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

Chapter Twelve

Æ~Nate~Æ

Tiffani and Dr. Mendez were in my room when I woke up.

It was just like the day I first found myself in the hospital. The two had their backs turned to me, conversing quietly. From the small snippets of their whispers, I could catch a slightly happier tone hanging among them. When I lifted myself to a sitting position, they turned around.

"Nathan," Dr. Mendez cracked a smile at me, revealing thousands of detailed wrinkles on his face, mainly his eyes and dimples. His tone was as bubbly as it always was when he was spouting words of encouragement and reassurance to me.

And, as always, I wasn't smiling.

Tiffani's hair was pulled into a loose ponytail, her eyes shining just a bit brighter than they usually were...but I was still convinced that she was a crazed sadist by night.

"Are you ready to finally get outta here?" she asked, crossing her arms with a satisfied smile dancing across her lips.

"Wh...?" I rubbed my eyes, taking a moment to figure out what exactly Tiffani had meant. "O-Oh, right. The release."

Dr. Mendez noticed the hint of sadness that lined my tone of realization. "Don't wanna go, huh?"

I sighed and shook my head. "I was just starting to get used to this place, too."
Tiff laughed. "You can't hide away in a hospital bed forever, you know."

"I know that," my leg had healed over the course of the month, as it hadn't been nearly as broken as my arm. It still hurt when I propped myself up to a sitting position, though. "But are you sure I'm fully healed?"

Dr. Mendez shook his head, keeping a smile on his face. "You'll be fine, Nathan. It's all uphill from here."

"You can't make excuses to a doctor," Tiff laughed, rolling her eyes, "remember that we're the ones that were fixing you up in the first place."

'I wouldn't use the term 'fixing up'...' I thought to myself. Fixing up meant returning something to the way it was. All this was just...putting patches on the rough spots. It just covered up what really hurt the most.
I sighed. "I guess you're right," I said with a half-hearted laugh, "maybe I do need to get some fresh air again at some point or another."

"That's the spirit!" Dr. Mendez patted me lightly on the back.

I faked a smile as I looked at the two healthcare workers. Up until now, they were really the only people that I could trust. Now that I was about to be released, however, I realized that I would have to start over yet again. What would I do when I came home? What would I say on YouTube?

Oh, god, YouTube.

I couldn't go back there. Not after all this. If they found out about what happened, it'd be the end. I'd be good as dead at that point.

But maybe I didn't have to go back. Maybe I could truly start over...leave my old world behind.

Besides, the old world belonged to Old Nate. It was time for me to let go of the past.
My smile stayed on my face as Dr. Mendez and Tiffani continued to talk about my recovery and the countless papers I had to sign to get out of here.

But on the inside, I was planning my disappearance.

~~~

Photography Club isn't too bad.

The group is mainly cramming in last-minute edits for some assignment that's due tomorrow. Carson's picture was, miraculously, saved from its terrible PhotoShopping by Leo and Olive, who are evidently the two best editors there. Oracle is sitting at the back of the room, watching silently as the others continue to argue about how much they can do without their professor questioning the state of Carson's assignment. In all three times that I had looked back there during the session, her purple eyes were focused directly on me.

Olive nudges me a couple minutes into Micha and Gen's newest argument, pulling me out of my doze.

"Enjoying your time, sleepyhead?" she whispers with a teasing smile, "Don't worry, we've only got about ten more minutes."

I roll my eyes and curve my lips into a smile. "Oh, good," I reply in an equal volume, "because I don't think Tess can keep her eyes open much longer, either."

"Don't worry, Photo Club isn't always this boring."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Oh, trust me, it isn't."

We both exchange a chuckle and an exhale (it isn't that hard to figure out who did what) and turn our attention back to Micha and Genevieve, whose fight over whatever reason has been broken up by Damian.

"...ease shut up now?" I can hear him finish, his shaggy brown hair falling over his eyes as he leans over the table.

The girls hesitate, then sigh with a huff, returning to their seats with crossed arms and ugly scowls. Damian thanks them with a voice of intimidating authority, lowering himself back into his seat as well.

'I'd hate to get on his bad side,' I think to myself as we all look back at Leo.

Tess' older brother claps his hands together after the three settle down, a smile flickering back onto his face. "Alright then," he says once everyone's attention is on him, "that pretty much wraps up today's session." He stops for a moment to scan across the room, then continues once his eyes land on us. "Anything you guys wanna say or add?"

Tess stands up as I open my mouth. It's not like I was going to say anything, though. I just wanted to look like I had something in mind.

"Actually," the blonde begins to speak, "I have a play coming up soon. First rehearsal is on Sunday Drama Club."

"Ooh, really?" Aphrodite leans over the table to look at Tess with bright eyes, "What play is it?"

"'Beauty and the Beast'."

"Interesting..." Carson remarks, pushing in his glasses."

Tess nods as she looks back at Leo. "I was hoping you guys could come over and watch us practice. Is that ok?"

Leo shrugs without hesitation and replies with his eyebrows raised, "Sure, it's fine with me."

The group lets out a small cheer. Tess pumps her fist and smiles victoriously, letting out a small "Yes" behind clenched teeth.

"Well, it's settled then," she continues, "Practice starts at 1:00 and ends at 3:00. Maybe we can all go out to eat or something afterwards."

Her older brother nods in agreement, then releases the group to go home. One by one, we all file out of the choir room to head back to our dorms. Leo turns of the lights behind him, leaving me and Oracle the only ones left in the room.

"Nate, you comin'?" Olive asks from behind the doorway.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a sec," I reply after a short hesitation. I turn back around to see Ora standing in the center of the room, the lights from the office behind us barely showing her outline. Her arms are crossed, and I can just make out a smirk across her lips.

"I'm glad you decided to stay for a bit," she finally says after a very long moment of silence.

"What?" I ask, stepping further into the room as my eyes begin to adjust to the darkness.

"Sit down," she says as she gestures toward the seat closest to me. I obey and lower myself into the black plastic chair.

"Do you need to talk to me or something?" I inquire. Seriously, this is getting weird.

"You're hiding something." Oracle's voice sounds monotone. Her figure begins to move toward the seat next to her, and she sits down as well.

I flinch a bit. "I'm not hiding anything..." I say slowly, my brow furrowing in caution.

Ora scoffs. "Don't play stupid with me," she crosses her legs and leans back. Her smirk is gone, and I can now clearly see that it's been replaced with a cold and concerned look, lips pursed together. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, NateWantsToBattle."