Can You Not?

Chapter 15

Her left hand shook. There was nothing Norah could do about it, except attempt to calm down. Even that usually ended up making it worse. Ellis could tell she was nervous. He'd seen her like that before at his birthday party. He couldn't tell her anything to make it better. That never worked. Not knowing what else to do, he took her trembling hand and put it down on top of the gear lever, putting his hand on top of hers. When she didn't pull away, he exhaled a small sigh of relief.  At least the physical contact took her mind off the party.

There was a present on the floor by her feet next to her purse. She was afraid of getting the wrapping paper dirty with her sweaty palms so she put it where she couldn't easily touch it by accident. This party shouldn't have been such a big deal. She'd met most of Sierra's friends before and she was a tad more comfortable with them than all of the unfamiliar seniors at Ellis' party, so it didn't make sense for her to bug out like this. Feeling Ellis' hand on hers, she swallowed. It might have something to do with him. They were getting very close. It was exhilarating, but it also made her incredibly nervous. It bothered her that she would probably let him down soon, tell him that she wasn't worth the trouble. The chances of her actually doing it were slim though.

The parking in front of Sierra's house was minimal. There were four other cars already parked in the driveway or on the lawn. Ellis decided to park in the street, close to the sidewalk. Before either of them got out, they just sat for a minute. He turned and looked at her with gentle eyes.

"You feeling better?" he asked.

"A little," she said honestly.

"Hey, if you feel really bad, we can just drop off her present and go home. You don't have to put yourself through this."

"No. I have to. I can't let Sierra down like that." She opened the door and got out. "I'm fine," she said and closed the door.

Ellis followed her to the front door. There was soft music coming from inside. This was one thing she knew for sure would bug her about the party. It would only be a small group of people, it would be intimate. The lack of a big crowd meant it wouldn't be easy to just blend in or get lost. Norah rang the doorbell and felt Ellis squeeze her shoulder.

Sierra answered the door.

"Hey!" She beamed and hugged Norah. "I'm so glad you guys could make it!"

She gave Ellis a hug as well. After letting them in, Norah's worst fear was realized. There were less than ten people. Sierra's parents weren't even there. Trying to ignore the knot in her stomach, Norah handed Sierra her present.

"Thanks, Nor," she said and glanced at the other people. "Let me introduce you guys."

She introduced them to Ryan, who Norah had met before, and his girlfriend, who'se name Norah didn't quite catch even after they repeated it. She just left it, but felt terrible. Then Sierra introduced them to the two other guys in the room, Gerald and Marcus, who were too engrossed in a video game to even look up, and Kayla, Sierra's other best friend. They all seemed like really nice people. Especially Ryan, who seemed to really like Ellis after their brief conversation about video games.

Norah, Ellis and Kayla followed Sierra into the kitchen. She was baking her own birthday cake, but her mom had left out a bunch of pre-made snacks and treats. Ellis stood very close to Norah where she leaned against the counter.

"I'm sorry my birthday is so close to thanksgiving, you guys," Sierra said inside the pantry. "I'm making you guys carbo load like crazy."

"It's not your fault," Kayla said. "Blame your parents for getting it on when they did."

"Can we not talk about my parents getting it on?" Sierra asked and everyone laughed.

"Hey, Ellis," Ryan said as he strolled into the kitchen. "The rest of the guys are having a Tekken tournament. Wanna join?"