Things had been a little awkward, to say the least, after Nash called things off between us at the end of the summer, once he had found out about Mariah. I was glad that I hadn’t ended things first, because I know I probably would have lost his friendship. If I had ended it, he would’ve known that it was because of Justin.
Luckily, Nash and I had known each other since we were little. Some would think, oh the boy next door type of thing, and at one time, I had even thought of that as a possibility. He was one of my best friends, and even though we had lost contact over the years when my mom had whisked me off to Connecticut after the divorce, as soon as I was back, we easily fell into our old friendship. Of course, Nash had wanted things to be more, and we had tried, but my heart just wasn’t in it. I was glad my mistake hadn’t ruined things between us.
Now, Nash was getting ready to be a dad, which was a little surreal for me, so I’m sure it was beyond words for him. He was still trying to be as much of a normal college guy as he could be, though. Mariah was due in a few short months, so while she dropped out of school, Nash continued on. He wasn’t living near campus anymore to save on money, so a lot of the times he ended up crashing at the house I shared with Callie, Zoe and Mia. I had no clue why he would willing want to stay here, since most of the times I didn’t even want to come home.
Yes, I was closer than ever with Callie and Zoe, but Mia was another story.
My relationship with my stepsister, had never really been close. Our parents had married when we were both preteens, so getting a new sister wasn’t really that glamorous to either of us, plus Mia lived with her mom the majority of the time.
I always saw Mia as perfection, her grades were always excellent, she respected her dad and my mom, and she participated in every possible activity and club during high school. So, when I started going through my acting out phase, and ultimately wound up pregnant, which ended with an abortion, I think I despised her even more.
After swallowing a handful of pills, I vaguely remember Mia coming to the hospital, peering over my bed to look down at me. I remember the pity in her eyes, with a hint of distaste, and it reminded me of the same look my mom had given me. So, I simply didn’t try with Mia.
Then, when I was finally starting to pick up the pieces of my life, and get it back into somewhat of a working order, Mia was the one suddenly falling apart. Gone was the mousy girl who followed all of the rules, and always made me look like the problem child. She had been replaced by someone even worse than me, if that was possible.
My relationship with my mom had been somewhat repaired, as I continued to change, and my mom now saw me as the golden child. So, she felt that I could be the one to get the old Mia back, since I had made such a drastic change in my own life, which is how Mia ended up living with me and my two best friends. Go figure that one out.
“Hey, I have to get going.” Nash tucked his phone into the pocket of his shorts, and bent down, flicking a lone sock into my face.
“Ugh.” I hurled it back at him, which he easily dodged. “Mariah need something?” I tried to say it without any sarcasm in my voice what-so-ever, but it was pretty freaking hard. Mariah brought out the worst in me. I had a feeling she had trapped Nash on purpose, but for now, I was keeping my mouth shut. I didn’t want to lose Nash’s friendship by pissing him off. So, lips zipped.
“Yeah,” he smirked as he pulled out his keys, and twirled them on one finger, “never thought I’d see the day, but she’s craving a burger. That girl hates anything greasy, but little junior is pretty demanding.”
I rolled my eyes at the name Nash had donned his unborn baby with, even though I could totally picture a mini-Nash, and he would be the cutest thing ever. “Well, make sure to tell Mariah I said hi.” I gave him the sweetest smile I could muster this early in the morning, and collapsed back onto the throw pillow that I had fallen asleep on last night. I heard him snort loudly before opening and closing the front door.
Nash knew Mariah and I weren’t exactly besties, even though he wanted us to get along. I think he had glazed over any type of relationship that we had ended up having, which was fine with me. I knew he wasn’t ashamed of me or anything, it just made his life easier. Especially since Mariah knew he stayed over here occasionally. I told him to just to lie about where he stayed, but Nash being the guy that he is, didn’t want to. Things had been a little tense between the two of them, but eventually, Mariah had gotten over it…at least that’s what Nash said. He ended up dragging me to lunch with her one day, and she had been surprisingly friendly. Maybe pregnancy was a good thing for Mariah.