The Quiet

Chapter 41

Chapter 41

*Nathan's Point of View*

It has been about a month or so since Athena and I have started dating and almost everything has been going smoothly. After my aunt's party, Athena was a little tense and it was understandable. Her grandfather's suicide was traumatic for her and my father's harsh words about the situation made it slightly worse. I haven't seen or spoken to my father since the party. I knew he was throwing himself into his work to keep away from me, but I wasn't complaining.

Today the boys and I were having lunch at Athena's diner since we didn't have anything to do today. Alex felt uncomfortable when I mentioned Athena being my official girlfriend, he shifted in his seat. The other guys patted my shoulder and congratulated me, they knew how much I wanted to be with her. When my beautiful girlfriend came over to make our order, I smiled. "Hey babe," she greeted and bent down to kiss my lips. I took her by the hand to pull her away from Alex's side of the table, kissing her hand at the same time. I was sitting at the edge and Alex was sitting across from me, I saw the looks he was giving her. My friend didn't seem mad at her, he seemed interested which poked at my possessive side. I glared at him while he eyed her clothes. She left for a minute and came back to sit with us while she was on her break.

Athena wore a white buttoned up shirt with a short skirt as her uniform along with converse sneakers. She had her hair pulled back to keep it out of her face, I used my hand to push back a strand of hair that fell out of the ponytail. "Aren't you going to eat, princess?" I asked her. She shook her head, making her hair swing back and forth.

"I'm not staying. I was going to spend my lunch break with a friend." Her words made me question who she was talking about. I kept quiet so Athena wouldn't hear the disappointment in my voice. I haven't been able to see my girlfriend for a while, she works all the time. I understood why she was doing it, gas for the car, clothes and to buy other things she wants. "Oh, he's here. I will see you later." She kisses my cheek and sits up from the booth. As she walked away, Alex's eye followed her body even going to the extent of turning his head to stare. I subconsciously kicked his leg to stop him from staring at her, he groaned in pain. Neither one of us said anything about his actions, we simply glared at each other. My eyes flicked towards Athena again, wanting to see who this friend was.

Kyle stood in the middle of the diner, he was the friend. She walked up to him and hugged him like she did at the beach. Athena led him towards the corner of the diner to sit in a booth. After a few minutes, the man from the kitchen emerged with two plates of food, placing the food in front of them. Athena thanked the man and began talking to Kyle. I looked away from them, not wanting to know what they were talking about. It bothered me that Kyle was so close to her while he completely ignored me. I trusted Athena so I felt slightly better about the situation.

"Dude." Marty snapped his fingers in front of my face to get my attention. I mumbled 'sorry' under my breath while I gave him my full attention like he wanted. "Are you going to the party tonight?" He wondered. I totally forgot about the party, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go. I shrugged my shoulders. "I assume that your answer depends on the availability of your wonderful girlfriend." Marty elbowed my side, giving me a smirk. I smiled lightly and looked down at my lap, it still made me jittery to know she was finally mine. "It's alright, man. I get it."

I preferred Marty over Alex, he was the most understanding. Alex, on the other hand, pressured me to go to parties which got me into trouble most of the time. I liked staying home and chilling out more than going to some crazy teenage party. I spent more time with Marty because we had more in common and he was a better friend compared to anyone else. He wasn't like the other guys in the group. The boy was a genius and cared about his education like it was his lifeline, I envied him for that. He very rarely went to parties, it wasn't his style. I could see that he liked Athena, but only as a friend. They were in the same honor classes so they mostly talked about class work, they got along great.