JD struggled to his feet. Nicholas shoved me behind his back as if to protect me. He towered over me by a foot at least; I could barely see JD standing in front of him.
“Fuck, I have auditions tomorrow!” JD cursed.
“Wanna make it a mug shot then? Come on, let’s make you look good!” Nicholas provoked him.
JD looked at Nicholas as though he was out of his mind. “What?! No! Are you fucking crazy?!”
“I’m a little eccentric, yeah,” Nicholas said coolly. “Come on. I’ll give you two shiners. You’re auditioning for Kung-fu Panda the Musical, right?”
JD looked at his hands to see the blood that came down from the bridge of his nose. “Fucking lunatics!” he cursed under his breath, and then he motioned for his friends to get in the car. “Let’s go get this fixed!”
They left without another word to us.
Nicholas turned to me. I could see the concerned look on his face.
“You okay?” he asked in a gentle tone.
I raised a brow at him. I wasn’t sure what I would have done had JD and his friends retaliated when I punched him twice, but I didn’t need Nicholas defending me like some sort of big brother or worse, like a knight in shining armor. I took martial arts lessons when I was a kid. I didn’t need Nicholas Atkins acting like a hero.
Without warning, I gave him a solid punch to the jaw. He turned his face sideways and took half a step back. Then he looked at me sternly.
I felt a sharp pain in my knuckles, as though my bones broke from that punch.
“What the hell was that for?” he asked angrily.
I shook my hand to try to alleviate the pain.
“What’s your jaw made of? Steel?” I asked back.
“My jaw’s made of bones. Just like the rest of the human species,” he replied. He took my hand in his to survey my knuckles, which were red and sore. “We need to get this checked.”
I snatched my hand away from him. “I’m fine, thank you very much! I can take care of myself.”
“Sure you can!” he murmured. “But that won’t stop me from making sure you didn’t break some bones.”
Then he pushed me gently in the direction of his car.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked angrily.
“We’re going to the ER.”
I stopped walking. “We are not! I am fine!”
“Even if you are, you’re still going. Now, will you get in the car or will I carry you? Trust me. I will not carry you fireman style this time.”
“You despicable piece of crap!”
He just shrugged. “What? You’re running out of awful swear words to fling at me?” He opened the car door for me. “In!” The tone of his voice was full of authority and threat.
I let out a frustrated growl and got into the car without another protest.
I waited for him to get into the driver’s seat. He drove to the hospital without another word.
At the ER, I was attended to by a nurse in her fifties. She took one look at me and then at the bruise I managed to inflict on Nicholas’ face, just below his lip, and immediately she was able to deduce what happened.
“You need an ice pack for that?” she asked Nicholas.
“I’m fine, thank you. Just check the hand of my friend here, make sure nothing’s broken.”
She ordered an X-ray, although I insisted that I was fine. The results came back clear, so she just cleaned the scraped skin on my knuckles and then put a bandage over them. When I went to the cashier to pay the bill, the nurse told me that it was already settled by Nicholas.
On the way to the parking lot, I told Nicholas that I needed to get my car.
“You’re not driving with that bandage on your hand,” he said in a tone that did not leave room for arguments.
“Well, hello, Doctor Dictator,” I said sarcastically.
Nicholas opened the car door for me. “Get in. I’ll drive you home. Give me your keys, and I’ll make sure your car is in front of your gate by tomorrow morning.”
When I sat in the passenger seat, I had to admit that I was exhausted. Physically and emotionally. I didn’t plan for my day to turn out like this.
So much drama, so many revelations!
I thought I knew Jen. I thought I could trust her. I believed that I had somebody who loved me for me and accepted who I was. I thought she understood me better than anyone else.
I guess that was just me. All the choices I made in the last couple of years because of Jen were just me thinking she would need me to take care of her for the rest of her life. Maybe she would. But it seemed that she didn’t want me to.
Nicholas parked in front of my house. We sat there in silence for about five minutes. He left me alone with my thoughts. I should have gotten out of the car in an instant. But somehow, I didn’t feel like being alone yet.
For the first time in my life since I came to live with my father, I felt completely alone. I have nothing to look forward to. Jen gave me a sense of purpose. Because of her, I felt needed. I have somebody to take care of.
I heard Nicholas heave a sigh. Then he said, “Next time you pick a fight for a girl, make sure she’s worth it.”
He’s right!
“Same goes to you, my friend,” I said to him. “Next time, keep that in mind.” Then I opened the door and got out of the car.
As I opened the gate of my house, I heard Nicholas get out of the car.
“Hey, Clarke,” he called me. I turned back to him. He hesitated for a while, and then he said, “I did. And she totally was.”
I didn’t understand exactly what he meant by that.
“What?”
He simply shrugged.
I looked down at my shoes. This was not a good time for Nicholas’ riddles. But still, I was glad he was there when I decided to defend Jen’s tarnished virtue.
“Anyway…” I trailed off. It was just too damn hard for me to thank him. Because that would mean I had changed my opinion of him, and I wasn’t ready to admit that yet.
“I know,” he said, not letting me continue what I was about to say. “Whatever, right?”
I stared at him, and then I nodded. “Yeah, whatever.”
He gave me a small salute before I turned around and went inside the house.