If This Is A Dream
Genevieve found Nick that afternoon after swim practice. Sitting on the bleachers with a book, she squealed with laughter as Nick shook his full head of wet hair out all over her. Nick smiled his crooked grin at her, his boyish features lighting up.
“I thought you were mad at me, today in the lunchroom.”
Genevieve looked up with an apologetic smile. Nick turned serious when he saw Genevieve’s face. He threw a t-shirt on and sat next to her, looking carefully at her features, memorizing them as if he might be tested.
“I found out.” Genevieve said carefully. Nick leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her. She hardly minded, although the boy was soaked, and still wearing his swim trunks. She felt like she could really use a hug. She cried as she told him the whole story. “I don’t want to fight with her.” Genevieve sobbed. Nick smiled sympathetically.
“Tell that to Emilette.” Nick said. “Here’s a piece of advice:I’ve known Emilette since I was little and I swear this is true. She needs to trust her own judgment. If you tell her Kyle likes her, she’llrely on you her whole life. Don’t worry about Kyle and Emilette. Emilette needs to trust herself. Kyle likes her, but Emilette needs to figure that out herself.” Nicholas stroked Genny’s hair gently.
“That won’t help,” sniffed Genevieve. “She needs to know.”
“But, what she needs more, is to know when she’s ready to. She needs to trust her own judgment. It will help. Trust me. She needs to go when she’s ready, no matter what we want to see.”
Genevieve, nodded, her tear-stained face buried in Nick’s chest. Nick seemed to suddenly realize that he needed to get dressed and went to the locker room. Genevieve was left standing, alone, on the empty pool deck.
Nick left the locker room with Kyle, thinking quietly to himself, trying to wrap his mind around the great girl he had found. “Man, Kyle…”
Kyle put his hand on Nick’s shoulder. “I know, you’re solovesick.”
“And lucky, Kyle, really lucky,” Nick laughed. That was the truth.
“I think Emilette’s falling for you too.”
Nick was pleased to see Kyle smiling at this bit of news. “Justdon’t change, ya know? Not a thing, man. Not a thing.”
Kyle nodded agreeably. For a jock, Nick had to admit to himself, Kyle wasn’t quite that bad, certainly not as bad as they came. Kyle and Nick got on the bus, sitting beside each other companionably, but each lost in their own worlds of happiness. For them, each to have a girl, was their wish come true. They never did anything without the other, and dating was no exception.
Nick got off the bus two miles from the school, and left Kyle on the bus for the last four blocks.
Nick was happy, and that’s all Kyle wanted to know. He could thrive on that, even if Nick was wrong, and Emilette didn’t like him. But truly, he secretly hoped Nick was right.
As per usual, Genevieve’s phone rang as she walked through the door to her house, after walking three miles home. She had sat on the pool deck, stunned by the feeling she got from being around Nicholas, and, as a result, had missed the bus. Genevieve whipped her phone out. She didn’t want to tell her friend that she and Nick had been talking about her, but Genevieve refused to lie to Emilette. She flipped her phone open. “I waited for Nick after swim practice. Go bears!” Genevieve said, before her friend could ask. This much, at least, was not a lie. Genevieve laughed half-heartedly. It made her smile to hear Emilette’s cheerful hello, she was glad they weren’t fighting.
“I was wondering why you hadn’t called.” Emilette responded, but sounded more happy than upset.
“I think you should trust you’re judgment.” Genevieve blurted. “You know how you think Kyle feels about you. You know how youfeel, how you think. Trust yourself. Not me, not Nicholas. Trustyour judgment.” Emilette was silent.
“Gen, I don’t know.”
Genevieve sighed, in the same way, she couldn’t help thinking,that she had gotten mad at Emilette for doing.
“Yes, you do.”
Emilette groaned. “I need to think about it,” she mumbled.
“You should.” Genevieve said abruptly, then hung up.
***
The next day passed without incident, Genevieve giving her friend the space she needed to think. Emilette wandered around in a trance, agonizing over everything, Genevieve had said, everything she thought she’d known before she started questioning herself, and everything she thought she knew about Kyle. Genevieve watched Emilette anxiously, hoping Emilette would come to her senses.
Kyle watched Emilette, unable to help but wonder what she was thinking. He waited until the end of the day, then came up beside her as she walked to the bus. He put a hand on her arm, trying to keep her from walking on, before she walked away, and he never again had the courage to tell her what he needed to say. He smiled as Genevieve picked up her pace and left them. Emilette rolled her chocolate-colored eyes. Kyle loved those deep pools of beauty. “Emilette.” He stuttered, seeing her dark eyes turn toward him. She tucked a strand of long black hair behind her ear. He traced it with his finger. Emilette blushed, a shiver running down her back. Genevieve watched with a satisfied smile, tuning and heading toward the bus. “I like you. Like like.” He emphasized. Emilette was nervous, but she smiled and leaned forward to feel Kyle’s warm embrace around her shoulders as the busses hissed away.
Genevieve watched out the window as her bus passed by her friend and Kyle. She sat silently on the bus, bored, until her stop. She jumped off, not unhappy with her lot for once. She had seen Nick plenty, and that made her more then thrilled, and to see her best friend happy made Genevieve feel even better. She listened to the bus hiss away, spewing black smoke in its wake. Her phone buzzed in her palm. The caller ID read “EMMY” in big letters. Genevieve flipped open her phone. Her friend squealed in her ear. “Ow! Em! What?”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she cried happily.
“What?”
“I spent the whole day thinking, and so when Kyle came over, I risked it. He said he does like me. And he drove me home, right before I got out, he grabbed me by the shoulder, and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and it was amazing. It made me feel like my skin was on fire.” Genevieve sighed happily. She knew how Emilette felt, and was happy to know that Emilette was feeling it.
Genevieve had seen Nicholas a few times and was pleased to have found him waiting for her at her spot at lunch, and outside a few of her classrooms. He made her feel like a princess. He was relaxed, and best of all, made her smile, and it was surprisingly easy going between them. Genevieve loved that when they hugged it felt like sparks were flying, and the few times they’d kissed, she felt as if her lips were on fire. Like Emilette had said about when Kyle kissed her on the cheek, wherever Nick’s lips explored felt as if they were engulfed in flame. They’d been dating for almost two weeks, but it felt as if they’d known each other infinitely. Genevieve distantly heard her friend asking about Nick, but didn’t want to let anyone in on her magical fantasy. “We saw each other at lunch,” she said vaguely, not mentioning that they’d sat in a companionable silence, the air around them filled with a million words they didn’t have to say. She left out how he had held her hand, rubbing it with his thumb like he had no idea that her skin was on fire.
Genevieve wanted to be alone with her dreams. “Listen, Em, I’ve got homework. Can I talk to you later?” Emilette agreed readily. She understood what it was like to want to just be alone with a fantasy when you were in love. She was beginning to feel the same. The girls hung up, at both ends happy as they’d ever imagined.
***
The following day found Nick, Genevieve, Kyle, and Emilette sitting easily together in the back hallway, all of them laughing and enjoying themselves. It wasn’t awkward, as all four had secretly feared. Genevieve felt a shiver go down her back. She was jealous of Emilette, who seemed to take it in stride so easily. Genevieve caught Nick smiling, with his chin resting on her bed of cherry-wood hair. Genevieve looked up at Nicholas, returning his smile. He leaned down and kissed her gently, lightly, but his lightest touch made her blush all the way to her toes. She felt the rush that never seemed to end, sighing heavily as the bell rang. She laid her head on Nick’s shoulder, his arm snaking around her. Genevieve closed the space between them, enjoying his warmth and closeness. Kyle sat on Genevieve’s other side, between her and her best friend. Emilette was leaning on his arm, Nick’s smile reflected on Kyle’s face. Nick stood up and offered Genny his hand. Kyle did the same for Emilette, both girls leaning happily on the boys’ arms, and both boys, with the most perfect girls beside them, felt as if they were floating on cloud nine.
Genevieve was almost unhappy that the school day ended. She and Emilette sat together on the bus, reviewing their day. Emilette was clearly happy to have found Kyle waiting for her outside “nearly every class!” She cried, causing half the bus to and turn and stare. The girls that had heard either rolled their eyes or gaveEmilette and Genevieve knowing smiles. Some might even call it sly, thought Genevieve suspiciously. Two of the smiling girls, Genevieve noted, were dating someone on the swim team. Melissa was dating Ian Rathorn. Melissa had dark curly locks and cat-like eyes that always made her look like she was up to trouble. Neither Genevieve nor Emilette trusted her, but Genevieve didn’t hate her either. As far as she was concerned Melissa existed, nothing special. Kind of like Genevieve herself, Genevieve admitted honestly. Elissa Jennings had been nice to Genevieve since Genevieve had joined the Swim Team Dating Pool, as Genevieve had secretly dubbed it. Elissa was dating Dylan Carson, and her glance, while mostly kind, made both Emilette and Genevieve squirm a bit uncomfortably. She caught Emilette’s eye and nodded, as if they were sharing some unspoken secret, her carrot-top ponytail bouncing. Emilette turned away.
“You want to come over?” Genevieve asked, turning to her friend. Emilette nodded.
