phone starts to vibrate almost immediately in my hand again. I hit the reject button and then hit the power down button so I won’t get anymore incoming calls. I grab a gray hoodie, quickly slip it over my head, and slide my phone into my pocket.
I glance at Mo who’s sitting on my bed, looking over at me with his ears perked up in a curious way.
“Shh,” I mouth to him, moving my finger up to my lips, “not a word.”
I then tiptoe over to my door and open it slowly. I look up and down the hall to make sure no one is there. Yup, coast is clear. I tiptoe into the dim light of the hallway and gently close the door behind me.
I love Angelina and I know she’s just looking out for me. I know all the risks, but I can’t help myself. I need to see Nathan. And I need to see him now.
Chapter Six
The school is only about a ten-minute walk from my aunt’s hotel. With each step I take on the concrete I can feel my pulse racing faster and faster. I am clearly not in the best state of mind, but I don’t care. I know I can trust Nathan. And I know if I explain the situation to him he won’t tell my dad or Missy he talked to me. We’ll figure it out together. We’ll figure everything out together.
God, I like the sound of that. That’s all I’ve wanted all along, to be able to explain everything I’ve gone through these past few months to him. And for him to tell me everything is going to be okay, that we’ll make it thorough whatever comes next together, no matter what it takes. I know he has a girlfriend now, but he has no idea what happened to me. He thought I just left him. When he knows what really happened I’m sure it will all be different. It has to be different.
I keep saying this over and over to myself as I get closer and closer to the school.
But the truth is, somewhere way below the surface, somewhere deep down in my soul, I can feel something else. Pain. He’s with someone else now. And I wish somehow, someway, it could be me. But it’s more than that. He gave up on me. A part of him must believe that I could somehow do something like that to him, just get up and leave without saying a word. Otherwise he would have never moved on to Katie, or to anyone else for that matter.
I exhale the static I feel in my body and brace myself for what’s to come as I approach the school. It’s still dark outside, and as I walk up the sidewalk toward the front doors of the school I get an almost eerie feeling. It looks the same, yet so different somehow. Same structure, same foundation, same bricks, yet so different. I give myself a minute to take it all in. A minute to deal with the fact that I’m back here when deep down I feared I never would be again. I take a deep breath and pick my feet up, climbing each step slowly and carefully.
The gym is at the front of the school, right across from the main office, and I know this is where the basketball team holds their practices. What am I going to do though? It’s not like I can just walk into the gym and say, excuse me Nathan, can I please talk to you? The coach will probably rip my head off and throw it across the gym floor for interrupting his team’s practice, especially with the state finals coming up.
The state finals. I can’t believe he’s actually done it. Before Nathan transferred here there was no hope for our school’s basketball team in any way, shape, or form. But Nathan has changed all that. He completely transformed the team. And now, apparently, he’s leading them to a state championship for the first time in our school’s history. I can only imagine how crazy our school is getting with excitement over the news. I can’t help but feel happy for him, proud of him even. I know how important this accomplishment is to him.
I glance around the school one last time and then walk toward the main entrance. I figure I might as well get inside and see what I can do. I tug on the big front door, trying to swing it open. Nothing. I sigh and pull
I glance at Mo who’s sitting on my bed, looking over at me with his ears perked up in a curious way.
“Shh,” I mouth to him, moving my finger up to my lips, “not a word.”
I then tiptoe over to my door and open it slowly. I look up and down the hall to make sure no one is there. Yup, coast is clear. I tiptoe into the dim light of the hallway and gently close the door behind me.
I love Angelina and I know she’s just looking out for me. I know all the risks, but I can’t help myself. I need to see Nathan. And I need to see him now.
Chapter Six
The school is only about a ten-minute walk from my aunt’s hotel. With each step I take on the concrete I can feel my pulse racing faster and faster. I am clearly not in the best state of mind, but I don’t care. I know I can trust Nathan. And I know if I explain the situation to him he won’t tell my dad or Missy he talked to me. We’ll figure it out together. We’ll figure everything out together.
God, I like the sound of that. That’s all I’ve wanted all along, to be able to explain everything I’ve gone through these past few months to him. And for him to tell me everything is going to be okay, that we’ll make it thorough whatever comes next together, no matter what it takes. I know he has a girlfriend now, but he has no idea what happened to me. He thought I just left him. When he knows what really happened I’m sure it will all be different. It has to be different.
I keep saying this over and over to myself as I get closer and closer to the school.
But the truth is, somewhere way below the surface, somewhere deep down in my soul, I can feel something else. Pain. He’s with someone else now. And I wish somehow, someway, it could be me. But it’s more than that. He gave up on me. A part of him must believe that I could somehow do something like that to him, just get up and leave without saying a word. Otherwise he would have never moved on to Katie, or to anyone else for that matter.
I exhale the static I feel in my body and brace myself for what’s to come as I approach the school. It’s still dark outside, and as I walk up the sidewalk toward the front doors of the school I get an almost eerie feeling. It looks the same, yet so different somehow. Same structure, same foundation, same bricks, yet so different. I give myself a minute to take it all in. A minute to deal with the fact that I’m back here when deep down I feared I never would be again. I take a deep breath and pick my feet up, climbing each step slowly and carefully.
The gym is at the front of the school, right across from the main office, and I know this is where the basketball team holds their practices. What am I going to do though? It’s not like I can just walk into the gym and say, excuse me Nathan, can I please talk to you? The coach will probably rip my head off and throw it across the gym floor for interrupting his team’s practice, especially with the state finals coming up.
The state finals. I can’t believe he’s actually done it. Before Nathan transferred here there was no hope for our school’s basketball team in any way, shape, or form. But Nathan has changed all that. He completely transformed the team. And now, apparently, he’s leading them to a state championship for the first time in our school’s history. I can only imagine how crazy our school is getting with excitement over the news. I can’t help but feel happy for him, proud of him even. I know how important this accomplishment is to him.
I glance around the school one last time and then walk toward the main entrance. I figure I might as well get inside and see what I can do. I tug on the big front door, trying to swing it open. Nothing. I sigh and pull
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