𝚃𝚘𝚛𝚗- ᑕ0ᗰᑭᒪᗴ丅ᗴ

ch 9: nate

"Stupid locker..."

I huffed and mumbled under my breath after what felt like the hundredth attempt to open my locker after first period.

"These things can get stuck sometimes; you gotta know how to jiggle it just right. Need some help?"

"Uh, sure..."

I watched as the guy took my schedule and read my combo before twisting the dial. After the third turn, he knocked under the dial and opened my locker expertly.

"And that's how you do it."

"Thanks, man. I would've been stuck forever."

"No problem. I'm Max, by the way."

He stuck out his hand and as I shook it, he smiled at me.

"Nathan."

"Good to meet you, Nathan. Hey, we've got second period together. Wanna walk together? I can kinda show you around... if you want."

A genuine smile was on my face a second later as I nodded and swapped out my books.

"Thanks, man, but are you sure? I mean... most people tend to gravitate towards my brother."

After closing his own locker, Max turned to me and smirked.

"Yeah? Well, I'm not most people."

✨

Max and I had almost made it to our next class when we turned the corner and my world stopped.

"Flower..."

Stopping dead in my tracks, I couldn't help but stare down the hall at the only girl I'd been dying to talk to the past year. After noticing that I had stopped, Max held back and looked over at what I was staring at.

"That's Sunny Jaymes Prescott-- but everybody calls her Jay-- and she's only like the nicest-coolest-most popular girl in school and she's only a sophomore!"

"Flower!"

My voice carried down the hall and when Sunny looked at me, her smile fell. Max looked at me with pure curiosity written on his face.

"Wait, what?"

Max looked back and forth between me and Sunny before it finally clicked for him.

"Hold on-- do you know Jay?"

I held my hand up slowly, awkwardly waving at her and when she shook her head and turned her back to me, I felt two inches tall.

She walked away without a second glance, and I knew she was still mad at me.

"Something like that..."

🖤

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕩𝕥 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣'𝕤 𝕘𝕠𝕟𝕟𝕒 𝕓𝕖 𝕒 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕕𝕠𝕠𝕫𝕪...