My Broken Mate (Discontinued Until Further Notice)

1

"Come on Viv, you need to get off the couch." My friend moans, pulling my arm. I personally find that slightly offensive but I shrug it off with a laugh. "It's only going to be so long before you run out of Oreos." We both acknowledge the double stuffed Oreos sitting in my life. I stuff a full one in my mouth.

"You can't make me!" I try to say through the cookies.

"Stop chewing with your mouth open!" I can hear a bit of her New York accent coming in. Natalie puts her hand over my mouth.

"Fine." I shove her hand away and stand up, setting the oreos on the coffee table. "But just because it's your birthday!"

"Yay! Ok, go change." She squeals. My attire was my pjs which I hadn't planned on changing. Natalie's was normal athletic wear which she pulled off fantastically. I just should probably lay off on the snacks or I'm going to be a literal couch potato.

She shoves me into my bedroom and I get dressed into some athletic wear. I grab my tennis shoes and meet Natalie in the kitchen.

My mom, Sarah, is talking to Natalie about bath salts.

"Where you girls headed?" My mom asks motioning towards the change of clothes.

"Someone, I won't say names," I point to Natalie. "Is forcing me on a hike!" I exaggerate and grab a banana from the counter.

"Stop whining. Your not two." Natalie scolds. Why is she my best friend? Oh because it's too late to switch best friends. I love her anyways despite her being an over controlling weirdo.

I start to sing quietly as I think of lyrics from a popular song.

"I still think you should join a choir, you voice is so angelic!" My mother says behind the kitchen island. Natalie agrees with a nod.

"Angelic? The only thing angelic that I can do is fall down." Natalie holds back a laugh at my comment.

"You ready?" Natalie grabs her phone while handing me mine with a set of earbuds.

"Yup." I open the door and we walk outside to the street to get to Natalie's car.

"When are you going to tell your mom about him?" Natalie hops in the drivers side of the car. I started seeing Luke about five months ago.

"I'm not sure, I don't even know if I would consider us boyfriend and girlfriend. Plus Luke isn't really the serious relationship type of guy." I conclude while looking for a blanket in the car. "Why is it so cold?!" I turn off the AC which was blasting air into my face.

"Well now I'm going to get heatstroke!" Natalie turns the AC back on. "You should have parked it under a tree or something so we wouldn't be in this predicament."

"Big word for you, isn't it?" Natalie smacks my arm because that's all she can do while driving.

"I'm surprised you even know what that means!" She retorts. I roll my eyes making sure she notices. "Careful, don't hurt yourself."

"I'll try." We both let out an obnoxious laugh.

The mountains become our main view as we turn a corner. We drive for a few more minutes before coming across a parking area which leads to a few hiking trails.

"The same trail?" Seriously? She picks this trail everytime.

"The view is breathtaking!" Natalie responds cheerfully.

"Unlike you." I joke. Another smack to my arm has us both once again laughing. It quickly ends.

"You wish you were as pretty as me!" She defends herself.

"Define pretty.." I retort.

We start down Natalie's favorite trail. We come across a waterfall viewing area. The scene is breathtaking. Natalie was right... for once.

We keep on going down the trail. We stop when Natalie had wished she had done to the bathroom beforehand. She walks away some and behind somewhere hidden from the trail.

I lean against a rock and wait for Natalie to return. A low growl sounds from behind me. I turn and find a naked man. I divert my eyes so I don't see anything I don't need to.

"Don't sneak up on me! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" I let out a short laugh.

I look back into the guys eyes which had the most confusing and determined glare. "Mate..." his voice coming across as husky.

I take a step back. He makes a move forward.

"I think you have the wrong person." I casually say. I check to see if I grabbed my pocketknife before we left. Nope that's sitting on my bedside table. Perfect. Now I have no way to protect myself if I need to. This guy looks strong and I'm not that fast of a runner.

"No, your my mate." He protests in a growl. I ain't buying it. The naked guy comes closer but considering he recently growled at me, I back away. I don't feel like putting up with weirdos.

"I'm your what? This is creepy! Go away!" I nearly yell. He looked offended for a split second before noticing Natalie. He sees Natalie coming back. The guy bolts into the forest out of sight.

"Now your attracting creeps? Maybe we should talk..." Natalie jokes as she walks closer.

"He was so... weird..." I mumble thinking it over.

"Most people are."

Natalie and I continue down the trail but I can't seem to shake the feeling I'm being watched.