Witness to a Love Story

Thirty-Five: Amnisty

I cancelled on Jay and insisted that he take me home instead. Jay was taken aback, but did what I asked of him anyways. Now I'm standing on the porch of my next door neighbor, knocking on his door. A plump old woman opens the door to greet me. She gives me a toothless smile as she sees me.

"Amnisty!" She croons someone else's name. Throwing her arms up, the old lady embraces me warmly. It's always like this when I come to visit which isn't often anymore.

I awkwardly pat her back. This old lady is Nathan's senile grandma. "It's good to see you, Rose." I pull back. "Is Nathan home?"

"Oh, he's in his room. Did you get taller, Amnisty?" Rose asks me, squinting hard.

I step past her. "I've changed more than that, Rose." I leave the old woman and go down the hallway.

The first door on the left is ajar and the hint of Axe body spray is particularly strong. I don't bother knocking and step right in. Nathan is at his desk playing Fortnite on his computer. My face scrunches up in disapproval as he turns to see who entered. Nathan jumps up from his seat in surprise, his earphones tugging him back.

"Ah! What the fuck, Beatrice?!" He grumbles angrily while properly removing his earphones. Nathan moves in his chair to look at me with a cold icy glare.

"It's good to know that you are just as stupid as always." I say with a smirk as I take a seat on his bed.

"Just get the hell out of my house." He turns to start playing Fortnite again.

I give him a cold laugh. "No, no, no, mister. I came for some answers and I'm going to get them."

Nathan gives me an equally chilling laugh. "And what makes you think that I'm going to give you them?"

"Oh, no reason. Just the fact that I happened to see someone here on a particular night. Some ginger that worships Sharon." I say all of this with a sly smile on my face. Nathan tenses up from my words. Slowly, he gives into defeat and asks what I want. "Who is Amnisty?" I lay my question down and the atmosphere grows thick.

Nathan is still for a few minutes. "Where did you hear that name from?" He asks tersely.

"I have my sources. So who is she?" He doesn't answer my question. "Nathan, who is she?" I inquire once more in a demanding tone.

Without warning, Nathan shouts. "I don't know!"

I raise my voice to be on level with his. "Your grandma seems to know her."

The room grows quiet as we both sit in silence. My eyes burn a hole in Nathan's back. I can see how tense he is as he's just staring at the computer screen. Finally, I get up. "Fine, then. I'll just go ask Rose." I turn and head towards the door.

I barely open the door an inch before Nathan slams it shut with his hand. "Don't." He warns in a steely whisper.

I cock my head to look up at him. I've got a wonderful view of his chiseled jaw and crystal clear blue eyes which are threatening to shatter my jaded ones. "Then tell me." I demand in a whisper of the same force as his.

Nathan sighs and sits back down on his bed. I stay by the door, but turn around to face him. He is looking down at the carpeted floor of his room, his brown hair hiding his eyes. Nathan's usually hard voice is smooth now and drips slowly like honey as he speaks quietly. "I've known her and her sister since elementary school. We actually used to be friends until freshman year."

Crossing my arms, I speak up. "So what happened?"

Nathan snaps his head up to look me. "I was getting there, Ms. Impatient." His voice goes back to having its edge.

"Well get there faster, Mr. Slow Ass." I respond snarkily. He grumbles something that I don't catch under his breath. I go take a seat on his bed, my foot tapping with impatience. "Can you just get to the point?" He gives me a look, so I add please.

"I slept with her, ok? I took Amnisty to her first party freshman year. We were both drunk and did something stupid. I was dating her sister Leyla at the time and she caught me and Amnisty in the act. Both stopped talking to me after that." Nathan says in a hurried manner. He crosses his arms and looks away from me. "After that, I stopped cheating and wanted to be better, but..." Nathan stops talking and glances at me.

I don't know what expression is on my face, but I can hear the confusion in my voice. "Aren't you cheating on Sharon?"

His face comes fully into view of mine. "No. I learned my lesson. I'm never cheating again. Do you really think that low of me? I'm not some football jerk that cheats on his girl!" Nathan gets in my face and says all this in a voice that is barely below a shout. His blue eyes are slanted and he seems greatly offended.

I turn my head and put a hand on his chest while painfully aware how close Nathan's face is to mine. "Alright, alright. I get it. You aren't cheating on your beloved Sharon." I nonchalantly say while looking elsewhere. My head snaps back to look at Nathan who has moved back a little. "So what was Rene doing here and why do you want to keep it a secret from Sharon?"

"Fuck!" He turns away and cusses. Nathan puts his head in his hands and begrudgingly asks, "Can you keep a secret, Bea?"