Undercover

3. The Beginning of Summer

I hadn't seen him in the weeks after the whole deal thing. But on the last day of school, as I walked out of the school grounds, I saw him standing there. I didn't know whether to be a little freaked out or happy that he hadn't just thrown me on the back burner. You had to understand, this was basically a chance at having a new friend. I didn't really make many new friends. I had already been marked as the weird one and people in general just stayed away from me. Not that I minded though. Not everyone was like that. There were a few people that I could say were my so-called friends but they were school friends only. We never really hung out outside of school.

"Hi." I said as I walked out into that direction.

"Hey." He gave me a small nod, and didn't really say anything else.

"You know. I don't know your name."

"Oh. Hi, my name is Villanova. Nathan Villanova."

"Alright James Bond. I'm Natalia. Natalia Castillo."

We shook hands and we started on the way back home. I didn't say much, since I didn't really know what to say. I don't know if I had been going crazy but it seemed to me that he was uncomfortable with saying his own name. I felt like he kind of hesitated a little bit, but I don't know if it's because I was reading too much into it or if it actually had happened.

"So...your brother, huh."

I nodded. "Yeah. He's not as bad as he seems at first glance. He's really a loving person and he cares about us. Takes care of us as best as he can. I guess my sister works too but I feel like Cayden feels like a lot of the responsibility has to rest on his shoulders. It doesn't. But he won't let me help him out. I could always just get a job and something."

"Honestly, if it were me...I wouldn't accept help from a younger sibling either."

"Why?"

"Because the reason I would be busting my ass off in the first place is for them to have a better chance at whatever it is that they want to do. You're in high school. Just finished your first year going into second. I wouldn't want you to leave school just to help me out. The most basic education degree would be the high school diploma and I would at least want you to get that."

"I guess you're right. But that doesn't mean that I can't help."

"I wouldn't want to risk it. Besides, he has to work hard to show that he can take care of a minor and I'm assuming that they thought he was fit enough for you to still be with him."

I nodded my head. Those were some stressful days for Cayden. I'd never seen him leave the house so often before in my life. But we were lucky to have had him approved to take care of me. I didn't want to go into the foster system. I'd heard so many horror stories about being in the foster care system. While there were kids that were adopted, a lot of them didn't have the luxury and they bounced from house to house. And the house they ended up in, wasn't always the best one to land in.

"How do you know all of that stuff?"

He didn't look at me as he said the next words. "I've been in the system. Wasn't one of the luckiest kids. I'm already eighteen so I don't technically have to stay with them anymore, but this was the one couple that actually made me feel wanted."

My voice was meek and shaky. "So where are your real parents?"

"I don't know. The last I heard of them, they wanted me to be tough, and big because I was a guy and guys weren't made to be wimpy."

Again, he didn't look at me when he said it. I'm not usually the touchy-feely type but for whatever reason, I reached to grab his arm and that made him stop and turn around slightly. I thought maybe he had just been lying since he wouldn't look at me, but I saw the flash of pain that appeared in his eyes. I don't know what overcame me then, and I'm pretty sure that this is also pretty cliché but I basically hugged him. I warned him first, of course, because that would have been rude of me to not tell him, and even though he had said no, he hadn't made any motion to push me away or to step away himself, which I guess is the most horrible logic, but I felt like I needed to give him a hug. After a moment, he wrapped his arms around me, and I felt this wave of warmth just envelop me. It was one of the best hugs that I had ever received.