Page 17 of Falling Again

“Sorry if I think some of these lame teenage boys aren’t good enough for you.”

“Speaking of Liam,” I say, trying to change the subject, “Do you want to go bowling Friday night with me, Liam, and Nico?” I ask Annika, whispering Nico’s name at the end.

“And who? Who was that last name?” She squints her eyes.

“Nico.”

Marie starts laughing. “Chloe! You little matchmaker! I say go for it, Annika. Nico is cute!”

Annika rolls her eyes, “Fine,” she says, exaggerating the word, “I’ll go.”

“Yay! Thanks. I know Liam was hoping you’d agree for Nico’s sake.”

“I’m going for you, that’s it.”

The end of the lunch bell rings, ending our conversation. The three of us part ways as we head to our next classes.

“You look great!” I exclaim—maybe a little too enthusiastically—as Annika exits her bedroom. But I want this double date to go well. It would be a dream to have my boyfriend and best friend get along, maybe even be friends. But so far, that hasn’t happened. Even Christian, whom Annika tolerated, didn’t spend enough time with my friends to get to know them.

Annika is wearing high-waisted leather pants and an oversize band T-shirt that she’s cut in half. She also wearing her high-top Converse, and her black hair is straight. This is pretty much her outfit every day, but she is wearing perfume today.

“Ooh, is that?” I stand up, sniffing the air around her. “Juicy Couture? Or Marc Jacobs Daisy? No!” I take another big whiff, and she pushes me away, “It’s sweet but warm. What is it?”

“It’s Le Labo.”

“Le Labo!” I shout. “Where the heck did you get Le Labo?”

“It’s my mom’s! She sprayed it on me.” Annika says, crossing her arms, a blush rising on her cheeks. I look down toward the living room, where her mom is reading a book, and she looks up with a big smile.

“Well, you smell as good as you look,” I say, giving her shoulder a gentle shove.

“Thanks, you do, too,” she says, shoving me back.

I step away and twirl, lifting my ruffled yellow sundress. It’s one of my favorite dresses I scored from a weekend of thrift shopping. The waist ties in the back like a corset which makes the skirt flare out.

“Oh, this old thing?”

“Remember to bring socks,” Annika says, looking at my Birkenstock sandals.

“Got ’em!” I say, pulling a bundled-up pair of socks from my tote bag.

We arrive at the bowling alley after the boys, who are already waiting for us on a bench outside. Nico shoots up from the bench as he sees us approaching.

“Annika, hey. Wow. You l-look,” Nico stammers, big-eyed. She looks like she’s about to go to the dentist, not on a cute date with a tall, dark, and handsome baseball player. I nudge her side.

“Hey, Nico,” she says, rubbing her side. “You look, um—I like your jeans.”

Nico looks down at his dark-blue jeans and looks up with a little smile. “Thanks, they’re new. My mom got them for me for my birthday.”

“That’s a great story,” Liam interjects, slapping Nico’s back. “Chloe, you look fucking hot in that dress.” I watch as Liam’s eyes hungrily trace my figure. “Let’s bowl.” He hooks my arm in his and leads us into the bowling alley.

Once we get our shoes and pick out our balls, we settle into our lane and take turns bowling. Nico reveals he’s never bowled before, so I hint that Annika should show him some tips. She’s unexpectedly amazing at bowling. As the game goes on, she mostly bowls strikes.

It’s Nico’s turn and I watch as she stands behind him and guides his arm toward the pins. He throws the ball this time and only hits one pin. Annika still claps and gives him two high fives. They settle into seats across from me and Liam.

“Hey, baby,” Liam says, pulling me onto his lap after he finishes his turn. “You wanna come home with me tonight?” I look up at him, giving a small smile and trying to hide the nervous pit in my stomach. I knew this was coming. We’ve been dating for a couple of months and only ever kissed. I know he wants to do more than that, and I definitely want to as well, but I’m still a bit scared of the rumors that went around the last time I slept with someone. And ever since our interaction this week in homeroom, something feels off. But maybe what Annika said at lunch is getting in my head. I shake it off and kiss him deeply, lingering a bit longer than usual.

“Okay, yeah. I’ll let Annika know,” I say as I separate, and he takes my face in his hand, rubbing small circles on my cheekbone with his thumb.