back in for lunch in a bit and veg out for the rest of the day.”
Callie and Zoey joined me in the water after he swam to shore, breathing out sighs of relief as the cool water suddenly felt good. Zoey looked like she had a little bit of red tint to her skin, so we decided to take our picnic inside and hang out for the rest of the day.
I couldn’t believe how much we had to catch up on after only being apart for two weeks. We made a list of places that we wanted to check out while we finished off most of the sandwiches and cookies Grams had made. “Are you guys sure that you don’t want me to tell Nash I can’t go tomorrow? We could get an early start and go see a few of these places.”
“Absolutely not. We’re most definitely sleeping in tomorrow. I’m sure we’ll just be waking up by the time you get back.” Zoey nodded her head in reply, stuffing a handful of chips in her mouth.
“All right.” I was kind of looking for a way out of it, but I had all ready agreed, so I guess I would have to go through with it. I had a feeling it would be a very interesting day.