fifteen
T he next few days passed uneventfully, and Maddy took full advantage of the peace that came with feeling content.
She went to school, did her homework, and whenever she saw Nate, she smiled and said hello.
When she didn’t see him, she sent him texts—either encouraging messages wishing him a successful practice or desperate pleas to let her off the hook for the party.
He gladly accepted the first and completely ignored the second.
In the afternoons and evenings, she spent time with her grandma, playing every board game in existence. Family dinners with her parents and nonna Angela became a cherished routine, filled with warmth, laughter, and the comfort of home.
On Thursday night, Maddy and her nonna were seated at the latter’s small, rounded, wooden kitchen table, the tattered Monopoly board splayed in front of them.
Maddy was actually hopeful she could win this time.
She’d always loved playing with her grandma. Her nonna was somewhat antagonistic but she mainly played for the enjoyment of it, and because she saw how much Maddy enjoyed it. The two of them had always played together, at least until her nonna had started to get sick and she no longer could.
Maddy shook her head before she started getting sentimental again.
She felt her grandma’s warm hand cover hers and Maddy turned to look at her blue-gray eyes.
“What’s the matter, mia cara? You seem distracted. Is there something bothering you?”
Maddy smiled genuinely at her, wanting to reassure her.
“It’s nothing, nonna.” In the spur of the moment, she decided to stir the conversation somewhere else. “Actually, there’s supposed to be this party on Friday that I’ve been dreading a bit.”
“Oh?” her grandma raised a brow, intrigued. “What kind of party?”
“Well, it’s this post-basketball game party and my friend, Nate, invited me to it.
He’s one of the team’s players. And you know how I am with parties.
There’s always this pressure on how to dress, how to act and how to interact with others, and I hate interacting with people I don’t know.
I feel like I get all awkward and stick out like a sore thumb.
The music is too loud, you can barely hear your own voice and I’m always just counting down the minutes till I can go home. ”
The truth is, as she’d grown older she’d learned the meaning of staying true to herself.
It took courage to put yourself out there because it meant that there was no screen behind which to hide.
It was just her and her beliefs, her interests, her strengths and weaknesses, for all to see.
But it also meant the difference between a miserable life and one where she got to be proud of herself.
It’s just that being back in the context that started all the second-guessing had brought some insecurities to the surface she’d thought she had put to rest.
Her grandma frowned.
“Alright. Let me ask you this, is your friend Nate going to keep you company during this party?”
“I don’t know... I guess he’ll keep me as much company as he can. But he’s so popular, gran. Everyone will probably clamor around him and I wouldn’t blame him if he wanted to hang out with them. He’s not my babysitter. It’s just not my scene, I suppose.”
Her grandma was quiet for a little bit.
After a few seconds, she spoke in a calm voice. “Listen to me, Maddy. First of all, you don’t have to prove anything to anyone. You can be as you are, dress as you like and anyone who doesn’t like it, can go fuck themselves.”
“Nonna!” Maddy exclaimed half-laughing, half-scandalized.
“Don’t nonna me, that’s the way it goes. You will spend time and hang out with whoever you want, stay for however much you want and leave when it gets too much. But most importantly, have fun. You’re in high-school only once.”
Maddy felt truly blessed to have had this person in her life.
“You’re right, grandma. As always.” They both laughed at that. “I will stop overthinking and do what I’ve always done. My own thing, and to hell with everything else.”
Her nonna smiled fondly at her.
“That’s my nipotina.”
***
When Friday rolled in and Maddy was done with school, all her new-found confidence was ready to flee the building.
She spent the afternoon staring at her wardrobe as if it would reveal the secrets of the universe. Or at least the secrets of party clothing. Opening the door to Narnia would be a much more possible scenario. Maybe she could find some outfit options there.
Yeah, not likely. Still more likely than finding anything suitable here.
Ruffling through her clothes, Maddy eventually settled on a pair of high-waist dark jeans–she refused to go back to the appalling low-waist jeans fiasco of the 2000s, over her dead, cold body–and a cream sweater that she’d always saved for nicer occasions.
She would style her long dark brown locks in a half-up, half-down hairdo, apply some light make up, and that would have to be it.
It’s not like she was trying to impress anyone.
Especially, no tall basketball players who read the books she recommended and watched the films she liked.
No, definitely not them.
She was dressing up for herself, in a way that made her feel both cute and comfortable. That was the vibe she was going for, which was probably the only vibe she could actually go for right then.
Nate had texted her telling her he would be picking her up after the game. The party was going to be held at one of his teammate’s house and it was a short distance away but Nate had insisted on taking the car since he didn’t want her ‘to turn into an icicle.’
Maddy snorted. And now she was mocked for being cold. When it was actually cold. It wasn’t her fault he was a fucking furnace. At least that meant she could wear her beige coat that looked great but didn’t really keep out the cold. She would turn into an icicle if she had to walk outside in that.
Okay, maybe she was getting a little bit excited about tonight.
Satisfied with her choices, Maddy skipped to take a shower and start getting ready.
***
At a few minutes to eight, the doorbell rang, and after one last look in the mirror, Maddy went to answer the door.
Her parents had left a while ago for a Friday night outing, so she’d already heard the ‘be careful and call us if you need us anytime’ speech. Maddy had practically had to shoo them out the door while telling them to have fun and not to worry about her.
As she opened the door, Maddy immediately realized that she should have focused more on getting mentally prepared for the evening than giving all her attention to her appearance.
Because at the first sight of Nate, whatever breath was in her lungs left her with a whoosh that would have been embarrassing if she hadn’t covered it up with a cough.
Which was a good way to produce some saliva for her suddenly very dry mouth and throat.
God, this was going to be a very long night.
Nate looked every part the handsome devil, his chestnut hair falling around his face slightly overdue a haircut in a way that made her hands itching to push the strands off his face, clad in a black jeans and dark green button down combo that hugged his body to perfection, under a black leather jacket that made him sinful.
Well, her friend certainly wasn’t holding back tonight.
She just hoped her glasses were enough to catch the eyeballs that would probably fall off their sockets if she kept looking at him for too long.
Maddy felt her temperature rise in a way that had nothing to do with heat. Or maybe it was a different kind of heat. One she wasn’t going to think about.
She hoped her face didn’t betray her thoughts, she really did. Because this was just a friendly invite, nothing more, nothing less.
Yes, they were going to this party together, but not together-together.
But come on, she had eyes. She couldn’t deny hotness when it hit her in the face like that.
Maddy was already shaking her head at herself when she realized that neither she nor Nate had uttered a word yet.
Chancing a look at his face, Maddy saw that he wore an undecipherable expression.
Nate seemed to be clenching his jaw really hard, which made his jawline very pronounced.
And his eyes held a single-minded focus she couldn’t look away from.
Nate’s gaze swept her form from top to bottom, missing nothing, and for the first time since they’d properly met, Maddy stopped for a minute to actually wonder what it would have been like if they had met in their own time, as the people they’d grown into.
There was no point wondering about things that would never happen, especially when they could just enjoy their night ahead.
“Hi,” she said, feeling the smile that pulled at her lips.
“Hi, yourself,” Nate replied in a deep voice that sent a small shiver through her.
Okay, so maybe there was no harm in wondering for just a little while longer.
“So, how did it go?” Maddy swallowed, feeling her smile wobble under his intense gaze.
“We won,” Nate said matter-of-factly, a self-assured smirk tilting his lips, which did nothing to ease the tension she was feeling.
“Okay, arrogant much?” She busied herself, tearing her eyes away from that look before she was unable to. She slipped on her shoes and grabbed her bag and coat, as she waited for his answer.
“Is it arrogance though when that’s what usually happens?”
Maddy scrunched her eyebrows.
“Fair point.”
Shutting the door behind her, Nate moved to the side to let her pass, but not before she noticed the imperceptible way in which he leaned towards her. It was a barely there movement before he took a step back and placed a hand on the small of her back to guide her towards his car.
They’d almost reached it when Nate’s voice stopped her.
“Uh, Mads?”
“Hm?”
“There’s an old lady over there waving at us.”
Maddy looked over where Nate was pointing to and yep, sure enough, her grandma was right there facing her window, waving and smiling.
“Aw, she’s cute,” Nate said.
Her grandma suddenly got dead serious, looking straight at Nate, as she made a slashing motion with her hand across her throat.
“Okay, maybe not so cute anymore,” Nate said wearily.
Maddy chuckled.
“Don’t worry, she’s harmless. Most of the time.”
“What do you mean most of the time?” Nate’s voice was starting to get a bit shrill.
“I mean, she’s Italian, Nate. Italians know things, if you catch my drift,” she said looking at him knowingly. “So, you’d better get me back in one piece, big guy. No pressure.”
Nate looked as if he didn’t know whether to laugh or start running.
“Yes, no pressure at all.”