Over the Cobblestone Bridge

Chapter 9 Nathan

For Nathan, it was hard for him to get over his mother getting infuriated. He had never seen her behave that way towards him, he thought she'd get upset, but to go out of her way to slap him? He felt humiliated by himself, his mother had never slapped him. Not once has she hit him, due to how he was treated by his father, so it was shocking for him.

Nathan got ready for school on Monday, his mother's angered face still burning in his mind, and he was not particularly happy about it. He grabbed his wallet, backpack, then his keys, but when he went downstairs he placed his keys on the table and grabbed a post-it note.

My deepest apologies... He wrote on the note and left it by his keys. He then grabbed his old skateboard from the closet that gathered dust. While riding to school he continued to think about that Saturday confrontation, knowing how angry his mother was towards him was punishment enough, he loathed the feeling. He never wanted her to worry about him, and here he was messing up already.

The ride to school was longer than expected, Nathan hadn't realized how far it was, and soon took his car for granted. He thought he should have given Caleb a call, but didn't want to risk the humiliation of losing his car over something so trivial.

Everything was normal, the school day went as planned, nothing had changed, but the paranoia settled hard on the jock. What Adam had said out in the open triggered everything in Nathan's mind. He waited to be ridiculed by his peers, but no one approached him about the matter. Nathan kept up his sly and usual composure throughout the day. He walked the halls with his friends, and everyone acted as though nothing happened on Saturday, they asked why he wasn't on the bus, but Nathan came up with some excuse. While walking he shoved his arm into Gwen and felt his glower, but he didn't bother turning around to bother the kid.

Though no one pursued it, he still couldn't help but feel that they all knew, and was just keeping it from him. He couldn't focus that well in swim.

"You givin' up on me already, Nat?" His coach asked when he approached the edge of the water to meet the swimmer.

"Sorry coach, I have a lot on my mind..." He trailed off but continued to swim.

At the end of the day, Nathan skateboarded back home, Caleb had asked why he brought his skateboard to school instead of his car. Since they were close friends, he told Caleb that he had a fight during the field trip and his mother grounded him by taking away his car.

As expected, Caleb asked if he wanted a ride home, but Nathan didn't take him up on his offer. He needed to clear his head, and the autumn breeze allowed him to think more clearly. Before he arrived home he noticed a park that was by his house, but he had never noticed it. Maybe he always drove past it while driving home. Nathan decided to stop by at the park and sit down on the swing. He wasn't ready to go home just yet, he still had so much on his mind. His memories recollected from what Adam had said to his mother being angry with him.

The sky was a canvas that someone spilled deep red and orange paint all over that blended well with each other, it was beautiful. The colored trees complimented the scenery as they slowly fell to the ground. He wasn't paying too much attention to time, but the sun was setting, and he knew it was going to be dark soon.

"I'm surprised to see you here."

Nathan was so deep in his thoughts, he didn't hear anyone approach him. He had thought his mind was tricking him into hearing things, but when he lifted up his head to double-check his surroundings, he saw the redhead standing over him, so bold for someone who was weaker than he was.

"What do you want, loser?" Nathan asked as he exhaled out a breath, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it. After inhaling the smoke, he released it and closed his eyes.

"Is it true? About what the boy said on Saturday?" Gwen asked. He slowly reached inside his pocket and had grabbed something, but never pulled it out.

Nathan stood up and gripped the collar of the redhead's shirt, "No. And if you say any word about it, I'll kill you, understand?"

Still keeping his composure, Gwen replied back, "I wasn't planning on telling anyone."

"Good, I'm glad you have some sort of common sense inside of you." He then dropped the boy to the ground and inhaled more smoke.

"Why did he say that you... you know..." Gwen couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Adam always mixed up fantasy from reality." Nathan replied, then realized, "Why are you even speaking with me, get out of here." he demanded, but Gwen continued to stand his ground.

"It's a public space, and after that spiel, I highly doubt you want to start anything. You'll be expelled." Gwen's expression showed no malicious content, no smirk of any kind, or any sign of victory. He kept a face of sympathy and a wanting for mutual ground.

Nathan rolled his eyes then glared at the redhead, "Why are you here bothering me, pumpkin?" He asked and sat back down on the swing

"Why do you always call me by those names?" Gwen asked exasperated, he wasn't going to allow Nathan to beat around the bush. He stood his ground and was ready to even fight the jock if he needed.

Nathan killed his cigarette and chuckled, he stood up, grabbed Gwen and stared down at his glistening green eyes. Gwen must have thought he was going to receive another beating the way he embraced himself and gulped down the fear.

"I don't understand it either," Nathan told him. Instead of cocking his fist back to punch the nerd, Nathan drew him in for a kiss. They stayed in that position for a moment, Nathan tasting the honey Burt's bees chapstick on the redhead's lips, before breaking the kiss. He saw Gwen completely frozen and in shock. "Perhaps, that's why Adam called me that name." He then walked away, leaving Gwen wide-eyed and numb, with the scent of cigarettes and the faint smell of chlorine that lingered on him.