“Maddie?” Meredith’s soft voice redirects my attention toward her. “Let me help you get cleaned up. Where’s Nate?”
I shrug, suddenly feeling extremely emotional.
Meredith frowns, looking around the room like I have for the last ten minutes. I wouldn’t necessarily call us friends, more likefriendly classmates, but she knows how inseparable Nate and I usually are.
“Can you call him?”
“I forgot my cell at Nate’s. I-I’m just going to go home.” I turn to leave, but she grabs my arm.
“Are you okay? I can run through the party to find him. You shouldn’t go home alone, Maddie.”
I shake my head furiously. “I don’t want to stay here anymore.”
She nods, thankfully, and walks me out of the party, keeping her eyes on me until I’m no longer in view.
Without thought, I walk to Nate’s and let myself in, heading right to the shower.
It never occurred to me once to go to my dorm, even though that was closer.
Everything I own is here, and I feel more at home where Nate is than anywhere else.
I stand under the water for over thirty minutes, scrubbing my body raw, trying to wash away this mess of the night, when the bathroom door bursts open.
“Ahh!” I scream.
“Maddie,” he huffs, out of breath.
“What in the world are you doing?” I cry loudly when I see Nate looking at me with wide eyes, just as scared.
“I’ve called your phone at least fifty times. I was a nervous wreck.”
I shrug. “Yeah, well, you left me at the party, and some idiot slammed into me. The jungle juice spilled all over me, and everyone was staring. I couldn’t be there anymore.”
“Why didn’t you find me?” I don’t appreciate the accusatory tone he’s using.
“I looked! So don’t be a jerk and give me attitude.”
He throws his arms out, raising his voice loudly. “I’m the jerk because I walked away from you for five minutes? Give me a break, Maddie.”
I stand there for a moment, shocked he yelled back at me.
Even more shocked at his tone.
Nate is always the level-headed, calm one, usually able to diffuse a situation or my hysterics easily.
He paces the room, running his hands through his hair, never once looking at me, even though I’m standing here, naked, behind the glass.
Nate has never once looked away from my body, not even when we’ve argued.
Something’s off.
I dry off quickly, go through my night routine in silence, then slip into bed.
Nate joins me soon after, curling around me, but the tension in the air is thick. I can feel the distance between us even when he pulls me into his chest.
How did tonight go downhill so quickly?
“I’m sorry, I yelled,” he mutters. “I was freaked out when I couldn’t find you.”
