Chapter 26
The morning went by quickly as Amy and Nicole faked friendliness around each other. Amy still let Nicole help with the dinner, very minimally but she still helped. By the time the afternoon rolled around and Nicole and Amy were meant to help collect plants Amy was still diligently working on the dinner. It was taking longer than expected for her to cook the food. So rather than postponing the plant pickup Juliana instead told Amy to stay home and have Chris help her cook. Amy insisted she could finish up in time, working even faster than she already was. But when the clocks all read three-fifteen and she still wasn't done she agreed to stay home.
Nicole didn't know why her mother had bothered asking Amy to come if she wasn't necessary, but she didn't ask. She stepped outside and headed towards the car opening the door as her mother clicked it open. She stepped in and buckled her seatbelt before her mom had opened her side of the car. "Is something wrong Nicky? You and Amy have been a bit…..distant." Nicole froze, she was sure they had both done a good job pretending to be friendly, but she supposed her mother would be able to tell the difference between Nicole and Amy's friendship. Nicole shook her head and looked out the window at the house. "All right, but if something is wrong I need you to tell me so I don't think anything serious happened."
"Amy doesn't want to date me. She asked if we could just be like kissing buddies, how ridiculous is that?" Nicole spat out angrily. "I mean how cruel is that, I thought maybe she did like me. I mean she told me she did, but I really don't believe her. If she liked me she'd date me, right?" Juliana sighed and looked back as she pulled out of the driveway. "Right?"
"Nicole, you know I love you. But don't you think your being a bit...pushy, maybe even selfish. Amy is in a rough spot right now, all you should want from her is her to be open and comfortable and for her to feel safe around you. You pushing her to be in a relationship at such a strange time for her is not a great thing to do." Nicole looked at her mother in disbelief. "Don't get me wrong I understand why you're upset, but if Amy says she likes you can't you just accept that for now and wait for her to be ready?" Nicole scoffed.
"So you're taking her side then, should I have just let her kiss me without being in a relationship. Should I have continued to let her have her way with me, shou-" Juliana looked at Nicole with stiff eyebrows and an irritated expression, it shut Nicole up right away.
"First of all, Nicole, I wouldn't want you to do anything you're not comfortable with, in or out of a relationship. Second of all I am not taking sides, I am trying to show you both sides of this story. Right now all Amy needs is a friend, and if you can't handle that because of your crush we should send her home, because it will probably be less harmful to your relationship than whatever you're trying to do." Juliana looked back at Nicole as they neared the plant nursery. "Third of all I have raised you to be understanding of other people's situations. Amy is being open and honest about as much as she can, and if that still isn't enough I don't know what to tell you. You know she's having a rough time, just be there for her in any way you're comfortable."
Nicole opened her mouth to argue with her mother but was stalled when she saw a second person standing next to Christina in the plant nursery parking lot. Eva was there seemingly waiting for Nicole. She locked eyes with Nicole through the semi tinted windows of Juliana's car. Nicole averted her eyes and looked at her hands. "What's wrong Nicky?" Juliana's previously harsh tone had changed to that of a concerned mother. She looked around the parking lot as Nicole continued to duck her head. Juliana couldn't find anything that would cause this kind of reaction from her daughter, the only people she saw were Christina and Eva. "Come on, raise your head, nothing here is going to hurt you." Nicole wasn't so sure of this, the hungry look in Eva's otherwise cool eyes was off putting. But still she raised her eyes not wanting another lecture from her mom. She looked back to Eva who's eyes had relaxed, likely after seeing Nicole's reaction to them. She looked almost disappointed, but what had she expected after making Nicole uncomfortable. Juliana parked the car and stepped out moving to greet Christina. Nicole however still remained in her seat, looking to her mother for help. "Nicole, get out of the car, I need help with these plants." Nicole shut her eyes briefly hoping that once they opened Eva would be gone. Unfortunately when her eyes reopened she was still there staring at her.
"I'm coming mom!" Nicole called as she opened her own door. She walked towards her mom, completely avoiding Eva's greeting. She clung to her mom like a child hoping she wouldn't be forced to interact with Eva. Sadly her mother did not see the reason Nicole was uncomfortable as anything more than an old friend, and she was told to help Eva carry some plants to the car.