In a world of choice (𝐻𝑒𝓃𝓇𝓎 𝒷𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓇𝓈 𝓍 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓇)

14- An evening with Nate.

As I walked into the art classroom for my last lesson of the day, expecting to see an empty seat next to where I usually sat, but contrary to what i assumed, I saw a familiar boy.
I grinned and shook my head, whilst walking over to him, this boy with the blue hair, leaning back in his seat, his arms crossed behind his head.
"Well well well, Look who decided to turn up." I say, grinning at Nate.
He chuckled and shook his head, "Well, I have been informed by my mother, that education now days...is very important." He said, mocking seriousness.
I chuckled and sat down in my normal seat that I never knew, until now, was next to Nate.
"I guess she's right, really." I shrugged and Nate gave a thoughtful sideways nod.
"So, you any good at this class?" He said, resting his head on his hand.
I chuckle, "Not really no." I admit.
He grins, "Then that's one thing we have in common then."
Throughout the lesson me and Nate engaged in multiple conversations, they were mostly based on boxing or art. Though there was a small frame of time where I was complaining about the annoyance Richie caused me on a daily basis, and Nate completely understood because apparently Ryder and Carlos 'weren't no prize either.'

The time flew by in art, and before either of us knew it, the teacher was already telling us to tidy away our art supplies. Not that that mattered really, me and Nate didn't draw a single line, paint a single picture or write a single word, we just talked throughout the entire lesson, ignoring the passing glances from certain serious individuals that were trying hard to deeply concentrate.

"So, I assume that you aren't going to boxing today then? Nate said stretching his arms above his head.

I shook my head, "Nope, not today."
"You just gonna head home then?" Nate inquired, tilting his head to the side a fraction.

"Probably," I said, frowning a little in curiosity, "Why?"

He shrugged, "Just wondered if maybe you wanted to hang out after school, since I have a day off that is..."
My eyes widened a little, this was unexpected. "Oh, well... I mean, sure. If that's alright that is..."
"Of course it's alright. You can tell me all about your big fight without me in gym yesterday." He said with a grin before giving me a wink.

I rolled my eyes, "It wasn't a fight, well I mean it kinda was, but... yeah..."  I said awkwardly.

He chuckles and puts a hand on my shoulder as we stand up, "I'm just messing with you."

"So," I start whilst picking up my bag from the floor, "Where are we going to go?"
He remains silent for a few short seconds, obviously thinking in depth, "The diner... Let's go to the diner. It's generally  pretty quiet in there, and you can tell me about your "fight". " Nate says grinning.

I nod and return his smile, and at just that moment the bell rang. I quickly pulled my phone out of my pocket a rapidly typed out and sent a message to Beverly

Y/n- hey, gonna hang out with Nate today, so I'll see you guys tomorrow okay?
Bev- Yeah that's okay, have fun and don't do anything I wouldn't 😉
Y/n- lol okay 😂✨ byee 👋
Bev- 👋

"Thanks." I said, as Nate held the exit door open for me.
"No problem." He said casually, finally letting go of the door after we both were outside.
"Hey Nate! Wait up!" A male voice yelled from somewhere nearby.
I looked around and saw Carlos and Ryder running up to Nate, I looked over at my blue haired friend and saw him grin but roll his eyes slightly, causing me to chuckle.
"Where bouts' you off to??" Carlos said, draping an arm around Nates' shoulders.
Nate raised an eyebrow at him, "Well we're going to the diner right now..." Nate said as Ryder finally caught up with Carlos and joined us on the front steps of the school as people started to file out.
Carlos removed his arm from around Nate's shoulders and gave him a slap on the back, wearing a big grin.
"Oh that's awesome. I'm absolutely STARVING!" Carlos says, making me laugh slightly.
Ryder rolled his eyes, "Carl, you literally just ate. You stole the sandwich I was saving for later."
Carlos grinned slightly sheepishly, "Bro, I deserved that sandwich, it was taxing work trying, and succeeding I'd like to add, to win at chess against you."
Ryder crossed his arms over his chest and gave Carlos a peeved look, "And I want you to admit that you cheated."
Carlos rolled his eyes, "I want you to admit you're a sore loser. And you know what?"
Ryder was quiet for a few seconds,
"...what?"
A big mischievous grin spread across Carlos' face, "that sandwich... was absolutely awesome."
Ryder let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head. He resisted at first but quite soon after, he was laughing about it with the rest of us.
"So," Carlos said, clapping his hands together, "we going then?"
Nate hesitated for a second with a, more than likely, unintentional sheepish look on his face. He stumbled over his words a few times, before Carlos let out a lone chuckle, "You mean just you and y/n, right?"
Nate let out a small grin, "if that's alright then... yeah?"
Carlos chuckled and slapped Nate's back for the second time already, "yeah that's cool- we don't mind at all, do we?" Carlos said, directing the question to Ryder who shook his head in agreement with Carlos,
"Yeah, that's cool. We don't mind. Anyway, we were going to hang out at my place today and work on our science projects for next week." Ryder admitted to Nate, which in turn, got a hefty eye roll from Carlos.
"But we don't need to do them today, we've literally got until next week, late next week at that." Carlos complained.
Ryder gave me and Nate an exasperated look, "You two get going." He smiled, jabbing his head off school grounds.
Carlos chuckled, "Yeah have fun. But you owe me Nate." He joked.
Nate put an arm around my shoulder and lead me away from his peculiar, yet funny, friends.
"I'm sorry about them." He sighed once we were far enough away for them not to hear.
I chuckled, "They obviously appreciate you a lot."
Nate looked at me, a curious eyebrow raised, "You think so?"
I nodded my head, "M hm."
It was right then that we were interrupted by an almost obnoxiously loud car exhaust and engine, stopping right in front of me and Nate, just as we were about to cross the road and finally be off school grounds.
I wasn't really paying attention at first but when I finally focused on what was happening. I felt a slight air of something that felt a lot like awkwardness and Embarrassment as the drivers door opened to reveal Henry with a look I just couldn't quite place.
He looked angry, very angry at that... but there was a slight glimmer of... hurt in his eyes.
At least, that's what it looked like to me.
Henry's eyes flickered to me, then to Nate, and then to Nate's arm around my shoulder.
Henry's eyes narrowed slightly and he gruffly cleared his throat, "Y/n, you coming?"
I looked down slightly before looking back up at him again, "I can't right now, I've kinda... got plans you see..."
He did a quick rise and fall of his eyebrows and pursed his lips.
He looked beyond pissed off.
"So I can see..." he grumbled, "You two going anywhere special together?? Hmm?! You two planning your fancy dates whilst I've been waiting for you to turn up for like forever?! Look at you two, you can't fucking keep your hands off each other. That's totally typical of you y/n..."