Thoughtless Words
Story by Courtney C. and Jessica B.
~~*Chapter Eight- Part One*~~
~~~Jessica
I laid stretched out across the couch
with my head in AJ’s lap watching TV. It was around 11:00 that night
and the house was dark except for a small overhead light above the sink in the
kitchen and the light from the TV.
I was so tired and my eye lids felt heavy. It was getting harder and harder not
to fall asleep.
“If I so much as close my eyes, you
better wake me up?” I mumbled to AJ.
“Why babe?”
“Just because. I want to stay up with
you,” I lied a lame excuse not wanting to explain the facts. The fact
that tonight Nick was going to spill his heart out to Courtney and ask her to be
his life partner, and the fact that
I wanted to be awake when Courtney came rushing to AJ’s door to yell and
scream and cry to me about how
happy she is and how much Nick and her love each other. She will be jumping
around crying and hugging me and
explaining how the night was so romantic, so fairy-tale like, so
perfect, I thought to myself, sitting up a bit and laying my head on AJ’s
shoulder. Just then the phone rang.
I scrambled to the end of the couch in panic, knocking the phone off it’s
hook. I picked it up quickly as AJ
gave me some very strange looks. If he would have known though, he would have
been holding the phone in his hand
the whole night.
“Hello?” I eagerly spoke into the
phone.
“Jess, hey,” Nick came through the
other end. I expected an over excited Courtney, but instead it was a sad
sounding Nick, who, if I wasn’t mistaking, had been crying.
“Uh, hey. Are you okay?”
“God no. Far from it. Can you get
over here, now?” His voice raised a little.
“Of course Nick. What’s wrong?”
“Please, just get over here.”
Nick’s small cry was the last thing I heard before I heard the click as he
hung up.
“Shit!” I said running to the
kitchen to grab my keys from the counter.
“What is it Jess? Is Nick okay?” AJ
asked nervously jumping up from the couch.
“I don’t know, but he wants me over
there!”
“I’m going with you.”
“No, AJ. If he wanted you he would
have said so.”
“Jess, I’ve know Nick longer. If
he’s in trouble or hurt, I’m going.”
“Dammit AJ. Please. Stay here. I
think I know what it is.” I rushed out the door and into my car before he
could say another word.
When I got there, Tommi answered the
door with a scared look on her face. Nick was sitting on the sofa
with his arms propped up on his knees, holding his hands tightly through his
hair.
“Nick, what’s wrong?” I
questioned sitting beside him.
“Jessica, I would never hurt her.
Never in this world. I love-” His words seemed to get caught in his throat
as he began to cough.
“Nick, please tell me what happened.
Where’s Courtney?” His eyes welled up with tears making them even
redder than they already were. “Please, Nick...Don’t cry,” I cuffed one
hand over my mouth trying to fight
the tears that now started to form in my own eyes.
“Jess, I don’t know where she is.
She dropped the ring, crying, and ran.” I was very confused. Courtney would
never do that. She had told me many times that she believed Nick was the one and
would love to marry him and
eventually start a family. What he was saying just didn’t make sense.
“Why would she do that Nick? She
loves you.”
“She thought I was cheating on her. I
got out the car with her ring and she exploded,” He explained, tears
now streaming down his face and spotting his jeans.
“Cheating? With who?” Nick nodded
his head in Tommi’s direction. I looked over at her. She sat at the kitchen
table with her hands clasped together, biting on her knuckle. Oh my goodness,
how could this happen? I thought as
I looked back at Nick. “It was a mistake Nick, right? A misunderstanding. You
still love her, and she loves you. Have
you tried her cell?” I asked, trying to wipe his cheek with my shirt.
“She won’t answer it,” He
replied, sounding desperate. I took a deep breath and sighed, trying to think. I
walked over to the bar near the kitchen
and poured Nick a small drink then handed it to him.
“I’ll see what I can do, okay?” I
said, kissing his cheek. “I’m gonna drive around, try calling her again
and all that. I’ll get AJ over here
‘cuz you definitely are not staying here alone.” He pushed his bangs out
of his face a bit and smiled slightly. Just as I reached into my back pocket for
my phone to call AJ, he came
bursting through the door.
“AJ! My gosh!” I said, surprised,
crossing my arms.
“I told you I was coming, whether you
liked it or not.”
“Well, now I’m glad you did. Stay
with Nick while I’m gone.”
“Where are you going?”
“Nick can explain.” I squeezed Nick’s hand and headed out the door after kissing AJ.