DIE ➳ JACK JOHNSON

XXIII. YOUR YOUNG HEART

I AM SO SO SO SORRY! I KNOW I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN A MONTH, AND HONESTLY, I WASN'T EVEN AWARE THAT IT HAS BEEN A MONTH. I'VE BEEN SO CAUGHT UP WITH SCHOOL AND I HAVE AN AP EXAM COMING UP. IT'S QUITE STRESSFUL FOR ME TO HANDLE EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW, BUT HERE'S THIS CHAPTER! AGAIN, I'M SUPER SORRY & I HOPE THIS CHAPTER MAKES UP FOR IT!

chapter twenty three - july 26

"I thought we agreed you wouldn't smoke weed whenever I'm around," Jack said in disgust as he stared at his friend. He was never the type to be into that kind of stuff. "You should really stop with this stuff."

"Whatever man," he said, not really paying attention as he was to caught up with the relaxed feeling the weed gives him. "I got a lot going on."

"All I'm saying is that they're better ways to be relaxed."

He finished his joint, before throwing it away and faced Jack. "When did you become such a Debbie Downer?" Nate asked, and answered the question himself. "Wait.. I know the answer to this," he smiled briefly, "Ever since you landed that chick."

"I never liked you doing it," Jack reasoned.

"Well yeah, but you never lectured about it to me," he said. "You're all whipped. You have Alaska, Jack has Scarlette, and Sammy has that new brunette chick. I don't know why you guys waste your time with this. Girls aren't worth the time, man."

"Just because you only expect the bad things, doesn't mean you have to expect us to do the same," Jack said.

Nate shrugged. "I thought you of all people were smarter than that. You didn't believe in love. What ever happened to that? Now you're deeply in love with this girl."

"Who ever said I was in love with Alaska?" he questioned, quirking his right eyebrow.

"You don't need to say it, man. It's all over your face. Your disgustingly huge smile, your googly eyes, it's all there," Nate informed him, eyeing his other pack on the table. This conversation made him crave more. It wasn't entertaining enough for him.

"How are you supposed to know what love looks like?" Jack challenged him.

Nate chuckled humorously. "Just because I'm the only one nowadays that doesn't have a girl attached to my hip all the time, doesn't mean I'm not oblivious to know what love is. Might not believe in it, but I know what it is."

Jack shrugged before standing on his feet, and kicking Nate's feet - which were resting peacefully on the table - to the ground. "I'm here to help you clean the house that you left trashed like four days ago. What the hell is wrong with you?"

Nate shrugged, grabbing a blunt and deciding to light that instead. "What's the point?"

"Man, c'mon," Jack said, because he couldn't stand seeing his friend this way. Nate reminded him so much of Alaska, and it literally terrified him to think that she could have went down this route. He knew from the moment he saw her that she was close from being like that or maybe be something even worse. And he also knew that his friend was better than this.

Nate closed his eyes for a brief moment before standing up also. He bent down to pick something up. "Here, put all the trash and stuff in this bag."

They both worked on cleaning up Nate's house, and suddenly, Nate said something, "How are you so sure you and Alaska are going to last? You've only known this chick for a month, and you have to leave in a month. This could just be some fun, little summer romance. At least Scarlette and Jack knew each other for years, and are going to the same college."

Jack looked up at his friend from his spot across the room. He noticed Nate's blood-shot eyes immediately. Even though his question was surrounded by judgmental comments, he knew that Nate actually wanted to know the answer to that. He almost looked vulnerable if it weren't for his many tattoos.