Alone

Chapter 11

After I explained to Matthew and Eve that I was alright, I took a short nap and got ready to go out with Nathaniel. I was excited I was finally going to hang out with someone that wasn't under ten. I hadn't hung out with anyone in a long time, not since before James died. I usually just hung out around his house and his friends.

I just started to look in the mirror and remembered all the times I spent with James and wondered why. Why did he have to die? Why not me? I deserved it more than he did. The knock on my door made me jump.

"Lori, it's almost nine." I heard Waylon say from my doorway. I shook myself and continued to played with my hair. Teasing it and finally decided it was better in a ponytail.

"Thanks, Way. I'll be down in a minute." I said, butting my black plaid fallel shirt on over my gray tank top then putting my black boots over my straight leg jeans. Then I turned back to the mirror to put my dark blonde curls in a ponytail. I finished getting ready and went downstairs where I saw Matthew was sitting with Eve.

"Lori, come here." I heard him say. I walked over and stood in front of them. "Lori, mom has to stay in the hospital a couple more days. So I am going to be here until she comes home. So just to let you know, I'm not going to leave you hanging, but I'm going to have to have you around. What I mean is, you can go hang out with Nathaniel, but I am going to need your help with the boys and around the house." He explained. I nodded and turned to walk out.

"Oh, one more thing. Tomorrow and Thursday, I have to meet a friend in Willisburg about a job so I'll need you here." I nodded again. I understand no Nathaniel tomorrow or Thursday. Then I went to walk out the door.

"She doesn't talk much, does she?" I heard Eve say.

"She doesn't talk much, does she?" I heard Eve say. I stopped in the foyer and waited for Matthew's answer.

"She hasn't really been the same since her boyfriend died. Maybe even before that. She changed after she started dating him." I heard him say. I didn't want to hear anymore so I walked out. I watched as Nathaniel pulled in my driveway and I stepped off the porch. He opened his door and walked over to the passenger side. As I walked up, he opens the door so I can sit down. I buckled the seatbelt as he got in and turned the car on so we could drive off. I live on the very edge of town, so it takes a while to get there. We didn't really say anything, we just listened to music.

"Are you alright?" He asked, finally. I could tell he had waited to ask that for a while. I looked over at him.

"Yeah I'm fine. Why? " I was still thinking about what Matthew and Eve had said before I left.

"You seem troubled. Upset, even. What's the matter?" I looked at my feet and sighed. I couldn't tell him without telling him about James. And I wasn't ready for that just yet. I just smiled at him.

"I'm just worried about my mom." I said. He nodded and continued driving. We got to the coffee shop and he opened my door for me again. I stepped out of the car and waited for Nathaniel to lock up and we walked in. It wasn't really crowded. We sat down and ordered our coffee.

"So, Nathaniel, I barely know you. Tell me about yourself." I said. He chuckled and dropped his head.

"Well, Abigail and I grew up outside of Springfield but we were born here in Trevorsten. We moved after our mother died. We lived in Peoria with our dad for a while and then we started moving around a lot. Dad had a business that caused him to travel. Abigail started getting restless and started making friends wherever we went but was heartbroken when we had to leave again.

"Which is why I gave you such a hard time when we moved here. But after my eighteenth birthday, I told my dad that we needed to settle down at least for Abigail. But there is still a chance we could move." He said. I nodded and he smiled up at me. "My mother died when I was three, Abigail was just a baby. My mother was about to have another baby so we were left with my grandmother while my father took her to the hospital. It was snowing like crazy and my father was driving. He didn't see the black ice. He lost control and the car flipped and landed in a ditch. They were taken to the hospital and mom and the baby died three hours later. My father was never the same, he always blamed himself and never got over it." He explained.

"Im so sorry. That must have been hard." I said. He looked down at his hands for a moment. He was quiet. I waited for him to speak, mostly because I didn't know what to say. Finally he looked up at me and smiled.

"Yes it was. I didn't really know what really happened until I was about twelve but I tried to move past it but it was really hard." He said. I smiled at him again, he had such a life.

"Anyway, what about you, Lori? I told you my life story. Tell me yours." He said. I chuckled. The waitress came over with our coffee and set a plate of cookies and ladyfingers in between us on the table. I took one.

"Well, I was born and raised here in Trevorsten. My dad left when I was really young. My parents were teenagers when they had my brother. They stayed in school. Which is why I think they stayed together long enough to have me. He left when I was two or three. And after that Matthew never really trusted men.

"Then when I was about seven, my mom started dating this guy, she got pregnant right away, a girl, but she lost her seven months in. Then when I was nine, she had the twins. He was actually a good father, until my mother had another miscarriage. He began to drink and then he left. He calls the boys every week. He's in New Orleans now.

"After that, my mom started dating low-lives and scumbag losers. They'd hit her and sometimes me. And that's how life was growing up. And then I met James. He was the love of my life. I couldn't have been happier. I loved him so much but we were coming back from a party four months ago and he crashed the car. He died on the scene. I was taken to the hospital and was in pretty bad shape. I had to have surgery to save my right kidney and I needed a new left one. It was luck that James was a match.

"So I got his kidney and I spent the last four months heartbroken. And that's my story. " I smiled weakly, but he was no longer smiling. I have been throw more than a lot of people know. He sipped his coffee s before speaking.

"Wow, that's horrible. I'm sorry that happened to you." He said. I was about to answer when I heard the bell over the door ring. I looked up and saw Kevin walk in with his friends. James' friends as well. They all blamed me for what happened. Nathaniel saw my face and turned to see the cause of my distress. When he saw Kevin, he pulled out his wallet and paid for our order. He grabbed my hand we walked out. He hand was awful cold for someone drinking coffee. We got to the door and someone pulled me back in. I panicked.

"Well, look who it is. Lori Ames." I heard someone say. I pulled my arm away and felt someone grab both my wrists and squeeze really hard. I looked up and it was Kevin.

"Kevin, let me go!" I yelled. He just squeezed even tighter. "OW!" I squealed.

"You're not going to get away with it. I promise you that." He said. I kept trying to get away but he wouldn't let me go. He just kept squeezing my wrists tighter and tighter. I thought my bones were going to brake.

"Lori, it's your fault James is dead. Do you really think you can get away with that? It's your fault. He would still be alive if it weren't for you." Kevin continued. I just kept trying to pull away and started to cry. Finally Kevin let go and I felt someone else pull me close, but in a good way. Nathaniel held me close to him, my head against his chest.

"Kevin I thought I told you to leave her alone." He said. He pulled me out of the shop again and helped me to the car. I put on my seatbelt as he came around and got in. He started the car and pulled out. While we drove in silence, I noticed something weird. I looked over at Nathaniel. Both times he held me, not once did hear a heartbeat, he had ice-cold hands after holding a cup of hot coffee and he always seemed to be around when I need him. It just seemed really strange. My phone started to buzz. I pulled it out of my pocket and answered it.
"Hey, mom." I said. She sounded better. I was glad for that. She basically told me everything that Matthew already told me. I could tell that she knew something was wrong with me but she didn't ask. After I hung up the phone, Nathaniel continued the silence. I knew something was up with him but I couldn't figure out what.
"Hey, are you alright? I mean after that stunt Kevin just pulled back at the coffee shop. Did he hurt you at all?" He asked. I looked up at him and smiled weakly.
"Yeah, he just squeezed my wrists too hard. But other than that, I'm fine." I said. He nodded but I don't think he believed me.
As we drove, he seemed to look around. Like someone was watching him, or he was looking for something.
"Alright. Hey I want to show you something." He said. I nodded and he turned the car to start driving south of the city.