I chuckled. "You can't mix reds and whites."
He took a step toward me and surprised me by giving me a hug. "Are you all right now?" he asked.
I nodded, smiling a little. "Yeah, I'm going to be fine."
"That's my girl," he said, patting me on the back lightly before going to take a shower.
It was funny, I had been absolutely dreading going back to school, and that morning I was looking forward to it. I couldn't wait to get back in class, to learn and study and busy myself with doing something productive. As I got ready, I never once thought of Derek.
When I got to school, I put on a smile, and when Andy spotted me, I offered a smile and waved.
He came over to me, smiling tentatively. "Hey. How are you?"
"I'm great," I chirped. "How are you?"
"I'm pretty good," he said, still watching me. I guess when I didn't burst into tears, he felt more convinced that I wouldn't break, because he said, "I heard you had a crazy winter break."
"Not really," I said, walking into the school, letting him follow beside me. "I mostly did a lot of reading, just the normal stuff."
Seeing that I wasn't going to acknowledge it, he decided to follow suit, and he started telling me about his break, about his Christmas at his Grandpa's house, about his aunt and his cousin singing Christmas carols. "It was so fun," he enthused. "I wish you would have been there."
I smiled politely and nodded.
Steph spotted me next, and she called out, "Nicole!" leaving her group of friends and coming over to greet me.
I noticed that Derek and Kayla were standing in her group, but I ignored them and the sinking feeling in my stomach, and smiled at Stephanie. "Hey you! How was your break? I haven't talked to you in a while," I said, acting as if nothing had ever happened.
As far as Derek was to know, nothing had happened. I would not let him see that he had gotten that close to me.
Stephanie appeared to be a little startled by my cheerful attitude, but she adjusted quickly. "Oh, it was pretty good. I got a new laptop," she told me.
"Ooh, you wanted one of those."
"I know, I was so excited," she said. "What did you get?" she asked.
I saw Derek out of the corner of my eye, and I thought about the car he had given me. I merely smiled, rolling my eyes a little. "Well, Alex isn't good at buying me presents, but I did get two cute tops, a gift card for the bookstore, and some money."
"Not bad," she said, offering a smile.
"That's what I thought," I said with a nod.
"Oh, hey Nicole," Kayla called out as if she had just seen me, smiling falsely and waving at me.
That was a true test of my dignity. There were so many things I would have loved to call back to her, so many things I would have liked to say to that conniving little bitch. But I controlled myself, merely blinking at her, and turned my attention back to Steph.
"Anyway, I should probably get to class."
Stephanie smiled sheepishly. "You okay?"
"Oh, I'm great," I said. "Never been better." Then I smiled brightly and headed off into the school building, breezing past Derek and Kayla as if I didn't even see them.
I thought
I was safe until Derek jogged up beside me. "Hey," he said.
I looked down at my books as if I hadn't heard him and just kept walking, moving a little faster.
"I've tried to call you," he said.