How Are We Not Together?

Chapter One

Beep, beep.

Something warm pushes my shoulder softly, making me curl up closer to pillow I have my face buried in and mumble under my breath, “Go away…!”

Beep, beep.

The annoying tone of the alarm clock has been going on for five minutes and if it didn’t stop soon, I was going to hurt something. Opening one eye, I come face to face with two beautiful green-blue orbs staring back at me, a small smile just barely visible. Nathan. Scratch what I said before. Someone was going to get hurt.

He reaches over me and slaps the alarm clock with the palm of his hand, shutting off the stupid contraption. I watch him through half open eyes and glare at him slightly. I have to be dreaming. Nathan is never up before me.

“Wake up beautiful.” Yup, I’m definitely dreaming. I curl my knees up to my stomach and clutch my pillow closer to me, holding it firm against my cheek.

“Nathan, go away.” I grumble into my warm pillow. I stretch my arm out to lightly push him away and weakly tap his chest, stretching out my legs a little. When did my bed get this big? My eyes pop open and I sit up straight, looking around the bedroom. This isn’t my room. And if it isn’t my room, it’s Nathan’s.

“What- How- Um…Why…?” I can barely get a word out as I look over the clothes littered across the room and a few basketball trophies on the nightstand beside me, turning to look at Nathan. That’s when my gibberish turns into small squeaks as he stands in front of me shirtless, making me blush. My eyes trail down his tan, well toned chest that almost makes me drool at the sight of it. Even though I had seen them nearly a hundred times over the years, I could tell that he was still working on them. Thank God.

“Well, good morning to you too, Sleeping Beauty.” He says coyly, crossing his arms across his chest.

What is up with him today? He only compliments me when he wants something from me or when he wants to hook up with someone, which is usually a close friend of mine. Excuse me while I mentally vomit and die. I just don’t understand my friendship with him. Nathan is always partying and going out with his friends, hooking up with random girls every day of the week. We hardly ever spend time together and I don’t even get why we are still friends after all these years. It’s not as though I’m jealous.

Okay, I confess. I like him. But only as a friend. If I ever liked him that way, there would never be a chance. He would never go out with me. Besides, he has a gorgeous cheerleader girlfriend who happens to be one of my close friends. Well, she thinks that she’s my best friend. Honestly, she can annoy me sometimes.

Nathan just has to ruin everything by being such a player! Sometimes, he leaves home for four days and then sneaks into my room in the middle of the night, telling his parents that he’s been there the entire time and thinking that it’s perfectly fine to do crazy things like that. God, he is such an as-

“So are you just going to stare at me or are you going to get up?”

Like I was saying, he is such an asshole!

“Yeah, yeah, I’m going. Don’t get your man thong in a twist.” I mutter, whispering the last part as I push myself up and bump his shoulder with mine, heading to the bathroom connected to his room. I roll my eyes at his chuckle and pretend to not hear him mumble an insult under his breath as I turn on the sink. I splash some water onto my face and dry it off with a towel, retreating back into his room and flopping onto the bed where I snatch up his pillow and press my face into it. “Why are you up so early anyway? Wait, no. Scratch that. Why are you up so early bothering me?!”

Nathan laughs at me and mumbles something about how I’m not a morning person, stepping forward to the edge of the bed. “Has the genius Anna forgotten what day it is today?” He chuckles, moving his fingers over my creased forehead. “School, sweet cheeks.”