The Book Club

Chapter Three

It had been three days since Robin saw Nancy. She was staring to think Nancy was avoiding her. She understood if Nancy needed time. People don't just switch teams over night. She stood at the desk in Family Video, tapping her finger against the desk anxiously. She kept her eyes focused on the clock, counting down the time until she got off work. The bell chimed above the door, causing her head to shift over to it. Steve walked into the store with a smile. "You look so excited to see me." He leaned against the counter. Robin's face remained emotionless.
"Oh yes, very." Robin huffed as she put her head on her hands, her elbows leaning against the counter. Steve opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Robin, "Okay, since you asked, I've been having girl problems recently. There was this girl who I had such a great time with, we kissed, twice," Robin raised her eyebrows, "twice! then she saw something happen in my personal life and hasn't talked to me since." Robin put her hands over her face.
"Is it someone I know?" Steve processed the information as he watched Robin freak out internally. She glanced up. The bell above the door dinged again. Robin looked to the door, hoping to God the customer asked for her help.
"Excuse me, do you have a bathroom?" The customer asked. Robin nodded and pointed towards the back of the store.
"No, it's not someone you know." She answered Steve's question, lying to him. Steve nodded, not believing her.
"Well, she'll call eventually. Just give it time." Steve tapped the counter and smiled. He furrowed his eyebrows. "What happened to scare her away?" Steve leaned against his hand.
"My mom was acting like an idiot again." Robin rubbed her forehead, her eyes meeting Steve's. He had his eyebrows raised as he smiled and nodded. "What?"
"So she was in your house? In your bedroom?" Steve poked Robin. She groaned loudly then rolled her eyes at him. "Did you guys do anything?"
"No! She's not even sure if she likes women." Robin pushed her hair out of her face. Steve laughed as the customer left the store. "He didn't even get anything." Robin gestures towards the person as he left.
"She's not sure if she's into women? But you kissed twice?" Steve furrowed his eyebrows. "Is it-"
"You know what? It's my lunch." Robin interrupted him and started to walk towards the back. Steve slid over the counter to follow her into the break room.
"Let me ask a couple questions." Steve lifted his hands as he followed Robin.
"No."
"Does she have curly hair?" Steve leaned against the lunch table, his eyes watched Robin's expression as she took a Tupperware container out of the fridge. She turned and gave Steve a dirty look.
"No."
"Does she have a little brother?" Steve clapped his hands together.
"I'm not sure."
"Has she met Richard?" Steve smiled and leaned against the table.
"Yes, she has. What does my dad have to do with it?" Robin used a plastic fork to stab the cold pasta. She took a bite of it and crossed her legs.
"If she's met your dad, she'll stick around." Steve looked down at his watch. "I have to go. I'm gonna find out who it is eventually." Steve patted the top of Robin's head as she chewed. She gave him another dirty look as he walked out of the break room.
Robin left work, walking out to see her dad parked in the parking lot. She smiled and ran to the car. "Hey, pa." She closed the door behind her as she got in and started to put on her seatbelt.
"Hey Robby. I got you a drink." He pointed towards a styrofoam cup in the cup holder. Robin beamed as she took the cup in her hands and took a long sip. "Guess what happened while you were at work?" He looked over to her as she got situated in the car. She glanced up, raising her eyebrows in response. "Pretty girl called." Robin coughed on the drink and looked over to her dad.
"What? Shut up!" She smiled gleefully. "Drive!" Robin pointed forward. Her dad put the car in drive.
As soon as they got home, Robin got out of the car as quickly as possible and ran up to the house, leaving her dad behind. Her dad pulled himself out of the car and walked up to the house. Robin ran into her room and grabbed her phone off the side table, holding it up to her ear as she dialed the number. The phone rang for a couple minutes before a voice, that was not Nancy's, answered. Robin slammed the phone down before she said anything. Robin sat back onto the bed, defeated. She pulled her feet up onto the bed and waited for a minute before placing her head down onto her knees. She couldn't stop thinking about Nancy. When she was laying in bed, when she was with her dad, when she was at work. She was always thinking about Nancy. Robin stood and walked into the kitchen. Her feet ached from working but she had things to do and she couldn't just sit around thinking about Nancy. She glanced over to her mom, asleep on the living room couch. Robin scoffed and started washing the dishes in the sink, cleaning each one then putting it in the drying rack. Her mom was reliable on everyone but herself. Robin washed the last plate, setting it into the drying rack. Melissa groaned, shifting a bit on the couch. Robin started towards the living room, grabbing the kitchen trash can on her way. She set it in front of the couch, her mom immediately leaned forward and puked into the trash. Robin rolled her eyes and disappeared back into her room. A couple minutes later, Robin's sat on her bed, her eyes on her magazine. She scanned an article about 80s fashion, judging the outfits some of the models were wearing. She understood the colorful shirts but with matching pants? That was a huge no for her. A tapping sounded from the corner of Robin's room. Nancy was standing at the window, her eyes barely visible. Robin sat down her magazine, quickly getting off her bed, falling in the process. "Nance," Robin opened her window, struggling to get it open through the rust and water damage. "What are you doing?" A smile crept through her lips as she leaned out the window.
"I brought back your book. Your mom's car was in the driveway so I didn't want to knock on the door." Nancy held up the book to the window. A pink bookmark was sticking out of the top of Robin's copy of Little Women. Robin took the book, dropping it to the floor next to the window.
"Thanks!" Robin stared down at the curly headed girl. They hadn't seen each other since the kiss. "So... um..." Robin grabbed the edges of the window.
"It was a good read." Nancy continued on about the book. Her hands fidgeting, her nails picking at her fingers nervously.
"Hey, stop." Robin reached down a hand and swatted at Nancy's fingers. "You'll hurt yourself." Robin knew a thing or two about nervous ticks. Biting her nails was the only thing Robin did in stressful situations. Which meant, she often made her fingers bleed.
"Sorry. I just don't know what to say to you." Nancy gave Robin a nervous smile. The window was a couple inches above her. Robin hung out the window just so she could see Nancy. "Hi." Nancy continued.
"Hi." Robin responded. Her heart felt all fluttery. She regrets making fun of Steve now that she knows how it feels. "Someone's gonna see you sneaking around like this."
"I'm just returning a book!" Nancy smiled. Her smile was contagious, making Robin smile.
"Normal people return books at the front door." Robin leaned on her elbow. Nancy stood below the window, her hands still fidgeting.
"Okay!" Nancy grabbed the windowsill, pulling herself up. She pulled herself into the window, climbing through it into Robin's room.
"Nance, what are you doing?" Robin backed away from the window so Nancy could get through.
"I love when you call me Nance." Nancy brushed off her shirt, the dirt from the window had left small marks on her shirt. "I called you earlier and your dad said you'd get home at ten so I came over at 10:45. To give you enough time to settle after work." Nancy smiled, her dimples leaving Robin's heart all fluttery. Robin stood quietly, trying to process Nancy crawling through her window. Nancy cleared her throat to break the silence.
"Why- why did you come all the way here?" Robin straightened out her shoulders.
"Because I feel like I did something wrong by not calling you before now. I like you, Robin. It's weird because I didn't ever think about something like this happening before but something about you is just-" Robin cut Nancy off by placing her hands on the sides of Nancy's face, bending down a bit to kiss her. Nancy put her hand on Robin's as she pulled away from the kiss.
"Oh my- I'm so sorry." Robin backed away. Nancy flattened her feet, realizing she was standing on her toes, as her hand fell off Robin's. She looked to the side to see Robin's bedroom door was open. She walked over to the door and closed it slowly as she turned back to Robin.
"I've never done anything like this before. Well, that's a lie. I kissed Tammy Thompson at a sleepover in eighth grade." Nancy sat on the edge of Robin's bed. Robin's eyes got wide. "It was a dare!"
"No! It's not that. I was madly in love with Tammy a couple years ago. She kinda sounds like a muppet when she sings." Robin sat down next to Nancy. Her conversation with Steve in the Starcourt bathroom came flooding back. Nancy nodded slowly then started laughing.
"Yeah, I can see that." Nancy laughed between her words. She looked Robin up and down. "I forgot to bring you back your clothes."
"No, it's okay. Keep them as long as you want." Robin smiled as Nancy laid back onto the bed. She looked up to the ceiling. The bedroom door flew open as Robin's dad walked into the room, looking down at a bowl of popcorn he had made for him and Robin.
"Hey, did you get a hold of pretty girl?" He took a couple pieces of the popcorn and put them in his mouth. He looked up at the two girls on the edge of Robin's bed. He cleared his throat and nodded. "Okay, I'm sorry." He backed away and closed the door behind him. He opened the door again before Nancy could say something to Robin and sat the bowl of popcorn on the dresser. "Hi, Nancy." He closed the door again. Robin waited for the footsteps to get farther from the door before she turned to Nancy.
"I'm sorry." She laughed as she laid down onto the bed with Nancy. Nancy laughed with her and shook her head.
"It's okay. I like your dad. He's a lot nicer than my dad." She turned her head so she was face to face with Robin. "Um, as I was saying earlier, I haven't ever done anything like this and it's all so new. I like you but I'm not sure I'll want to tell anyone for a bit." Nancy's pinky linked with Robin's. Her heart fluttered.
"I know. I understand." Robin rolled on her side so she could see Nancy better. Nancy smiled and brushed away Robin's hair.
"I should get going." She sat up then eventually stood. Robin sat up also, sitting on the edge of the bed. "My mom will kill me if she finds out I'm out this late." Robin squinted her eyes a little bit. She understood.
"Okay." Robin responded. She stood as Nancy made her way back over to the window.
"Goodbye." She left a small peck on Robin's cheek, standing on her toes, then dropped down back on her feet. She turned to leave, glancing at Robin one last time before she started on her way. Robin smiled then her smiled quickly faded. She grabbed Nancy's arm, pulling her back to her. She held the small of Nancy's back for a couple seconds.
"If this is too much for you then I understand." Robin looked down at Nancy. She felt like she could say anything. She wasn't nervous about it anymore. Nancy smiled and looked back towards the window. Something was telling her not to go home. It was almost like a gut feeling. She didn't have anyone to talk to at home. She wasn't close to her dad or Mike, her mom was always elsewhere, Holly was just out of the question. When she was with Robin she didn't feel alone.
"Rob," Robin smiled at Nancy's nickname for her, "Do you think your dad would be mad if I stayed here tonight? I can call my mom." Robin's eyes for wide. She nodded repeatedly. Nancy walked over towards the phone on Robin's nightstand. She dialed a number then held the phone up to her ear. "Hey mom, is it alright if I stay at a friend house tonight?" Nancy nodded then looked back to Robin. "It's my friend Robin." Nancy smiled as she said goodbye then hung up the phone.
An hour later, Robin laid in bed, Nancy next to her with a book in her hands. Her fingers held the side of the next page, reading out loud to Robin. She set down the book, causing Robin to glance over. Nancy let the book fall out of her hands. "If I like you does that make me a lesbian?" Robins eyes got wide.
"No... you can like both genders..." Robin crossed her arms.
"Oh." Nancy said quietly. She closed the book and reached across Robin, putting it on the nightstand on the other side of Robin. Nancy pulled her legs up to her chest and tilted her head, her hair falling into her face.
"You don't have to decide anything right now. As far as I'm concerned, we're two friends having a casual sleep over." Robin smiled and stood up off the bed. She walked over to her dresser and opened the top drawer, pulling out a hair tie. She looked over at Nancy as she pulled her hair back.
"Ok." Nancy leaned her head against the headboard and rubbed her eyes. She looked back at Robin. She was rummaging through her drawers. "But friends-"
"Don't over think it. I'll change my mind." Robin smiled as she carried a pair of shorts and a t-shirt into the bathroom. She closed the door and changed her clothes, coming back a couple minutes later. She tossed the clothes into her hamper and sat back down on the bed. Nancy leaned her head against Robin's shoulder. Robin tried to keep her composure. There was a beautiful girl leaning her head against her shoulder and she was fine with it. Robin looked down at Nancy.
"But you know, sometimes I kiss my friends." Nancy looked up at Robin, their eyes meeting. Robin gulped.
"Do- you d-do?" Robin blinked a couple times. Her stutter made Nancy smile.
"Yeah." Nancy put her hand on the side of Robin's face. She kissed Robin again. It was another indication that there's no way Nancy was straight. Robin didn't even remotely look like a man. Robin was making a mental list of evidence to back up her hypothesis.
1. Nancy initiated the kiss during spin the bottle.
2. Nancy called her pretty at Steve's party.
3. They kissed outside Robin's house.
4. She's worn Robin's clothes then kept them.
5. She sneaked into Robin's house.
6. They kissed again in Robin's bedroom.
7. Nancy held her pinky.
8. They just kissed again.
So technically the kiss count is at four. Robin smiled and furrowed her eyebrows. "Is it because I look like Tom Cruise?" Robin referenced the poster in Nancy's room. Nancy rolled her eyes and kissed Robin again.
Kiss count: 5
"You don't look anything like Tom Cruise." Nancy smiled and lifted Robin's arm, putting it over her shoulders as she curled up next to Robin. Robin looked away, panicking slightly.
"I feel the need for speed!" Robin recited in a voice that was mocking Tom Cruise's. Nancy smiled and leaned her head against Robin's chest. There was another knock at the bedroom door. The door cracked open as Nancy sat up, putting space between her and Robin.
"Dad!" Robin yelled as he poked his head in.
"I just wanted to see if you guys wanted anything to drink... or you can watch a movie?" He smiled and nodded towards Robin.
"Pa. You need to leave." She grabbed a small pillow off her bed and threw it towards the door. He nodded and closed the door. Nancy looked over at Robin and started laughing.
"Your dad is so nice." She returned to her place under Robin's arm. Nancy eventually fell asleep. Robin looked down at her, adding things to the list of reasons why Nancy was definitely not straight.
The next morning Robin woke up and Nancy wasn't next to her. She looked around. There was a small note taped to the window, Nancy's curly handwriting was spread across the paper. Robin stood up and walked over to the window, snatching the note off.
I had an early interview. I was going to wake you up but you looked so peaceful. I'll call you tonight.
Robin melted, sliding against the wall below the window. She took the book in her hands, the one Nancy had given back to her the night before. She flipped to the page where the pink book mark was residing. The quote "Some people seemed to get all sunshine, and some all shadow..." was underlined in pencil. On the bookmark was written, 'You're all sunshine' in cursive handwriting. Robin smiled and held the bookmark to her chest as she let out a soft sigh.