A World of Their Own

Chapter 5: Lost in Thoughts

Nathaniel was worried.

"Stop tapping your foot like that, why don't you? You're going to make me worried."

There was the sound of a glass slamming down on a wooden bench, and Nathaniel turned his head slightly to look at his friend. Ryan's empty coffee mug now sat next to his hand, and his gaze was focused on Nathaniel.

"I feel like I'm about to fall asleep because I got no sleep last night, and I have a headache, so leave me alone," Nathaniel grumbled, taking another sip of the coffee in his own mug as his left foot continued tapping against the concrete ground. "Tapping my foot helps me focus."

"Everyone, including me, finds that annoying, so please stop," Ryan responded with a hint of arrogance in his voice.

At that, Nathaniel fell silent as his dark green eyes swept over the groups of people gathered around other wooden benches and tables in the rather large and sunny courtyard of the school, waiting for the bell to dismiss them and let them leave the school grounds. Yes, they were all talking to each other, but it was definitely possible that they could hear him and they'd want to stay away from him because of his foot-tapping habit, as Ryan had so bluntly pointed out.

With a sigh, he kept his left foot still and sipped some more coffee, wincing slightly as it burned his tongue. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He averted his gaze away from Ryan and stared at his own black shoes in front of him.

The edges of Ryan's mouth turned down into a frown. "Jeez, I didn't mean it like that. I only meant that – "

"Yeah, I get it. This entire school is going to hate me for my annoying habits," Nathaniel deadpanned without looking up from the ground. "They probably already do."

"That's not what I meant to say, but okay," Ryan mumbled. "What's bothering you now? You always act like something bad is going to happen."

"You know me too well," Nathaniel replied nonchalantly. "And it's nothing, really, I'm just worried about... everything, I guess."

The two boys fell silent, and the thoughts swirling around in Nathaniel's head grew more and more abundant. They were a nonsensical mess in his mind, and he gave up on trying to make sense of them – for now. Nathaniel grit his teeth together as his headache intensified, and he dug a blueberry muffin out of his bag. He quickly unwrapped it and began nibbling away at it, trying to alleviate the pain from his headache.

"Why are you always like this?" Ryan asked. "You've always been like this, and I feel like you always will be."

"What do you mean by 'like this'?" Nathaniel responded with his own question while quoting Ryan's words with his fingers.

Ryan shrugged. "Well, you're always worrying about something. It's almost summertime and you'll be turning thirteen in a month, shouldn't you be happy? In a few weeks we'll be able to do whatever we want, and we won't have to worry about school or doing work for another three months."

Nathaniel pondered over that statement for a few moments. "You're probably right about that first statement." He downed another gulp of coffee and blinked multiple times as the effects of the caffeine kicked in. "But you were right, I am worried about something. At the end of the month, I'm leaving this town. My family's moving to the capital city. My parents say it isn't safe to stay here."

Ryan had no response to that statement. Again, silence fell over the two boys, even as the general commotion of the rest of the courtyard continued around them.