Chapter 3

The next morning I woke up to the memories from last night.

Nate saw me naked.

Nate actually saw me naked.

All I wanted to do was lay in the bed and never have to wake up and face Nate or anyone ever again. But my wish went down the toilet the moment my lovely cousin barged in my room. Has she ever heard of a thing called ‘privacy’? I don’t think so.

“Ever heard of knocking?” I asked rolling onto my stomach, burying my face in my pillow.

“Someone’s not a morning person.”

I almost fell out of bed at the sound of his voice. Where was grandma? She was supposed to beat him with a bat. I pulled the duvet over my head and clenched my eyes shut, hoping that he would go away.

“We’re going to hang out at the skate park today, are you coming?” she asked and I shook my head. They couldn’t see me.

I heard a sigh and footsteps leaving the room. I sighed relieved but froze when the bed dipped next to me and the duvet was lifted up, to be let go a few seconds later.

I kept my eyes closed, denying any scenario that plaid in my head.

“You are antisocial, aren’t you?”

I rolled over at his voice that was in my ear. His closeness made me blush as I sat up from the bed and pulled the blanket with me, rolling it around my frame.

“You’re wearing clothes, why do you bother covering up?” he asked with a smirk and rolled on his back, bending his left leg and hitching his right leg up to rest against his left knee.

His hair was now blond and green, and the piercing in his brow was gone. He was wearing jeans, white Supras and a white V-neck which showed off a tattoo.

“Well I have some dignity.” I replied, trying not to blush under his intimidating stare.

“It’s not like I haven’t seen it before.” he grinned and took his phone out.

My eyes widened when he stretched his right arm out for me to see the screen of his iPhone.

It was that picture of me, naked. I felt my cheeks burning and tried to get his phone, but he pulled it back and stuck in into his jeans.

“If you want it come and get it.”

I shook my head. “Please leave.”

He sat up and that’s when I realized that he was actually wearing the shitty Supras into bed. On the white sheets.

My grandma would flip shit.

“I need to get dressed.” I mumbled and tightened the hold on the duvet.

“I don’t mind.,” he said.

“Please.” I pathetically whined. To that he stood up and walked towards me.

I took a step back but he was towering over me. I could practically taste his aftershave from where he was standing. The only thing I could see was his white shirt. He was at least a head taller than me.

I craned my neck to look up at him. He smiled and ran his tongue across his bottom lip, revealing his tongue piercing.

“You should stop being such a nun and have some fun.”

I made a face that he did not find amusing.

“Our definitions of fun differ.” I mumbled and he shot me a smirk, before he turned around and left. My eyes were fixated on the back of his neck, more specifically on his neck tattoo. It was a black heart, kind of small.

I frowned, but he was already gone before I could question it.

I dressed up with a pair of shorts and a shirt, before I washed my teeth, brushed my hair and did my makeup. I didn’t like people seeing me without makeup; I knew I was ugly. I spent a few minutes highlighting my brown hair with a dark purple color, before I went to back to my desk.

I grabbed my laptop with the intention of watching a movie outside on the front lawn in the lounge chair.

I set my MacBook on the table in the kitchen and tried to ignore the fact that Katherine was on the kitchen counter, and Nate was sucking her face off.

I tried to get to the box of cereals, but they were right in front of the cupboard. I coughed and Nate pulled away, wiping his lips with the back of his hand.

“Did you want to join?” he asked and smiled cockily.

I rolled my eyes. “I want to eat Lucky Charms.”

He smirked and grabbed his crotch, pushing it towards me.

“You can eat mine.”

I blushed and awkwardly looked at my feet.

“Just give her the cereal Nate.” Katherine giggled and he opened the cupboard, handing me the box.

I poured milk in a bowl and then the cereal, before I sat down at the table.

“Where’s grandma?” I asked as I ate. Nate was tapping away on his phone and Katherine was picking at her nail polish.

“Our grandparents are at a garden sale until later in the afternoon.”

“Today’s the beach party.” Nate butted in, not looking up from his phone.

Katherine nodded.

“Wear a bikini.,” he added and I scoffed, before putting the bowl in the sink and grabbing the laptop from the table. They didn’t pay attention to me as I exited the room, then the house. I climbed down the stairs of the porch and went to sit on one of the two lounge chairs in the back garden.

I set the earphones in my ear and once again thanked god that I caught Nate’s Wi-Fi. I searched the site that I bookmarked and plaid the episode of Supernatural that I had to watch.

I mean, Dean was so hot, and Sam was so cute.

I licked my lips and looked up when someone’s shadow towered over my lounge chair. Nate was looking down at me, one hand on his hip and the other one on his skateboard.

“Watcha watchin’, porn?”

My cheeks flamed as I shook my head, stopping the episode.

He set his skateboard on the ground and I resisted the urge to punch him when he pushed me aside, sitting down next to me on the chair.

“How do you even have Wi-Fi are you using my Wi-Fi?”

“Maybe.”

“You know it doesn’t have a password, right?” I asked. “You’re so stupid, you can’t protect your Wi-Fi and then you freak out.”

Shit. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. He looked at me, anger visible in his eyes. I knew he was going to hurt me. I heard Katherine talking to her friend on the porch, saying that if someone ever stood up to Nate, he’d beat the shit out of them.

He got up from the chair and took the skateboard in his hand.

"We’ll see who’s stupider."

The person that uses stupider as the superlative for stupid, I thought but kept my mouth shut for safety reasons.

Grandma and grandpa got home around three, after I finished watching six episodes of Supernatural. Katherine came around with a girl called Jade and all they did was talk about boys, nails and Nate’s sexual experiences. Which was quite rude coming from them, because I was watching something and they just talked like I wasn’t even there.

Jade stayed for lunch, and grandma interrogated her about basically everything.

I learned that she was seventeen years old, had an older brother that was eighteen years old, Jake, and that she went to secondary school in Mullingar, together with Nate (apparently he repeated year 10).

As I helped grandma wash the dishes, she started talking about Nate again. Did everything revolve around Nate? I went to the grocery shop: “Nathan Harris did this”; I went to throw out the trash: “Nathan Harris licked that”. It was getting annoying.

"He’s eighteen, turning nineteen in September, and he’s starting year 11 again. He doesn’t care about school. People say that the teachers pass him just so they won’t get him the next year. But he’s terrible at math’s."

I didn’t care to be quite honest.

"I heard Primrose Shelley and Anna Starr talking at the garden sale…you should’ve heard the things they told me…he shags a different girl every night."

I almost dropped the plate. I did not care about Nate! Why did she feel the need to tell me about his sex life?

"So you two girls keep away from him, if I catch you with him, you’re grounded for a week."

"Don’t worry, that won’t be a problem for me.” I mumbled and dried my hands on a cloth, before turning away from grandma. She turned the tap off and looked at me.

"You should go and meet the other kids in the neighborhood. You shouldn’t stay in all day and do nothing."

"I’m watching a TV Show."

"Don’t you have summer assignments?"

"I do, but I’m starting tomorrow."

She shrugged, before she remembered something:

"Oh! I need you to go buy your grandpa a pack of Kent cigarettes. How old are you?"

"Sixteen grandma.” I mumbled and held my hand out for her to give me the money.

"They sell cigarettes at the grocery store."

I nodded and grabbed my skateboard from the wall. The city center was seven minutes by skateboard, and I had nothing better to do anyway.

I put on my cap and took off; stuffing the money grandma gave me in the back pocket of my jeans. I pushed my Ray Bans further up my nose and gave myself a push with my left foot.

I skateboarded down the streets, watching people as they grilled in their gardens, mowed their lawns and walked their dogs.

I passed by the bus station and turned left, before getting off my skateboard, since I was not allowed with it in the city center.

I set my skateboard down next to a familiar orange BMX, right in front of the grocery store grandma told me about. I looked around but Nate was nowhere to be seen. I sighed relieved and entered the shop. A bell went off as I made my way to the cash register.

"Hi."

The teenage boy looked up at me. I read his name tag.

Jake Starr

Wasn’t he Jade’s brother?

"I’d like a pack of Kent cigarettes."

He looked up from his phone and smirked, looking at something on my right, before looking back at me.

"And how old are you?” he asked smirking.

"Sixteen."

"You shouldn’t smoke you know,” he said, but I could hear the amusement in his voice. He was obviously a smoker, judging by his smile and groggy voice.

I heard a deep chuckle behind me and turned around. I saw Nate a few feet away from me, with a Vodka bottle in his right hand and a cigarette in his other. He had some black Ray Bans on and he was dressed just like this morning.

"I wouldn’t have pictured you as a smoker…” Nate said and took a step forwards, setting his bottle on the table, for Jake to scan.

"I won’t give you the cigarettes unless you do something for me.” Jake whispered and wiggled his eyebrows.

Nate laughed and Jake fist bumped him. Of course they were friends.

"Nah mate I don’t think she’ll suck you off.” he then continued and paid him.

"Why not?"

"She’s a virgin, look at her."

Jake raised his eyebrows and made a disgusted face.

"And you’re sixteen?"

I shrugged, blushing and feeling embarrassed.

"So these are for you?” Nate asked pointing to the Kent pack placed on the counter. I bit the inside of my cheek and nodded. Maybe he’ll get off my back and leave me alone.

"Well fuck it then, I’ll pay them for you."

Nate paid for the cigarettes and pinched my nipple, making me gasp, before he exited the shop in laughter.

Jake was laughing too and shaking his head. I made my way towards the exit, completely annoyed with the both of them.

"See you around.,” he yelled after me and I closed the door behind me.

I walked down the stairs and looked for my skateboard, but it was nowhere to be seen. I immediately knew that Nate had taken it.

I arrived home around seven, because I had to walk twenty minutes. Honestly; who did this kid think he was to take my skateboard and let me walk?

The only entertainment I had during the long was reading the label on the cigarette package over and over again.

"What took you so long?” my grandfather spat and strolled over to me as I entered the living room, discarding my shoes.

"Uh…"

He pulled the pack out of my hand and shooed me away. I rolled my eyes and walked up the stairs, jumping two at once. I washed my hands and threw myself on the bed, pulling the laptop open and plugging it in.

I immediately clicked the Safari button, but it said that the website wasn’t available. I refreshed; still nothing. Then something occurred to me.

I went to the settings and saw that Nate’s Wi-Fi was now password protected. I groaned. I knew I couldn’t live two days without Internet.

I angrily slammed my laptop shut and looked around for things to do. Nothing. No skateboard, no Wi-Fi…just…homework?

No.

I sighed and dropped myself on the seat, opening the back-pack that was at the foot of the desk. I was about to start wri-ting the first math’s test (I was actually good in math), when my phone rang beside me.

I picked it up and saw Katherine’s ID flashing on the screen. I answered.

"Hello?” I asked confused.

"REYREY!"

I cringed at her nickname. Don’t. Just don’t.

I got up and went to open the window, since it was starting to get too hot in the room.

"Are you… coming to the bonfire at the beach… tonight?"

She was doing weird sounds and she seemed to struggle with talking.

I stopped when I saw her sitting on Nate’s bed; her phone held in her hand in front of her; obviously I was on speaker. Nate’s window was positioned to reveal his bed that was pushed against the wall, right in front of the window.

Katherine was on her back, on the left side of the bed, with her legs spread, her skirt up to her stomach and Nate’s pinkish hair between her thighs. I blushed at the image.

"Uh…I don’t think so.” I mumbled and heard her whine, From what I could see, she’d whined because Nate suddenly pulled away from her and wiped his mouth, aiming for something out of sight.

Thank god that grandma’s bedroom was on the floor below, so she couldn’t see what was going on next door.

"Why not? You should loosen up a bit."

I saw her hand going down her stomach, towards her private area, so I turned around, backing away from the window.

"I don’t- hold on."

The phone vibrated and I looked at the screen. I had a new message.

I opened it.