Rehabilitation

17

I dragged Nathan out of bed again the next morning.

"Why do we have to go sooooo early," he groaned sounding sleepy.

"I just don't like being late, okay?"

He groaned but got out of bed and we walked to the community centre.

A few sofas had been abandoned on the roof and we'd made a sort of hang out spot. During our break I sat on one of the sofas and scrolled through my phone.

The door swung open and I looked over to see Nathan striding through the doorway. I turned my phone off and put it in my pocket.

"Hey," I said as he sat down opposite me.

"Hi," Nathan sighed, "This whole 'I don't date pricks thing', I've got a couple questions,"

I laughed softly and said, "Go on."

"First of all, I don't believe you."

"That's not a question," I said bluntly.

He stared at me, "Fine. Why are you lying?"

I rolled my eyes and smiled, "I'm not. You're just going to have to deal with the fact that you're not my type."

I expected him to get offended but his smile just got wider. He stood up from the sofa and walked over to me. He stopped directly in front of me. His leg brushed lightly against my knee and I tried to not think into the touch too much. His head was almost directly above me and I tilted my head up to look at him.

"I'm not your type huh?" He whispered.

He leaned down slightly, placing his hand on the back of the sofa. His head was close to mine  and I could feel the warm air of his breath on my lips. I shook my head slightly, unable to speak.

"I find that hard to believe," He breathed, "Look at what I do to you just by standing here."

I breathed unevenly as he spoke. I couldn't deny it, his presence leaning over me like that made my whole body heat up.

He pulled away and stood up straight. He shook himself off and the intense look on his face morphed into amusement. He smirked at me before walking away, leaving me complete speechless and breathless.

~~~

We were still sorting through the pile of clothes but the pile was getting smaller by the hour. I hadn't spoken to Nathan since what he'd said earlier. I couldn't tell if he was just teasing me or if he was trying to get me to like him. I realised I was staring at him and got up to go to the toilet.

When I came out of the toilet I was about to make my way back to the others when I heard Sally, our probation worker, speaking, "Wow, cool shirt."

I paused before turning the corner, trying to listen in.

There was a pause of awkward silence before she spoke again, "That colour really suits you."
Wow, she was terrible at flirting.

"You shouldn't let what the others say hurt you, they are all twats but you're...different."

Who was she talking to?

I heard someone respond to her, "Thanks."

I heard movement and pulled my phone out, pretending I hadn't been listening. I looked up from my phone and saw Simon. He was wearing a denim blue shirt. He noticed me but kept walking.

What the hell. Sally had been talking to Simon? Not just talking to him. Flirting with him.
Sally came round the corner a moment later and eyed me suspiciously.

I waited a moment for Sally to walk off before following Simon. He was walking quickly up to  roof.

I emerged on the roof right behind Simon. They were all there. Curtis, Kelly and Alisha were sat on the sofas and Nathan was stood up staring hard at a glass bottle on the floor.

"We've got a problem," Simon announced.

"Will you shut up," Nathan said, trying to hold his concentration, "I nearly had it."

I scoffed, realising that he was trying to break the bottle with his mind.

"Bullshit," Nathan yelled, "I almost had it." Nathan walked over to the bottle and kicked it. It smashed as it hit the ground.

"We've got a problem," Simon repeated.

Nathan ignored him again, "I know i've got a power, I can feel it in my balls."

"They're going to dig up the bodies," Simon snapped.

That got Nathan's attention.

"What?" I said.

"They're building an environmental monitoring station under the flyover,"

"They're building a what?" Nathan scrunched his face up in confusion, "That sounds made up. Are we supposed to know what that is?"

"It's to measure the carbon monoxide levels from the flyover, when they dig the foundations they'll find the bodies."

"We have to move them," I said.

"Couple of questions," Nathan said, "How? Where? Are you out of your mind?"

"We cant just leave them there, they'll find them." I responded.

"Whereas digging them up and wandering round with them, that's a real low risk strategy."

"You got a better idea?" Curtis argued.

"We need a car," Simon said.

"Have you got a car," Nathan snapped back.

"No." Simon muttered.

"Come on, we're a bunch of young offenders and not one of us knows how to steal a car. That is pathetic," Nathan said.

"Look, i'll borrow my dads car," Alisha said, starting to get annoyed.

I hated myself for thinking that it would all be over now that we had buried the bodies. I felt the pang off nausea I'd felt when we buried them. And now we were going to dig them up again.