Her Knight In Rusty Armor

Chapter XIX

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"Hello?" I greeted the stranger on the line with uncertainty.

"Hey, Ash!"

"Um, that's me..."

"Couldn't recognise me by my voice? It's Nate, haha!"

Pushing myself off my chair as I cursed under my breath, I earned confused glances from my friends sitting around me.

"Man... Let me hear this prick out," I muttered under my breath, to which they nodded in understanding.

Strolling out of the cafeteria, I found myself leaning against the wall outside it.

"Hey, Nate." I sighed in exasperation. It really wasn't the best time for him to call.

"So, what's up?" His voice was far too jovial, for some reason. My feet impatiently tapped against the floor; I just wanted to hang the call up.

"Nothing much, I was just having dinner..."

"Oh, did I disturb you? My apologies, mate," he mumbled, though I couldn't catch any hint of remorse in his tone.

"It's alright," I managed to say. "How'd you get my number, though?"

"Mutuals, I'd say."

I wondered which 'mutuals' he was talking about, inwardly groaning at the disaster they had gotten me wrapped in.

"Hmm... So, you have to say something?"

He chuckled at me, his raspy laughs reverberating through the speaker. I grimaced at the sound, wanting more than anything to hang him up at that specific moment.

"Nah, mate. I'm just checking up on my best bud!"

I visibly gagged. Peering around to see if anyone had noticed me, I felt thankful upon realising that the hallway was empty.

"Yeah, haha..."

He tried to shoot more conversation starters, but I couldn't return the energy he was displaying. He obviously had an ulterior motive, as he never called me before and hadn't asked about me for days.

"Say," he began, "how's it going between you and that Kate girl?"

His voice had sunk to barely a whisper, sending an unprovoked shiver down my spine. It made me want to choke him to death and to throw his body into a deep, rotting ditch crackling with the flames of a burning fire.

But we were on a call and he wasn't physically beside me for me to bring that friendly thought to life.

"Um, we're doing well. As friends, of course," I managed to choke out.

"Friends... Really? Just friends?"

His tone didn't fit his usual demeanour. My brow furrowing in confusion, I glanced at my friends inside the cafeteria, who were cheerfully chatting with each other while enjoying their food. Kate stared out the window, her gaze unwavering.

"Look, Nathan," I began. "If you like Kate then it isn't really my fault if I'm kind of close to her. I've dealt with this way too many times to know that–"

"Hey, hey, hey!" I arched my eyebrows in confusion as he cut me off. "I don't like her..."

I couldn't put a finger on why he had even called me in the first place. It seemed completely pointless, as he didn't have anything to say to me, only displaying his disapproval of Kate and I being friends.