Nothing More - Sam Kiszka

Chapter 10

Natalia found herself between a rock and a hard place before she knew it. It started with a gift, a small gesture from Sam that made her anxiety spike.

She had invited him over to watch a movie and have dinner after class, implying that he could stay the night in extending the offer. When he arrived, he brought a beautiful bouquet of flowers, ones that looked like they had been picked just that morning. Upon asking, he told her that he saw a stand on his way over and they reminded him of her, so he picked them up. The gesture, while sweet as could be, triggered the warning lights in her mind that told her to run.

By now, that was about 5 days ago, but she had barely spoken to him since. She found an excuse for him not to stay that night, and all of the nights after that as well. Natalia knew that if she explained that receiving flowers made her feel like he cared too much about her, she would look like an idiot.

"Normal people don't run after someone does something nice for them, Lynn." She says, sitting on the couch across from her best friend as she glides polish onto Ashlynn's nails carefully.

"Right, but you also agreed not to take this beyond friendship from what you told me. You're not into commitment, it felt like commitment, and it scared you off. Simple."

She sighs and shakes her head, moving to the next nail, "That's not it, I don't think so at least. I don't know, I feel kind of bad for ghosting him."

"Well," Ashlynn starts, watching Natalia as she focuses solely on the nails in front of her, "the other option is that you liked it, deep down, and that's what's freaking you out. That's what I think this really is."

"Well, yeah, everyone likes getting flo-"

"You know I'm not talking about him giving you flowers. It's not that surface level. It made you feel special and loved, like he felt something for you, and you liked it more than you'll admit because you're afraid that saying it out loud makes it real."

If Ashlynn and Sam had one similarity, it was telling it how it is. They had met multiple times at this point since Natalia told Ashlynn about the whole relationship they had going on. They got along perfectly fine and even had a movie night with all three of them about a week back. Ashlynn knew Natalia like the back of her hand, though, so it wasn't for her to see how petrified she was of the progression of their relationship.

Ashlynn was quick to grab Natalia's phone from the table with her free hand, unlocking it and clicking on Sam's contact. "Fix it, Nat."

Before she can protest, the phone is in her hand after the call button had already been hit. Ashlynn gets up and blows her best friend a kiss before going into the bathroom to finish her nails and give Natalia some privacy.

"Hello?" she hears on the other side, Sam's voice sounding cold and uninterested.

"Hey, what's up?" she couldn't have picked anything worse to say, she thought.

"What do you mean what's up Natalia? You've been ignoring me for like a week."

Once she heard him say it, it sunk in how much she had messed this up. She sighs and takes a few seconds to think before speaking back up. "Just, are you busy? Can we talk about this in person?"

She could hear him sigh and move around, then a door closing behind him, before being silent for a little while.

"Sam?" she asks, not being able to tell if he had hung up on her.

"Just come over in 30 minutes, I'm not home yet."

And with that, the line went dead.

-

Her knuckles knocked against the wooden door as she tried to calm her nerves. After a few seconds, the brown-haired boy stood in front of her, looking her over before stepping aside. "Come in," he mutters, closing the door behind her when she does.

She slips her jacket off and sets it on the rack before looking up at Sam awkwardly. "So..."

"If you'd like to start explaining now, I have things to get to."

She knew he would have an attitude, but his chilling tone still shocked her.

"I don't really know where to start," she says quietly, playing with her hands as she watches him cross his arms over his chest and lean against the wall.

"You could start with making something up so I'd leave the other night, then maybe you could move into ignoring me for what? 4? 5 days? Then the random call wanting to talk today. But you know, however you want to go about this."

"You don't need to be an asshole, just let me explain myself." He opened his mouth to speak but she was quick to raise a finger to silence him. "Like I said, let me explain myself. That means no interrupting. Can we sit?"

He looks around a little bit before shaking his head, "just be quick, okay? I have stuff to do."

She raises her eyebrows, looking at his flustered expression. "What's your problem? Why do you want me out?" She could tell something was up, but he wasn't saying anything about it.

"Natalia, just talk."

His expression had changed, he almost looked guilty. No, he looked completely guilty. Her stomach turns as she studies his face for a moment longer, finally piecing the situation together. The messy hair, the rushed conversation, making her wait half an hour when she knew he didn't have a class.

When she started to make her way to his bedroom, he tried desperately to stop her, holding her arm without hurting her, but she was strong enough to keep moving. She opens the door to see a girl laying in his bed, watching tv with the sheets over her obviously bare body. The girl looks up quickly, going wide-eyed before pulling the sheets up as Sam waits for the incoming explosion.

Natalia turns to look back at him, nodding her head in understanding. "Yeah, fuck you. Fuck everything that happened between us, it's done. We're done."

She never raised her voice, screaming at him wouldn't benefit her and he wasn't worth it at this point. She was out of the apartment in seconds, in her car with her forehead against the steering wheel.

Everything she thought was right. The second she found herself overthinking things, he would just find someone new. Just like she always told herself, everyone and everything is temporary.