FAKE // NATEWANTSTOBATTLE

Little Secrets

The next morning, my alarm blared like normal, but my mother hadn't come to wake me from my deep slumber. So I was left to make my own coffee and bask in the deafening silence of my house. The only sound was my ceiling fan. The only scent was my coffee. The room was tinted red once again due to my lamp. It was peaceful this morning, leaving me time to actually relax.

I had already made my coffee, went back to my room, and settled before the memories of the night before came crashing back (so much for fucking relaxing). So suddenly, I was sitting there at the desk in my room, staring at the bandages on my arm and asking myself one thing: Why?

Why did I even do this to begin with? Why had I decided to cut back on such great progress with a little slip up? What would my friends say? What would Mark say? He was always the one to try and be the voice of reason. I could already hear him now - "Why didn't you call me instead?" - and I knew that's how it would happen. That's how it always happened. Maybe if I just didn't tell him, he wouldn't notice. Maybe no one would notice. Besides, its hoodie weather anyway. Why would they question me for wearing a hoodie in this kind of weather? Bandages, they would definitely question, but a hoodie? Highly doubting it.

So, with that in mind, I slapped on a hoodie and made my way to my car.

Maybe I would be able to get by with fake smiles, guilty thoughts, and blissful ignorance. Maybe, just maybe, no one would see past my bullshit and call my bluff. That would be disastrous. Believe me, I'm not ready to have to deal with the questions and the sob stories they'll pry from my throat - that is if I'm not careful.

So I drive into school with the Autumn colours swirling around my car as I pulled into the parking lot. All Time Low came to a halt as I shut off my car, Alex's voice cutting itself off midway through Kids In The Dark. I give a small sigh as I pull myself from my car. I immediately had to pull my hoodie closer to my body to prevent the cool chill from getting in. The wind blew my hair as I walked toward the school entrance, head down and eyes shut against the cold.

I'll be honest, sometimes the cold was a bitch, but I still enjoyed the colours and the wonderful sights. If you've never seen an Autumn sunset surrounded by the red, yellow, and orange leaves, your missing out in a major way.

I made my way up the steps and looked up as I slowly adjusted to the warmth inside the school. The hall lights flickered and gave off an eerie vibe. I shrugged off the vibes and began walking downstairs. Every single step was mindless, my body just pulling me through the halls with no real destination in mind. My thoughts wandered and I pulled my hoodie farther down on my arms to hide the bandages.

A sigh escaped my lips.

"Nate!" I heard a voice call. Before my brain signals could react to see who the voice was from, I saw a flash of blue hair and blue eyes. My weight faltered and I almost fell. Righting myself I looked to my left shoulder. Ethan had officially gone crazy.

"What the hell! Why did you jump on my back?" I asked him, panic subsiding.

"Cause I wanted to." He giggled, a short chuckle in his voice. At the moment, there is only one word I can associate with Ethan - dumbass.

"Well, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" I told him.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to." He replied. He jumped off my back and onto his own feet while my breath slowed (though I was deriving some adrenalin from the momentary fear) and my heart rate decreased.

"Please, Ethan, give me a warning next time," he looked at his shoes and chuckled slightly as I copped up my next question, "where are the boys at?"