Chapter 2
My parents had gone on vacation, and of course they went with hers.
The two couples ditched us at home so they could go off and have a good time.
They called it giving the two of us a chance to bond.
Before she left, my mom dropped me off at Natalie's place and made a whole production out of putting me in charge of feeding her three times a day.
Her exact word was wife.
Our families lived across the hall from each other and got along well, and our mothers had even been in the same maternity ward.
The two of us grew up together from day one.
We were always bickering and goofing around, totally inseparable.
So both sets of parents assumed we were a couple.
After enough years, it started to feel that way.
Neither of us thought much about it.
Then again, why was I the one cooking? She should have been the one feeding me.
Life was hard, even for a good-looking guy.
The good news was that our parents would be back in a few days.
The bad news was that school started the next day, and senior year, otherwise known as hell, was about to open for business.
I made a whole spread, all of the things she liked.
After setting the food out, I went over and knocked on her door.
"Ms. Evans, dinner is ready," I called out.
The door cracked open, and Natalie came out in a long-sleeved, long-pants pajama set with her head down.
She didn't say one word the whole meal, and her head was nearly in her bowl.
This was nothing like the Natalie who normally couldn't go five minutes without picking a fight with me.
I'd never seen Natalie act like this before.
It was bizarre.
"Hey, what were you staring at on your phone earlier? I called your name about a hundred times and you didn't blink. Why did you get so worked up?" I asked.
She kept poking at her food and acted like I wasn't in the room.
"Were you drooling over some guy? Come on, tell me, and I'll give you my professional opinion," I teased.
She still didn't answer.
She ate with her head down and never reached for anything else on the table.
There was nothing I could do about it.
So I picked up the serving fork and put one of her favorite honey barbecue wings on her plate.
"Eat. I made those extra sweet, the way you like them," I said.
She paused, and in the end her stomach won.
She let it go far enough to quietly finish everything I put in front of her.
The meal ended in that strange, heavy silence.
When she was done, she set down her fork and went straight back to her room.
The lock clicked again.
She had shut herself in a second time.
What was going on with her?
It wasn't like I had done anything to her.
All I had done was show some basic respect for the fact that she had grown up.
Was that really such a crime?
Whatever.
But I was still curious about what had her that hooked.
That night, after my shower, I called through her door.
"Natalie, I'm out of the shower," I said.
That was the whole message.
"Natalie, I'm going to bed. Get some sleep, because we have to be at school in the morning," I called out.
That was the whole message.
Still dead silent.
I shook my head, skipped the guest room, turned off the living room lights on purpose, and dropped onto the couch facing her door with my phone.
There was no way she could hold out all night.
Sure enough.
It wasn't long before a soft click came from her door.
The door cracked open just a little.
Her head poked out, and those big dark eyes darted left and right.
The living room was pitch black and silent, and she looked relieved.
Then, she tiptoed out and made a beeline for the fridge.
I was about to say something and scare her.
Just then, the glow from my phone screen lit up my face.
She spotted me.
She froze.
In the next second, she moved.
She spun around, darted back into her room, slammed the door, and locked it.
It was one smooth motion, so fast that I didn't have time to blink.
I was speechless.
That cracked me up.
"Natalie, what is going on with you? Just tell me. What did I do?" I called out.
All I got was silence.
Whatever.
Time to sleep.
The whole night was dead quiet.