Nick stared at me as if he was as surprised to see me here as I was. I guess he really was having therapy. He shifted uncomfortably, from either having to talk to me or from being caught here of all places. I know I was slightly panicking at the idea of him associating the clinic with me.
"I have some stuff to do," he told me. It was a very evasive answer, but it might as well have been 'normal' from him giving what I've gotten to know about him. "You?"
That one syllable broke my thoughts, and I didn't know if my heart skipped a beat because I hadn't thought of an answer yet or because I was surprised that he was engaging a conversation with me. That was new. Maybe he was only trying to distract myself so I wouldn't figure out he went to a shrink. That made sense, I would have done the same.
"Oh, I, hmm. There's a great ice cream shop around the corner, my favorite really, and I was craving ice cream since this morning, so I thought 'you know what, let's go there and have the Big-Crunchy-Mix I like', and so I came. And here I am," I ranted. I was pretty sure that if Micah or Noah were the ones standing in front of me, they would've known something was up, but Nick didn't know me like that. Nonetheless, I felt the need to add an invitation to make it more believable, even if it was half-true. "Want to join me?"
He looked to the sides, hesitating for a bit before giving me the most unexpected answer, "Sure."
Unexpected.
He followed me in complete silence, luckily the shop was close by. I couldn't help but lick my lips when the shop front's baby pink name sign came into sight. The delicate font was framed by white molds that could have been taken from an ancient Greek mythology art. The romantic architecture gave place to a fun-colored interior as we entered the shop. We didn't have to wait in line since ice creams were not in vogue during this time of the year. People preferred hot beverages and foods to keep warm.
"Hello there Julie!" Alex, one of the shop's confectioners greeted me. When I say this is my favorite place to go after my sessions I'm not exaggerating. I've been coming here since I discovered the shop by accident when I got lost. It was the first time I went to therapy by myself. I had assured my parents that I could go and come back alone by bus, not wanting to put them in that tricky situation where they had to leave their new work early to take care of their 'traumatized' child. It was the least I could do after making them start anew.
"The usual?" Alex asked and I nodded in response with a big smile. "And for your friend here?"
I guess we could say that we were friends. People who saw us would think so, but aren't friends supposed to know each other at least a little bit? To talk to each other, naturally? Nothing about my interactions with Nick felt 'normal', it was almost always awkward, which is why I think he would mostly remain silent when we all hung out together. I also didn't know anything about him, like did he had siblings or pets? Does he like videogames, movies? Nothing.
On the other hand, I knew Tyler had a brother, that he didn't like to talk about him, that he liked sports but didn't play any. Hell, I even knew when his first time of everything was. That last one was probably not because we were friendly but more because he was an oversharing guy with no complexes. Still, I think that if Nick and I were friends I would have known more about him by now. So, I guess we were more like two people who knew each other that would share time together because of our mutual friends.
"Just one scoop of vanilla please," Nick finally said after looking at the menu. I looked at him dumbfounded. Who says that?!
"You're kidding, right?" I blurted. Nick looked down at me surprised and clearly confused that I called him out for the atrocity that came out of his mouth. So, I gladly explained, "You come to the greatest place in the world, you can have all of the flavors imaginable, mix them to create new ones, and you choose a 'scoop of vanilla'?! What's wrong with you? What made you hate happiness?" I turned to the confectioner. "I am so sorry Alex. I brought someone unworthy to your shop."
YOU ARE READING
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Teen Fiction"Friendship is not about who you've known from the longest or who you hang out with, it's about who walked into your life, said 'Hey, I'm here for you' and proved it. My friends proved it." Everyone has secrets and Julie has one that has been eating...
