Haven's Army

Chapter 8

I didn't know what I was feeling anymore. Obviously, I liked Nathan at one point. A lot. But now he was so different, even harder than he was when I first met him. Or maybe my mind was just exaggerating that bit since I had seen him happier.

I saw him sitting on the couch, his eyes shut. He was alone. Maybe I would have to get him back in action.

I walked over quietly. I noticed him listening to my footsteps, but he wasn't on guard. He looked so peaceful.

Too bad.

I punched him hard in the stomach and he doubled over.

"What in Haven are you doing?" he asked loudly.

"Get up," I said, bouncing on the balls of my feet and holding up my fists protectively, knowing his fury would be let out any second. "You need to get your anger out. It's proven that boys respond best to getting their anger out through physical activity. Get up." I kicked him in the shin.

It looked like I didn't need to tell him twice. He stood and I was slightly intimidated by his height advantage, seeing as the top of my head only came up to his shoulder.

I threw a punch at him and he dodged. I repeated but so did he.

"Come on," I said. "Physical activity. All you're doing is dodging. This is for you not me."

He looked at me funny but swung at me. I barely dodged. Soon we were locked in a spar. It wasn't long before we were panting. Finally, he landed a blow and I fell onto my back on the couch, laughing.

He plopped onto the couch across me, the corner of his mouth twitching ever so slightly.

"What's that look?" I asked.

He looked away. "It's me not wanting to admit that you were right."

I laughed. "That felt great." I sat forward. "We need to do that more often."

"Definitely." I was surprised he had agreed with me.

All was silent except for our heavy breathing. Finally, I broke the silence.

"So, are you going to the dance at all?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I just don't want to."

"Come on, it's the last event of the year. You might as well, just to see everyone one last time before we return."

He shut his eyes and thought for a moment. "I'll think about it," he said finally.

I smiled and he smirked back.

Daniel came running into the room. "Come on, guys, we're going to the beach."

I heard Kathryn whoop from the other room and then run up the stairs to the bedroom. I smiled and went to get ready. Twenty minutes later, we were ready to go. We hurried out since Daniel exclaimed that we were losing daylight. In record time, we were at the beach. We slipped into the cove as we had many times that year.

As usual, the cove was peaceful and beautiful. Over the year, Daniel and Kathryn had come to the cove a lot and he had taught her to surf. Now she and Daniel took turns every time we came. I loved watching them.

I shuffled through the warm sand, shivering from the cold ocean, over to Nathan, who was laying in the sunlight.

I put my hands on my knees to look at him. "Are you coming in the water?" I asked, my teeth chattering but a grin spread across my face.

He looked at me funny. Or at least I think he did. It was hard to tell because he was squinting in the sunlight. Then shook his head. I fell into the sand next to him onto my back.