The boy inside the matrix box

20

Baby, you know you mean the world to me

That's why I can't keep you in this situation

I Don't Wanna To Hurt You – Latif

Three knocks on his bedroom door wake Nataniel from his torpor. Bart slips his head through the doorway.

"Nessie's here for you, man."

Then he steps aside and the girl enters the room. Surprised, Nataniel straightens up and sits cross-legged on the bed.

"Hey, love."

"I was worried, Nat. You haven't answered my calls or the boys' texts."

He searches the shapeless mass of his sheets for his mobile phone but can't find it. "I'm sorry. I don't know where I put my phone. What did you want?"

Instead of answering, she opens the window to air out the room. "You should see the state of your eyes," she sighs, "you look like a junkie, Nat."

"You're exaggerating."

"I'm not. So, you've just been smoking all day?"

"You fill your weekends as best you can..."

"The weekend? Nat, it's Tuesday night!"

"Tuesday night? No, no, it's Sunday."

"I can assure you it's not. When you didn't come to school one day and you didn't answer our messages, we thought it was probably nothing serious - that you were probably with Seven. But since you didn't show up today either, I called Seven. He was in class."

"You called Seven?" shouts Nataniel, jumping out of bed.

"Yes, it seemed logical."

"No, no, no! Why did you do that?"

"Because you weren't answering your own phone, Nat! What's wrong with me asking Seven if you were with him? I thought you guys made up."

"You... Rah! What did you say to him, exactly?"

"Just that I was looking for you and wanted to know if you were together."

"And what did he say?"

"Just that he was in class. What's wrong with you, Nat?"

Nataniel drops back onto his bed with a sigh and pats the empty space beside him with his hand. Nessie sits up in silence. Noticing Nataniel's research on his computer and the symptoms he has listed in a notebook, she questions him with her eyes.

"What is it? Is it... something to do with your mother?"

"No, not my mother... Seven."

"Seven?" She glances back at the Internet pages. "What do you mean, Seven?

"Her mother came to see me earlier. Well, Sunday... She said that Seven and I should stop seeing each other. Because he's sick and relationships are like poison to him. I... Just read what's on my computer."

Quickly, Nessie scrolls through the various medical articles and then reads the page from Nataniel's notebook.

"Shit," she finally says.

"You said it," Nataniel replies with a sardonic laugh.

"And... have you discussed this with Seven?"

"No, I haven't. His mother was going to tell him that I know. She says he'll want to stop seeing me himself once he knows his secret is not safe anymore."