Cleaning Out My Closet

Chapter Twelve

Hey everybody, here's chapter twelve! I'll warn you now that it's long, but there's some important things you find out about our heroine Ray in this chapter. I hope you enjoy this and let me know what you think! As always, read comment, vote, and fan!

Write on,

Kelsi

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If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.

Virginia Woolf

Nate joined me at my locker the next morning in an even more jovial mood than usual. He practically bounced as he walked.

“What’s up with you?” I asked, having been ready to give him the note to give to Blithe.

“You shouldn’t be so naïve, Tapfer. It’s too late for that-I’ve found out about your infatuation with me,” he said, raising an eyebrow comically.

I snorted. “Yep, you’ve found me out. I’ve simply been counting the minutes till you realized how I feel-I can’t live without you!” I said, fluttering my eyelashes in a ridiculous fashion.

Nate sighed just as dramatically. “I’ve heard it before, and I can’t say I blame you. I am, after all, quite swarthy and handsome.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “Yes, you’re completely irresistible,” I said sarcastically.

“Who is?” Braxton asked, walking up beside us.

“Nate is, he’s quite the Bond, or haven’t you noticed?” I said with a smile.

“Sorry, I guess I didn’t,” Braxton said, leaning against my closed locker door. “So, have you delivered the note yet?”

“Wait, you wrote one? And you’ve been letting me stand here and talk about my own handsomeness?” Nate said accusingly. “Now, who am I giving it to?”

I sighed. “Blithe Zieren.”

Nate looked at me in surprise. “Really? What made you choose her?”

I shrugged. “Personal stuff. Can you wait till the end of the day though? I don’t want to deal with people staring at me all day.”

Nate whistled. “Must be some good stuff in there. Yeah, go ahead and give it to me.”

I did as he said and we started walking down the hallway together. As usual, he threw his arm over my shoulders easily. I noticed after a few moments that Braxton had gone really quiet, though, and glanced over at him. He was looking ahead of him, concentrating on where he was walking and not meeting my glance. I nudged him with my elbow and he looked up at me with a distracted smile on his face.

“What’s up?” I asked curiously. He glanced over at Nate but just shrugged.

“Nothing, I’m fine. I’ll see you in class later,” he said and turned to walk off. I watched him go before Nate pulled my hair.

“Hey, dickweed, what’s that for?” I accused.

“You weren’t watching where you’re going-you could’ve gotten hurt,” he said cheerfully, and I scowled at him.

“Thanks, but you already did that,” I said and rubbed my head.

“Oh, you’re fine. Now tell me, what’s in this letter?” he asked as we made our way into first-period psychology. For some reason his question made me think of last night, when Braxton said he’d never ask about what he wrote for me.