"No. I need a day to relax."
"Nick come on you're going. You missed a few days of school the other week so you're going."
"Nope, I'm not."
Rachel took both of my hands and tried to pull me up, but I played the dead weight. She kept trying to drag me up, but wasn't able to move me. I couldn't hold back the chuckles that escaped my lips.
She groaned. "I give up you jerk, so bye." Rachel grabbed her coat and left.
I went into the other room and changed my shirt. Grabbing my coat and backpack I yawned. I took my time so I just could waltz into homeroom the second the bell rang, all the while combing my hair with my fingers.
When I came home Bridget, Holly, and Willow were already there on the living room floor with Rachel. They were all sitting in a circle, but Holly was lying on her stomach with her feet swinging in the air.
"Rachel, did I tell you they married me to a gay guy?" asked Willow. "They have a couple of same-sex marriages, but somehow I still ended up with a gay guy."
I nearly laughed as I headed towards the kitchen.
"What?" Bridget, Holly, and Rachel yelled and knowing Rachel her eyes were probably wide.
"Yeah, James is gay."
"I thought he was flirting with me," I commented with a smile, looking at the girls with mixed expressions on their faces as I stood in the doorway.
Bridget narrowed her eyes then she glanced over at Rachel. Holly seemed on the nervous side with her eyebrows up in the air. Willow’s face was a stone that I couldn’t read. Then there was Rachel, staring at me with a small smile on her lips I knew she didn't want to show.
"Nick," her voice was a giggle as she had a purely shocked face.
"What? He was, Rachel."
The four of them started to laugh while I went to get soda in the other room. I stood by the fridge I heard light footsteps and a second later I felt someone next to me. When she started to speak she was quiet, barely over a whisper as she leaned closer to me.
"Do you think I should tell them what we found out last night?"
I looked down into her wide jade eyes that seemed to be stuck on mine.
"Sure why not?" I shrugged.
"Okay, but where are the notes we printed?"
I took the folded paper out of my back pocket where I had put it when I was going to school this morning. She took it from my hand and unfolded it. I jumped and sat on the counter and drank my soda to stay out of her way, but I could still hear them and what they were talking about.
"Well, this is what Nick found on Principal O'Doherty's computer. These are forms and emails between him and the Governor from when they were coming up with their plan and a proposal for the money to fund it. Their reasoning was with all the divorces and that stuff they wanted to see if we got married with someone else picking the match, in addition to our age, if the divorce rate would be lower. That people get married at all different ages, but these days it's more often not as young as it used to be. He's using us to test his theory out. They also wanted to try doing the trial with both straight and gay marriages."
"So you're telling me I'm married to a gay guy for a couple of old guys to get their kicks," Willow huffed.
"Oh, so they're the type that likes to watch child porn." From the voice I guessed was Bridget.
I almost spat my soda from laughing. I covered my mouth hoping they wouldn't hear my coughing.
"Not really what they were getting at Willow and Bridget. You guys should have seen the stuff we were finding. I was afraid to go to sleep last night because of it," she paused, making me smile knowing she was able to fall asleep peacefully in my arms. "Also the first thirty-six couples were hand-picked, then the rest were picked at random on the computer. I don't know who had a hand in picking the pairs, but the hand-picked ones seem to be selected for something in particular. Nick and I are number eighteen though."
"Oh my God they hand-picked you two," shrieked Holly. "That's so cute."
"I still can't believe you're back with him, Rachel."
I made a face in the kitchen. Bridget has always had it in for me with Rachel. Ever since the beginning of this 'project' she even ruined what would've been our first kiss. Though she told me where Rachel was, that's about it to help us. I guess she wasn't too sure either on our relationship.
"I know, but it isn't like I could live at my friends' houses forever. For one I only packed a few days of clothes." She paused and my guess they were giving her looks. "Okay I'll stop joking. Whether I like it or not this place is my home in its own strange little way. It's not like I can go home with my parents no matter how much I missed them. The rings are tracking devices. Also I know Nick didn't mean it."
"Didn't mean it, Rachel, he tried to rape you!"
"I know, Bridget."
"I also know that if this was someone else you would make sure that girl wouldn't get hurt again. Make sure that she would never go back to that pig. You'd tell her to grow a backbone and that she doesn't need him."
"I know, Bridget…"
I could hear the disappointment drenched in Rachel's voice. She sounded so upset and her voice was down to a whisper now. That hurt to hear her sound like that and not be able to do anything. I knew I was the root of it too.
"Bridget, leave Rachel alone, the two of them are going to be helping us," Holly said.
"Yeah, and Nick has a price for him
