The Song Remains the Same

Chapter Two: Not You Again

Chapter Two: Not You Again

October 14th, 2014

When I was seven, Nate Thomas told me I was the most beautiful girl he's ever seen in his entire life.

Granted, his entire life was only seven years in the first place, but at the time it seemed like an eternity to us. I remembered the day so clearly that I could write an entire in-depth romance novel of the struggles of the two young star-crossed lovebirds and have it be the length of Pride and Prejudice. I would go into excruciating detail on the green polo shirt he was wearing that brought out the green specks in his grey eyes or the high-water khakis he adorned that hovered above his mismatched socks.

I always made fun of him for that- looking like a disheveled mess half the time in retaliation of his over controlling mother- but that's what made him Nate, that's what had made him my best friend.

And then one day he turned into a delinquent. He busted open a pack of cigarettes, lost his virginity to a drunken college girl, and got arrested for streaking. And to top it off, it was the same day he decided to hate me.

I didn't think there was a reason for it, nor could I find one over the weeks I had spent thinking about it directly after it had happened, but for whatever reason it was it seemed good enough for him to hate me for years after. No longer was I his best friend, the one who he called beautiful- I was the one who he called freak, or weirdo, or leech, or a "burden to this world" as he liked to say. I'd heard a few insults like snob, or richie, or spoiled brat before, but never any like the ones that Nate had started calling me from the time he was 13 to the time he up and left Port Angeles for good, or so I had thought.

You see, Nate's mother was a designer like mine used to be before she went back to college to get her finance degree- which was actually the reason our families had become so close, from our mothers going to design school together and carrying their friendship with them into adulthood. Only Mrs. Thomas was the one who made it big instead of my mother. She was so big in fact that the Thomas family spent their time split between their home in Washington and their home in Milan.

I remembered when Nate and I were best friends and I'd have to say goodbye to him for months at a time, desperately awaiting his arrival back home. He'd bring me home a gift every time he went, usually each time from a different country that he had to go to with his mom. Soon there were so many gifts that eventually I lost track of them all, except for the first one he'd ever brought me. It was a simple thing- a tiny locket from Ireland with a "D" engraved into the silver. It was simple, but it meant a lot to me, even after Nate decided to hate me. I still wear it around my neck day in and day out, not as a reminder of Nate of course- I hated him almost as much as he hated me- but I wore it more because of the picture of my father that was held inside of it.

Around the time Nate was beginning to slip into his out of control self, his family began spending more and more time staying in Washington. His mother's line was almost self sufficient so she could work from across the world, and his father had been promoted to CEO of a research company- the same company my mother was now the financial manager for. I wouldn't love it when we were friends, but then high school began and I wished he was as far away from me as possible.

Though lucky for me, I got my wish when Nate decided to be a complete jackass. Not only had he been caught trying to force a sixth grader into smuggling pot for him, but after the cop caught him trying to give the boy the drugs Nate had punched the cop in the face, pushed him to the ground, and took off with his huge bag of weed still in his hands. Needless to say- he got in a lot of trouble that night.

His parents, not being able to afford their public image being destroyed by their son's idiocy, bailed him out, paid off the media, and decided it would be best to send him away, back to their old home in Milan to live with Mrs. Thomas's colleagues. Granted it was probably the stupidest thing they could do since Nate wouldn't have any adult supervision and would probably get worse, but it was a good thing for me. I'd never have to see his face again- or so I had thought.

Seeing Nate back in Port Angeles was probably one of the most unexpected things to happen to me. I'd spent the last two years not being constantly insulted by him for no reason, thinking that he was completely out of my life, but of course my life couldn't go the way I wanted it to. He had been right there in front of me, looking unexplainably happy at my presence for someone who hated me.

I had a million questions swirling through my head, another one coming to mind each time I took another step down the sidewalk that would eventually reach my house after the agonizing 15 minutes it took to get there. It crossed my mind that I could've asked Nate to give me a ride, considering he literally lived next door to me since our mothers were joined at the hip so much that they wanted to live next to each other and that he decided to suddenly show up again in my life and even put himself more into it by now having to work at Trax. The only issue with that was that I still hated him, and even thinking about talking to him made my skin crawl.

Eventually I made it to my house, shutting the door behind me and leaning against it, eyes closed while I sighed in anguish. The weight of everything that had suddenly transpired came crashing down on me like a surging waterfall. Nate was back. Nate. Was. Back. It was almost hard to wrap my mind around it, and it was even harder to wrap my mind around the fact that I'd actually have to see and deal with him- all because he was being an idiot again and vandalizing the one store in this city that I actually liked.

After a while I finally peeled myself from the door, walking down the halls and to the stairs. As I climbed them I heard voices coming from the kitchen, undoubtedly being my mother and Mrs. Thomas conversing like they did almost every night- this time they were probably discussing Nate's return that made no sense to me, but must've to her since she let him come back.

I climbed the stairs two steps at a time, trying to just get up to my room as fast as I could so I could drown everything out with my music. I throw my jacket over to the couch in the corner of my room and whip off my shoes and kick them across the floor as I walk over to my speakers, pressing play and the extremely loud songs of Paramore start to ring out around my room. I fall back onto my bed, the black and white swirled bed covers sinking around me as I do. For the first time all night I finally decide to look at my phone, and I instantly sigh as I see the million messages on it from Kendall telling me she needed to talk to me.

Although I shut my phone off, placing it on my bedside table and did the only thing I could do- shut my eyes just trying to let the music wash over me. Right now music seemed like the only thing that made sense. Whatever she needed to tell me it could wait until the morning because frankly I didn't want to stress myself out even more. I was tired, tired from exhaustion and tired from thinking about everything with Nate. It was still almost hard to wrap my head around the fact that he was back and that I'd have to see him, and it was even harder to wrap my head around the fact that he was finding some pleasure in seeing me. Whether it was from the thoughts that he was going to make my life a living hell again or not, it still was creepy and freaking me out to be honest.

I heard my phone buzz again, probably just another text from my best friend, but I still ignored it. I slipped myself under the covers, letting my exhaustion take over me and letting my thoughts run wild under the sound of Hayley William's voice lulling me to sleep.

~~

This was so short, but it was a good place to end and I just wanted to get something up. Thank you to anyone who's read, it means the world! If you can, please please please spread the word because I really have so much planned for this story!

Make sure you're paying attention to the dates too, as pretty soon they'll be important!

Music suggestion time!!: Celluloid Heroes by The Kinks. This song is so perfect and the meaning is perfect as well, so check it out because it's a great great song!

xx