Free Catching You by Katie Gallagher Page B

what’s wrong.” I sighed. He wasn’t going to give up . I took a deep
breath and turned to him,
    “Fine, you win. If you really want to know what’s going on
with me I’ll tell you.” He nodded. “ I guess I got a little jealous when I saw
you talking to Michaela,” I lied.
    “I like you, but I’d feel weird starting something because
you were Ryan’s girlfriend.”
    “Oh. Okay.”
    Nick stared straight ahead. “Now that that’s settled, I can
get you home.” He turned on the car and pulled out of the parking lot.
    I stared out the window the whole way home, embarrassed that
I’d just lied to Nick. He pulled into the driveway, turned off the engine, and
faced me.
    “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. I’m not sure if you
still want me to bring you home, though.” He glanced down at his fingers twined
together. He looked nervous.
    “Yes, of course I want you to drive me home. You need to
keep up your end of the bargain to Ryan. You need to take care of me!” I
exclaimed, leaning over to unbuckle my seatbelt.
    “Lauren, wait. That’s not what I actually wanted to say at
all.” He turned his body to mine. We were so close I could see the armpit stain
on his t-shirt.
    “I just wanted to do this.” He leaned over and kissed my
lips. It was a short kiss, but it left my lips tingling afterwards and I wanted
to do it over repeatedly.
    “Wow,” I whispered, touching my lips.
    “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” He grinned, reaching over
to open my door. I knew he thought he was being polite, but I knew the real
reason; he was just trying to get the chance to touch me again.
    I stood in the driveway for the next five minutes watching
his car pull away until I couldn’t see it anymore. It wasn’t until I heard the
creak of the front door did I look up.
    “Oh. You are home. I thought I heard a car. Why didn’t you
ask Nick in?” my mother chided, smiling.
    “I forgot. Well, I’m going to go upstairs until dinner.” I
said walking past her. Upstairs. I shut my bedroom door and slid down the frame
onto the floor. Nick kissed me, I mumbled repeatedly. I was confused. He
told me he didn’t like me, but then he went and kissed me. Talk about mixed signals.
Normally, when something like this happened to me I’d run and tell Elisabeth,
but we were fighting. There was always Bryn. I grabbed my cell phone out of my
purse and dialed.
    “Bryn, it’s me. I need to talk to you,” I said excitedly.
    “Hey, Lauren, what’s going on?”
    “I don’t want to tell you over the phone. Do you think you
could come over for a little bit?” I asked, hoping she’d say yes. I was tired
from work and didn’t want to go anywhere.
    “I guess so. Let me see if I can borrow the car and I’ll be
right there.”
    “Okay, thanks. Bye.” I hung up the phone before she could
say another word. I leaned over and sniffed my shirt. I smelled like burnt
toast and desperately needed a shower. I walked over and opened my bedroom
door.
    “Mom, Bryn’s on her way over, but I’m going to take a
shower. Tell her to come on up,” I yelled and shut the door before she could
respond.
    I turned on the shower and let the steam fill the bathroom,
as I got undressed. I slipped into the shower and just let the warm water pound
down on my body for a few minutes. I reached over, grabbed the shampoo, and
lathered my hair good, anything to get burnt smell off me.
    The only thing that I hated about working at the café was
that I always came home smelling like food and grease, yuck. I thought I heard
the doorbell, so I hurried and finished lathering up and rinsed off. Just as I
was grabbing my towel, I heard footsteps on the stairs. Bryn was here.
    “Lauren, I’m here. What’s so urgent?” she asked, coming into
the bedroom. I wrapped myself in a towel and opened the bathroom door.
    “Hey, I think they heard you in Timbuktu. You are loud when
you walk,” I joked. She stuck her tongue out at me.
    “Sorry, I’m heavy footed.