FALLING in love

Chapter 21 - Night changes

Hadrien

Arriving at David's tattoo parlor the boys start backing out. I really don't know why I'm so surprised. Nate completely refuses to get a tattoo, and it might just be the drunkenness, but I'm pretty sure I can hear desperation in his voice. I get it, I guess. The boy doesn't have a single tattoo and no visible scars on his body. I can see why it's terrifying, but then why did he go along with it in the first place? Well, I guess he technically didn't as he kept telling us he wouldn't, but he still came along, and I don't think Luke really heard him when he said no earlier.

"Then it's just you and me, Pretty Face," I smile. It's ironic. Luke is a great guy, and we get along well, but there's always a hint of competition between us now. It wasn't like this when he first got here though. When he first came here after his quick impromptu transfer he was broken and kind of a shell. He didn't really know what he was doing most of the time and seemed like he just wanted to disappear. It wasn't good for the team and our game. So, Coach pulled me aside one day at practice and told me that I was to be Luke's mentor and to help him find his feet on the team and on campus. Nate and he clicked right away, and they were always together. I think Nate made it his job to make sure Luke felt included on the team. The whole moving-in-with-them was really Coach's doing. He wanted me close to Luke so I could guide him, and Nate naturally followed along as part of a package deal.

If he wanted to disappear, my solution was to make him the most visible guy on the team and on campus. He needed to get his confidence back and start believing in himself again. Both as a football player and in general. Let's face it, Luke's not a tough sell, so I took him under my wing and taught him everything I know, which is a lot when it comes to chicks and being the center of attention. I swear after a couple of weeks of me dragging him to every party, every bar, every everything he caught on faster than Hailey Kinsel rides in a barrel riding contest at a rodeo. And soon he didn't need me at all. I'll admit that I definitely encouraged him in the beginning, but I created a monster. That's when things between us changed, and he made it his mission to hook up with at least as many girls as me. If I had a girl hooked on my arm, you could be damn sure Luke would have one too, if not two. Not that it's really a difficult task for either of us, and I didn't really care if he wanted to keep up and get with as many girls as possible. But it almost felt like he was trying to impress me and eventually surpass me and now I don't really know what our friendship is. I still like helping him out and I hate to admit it, but I miss it. I know that he'll come to me if he's ever in real trouble. This whole Nancy-thing is frustrating to witness, and I really just wanna tell him the answer. But if life has ever taught me anything it is that you only learn from doing things yourself, by failing and getting back up again.

Nate on the other hand is so much easier to get along with, he ain't broken and shit, and has himself covered – most of the time, if Charlotte ain't around. There's nothing fragile about Nate that makes me worry, like I do with Luke, so most of the time he's easy to hang out with, and a good guy to get advice from about anything really. Though he and Luke are the same age, Nate is like an older soul and has a level of maturity and level-headedness that Luke doesn't. But Luke'll get there one day. In some ways, it would seem right if I was getting a tattoo with Nate but in reality, it makes all the sense in the world that I'm getting one with Luke.

"I'm not getting a stupid tattoo if Nate doesn't get one!" Luke insists out of the blue. "It should be all of us."

"Well, I never agreed to a tattoo," Nate protests.

"I feel like you did though," Luke insists with a pout.

"But I didn't."

"Come on Pretty Face. It doesn't have to be a Care Bear. It can be... I don't know. A polar bear?" I joke thinking that Luke only wants bear tattoos.