He wasn't

Chapter 8

He wasn't: Chapter Eight

Nate looked at me intensely in the eye. I could feel he wants to tell me something but couldn't let it out.

"Do you want something to drink?" I blurted out.

"Coffee would be nice," he said, sitting down on the porch.

"Okay then, I'll be back."

After I got in the kitchen, I slid behind the wall and smiled to myself, then opened the cabinet and grabbed two mugs, and filled it with brewed coffee.

I crossed the living room holding the tray with the mugs of coffee in it. Then I saw dad coming down.

"What's with the mugs?" He said.

"Nate's here," I pointed with my lips to the front door.

Dad nodded and peeked out on the window, then glanced at me, smiling. "I assumed you had a great night,"

I snorted and rolled my eyes as I passed him and headed for the front door. Nate turned to me, laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. I like how you get along with your dad so much," he said, helping me put down the tray.

I sat down beside him and realized he's right. Nate took a sip and stared at the sky. I did the same and noticed the clouds covering the glittering stars above us.

"Nate?"

"Yes?"

"How many times have you sat out on the porch and enjoyed the night time sky?"

"Almost every night," he said. "Or whenever I'm bothered by something,"

"I see..." I murmured, tracing a finger on the tip of my mug.

"It's just like you, whenever you're bothered by something, you go to the lake and stare at it and it makes you feel relieved... At peace."

I feel my throat's beginning to dry up and I don't know what to say next. At that moment, it's then I realized, all people, every single one of them suffers from different things. It just depends on them how they would deal with it, how they'll make themselves stronger.

"By the way," I said, changing topic. "Your jacket and the pictures you requested are upstairs."

"I forgot about that. Can I have it back?"

"Definitely. I'll just grab it upstairs,"

I quickly turned around and ran upstairs. When I got into my room, I could hear people laughing outside. I peeked at my window and saw Randy with three guys and two girls. I quickly spotted Hannah. I don't know if I still should go down. I just don't want to see them. They were so loud, I could hear them from my room. I looked at dad's room, all lights closed, which means he didn't heard them. Dad's somehow a heavy sleeper.

I slowly stepped on the stairs as I headed downstairs with Nate's jacket on my right hand along with the flash drive with the pictures.

"What are you doing here?" I could hear Nate asking.

"We were on our way at your place then we saw your car parked at Steven's." Randy answered, giving Nate a weird grin.

Nate raised an eyebrow and smirked. Hannah stepped closer to him. "Hi." she said tucking her blonde hair behind her ear. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm waiting for Sofie."

"Oh," she said. A look of disappointment flashed on her face. "We were gonna pick you up because Randy's having a party at his place."

A party? I thought. If there's gonna be a party, that means that'll last until 3 A.M., there will be alcohol, drunk people and make outs. Not to mention there will be something else that might happen in Randy's room or bathroom. I stayed perfectly still behind the front door.

"I can't go." Nate said, surprisingly. He slowly backed away and glanced at my direction. "I'm waiting for Sofie then I'm gonna go home."

"Come on mate, is that really you? I know you can never pass up my invitations," Randy said, placing an arm around Nate's shoulders.

"This time, it's different,"

"Hey," I said, coming out of the house. Hannah looked at me, then back at Nate.

"How about tomorrow? Let's all chill at the lake." Randy cut in.

"Yeah, let's swim, since it's summer." their blue shirted Lacoste wearing guy friend added.

Nate turned to me and waited for my answer. "Yeah, sure. It's not a problem." I said, smiling.

"Then it's set. Tomorrow at ten in the morning, let's all meet at the lake," Randy finalized. "Don't forget to bring food and drinks,"

"See you tomorrow, Nate." Hannah waved and left with Randy and their friends. I can see Randy grinning at Nate. Like that's new. He looked like he always had some no good intentions.

"Alright, so I'll be seeing you tomorrow." Nate smiled.

"You're forgetting something."

"What?"

I handed his jacket and flash drive. Nate reached and smelled his jacket. I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms. "What are you doing?"

"It's my first time lending a girl my jacket. And it's expected that you'll wash it. I'm just smelling what type of detergent you used,"

"You're weird," I said, letting out a laugh. I felt a cold breeze brushed my skin. Since I'm still wearing a sundress, I felt cold. I hugged myself at the sight of him.

"You should go inside,"

"Y-yeah, maybe I should. So, tomorrow at ten?"

Nate nodded. "I'll pick you up,"

"No, it's okay, I'll just come by myself," I said, raising a hand.

"You sure? Okay then. If you change your mind, just call or text me,"

"Oh I will, but I think my mind won't change"

Nate chuckled and waved goodbye and headed for his car. I started to climb the porch and shut the door behind me. I wondered how things would turn out tomorrow... with Hannah around.

[Author's Note]

Hellooooo! :D Thanks for taking time to read my story, I'm very grateful to you guys.  Actually I've now realized, it doesn't matter if I have many readers or not, I mean, I wrote this story from the bottom of my heart and I want to share this stuff with you, and I think the greatest feeling for any writer is that their readers connect themselves with the story, you know? When you read it, you don't just read it, you really feel the story. I'm glad most of my readers are like that. I'm really grateful for each and everyone of you guys. It means a lot, really, it does. Thanks again :')