A Faultless Tragedy

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The next few days flew by and before I knew it, Thursday had arrived. It was Nate’s first day at South City High so we both woke a few minutes early and ate a quick breakfast of semi-soggy Cheerios with milk before leaving the house to walk to the bus stop.

“Are you nervous?” I asked him.

“Of course, it’s my first day at a new school. Who wouldn’t be nervous?” 

“You have absolutely nothing to worry about, most of the people at South City are really lovely people, I’m sure you will fit in right away. Plus, you’re a smart kid so all the teachers will love you.” I tried to ease his nerves.

“I hope so.”

We arrived at school shortly after and as Nate and I walked through the front gates, several swarms of people - some whom I hadn’t talked to for months - came up to us trying to find out everything they could about the new kid. People were relatively nice to him and I was sure I caught a few girls trying to flirt with him which caused me to mentally snicker. Nate ended up making friends with Derek and Dean. He had lunch with them and they both tried convincing him to try out for the football team next season – apparently he had a great build (something which I knew nothing about).

“You lied to me.”  Laura stormed up to me. Jess and Ashleigh followed her lead.

I instantly got worried. What did Laura think I had lied to her about? I would never do anything to hurt our friendship; she was one of my best friends.

“What did I lie to you about?” I genuinely had no idea what she was referring to.

Laura’s frown and stiff posture relaxed as she laughed at my shocked and quivering stature.

“You said your step-brother wasn’t hot. Seriously, he is gorgeous.” She giggled.

“Yeah, Hannah. He’s got great hair! And I never knew brown eyes could sparkle like that!” Jess said, while she and Ashleigh both tried to catch glimpses of Nate without looing suspicious.

“Well the last time I saw him was at the wedding, remember? He has changed quite a bit since then, I must admit.” I was amused at their fascination with my step-brother. “Come on, I’ll introduce you then.”

Laura and I walked in line while Jess and Ash followed, smiling at each other and blushing. We got to where Nate, Dean and Derek were sitting with the rest of the football team. It was slightly awkward but even though the three of us and Carole were not cheerleaders, we were popular at school. I was friends with a few of the guys on the team so it wasn’t too strange having three petite girls approaching a big group of tall, lean, muscular boys who were all quite attractive. 

“Nate, these are my best friends, Laura, Jess and Ashleigh.” I gestured each one respectively and Nate flashed a wide smile to each of them, revealing a little crinkle by the side of each eye. 

“It’s nice to meet you girls. I’m Nate, Hannah’s step-brother.” 

He really did know how to talk to girls. I was surprised at his civility. Who would have thought he could be so suave? I knew he would have no trouble fitting it. An objective party would never have guessed that he had not lived in South City for all of his life. He had the simple charm and grace of all the boys in South City. Well, most of the boys…

“Why don’t you guys sit with us today?” Dean asked. The rest of the group nodded or gestured in agreement.

The three of us sat wherever we could find room in the maelstrom of testosterone surrounding us.

“Hey, Hannah, it looks a little bit crowded over there. Why don’t you come and sit here next to me?”

I turned to see who that voice came from and I almost choked on the sip of water I had just taken. Was this really happening? Derek Maine had just asked me to sit beside him. I was absolutely not about to turn his offer down so I moved before he could have the chance to change his mind.

“Ooh, Derek, crushing on Hannah are we?” 

All the guys answered with a series of cat calls and wolf whistles as if Derek was making a move on me, not that I would really mind if he did though.

“Shut up, I’m just being a gentleman unlike you guys.” Derek yelled back with a big smile on his face. I could swear I saw him blush.

Derek and I started chatting casually. Dean joined part-way through our conversation. He told me that Nate was a really nice guy and according to him, very funny. 

“He’s been sitting here for about fifteen minutes and he has already cracked about four really funny jokes. They’re not mean jokes either; he is a genuinely funny guy. He would be a great addition to the team.” Derek added. 

It was a big relief to hear that the boys liked Nate. It seemed the girls were also a fan of his; glancing over at Jess and Ashleigh, it was evident that they were hanging on his every word. Laura was actually participating in the conversation like an ordinary person, considering she already had a boyfriend and was never the overly fixated type. I admired the way that she could speak to everyone so casually. Besides that, I was most excited at finally engaging in conversation with Derek. I was quite pleased with myself since I don’t think I said anything to make him doubt my character. He was a much nicer person than I thought he would be. It was fascinating to be able to see what he was like outside of class. He had a lot of depth to him. Staring at him from across the room, I used to believe that he was a very one-dimensional person; that what you saw was what you got. I was wrong.

“Hey!” Austin called out to capture everyone’s attention. I was so enthralled with Derek that I hadn’t even noticed he was in the group. “The team was planning to go to Sky Deck Plaza this afternoon. How would you girls and Nate like to join us?” 

Laura, Ashleigh, Jess and I exchanged glances seeking each other’s approval. We gave each other a look of agreement and Laura accepted the invitation.

“Nate, come join us! I would love to get to know you better, bro.” Austin said.

He sincerely appeared to want us all to attend. Nate agreed without much hesitation. I supposed he was willing to make friends with anyone he could. 

“Hannah, make sure you bring Carole along too.” Austin added.

The lunch break concluded in that moment. My last two periods for the day were science and English – both with Derek. He waited for me and we walked to class together. He was so sweet yet something about him made me suspicious. It didn’t seem feasible for one person to be so completely faultless. He had a high grade point average, was an excellent athlete, a kind and courteous person, plus you could carry an intellectual discussion with him without becoming bored out of your mind. I was positive that he had an imperfection and I was insistent on finding out what that imperfection was.

Derek demanded that I sat next to him for the next two periods. I wasn’t relentless in declining. We didn’t talk much because our science teacher was strict. Basically, if anyone made a sound that was louder than a pin-drop, the whole class would get a detention. The only communication between Derek and I was the occasional glance-and-smile routine. Mostly I just stared at the ceiling and used the teacher’s persistent jabbering about the properties of noble gases as background noise to my subliminal daydream.

English was my favourite subject so I was keen to end the day with it. Our class was smart so we always got into heated debates over whatever the stimuli was for that lesson. I loved hearing everyone’s perspectives and it was great to hear Derek’s arguments towards Hitler. He didn’t believe Hitler was evil because he doesn’t believe in the concept of evil. He believes everyone has some good in them. It was beginning to get harder and harder for me to not like Derek.  

He walked me to the bus bay and saw me off. I searched for Nate until I saw his tall figure coming my way. I sat alone on that trip as Dean and Nate grew more acquainted. I smiled at myself. It was a good day.