ECHOES OF YOU

Chapter Seven

Nathan’s POV

I wasn’t eager to come back. I’d left with my dad after the divorce and I knew things were not going to be the same. My brother and I were not at all close. He was one year older than me and he was known for his narcissistic nature. So, coming back to an ego-filled narcissistic brother and mother wasn’t quite on my high-school to-do list.

My dad had remarried just before I joined high school. Things at home became messy and so I had to move back to live with my mom. She’d said she’d never let another woman raise her children so long as she was alive. Which made me think about why she’d let me go in the first place. I was way closer to my dad until his new wife came in, but our relationship even after I moved back to live with my mom was still solid.

Things quite happened first after that. I had to go to a new school and start making friends all over again. It was already hard in my former school and now I had to do it again in a school where my brother had taken dominion over it. Honestly, my life wasn’t taking the turn I’d expected it to take. For one I wasn’t even close to my brother, he was my rival in everything. He always wanted to be one step ahead of me. I guess it made him feel superior one way or another.

But then, something happened. I was called in by the principal to tutor one of the students. Since I was new, I barely knew anyone, so I was kind of nervous to do it. Until I walked into her office. The dark-haired girl sitting across from the principal was what caught my eye.

Although she kind of looked homeless or someone who was attacked by a stray dog, there’s something about her that was intriguing. Maybe it was her eyes, they seemed kind of empty but somewhere in there you could see a spark. Or maybe it was her wild personality. She seemed to be the kind of girl who didn’t care about anything at all. She only wanted to live in the moment. And for a moment I felt at ease knowing I was going to be her tutor. Well until I saw how cold she was towards me. That made me more motivated.

When I went back to class, I couldn’t help but ask around about her. No one seemed to know who she was, or my description of her might have been wrong.  For The rest of the day, I could not find anything about her, and I still couldn’t wait to see her that evening.

I was so excited about this that I went to the library thirty minutes earlier. This girl had left quite an impression on me. She’d said she didn’t like waiting so I wasn’t going to make her wait. All I could think about the entire day was her. Maybe I could get something good from this move.

I watched as she entered the library and I noticed that she was just crying. Anyone could see how puffy her eyelids were. She sat next to me and I just didn’t know what to say to her. I didn’t even know why she was so sad, so how was I supposed to comfort her? All I could do was smile at her.

“Aren’t you here early?” she asked sarcastically.

“Well, a certain someone said she doesn’t like waiting,” I said and I saw her smiling.

I could see the spark in her eyes brighten now. I guess whatever had happened to her had deemed her light. She was in a dark place and she didn’t think anyone could see her. But I did. It might have been because I could relate to her somehow. I just didn’t know how. Without thinking I found myself smiling every time she talked to me.

We studied for so long, trying to crack down on the topics that were similar so that we could work on them all at once. Arranging the work from the easiest to the hardest topics and evaluating her strengths and weaknesses in each subject. We hadn’t noticed the time until her phone rang and we saw the time. She didn’t even say goodbye, she just picked up her bag and left as though she was alone there.

It was already late and I couldn’t let her go home on her own. I ran after her when I was done putting my stuff together but when I got there, she’d already gone. I’d lost my chance to impress her. By the time I was getting home, I’d already known half of her story. Although she was dressed like she was homeless, she’d come from one of the most prestigious families in town. The past few months had been hard on her and I understood why she was cold towards me when we first met. That night I decided to make it my own I decided to ensure she’d warm up to me one way or another.

The next day, as I was parking my bike at the school gate, I was astonished to see her alight from Sheila’s car. I’d already known her best friend’s name. She was different than I’d almost not recognize her if it weren’t for her eyes. She was different from the girl I’d met the day before. I wanted to approach her but I saw a group of three girls approach her first. From her facial expression, I could tell she did not like them as much. I’d made sure to maintain my distance as I watched her. I took out my camera and took some pictures of her. Since she didn’t know I did photography, I would hurt taking a few pictures.

I waited until she’d disappeared inside the school before I could make a move. I hadn’t even taken my helmet off when one of the three girls who were with her came at me.
“Hey, I saw what you did,” she started. But since I’d seen that Leila didn’t like her so much, I brushed it off.

“Why should I care if you saw me do it or not,”

“You should. Because I might just be your key to getting her attention,”

“I’ll just pass on that offer,”

“Then I’ll just tell her that you are a stalker, and you’ve been taking pictures of her,”

“You know what miss, I’d care less about what you will or will not do, as you can see, I’m almost late for my first class,”

As I walked away, I felt her eyes glaring at me. Almost like they were burning holes through me. I don’t think this girl had ever been rejected before. Maybe I might have just woken up from my worst nightmare yet.

During the third period, I was getting ready to go meet Leila at the library when the same girl came at me again. She wrapped her hand over my arm and started leading me through the hallway.

“I don’t remember us finishing our conversation,”

“Well, I do and I still don’t know what you want with me,”

“Oh, I’m sorry I gave the wrong impression. I don’t want you; I want your brother. And you are the only way I can get him,”

“You chose the wrong person to use. But good luck anyway,” I said sarcastically before I started laughing at how ironic that sounded.

“He’s your brother, and he doesn’t even have friends, I’m pretty sure I came to the right person,”

“You know what, I got somewhere to be, so let go of my hand and look for someone else to help you with my brother,” I waited for her to let go of my hand but she just couldn’t. She kept staring at me as though I’d taken something of worth from her. I guess a second rejection hurt more.