Head Down

Chapter 8

A/N: So I missed yesterday and I'm so sorry for that! Just to help me feel better I made this chapter extra long. Enjoy!

Comment, Vote, Fan if you like!

XOXO

KATIE'S POV

"What?" I ask Nate.

"Oh nothing, it's just they're my favorite too," he replies easily, still grinning like a crazy person -though its not like I could throw stones.

His explanation doesn't cover his obvious glee at the moment but I let it go with, "Spooky."

"Not really. What's your favorite movie?" he asks. I raise an eyebrow, and he says, "What? You're the only one aloud to ask random questions?"

Good point. I rack my brain for the few movies I've seen (John, money, etc.), and come up with, "E.T." It sounds like a question.

"A classic."

"I guess."

"No wolves in it though."

I look at him with the appropriate are you crazy face, and he just shrugs and continues his smiling.

A look out the window shows me that we are pulling up in the school lot. Its just as crowded as yesterday, with students milling about and getting all their energy out before class starts. The clock in Nate's car -which I somehow neglected to see yesterday- says its 7:17am. We're here early, and so is everyone else. Weird.

The song on the radio ends, and Nate pulls into the same spot from yesterday at about the same time. I find this very cool like the nerd I am, and smile a bit at the pleasure of everything pulling together perfectly.

"What is it?" asks Nate quietly.

The silly grin is gone and has been replaced by one of the softest looks I've ever seen on a person. I find myself staring at his unfairly beautiful face and notice little things that I didn't yesterday.

Like that his eyebrows, that are just barely visible under his black hair, have a bushy quality to them though aren't at all unibrowish. Or that the green eyes -that are currently staring right back at me- beneath them are very different from John's deep green ones with their light and almost luminescent shade, and are rimmed with some of the thickest lashes I've ever seen. That his skin isn't pale per se but not tan at all either which is fine with me, and is completely clear and smooth. And his lips-

I force myself to stop my inspection before I do something stupid like give in to my insanely, almost scarily intense urge to kiss him. I use all of my willpower turn away, and open my door a little more forcefully than necessary, and get out with a faint, "Nothing," before closing it behind me.

Nate still sits in the car with a clouded look of confusion, a little bit of shock, and something else I can't place, though the softness from a few moments ago is still present.

NATE'S POV

When I pull into my usual spot at school Katie smiles a smile I haven't seen before. It relaxes her whole face -that I hadn't even realized was tense- and gives her a sort of glow, taking away the emotional guards she had up for a moment. It's not huge or even obvious, just a simple little pull at the corner of her lips that makes her seem much happier.

"What is it?" I ask, because I have to know what made her smile like that. That simple, basic action of her pulled at my heart strings in the oddest -and most severe- way, and I didn't even notice anything to cause it.

And how am I supposed to make her smile like that again if I don't know what did it?

She turns to look at me, and immediately I get lost in studying her face for quite some time -though not at all long enough.