You Can Find Me In The Space Between

Chapter Ten

Julie was wrong. Pete was not happy. He was pissed off in fact. He seemed to have missed the whole 'I dumped him' and instead focused on the 'he was cheating on me'. He was pacing across the living room while the others followed him with their eyes. Sometimes, it was best just to let Pete do his thing – or at least that had worked when he was Luke.

Benji had tried, unsuccessfully, to change the subject, but Pete wouldn't have it. The rest of the group looked at Julie – she was the only one would could get him to snap out of this. There were various approaches she could take; she thought about singing one of their old songs, pretending to fall down the stairs, play the video of Luke as a little kid which had some pretty embarrassing moments, bring out some food, or like, passionately kiss him. As much as she liked the last option, she didn't really want to do that in front of everyone else. She did have another option, but it wasn't really a great one. Though it would take his mind off of Pete. She hoped he wouldn't get mad at her for what she was about to do.

She looked at the girls and pretended as if Pete wasn't there. She took a deep breath and began to whisper very loudly. "I should have known better. He just wasn't as great as... you know who." Pete didn't stop, but he did slow his pace, and his ears had perked. Flynn and Carrie gave Julie a confused look. Julie took another deep breath. "You know what I'm talking about Carrie. Nick was a much better kisser."

It had the desired effect. Pete abruptly stopped walking and spun to face Julie. "YOU DATED NICKLEBACK? SERIOUSLY JULIE! WHY! THAT GUY IS THE WORST. Didn't I mean anything to you? How could you do that to me? You could have dated anyone, and you clearly did with Grant... but why him? Why Jules?" Pete's voice had gone from angry to devastated

Benji, Carrie, Flynn, and Carlos all stared with wide eyes and open mouths. Flynn was the first to snap out of it. "Jules! Why didn't you ever tell me!" Pete was now furrowing his brows. How could Julie not have told her best friend? This clearly wasn't the Julie he had known and loved. She would never have done that... was she being possessed?! Oh god, he really had hoped all of that stuff was behind them.

***

It was raining. Again. It always rained here, but that didn't make it any less depressing. Nathaniel Rinehart watched the dark sky through the pub's window, dreading the moment when he would have to go outside and get absolutely drenched.

"Earth to Nate!"

Nate shook his head and turned to look at his friend sitting across the table from him. Fiona Smith had long red hair, long legs, and long lashes. Every guy in the pub kept shooting Nate envious looks – if only they knew. Fiona wasn't his type... mostly because she was a girl.

"C'mon Nate – we need to study. Our final is tomorrow and I don't want to have to pull an all nightery just to pass." Fiona complained.

Nate made a face, but picked up his notes and textbook and they started quizzing each other. Fiona gave up after half an hour as Nate's clearly wasn't focusing. "I'm going to grab another cider. You want anything?"

"Nah." Nate replied. "Oh wait! Can you grab some more of those parmesan and truffle oil chips?"

Fiona laughed. "I was already planning on it. I know you too well Rinehart!"

Nate was grateful for Fiona. She grounded him. He sometimes felt like his life was a dream – not to say that it was perfect, but that he kept on expecting to wake up and be back in his old life... whatever that was.

It was the strangest thing. A few months ago, he found himself in what he later discovered was a university dorm. He was immediately confused. He couldn't remember what he was doing there... or how he got there. In fact, as hard as he tried, he couldn't remember anything. He felt as if there were these memories that he could almost catch a glimpse of, but whenever he tried to focus on them, they disappeared.

He had been looking around the room, searching for some clue as to what to do, when there came a noise from an open laptop. It was strange, he couldn't think of who he was, but he knew what things were and how to use them. He walked over to the computer, and saw a single email sitting in his inbox.

Mr. Nathaniel Rinehart,

The email began. As there was no one else in the room, he supposed that must have been his name.

I apologize for the current situation. I imagine this must be extremely confusing for you. I would encourage you to embrace this as a fresh start. Life is not always kind to those who are different, and sometimes, it is better to leave the hurt in the past. It is important that you know that you have done nothing wrong, but your suffering was due to the ignorance and prejudices of others. And while I know there was joy, there was too much pain in between to truly give you another chance to live your life to the fullest.

Nate had read the paragraph a few times. Some part of him knew that he should be panicked, or go to the police... or maybe a shrink? But he felt as if he was being given a gift, and that there was nothing to be afraid of. He felt a small sense of sadness and disappointment and not knowing the joy he was talking about, but he felt strangely at peace, as if he had nothing to be anxious about.

I am sure you have many questions, but I unfortunately am not able to give you the answers you seek.

You had been robbed of this opportunity in life, so your university tuition and accommodations have been paid for, and a job had been set up for you at the campus book store.

Mr. Rinehart, I wish you all the best in your new life.

- Michael

Nate must have read that email 30 times. Each time he read it though, he felt calm. And he felt as if that hadn't been a common feeling in his past.

After reading the email, someone had knocked on his door. He opened the door and stared curiously at the girl in front of him.

"Hey, I'm Fiona – my room is next door. Thought I would introduce myself to the new guy." She said with a big smile.

"Oh, hello. Nathaniel Rinehart." He said, unsure of how else to respond.

She cocked an eyebrow and studied him. "Are you a Lord, or like a Baron or somehow related to the Royal Family?" Fiona asked quizzically.

"Not that I'm aware of." He answered.

Fiona laughed, mistaking his honesty for a joke. "Well then I think Nathaniel is a little too formal. How do you do, Nate?" She stuck out her hand.

Grinning back, he shook her hand. "Better now." And he meant it. He was going to follow this mysterious Michael's advice, and live life to the fullest.

They had been making small talk when a sound interrupted them. Another young man from their floor was walking to the public bathroom, with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. Seeing the two, he gave a shy flirtatious smile and a small nod. "God – it should be illegal for someone that good looking to walk around like that." Fiona mumbled under her breath.

"I couldn't agree more." Nate replied. A beat of silence and then they both burst out laughing.

"Looks like I've found my wingman," Fiona said, while nudging Alex with her shoulder.

And just like that, the two had become best friends.

"Your heart will take you places your head won't fit" - Bill Johnson