Jesus Christ…well hello everyone…kinda went and fell in love and got married, hahaha. But for real. I realized that on this college journey, the one thing I was neglecting (my writing) was probably the sole element keeping me sane. With that, two things: I apologize for the wait, and…I'm back. :D

Are you ready for the drama? Because I am…

Chapter Seven

Nate was laying down, his head on a cool, hard surface. His eyes tried their best to register where he was. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, and his hands reached out in front of him. He urgently sat up as a warm feeling took over him. This ethereal sensation made him smile, and that wonderful grin that he was known for graced his lips. Then, looking in the distance, he viewed a figure slowly walking toward him. The vision smiled and increased its pace as it became evident that the being was in fact a girl.

A very pretty girl, he observed, with hair the hue of gold. She smiled as she finally made it all the way up to Nate and rushed to hug him. Nate, overcome with happiness, hugged her back.

And as if it were all a horrible dream, the figure started to melt in his hands. His eyes widened as he yanked his hands away, only to find them covered in a flesh-colored waxy-like substance. He tried to suppress the scream that menacingly tickled the back of his throat, but to no avail.

He screamed.

Looking down in his lap, he noticed that the remnants of whoever he was hugging completely dissolved and started to disappear into the thin, crisp air.

Scared shitless, he stood up and ran away from where he was sitting, in no particular direction.

Then a voice, sharp and piercing, rang out into the void.

"Yeah, I did it. Who gives a fuck? I never liked you anyway. You were just good for the time being."

"You can't mean that…" He whispered into the darkness, responding to the single voice that directed the harsh comment toward him.

"Yes I can. You're just too gullible for your own good. You thought I liked you? Ha…don't make me laugh."

Nate shook his head, not thinking that this was possible. Out of nowhere he started to fall. The hole was deep, and the impact close. He was scared out of his mind, until he felt a pair of hands grab his shoulders before he could make any contact with something other than air.

The form had the power to slow him down, and slow him down it did. Nate looked over his shoulder to see the prettiest face he had ever seen. It smiled at him, slightly blushing at the close proximity their faces were in. Nate completely turned around, reaching his hands for the lovely girl's façade. Her eyes quickly shied away from him as she felt his hands caress her face lovingly. Then he moved in to kiss her when all of a sudden, she vanished.

Nate stared in shock as the white around him quickly shifted to black. All sorts of different laughs echoed through the empty space as he saw a pair of blue eyes glare at him from a distance, menacingly….

The morning dew rested on the foliage outside of Nathan's family's household. The dwelling was still, and all was quiet, except for a couple of souls.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, OW!" Nate screamed as he tried to sit up in his bed. He had a horrible headache, and the rain pounding on the roof punctuated with flashes of lightning and pangs of thunder did not improve his current situation.

Adjusting himself so that he sat Indian style in his bed, he knelt his head down in the palms of his hands and groaned. With his eyes closed, he tried to steady his breath. On an odd note, whenever his migraines started up, he would begin to get an explicit change in his breathing pattern. It was not easy to explain, but it happened.

Things that can't be explained tend to happen for a reason.

And this reason was because he was thinking too hard, paired with the nightmare he just had.

While he was trying to do his best to steady himself, Kenji walked out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel on and a toothbrush in his mouth.

"Come on, man. Don't wanna be late!" Kenji said optimistically as he finished drying his chest (with a SEPARATE towel, mind you). Nate, still in a state of pain, slowly tilted his throbbing head up, staring at the zealous Kenji through slightly parted fingers.

Why is he so jolly? Nate thought.

Kenji finished drying completely and grimaced at him.

Nate felt quite uneasy due to his behavior, and it showed.

"Ah, headache again?" Kenji inquired, slowly moving toward Nate as he reached for some clothing out of Nate's closet. Kenji was always leaving something over Nate's house…so spending the night at any time and worrying about an outfit for the next day was rarely problematic.

Nate slowly moved his sore hands from his face and sighed.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just need some medicine."

Nate then got up and quickly took a shower as Kenji finished dressing. Nate's parents were still asleep, but it would only take a second for them to get ready, as always.

After all, they were the types of parents who would lay everything out the night before so all they had to do was wake up, dress, and leave.

Talk about being prepared-they were the living definition of the term.

In the shower, Nate reached for his towel and soap and started lathering. With his head tilted to the ceiling, he let the steam frizz up his hair before he actually moved his head under the shower head and got it wet.

'You've got to get it together…'

Those words kept repeating themselves in his head. And hey, what better thing to do than to follow your own advice?

"Hey, man, hurry UP!"

Kenji yelled from outside.

He was ready to get the eff OUT. He had to see his girl.

That he didn't call last night.

Kenji just hoped she wasn't in the bashing mood.

Nate hopped out the shower and did all that he had to do before dashing down the steps with Kenji and hi-tailing it to school.

The building didn't look any different (and why would it) but what would be going on inside would rival its outward appearance significantly. Translation: shit was about to go down.

Random people waved to Kenji and Nate as they headed to their lockers. A handshake here, a dap there. A couple of jokes were told and a few laughs were shared. Kenji and Nate soon parted ways, as Nate started to think about what he would say to his Heather-Honey. He knew for a fact that she was cheating on him, but in the very back of his mind, he felt that he just needed to talk to her. Maybe a solution to this problem could be figured out.

Maybe…

Shuffling around his textbooks, he felt a presence in close proximity to his own. Slowly closing his tired eyes, he tried to imagine who was there. Rapidly opening them and spinning around, he was surprised to see the very girl he was concerned about.

There she stood, a tight shirt emphasizing her buxom chest. Her lip gloss was extra shiny today, and her eyes sparkled with renewed fervor.

"Hey Natey-Poo!" She giggled before pressing her lithe body up against his frame.

His blush heavy, he slightly hyperventilated before giving her a kiss on her forehead, a look of indifference present on his calm visage.

"Heather, we need to talk…" his voice laced with concern.

Heather tilted her head to the side with slightly furrowed brows.

"And what exactly would we need to talk about?"

He inhaled a sharp breath before his eyes narrowed at her.

"Who is Carl?"

Immediately searching her eyes for the answer, he stared as they looked nervously, only to regain composure.

"My friend, sweetie! He was staying over because he has no place to go!"

She playfully hit his chest and giggled, but he didn't see the smallest bit of humor in her current antics.

"It's not like I'm cheating on you or anything."

Nate's face creased up. Why would she say that all of a sudden? Was this guilt shining through?

"Who said you were?"

I think I got her, he thought.

"No one did. Nate, what the fuck are you getting at?"

"I think you are cheating on me. And I don't appreciate it after all the time and care I've invested in our relationship."

"What the fuck, NATE! Are you breaking up with me?"

"Are you cheating on me?"

"Why in the hell-"

"Answer. The. Question."

His voice was laced with venom now, his anger evident in the sweating palms of his that were clenched in frustration.

Heather stared at him with a look that truly screamed question mark. She rested her hands on her hips and glowered at him, her lips losing their luster, her eyes growing angrier with each passing second.

"No, I'm not."

Nate wanted so badly to take her words with a grain of salt, but weakness was a part of his character. He moved in closer to her and actually pressed her body up against the lockers. The bell for first period rang, but he didn't' care. She stared up at him, eyes wide in surprise, and lust tugging at the corners of her mind.

"Oh, Nate, I love it when you act so demanding…" She cooed as he kissed her on the lips, his hands on her hips.

Little did he know that a shocked Brookelynne was observing from the staircase.

"Nate…oh my goodness…" She sighed. In enough time, she walked to her math class.

Why am I so sad…I'm going to prom with Chris…THE Chris. I'm not sad. I'm not sad.

Nate pulled away from her and was about to leave for class when her purse dropped accidentally from her arm.

"I'll get it baby" he said as he moved to retrieve it from the ground.

"Oh, it's okay! I got it hunnie!" She said rather quickly as she rushed to grab it from him. In the ensuing quick movements, the purse fell again, its contents spilling over onto the plain tiled floor of the school.

Lip gloss, gum wrappers, foundation cakes, and condoms littered the floor.

Nate almost had a conniption fit as his eyes scanned the last item listed.

"Heather…"

"…"

You see, Nate was about to jump off the deep end. This would be the very day when his calm persona would be thrown to the dogs, and his sanity would henceforth be questioned.

The simple fact of the matter is, Nate and Heather did not have sex. Of course they kissed and made out and gave one another hickies, but sex? Never. So if they weren't consummating their relationship, who was she "constantly consummating" with?

Regardless, the fact of the matter was that she was having sex. With someone who was not Nate.

"So, you aren't cheating on me huh?"

Heather's face, frozen in fear of being figured out, scanned her mind for a possible list of excuses to bring Nate back to the dummy level.

"No…"

"Then what are the condoms for?"

"They were from sex-ed class. I don't know why the fuck I have to explain everything to you. It was gonna be a surprise! I wanted to do it with you! I wanted to make myself yours!"

"Well, that's all fine and good, but why is one pack empty?"

"I wanted to see what they looked like? Is that okay?"

"Not one, but three…oh my GOD HEATHER!" Nate's face was the angriest he had ever displayed. Heather stood there, run out of excuses, her sympathy card spent.

"Okay, Nate. You know what? I don't want to do this anymore. You're a sweet guy, but not my type, okay?"

"Well then why did you enter a relationship with me? Why?"

"I really thought we could just have sex and stuff, but I've come to find that you are one of those prudish boys who believes in waiting before marriage and you have the worse fashion sense and the dumbest hobbies and-ugh-I can't believe I got myself into this. I never really liked you. Thought I could fuck you, but that went out the window. You just aren't my type, and I thought I'd be getting laid out of this. I honestly have no idea why I stayed so long."

He stood there, dumbfounded, his mouth agape, with every intention of trying to understand exactly what the hell he just heard.

Then his stare turned blank. Tenseness released, he slightly shook his head.

"We're done. But before we part, just tell me who it was?"

His eyes pleaded. He needed to know, just in case he saw them later and had an inert desire to beat the crap out of them.

"None of your business. We are done, remember?"

And with a slight smile, she walked away.

Only to see her turn the corner and randomly kiss some fellow.

Oh yes, that was Carl.

Nate didn't know whether to cry or have a sigh of relief. But first he knew he had to go brush his teeth. Lord only knows what she was doing, and he really shouldn't have kissed her.

The fact that he was late for class kicked in a second later. With large eyes and frantic hands he rushed down the hall and made a sharp left turn into room 208 with books in hand. As he busted through the door, he was met with incredulous stares.

"I see we are late, Mr. Nate." Sneered an irritated Mr. McDougal, the no-bullshit arithmetic professor. His job was to teach you math. That was it. Rumors circulated that he was totally different from how he represented himself in a professional setting, but reports were still being tested on their credibility.

Nate slightly smiled, but immediately released the attempt to faze Mr. McDougal as his sneer turned into a let's-get-down-to-business glare. He pointed to the problem that was messily scrawled on the board.

"Solve this problem, and explain how you came to your solution. You know the drill. You don't give me time to teach, I don't give you time to review."

As everyone released small snickers and giggles, Brookelynne stared at him as his hand fumbled for the dry erase marker and popped the cap off before beginning to balance the equation and prepare to set up a slope formula to graph.

While Nate had a slow start, he began to move through the problem with ease, even presenting a few more methods of solving the problem as he started dividing up his work. Mr. McDougal, hard to crack a smile, was visibly impressed with his student's ability to perform on the most impromptu of occasions.

Nate completed the solution to a few claps and cheers.

"Great job, Mr. Nate. Take a seat. Now class, let's brush up on parabolas before we delve into graphs that you will most certainly need later on in life."

While dry, his sense of humor was to be appreciated when given.

As Nate made his way to the back of the classroom, Brooke kept her head in her book.

She just didn't get it. Why was he still messing with her? He didn't know what "good" was, and he truly must have had low self-esteem.

She just couldn't understand. I mean, he is such a great guy, with a sweet personality and humor to boot…

…Brooke had to stop herself. She was thinking about how good his back looked, slightly moving from the arm that controlled the marker as he solved the given problem only seconds earlier.

Her face flushed, and then shook, and then she bit her lip and dropped her head to her desk, accidentally hitting it. A few of her classmates turned to her in shock and surprise from the hard sound.

"I'm good!" she said, as a few more laughs echoed.

Nate finally plopped down next to Brooke.

"So, what page are we on?"

"Fifty-six…"

"Thanks…"

He gave her an uneasy grin as he thumbed through his Calculus pages. She continued to stare at him, noticing his hands, his hunched over back.

That back.

God Dammit, Brooke. Stop, okay? STOP. This is your friend. Your friend.

As she brought her own eyes back to her book, she let out a sharp exhale. She didn't understand herself sometimes.

The school day came to an end, and Nate rushed to his locker so that he could get home. He really did not feel like being in the building, especially after the morning. Shuffling his feet to meet up with Brooke, his heart fell as he witnessed Chris putting more schmooze on her than legally allowed.

Jeeze…he's killing me..

"Nate!"

He turned in the direction of his name to see Kenji running toward him. His face was flushed, heavy breathing included.

"Man, oh man, damage control."

"What do you mean?"

Kenji sighed and shook his head. He then shoved his hands into his pockets and pulled out a piece of paper. Crumpling it up and then throwing it to Nate, he gave him another stare as Nate attempted to flatten the parchment to better read whatever was printed on it.

His eyes grew wide.

"Oh come on…"

"Yeah."

In large letters, the paper said, "Nate is a Jerk. I'm not. Vote for the girl who he dumped!"

A large picture of Heather-Honey covered the bottom.

"Bitch!"

"Yeah, this is getting into Mean Girls territory, or rather, mean hoes. I'm sorry man."

Nate rolled his eyes. The last thing he needed was someone using his broken up relationship as leverage for an election. He cursed to the ceiling and wondered exactly why he had to deal with the people he did.

At least he wasn't with her anymore, which left him the ability to focus on someone a lot more important.

Brookelynne.

As a matter of fact, where was she?

He slightly ignored Kenji as he frantically searched for her, hoping she was alone. Kenji spun around to see Coco coming up on them.

Today, she wore a purple polo dress, just in case you were wondering.

And no, they were not matching today, just in case you were wondering…as well.

"Nate, if you're looking for Brooke, she's gone."

"WHERE?"

"Why are you so concerned?"

"What's with the third degree, Coco?"

Nate inquired, staring at her with a jilted expression.

Kenji and Coco rolled their eyes.

"Oh my gosh, so done with this. You know what? We know you adore her, and she adores you. We just gotta get her from this Chris guy, but you may be too late…"

"Tell me something I don't know…"

"You are actually quite stupid."

Nate scoffed and spun around in the other direction, stomping toward the front of the school. Pitter patters of feet could be heard as Kenji's boots stomped and Coco's heels clicked in an effort to get closer to him.

"Nate! Come on now, stop! We want to help you!"

Coco yelped, reaching her hands out to him, as if her effort would somehow stop him from moving. Kenji, visibly irritated with how this was going, grabbed Nate's collar and swung him around violently so that their faces would meet.

"I don't care HOW STUPID you are, you can't be THIS STUPID to let her pass you by."

Kenji growled, his grip on Nate's collar almost suffocating.

Nate was at a loss. Why did his friends care so much that he intervene? Why were they on him constantly?

"Look", Coco motioned, as she yanked her purse from her arm and dug into it, "I'm going to call her and tell her she needs to come back to school. She'll be more inclined to come and talk to me opposed to you. After that display this morning she's probably pissed."

Nate slightly hissed as he tried to recall if she saw one part or everything.

Knowing his luck, she probably saw the brief reconciliation of Heather-Honey and Nate: bingo.

Kenji found it in his heart to release Nate's collar as he gently rubbed his slightly red neck. The two friends stared at one another for what felt like eons, but Coco was quick to break their tunnel vision with her conversation words.

"Hey girl! Yeah, I need to know if you can come back to the school. Yeah. Homework. Our project. Right. Not walking. Car? Can he drop you off? Date? What time? No I'm not being nosey. Ugh. Tomorrow then. You know it's due later in the week right? Girl bye."

Coco hung up her phone angrily before coming back to the reason why she made the call in the first place.

"So, she's on a date, Nate. We tried to warn you…" Coco mouthed, glaring at the ever-ostracized Nate, whose eyes had grown unnaturally wide.

And just like that, he dejectedly slumped down in the middle of the hallway and solemnly put his head in his hands. Kenji looked on before kneeling and consoling him with his hand on his back.

"Man, there will be other girls, you can't gi-"

"No, you don't understand. I've been oblivious. She's probably been waiting for me to say something or for me to return, I just, I just…"

"Well," Coco said in a much lower tone, almost motherly as she knelt down as well and held the base of Nate's chin while looking into his eyes, "it may be best if you tell her what you are feeling directly. However, you are best off by letting yourself know how you feel. Kenji and I may be here, but we are completely inconsequential to how your feelings are for Brookelynne at the end of the day."

There he sat, feeling defeated, but completely aware that how he felt was being pushed into the deep recesses of his very mind, heart and soul.

The truth is, he didn't know when it started, but he did know that he had grown to care for her in a way that rivaled their friendship. When they were little kids, she wasn't his playdate or friend, but his sister, his very flesh and blood, as he would argue. Sometime between middle school and where they are now, he realized that the desire to be close to her outweighed any natural thing he had wanted in life. Her smile, her occasional touch, those nights up all late just talking or playing video games or the numerous times he would just simply walk somewhere with her, they all did something to him: they made him realize that this sister love transcended beyond what he was allowing himself to acknowledge.

However, his shyness and awkwardness tended to take over his few and far in between acts of courage. Right then and there, he understood that he had to make a move in some form or fashion. He had to let her know. Even if it mean that she didn't feel the same, he had to put it out there.

After thinking for such a short yet monumental period of time, Nate stared into Coco's eyes and grasped her other hand that rested on her thigh. He smiled, and she grinned back. He then looked over at Kenji, who gave him a small smile that broke out into a hearty chuckle.

"We always have faith in you, even when we want to bash your head in, brother, " Kenji laughed. Coco's bright smile shone as she shook her head at him.

Nate gestured to get up, and the other two followed. Grabbing their belongings they processed out of the hallways and toward the front of the school to head home.

"So, what are you going to do, then?" Kenji inquired, coming from behind Coco and hugging her gently.

"I know she's going with Chris, but I'm just going to tell her how I feel."

"Better yet, tell Chris YOU are taking her."

"Way too farfetched, man. Prom's like, what, Saturday? And this is Tuesday? Time's up!"

"Speaking of time being up, do you have your suit yet?"

"I'm not going…"

"So how the hell would you go with her then?"

"YOU said I was taking her, remember?"

"Boys boys PLEASE…you'll be able to find a solution to this. Just stop talking over each other!"

Coco interjected. Nate mentioned, "yeah, you're right. Well you know, there's nothing stopping me from telling her how I feel about her. If she goes with Chris it doesn't mean that's her true love or some crap, you know?"

Kenji and Coco nodded, with Kenji mentioning, "Oh yeah, we totally get that. We just don't want her doing anything stupid. Not saying we don't trust her, but you know how some guys can be, and how some girls ca-"

"THOK!"

Kenji received the memo immediately.

"Well," Coco said, "I trust her as well, but in this situation, with the king of manipulation, I would rather you go all out; either you or nothing. Think about it: you remember this night for a lifetime, as the older people say. What if he does something that makes the thought of being even remotely with you mere fodder to her? Huh? You have a chance now, small but slim. Let her know!"

Nate then found himself in another mental predicament: take away the chance to go with someone she wanted, or be greedy and ask her to go with him? He truly loathed how much he cared. This is becoming a recurring theme, as one can observe.

Nate remained in deep thought as the three headed home. They were right – roughly 96 hours and barely four days rested in-between what he felt he should do in his heart and the day - or night that could potentially take his paramour away. He couldn't let that happen, but at the same time, his fear and indecisiveness continued to hold him captive.

Meanwhile…

Brookelynne sat in the passenger's seat of Chris' car, her heart beating at a million miles a minute, her grin betraying her efforts to simply keep it cool. That day he suggested they go on a date to get to know each other a little better before prom night.

"He must really be into me…" She thought to herself as he managed to steal many a glance to her frame as he smoothly handled the wheel of the car. Music, albeit low, played for the two as they sat there in otherwise relative silence.

"Where are you taking me, "she inquired, trying to control the sheepish grin that tugged at her lips.

"Oh, somewhere, babe, somewhere…" Chris grinned as he gripped the wheel.

"That's obvious, but is it a surprise or-"

He chuckled a little as he reached for her left thigh with his right hand. Her temperature shot through the roof as he caressed it, resulting in her to emit a few stutters. She never thought, of all times and of all people, she'd be in this much of an intimate position.

Okay, so she was borderline prudy prude, but still, that gesture got the blood flowing.

To prevent further vocal embarrassment she chided his hand away with a small smile.

He retreated.

"Heh, she's quite the lady…" He mused. "Wonder if I can change that…"

DUN DUN DUN…AH! What's Nate gonna do? What's Chris got up his sleeve? Brookelynne, are you thinking? Find out the answers to all these questions and more next time on…YOU. NEVER. SAW. IT. COMING!

Sorry, was watching DBZ again, hahaha…what did you think? Please Read and Review! Sorry for the skittishness. I had to reread myself a million times before I even felt comfortable enveloping my characters again! Thank you to all who reviewed and read! I appreciate you guys!

-Blu