The Fading Oddities of Nate Smith (A NateWantsToBattle Fanfiction) --COMPLETE--

Chapter Eleven

After about two hours of catching me up on Tess' arrival and a fairly short explanation on why Nate hates Chasseur so much, we had glanced up at the time to see that it was already 6:00; Photography Club would be starting in 30 minutes.

"Now, some of the people in Photo Club are kind of...eccentric," I warn Tess and Nate as I lock the door behind us. "so don't be weirded out by the way they interact with you."

Tess shrugs and finishes tightening her ponytail. "If I can handle Drama Club," she says calmly, "I'm sure I'll be fine with Photo Club."

She looks over at Nate for his approval. "I'll get used to it," he says after a short hesitation.

With that, the three of us leave the building and out into the school courtyard. The evening sun is already beginning to set, making the sky above shine a beautiful orangish-indigo. Some of the outdoor lights have already flickered on, faintly illuminating the sidewalk and grass as we trek down to the main building. We all stay silent on the way, with the only sounds coming from us being the shuffling of feet and the occasional turn of Tess' head to look for Chasseur in our dorm window.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," I say to her as we walk into the building. "If he's smart enough to stay on Nate's trail, then he's probably smart enough to stay inside."

Tess sighs and nods her head. Nate, for once, says nothing about his furry nemesis.

The silence returns to us as we make our way through the winding halls. Our shoes click against the worn tile floor as our silhouettes creep against the wall to our left. The dying sun beats down (HEHE KAGEPRO REFERENCE) its last rays of light against the school courtyard outside, forcing the few students remaining outside to head back to their dormitories for the night. For us, however, doing that will have to be set aside for now.

"We're here," I say as we approach a metal double-door at the end of the hallway. The three of us slow to a stop as I place a hand on the handle, yanking it backward with enough force to open such a heavy door.

Beyond the doorway is the Choir Room, which has various chairs set up in front of the risers and tables lining the walls. The projector is on and casting its light against the screen in the wall, showing that a computer desktop is pulled up and ready for the meeting.

Ten people look up and turn their attention us upon our entry. One of them is Leo, who is standing next to the computer, and I can spot a few other familiar faces as well, Aphrodite, Damian, and Carson being just three.

"Olive!" Aph cries, a grin flashing across her face. "Glad you could make it!"

I nod and smile a bit, too. "Hi, Aph," I manage as the three of us take our seats.

Carson is sitting at the table closest to Leo, along with four other guys no skinnier than him. Leo's table is to the right of Carson's, which is occupied by a tiny black-haired girl scribbling madly in her notebook and a bigger girl pulling her hair into a ponytail. Damian and Aphrodite are sitting at our table, the seat at the end empty in comparison to the rest of the room.

"Ora's still not here?" I ask, praying that our last club member would actually show up today.

Aph shakes her head. "When is she ever here?"

"We'll just start the meeting without her, then," says the bigger girl as she secures the ponytail holder into her mass of red hair. "Ora can fail her Photo Editing assignment if she wants to."

"Shut up, Gen," the smaller girl grumbles to her friend, not looking up from her book. "Remember what role you took up when Leo said he needed a Vice President."

"You-!"

"I'd take Micha's advice, Genevieve," we all turn our heads away from the argument to see Ora at the door. She's a tall, slender girl, about 5'5, whose raven-black hair flies dramatically backward as she enters the room, her many bracelets jangling loudly on both wrists. "We don't want to start something stupid in front of guests, do we?"

"Is this what you meant by 'eccentric'?" Tess whispers to me, raising an eyebrow at Ora's outfit, which is a black T-shirt printed from top to bottom with a collage of photos, galaxy-patterned shorts, and, of course, bracelets that almost goes up to her elbow on both arms.

I shrug. "That's Oracle for you," I whisper back.

Oracle Gwydion, Ora for short, was actually the original founder of the Photography Club. (Leo took over as President when her other studies got in the way.) She may be a little on the weird side, but she's probably the only reason why any of us in this group are even getting along. Everybody was kind of a jerk to one another for the first few months of the Club's running, but I think Oracle's authority and...psychic ability... brought us closer together.

More on that later. It's kind of a long story.

"Ora," Leo stammers. "Jeez, you actually made it here today?"

"I wasn't buried alive in work tonight," Oracle simply replies, taking the seat next to me. She keeps her gaze fixed on Nate as she sets her bag down on the table. "Plus, I got the text about Olive's problem."

"No crazy psychic-fortune-telling powers told you to come here tonight?" Gen raises an eyebrow, causing Micha to look up from her notebook with a sigh.

"Christ, Gen," the Filipino ravenette groans, "you know that Ora's psychic crap is just a joke. It's just major coincidences, nothing less."

Ora laughs. "I never said anything like that."

"Indirectly, yes," Micha retorts, her tiny body straightening up.

"Okay, can we not start anything, please?" Leo stops the argument before it begins by nearly shouting over the two. "Let's just go ahead and get started...Olive, can we begin with you explaining what was up last night?"

I freeze as everyone turns their attention to me. Jumbled words begin flooding my mind as I hastily search around the room.

Well, I've already done this at least twice already. Might as well get over it and keep my word: will explain later.

"Well," I start, the feeling of being put on the spot violently cascading me, "before I start, I want everybody to meet Nate."

Nate waves to everyone, flashing an awkward - and obviously forced - smile as the rest of the room exchanges (mostly) enthusiastic hellos.

"How'd ya meet him?" Damian asks, leaning over the table to see past Tess.

I inhale sharply, then sigh. "I..." I throw a glance at Nate, whose eyes seem to tell me that it didn't really matter if I told them what happened the other day. Hoping that's what he's really trying to convey, I continue on. "I found him on the side of the road on Sunday."

"OH CRAP, HE'S A HOBO?!" Micha cries out, her eyes widening as large as plates.

"I'm not a hobo..." Nate responds with a grumble.

"He somehow fell unconscious on the road back to campus," I add, "He was hurt, so we decided to give him a place to stay until he was fully healed."

"Well, if you're not a hobo, then where're you from?" Leo inquires, leaning on the wall near the projector.

"Los Angeles, apparently," Tess looks up to her brother and crosses her arms on the table.

Damian whistles in surprise. "Los Angeles?! Dang, man!"

Nate's gaze falls to his lap, his lips pursed together tightly. "Yeah..."

I catch Nate's discomfort and decide to change the subject before he's forced to reveal anything he doesn't want to tell. "Alright," I pipe up. "I think we've spent enough time with that. Let's go ahead and start what we need to do."

Leo hesitates. "Right, right, okay," he says, standing up from where he was leaning and striding back to the computer. "Alright, I think we should start tonight's meeting with saving Carson's grade - and butt...shall we?"