Haven's Army

Chapter 6

"So..." Rachel said. She and I were on our short daily jog.

"What?" I asked.

"I heard from Julia who heard from Peter that you've got a thing for Nathan."

I groaned. "I swear..."

She shrugged. "That's alright. He's a good kid. So similar and yet so different from his brother."

"You knew Nathaniel?" I asked.

"Knew him?" She laughed shortly, humorlessly. "I fell in love with him. Then again, so did everyone else." She shook her head. "Those two boys were as different as night and day." Then she paused a moment to steady her heavy breathing. "Nathan was always in his brother's shadow. He liked it that way. When Nate died, Nathan fell into his own shadow. He's been going in circles ever since." She paused, scrunching her face slightly, as if realizing it hadn't sounded quite right. "I hope that makes sense. We're in our poetry unit in English so I'm feeling poetic."

I shrugged. "I get the gist. So how were they similar?" I asked.

She smiled a little sadly. "Their modesty and, even more importantly, their resolve and determination. They may have been stubborn but they were ready to help anyone in need. They wanted to fight. They knew their goal was freedom." She shook her head grimly. "Nate found his freedom in a very different way. For his sake, let's hope Nathan doesn't go the same way."

We jogged in silence for a little bit.

"We won't tell anyone," she said.

I raised an eyebrow. "Says the one who heard it from Julia who heard it from Peter."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll make sure they don't tell anyone else and I won't either."

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When we got back to the house, everyone was on the porch, seated on chairs and outdoor couches. I noticed Rachel's eyes quickly dart around the scene. She quickly slipped into the seat next to Eric, leaving the only open spot next to Nathan. A few of them looked at me expectantly. Andrew even smirked.

Of course.

I'll kill you all later, I thought.

I figured it would be a little weird to just stand there for too long, so I sat next to Nathan, trying to look casual. Andrew snickered and I resisted the urge to get up and slap him.

The silence was awkward, but I didn't dare speak up. Finally, Dennis started up the conversation as if nothing had happened. I always managed to thank everything good for Dennis in awkward situations. Gigger crept over to me and I scratched him behind the ears.

"Hey," Nathan said a little late, making me jump. I tried to hide it but Gigger still looked at me funny.

"Hi," I replied.

It didn't take long for our conversation to take off. We talked about normal things, school and homework, how basketball was going, etc. The last year or so had really changed him, not just physically but mentally. He seemed so much happier.

People began to leave for bed but we still carried on a conversation. Soon, I was able to put a little more space between me and him so it wasn't awkward. I was a little sad when I started to get tired and told him goodnight. He smiled as he said a simple "Night" and I had to look away because my grin was so wide.

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To say that in the last six months Nathan and I had become close friends was an understatement. Other than Kathryn and Andrew, (Peter had made friends with Julia's sophomore friends and grown apart) he was my closest friend, even if he irritated me sometimes.