The Tuition Fee

Chapter 36: March, Year 4

Nathaniel

I don't know what I owe the Walker's for letting us stay at the lake house for Spring Break, but I am willing to pay almost anything for it. These past two and a half months have been absolute, shit-faced hell. Mr. Macer passing away was heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, and terrible. My mother, in all her stunning glory, lead the charge through the darkness. She let Mrs. Macer stay with her from the night her husband passed to a week after the funeral. They found solace and friendship in each other I don't think any of us, least of all them, were expecting. I know it made Alina a little lighter to know she had someone her mom could call to talk to besides her. 

But we had made it out to the other side. We battled our way through mid-terms and came out positive on the other side. To celebrate, Alina and I, plus Reese and Marissa went out to dinner, a well-deserved reprieve for all of us. Alina was smiling a little more now, and I knew it helped her to be around her best friend. It was also that dinner that Reese suggested the four of us relax at the lake house for one last hurrah to college since somehow, his baseball scheduled had allowed him some extra time off. 

Alina and I got here a day early because, as the surrogate son to the Walkers, I knew the security codes to get in. Naturally, the first thing Alina did was drop her stuff in her room and go to lay on the hammock. 

"Do you want to do anything today?" I asked her, stretching out on a lounge chair I'd dragged next to her. There was a slight chill to the air but I'd braved putting shorts on to get some sun on my skin. 

She rocks back and forth, her eyes closed as a breeze rustles her hair. "I'm doing it," she jokes lightly. I nudged her with my foot and she swats me away, opening her eyes to turn her face to me. "No, there's nothing I want to do today. We don't need to go to the store, or do laundry, or anything but relax. But if there's something  you want to do, I am willing to negotiate getting up." 

This makes me laugh and I lean back, looking up at the blue sky of late afternoon. Did I want to do anything? Having a moment of free time, a moment to breathe, I didn't know what to do with myself. The boat was back in the lake so we could take it out if we wanted to, but I wasn't sure I did with no one else here. "What do you want to do for dinner?" I try instead. 

"S'mores." 

Now I actually laugh. "Really? I mean, I guess that can be arranged. Do you want to roast some hotdogs or something before hand? Protein and all that?" 

Alina heaves a dramatic sigh, throwing out her arms. "I guess." Her hand finds my leg and lands on my thigh, palm up. I lace my fingers with hers, looking over to smile at her but her eyes are closed, face turned towards the sun. She cut her hair last week to just below her shoulders and I love running my fingers through the shortened strands, now glowing golden in the sunshine. I love every part of her, but I love her more now than I think I did before. She's one of the strongest people I've ever known, and I admire her more and more for it every day. 

"Why are you looking at me?" She asks, still not opening her eyes. 

Busted. "Just admiring you," I answer honestly. She cracks an eye open, eyebrow raised in question. "You just look good, that's all. Better. Healthy." 

Now both her eyes are on me, a smile tugging at her lips. "Most of that thanks to you." 

I shake my head, rubbing circles into the back of her hand with my thumb. "No love, that was you." I raise her hand to my lips and kiss the back of her hand. "It was all you. Come here." I tug her gently and she rises from the hammock before falling into my lap, face pressed into my neck. Her arms wrap around me and for the first time I become painfully aware of how alone we are out here. The house is mostly secluded. The Walker's won't be coming up. Reese and Marissa won't be here until late tomorrow morning. It is just us, and suddenly my hands are shaking.