What I Hate About You (#1 What I Hate About You)

Chapter 21

I can’t wipe the smile off my face when I wake up the next morning. I feel different somehow, like I’m happy for the first time.

No one is in the kitchen we I get in there. I pour myself some cereal and sat at the table, drawing in my sketch book. My sister and mother came in shortly afterwards. Mum is amaze to see the smile on my face. Lindsay on the other hand, when she sits down at the table in front of me, she narrows her eyes at me. She knows I’m hiding something even when I don’t tell my mother anything. She has no clue that Nathan was here last night.

“Just to let you girls know that Dereck and I are going out tonight,” Mum says as she sits down at the table. “You will have the house to yourselves tonight.”

“Great!” Lindsay says.

“Yeah, sure Mum,” I say, swirling a strand of my hair around my finger.

“So Alex, what makes you so happy this morning?”

I glance up from my sketch book. “Oh, it’s nothing. I just feel happy.”

“Well, it’s good to see you happy.”

“Yeah.”

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I try not to smile too much when I get to school. I don’t want everyone asking me questions, although I’m sure that Lindsay will probably fill them all in. I saw Nathan on the way to my locker. We smile at each other, but don’t say anything. I didn’t want to look suspicious talking to Nathan like what happened the other day when Lindsay caught me.

I didn’t have class with him until third. I sit in my usual spot, watching Nathan, as we wait for Mr Brown, which apparently hasn’t shown up for class yet. No one is complaining that he hasn’t turned up yet. He has probably gotten hold up in the staffroom. Nathan snuck a few glances at me while he talked to Eric.

Thank goodness my sister isn’t in this class. She would immediately want to know what’s going on between Nathan and me.

The class soon quietens down, settling themselves into their seats as Mr Matthews walks into the classroom instead of our usual teacher. He stands at the front of the room. The class waits for him to speak. No one dares to make a sound just in case it would land us a detention.

“Your teacher Mr Brown won’t be attending class today,” he says.

“Where is Mr Brown?” Eric speaks for the entire class.

“He got a call yesterday saying that he has been offered a teaching job in Germany. He took the day off today to pack and to organise his trip, which he leaves for at the end of the week.

The class breaks into a loud cheer, glad that we will never have to see him again. At least now he has an excuse to speak the language every day. I just feel sorry for the students he is going to teach over there. I didn’t cheer. I just glance over at Nathan, whose eyes locks with mine and smiles.

Mr Matthews settles the class down when he thought we have cheered enough, quieting us down so he could speak. “I haven’t been able to get a replacement for him just yet, so I’m going to allow you guys to have a free period for today.”

The class cheers once more and hurry out of the classroom. I take my time gathering up my things. The room is empty all except for Eric, Nathan and me. Mr Matthews tells us to close the door once we come out. Once the principal is gone, I tell Nathan I want to stay in here. I’m not ready to be seen with him yet. Eric decides to leave the two of us alone so we could spend some time together.

I feel a little uneasy about Eric. I’m sure he knows about what’s going on with us and about the dates we had, but I feel a little uncomfortable knowing he probably knows about our kiss from last night.

“How much does Eric know about us?” I ask as I get off my seat and sit on the desk, swinging my legs off the edge.

Nathan walks over to me. “He knows about the concert. I haven’t told him about wet ‘n’ wild yet. Don’t be mad with me, but I told him about last night. He has promised not to tell anyone about us. I thought it was only right to tell him because he was the one who had been helping me with ways to ask you out.”

“Does anyone else know about us?”

“I don’t think so. I only told Eric. I’m not planning to tell anyone else unless you want me to. Like I said, I only told him because I thought he had the right to know. He was the one who helped me to ask you out. He even told me that I was insane for wanting to go out with you. And no, I haven’t told him about your secret.”

I panic a little, not knowing why. I mean, I know Eric knows about us, especially when he told Nathan to go with me after the party last night. I don’t know Eric well. How do I know if Nathan is telling the truth or if Eric will keep his promise? It’s bad enough I feel uncomfortable sneaking around with Nathan.

“Nathan, I appreciate it if you didn’t tell Eric about anything that goes on between us. The one thing I’m afraid of doing at the moment is sneaking around with you, without anyone knowing that I’m dating you.”

Nathan moves closer to me, stroking my hair which hangs loose around my shoulders. “Hey. Who cares what others say. We can hate.”

“Yeah, but I’m known for hating the world. If I go out with you, people will think there is something wrong with me.”

Nathan touches the side of my cheek. His touch makes my skin tingle a little. “People change, Alex. You can change what you feel about someone. That’s what you’re doing. You’re trying to get out of the habit of hating people. Who cares if no one understands that?”

I care because I can’t help but wonder what other people will think.

“Just remember Alex that as long as you’re happy with yourself, that’s all that matters.”

I give Nathan a half smile. His words are making me feel better about myself. But I still feel afraid of people knowing about my relationship is with Nathan. I’m still trying to get to know this new feeling I have and I don’t know if I’m ready for it. Then again, I guess Nathan is right. Who cares what others would say if I’m dating him? It’s none of their concern if I’m dating him or not. As long as I feel happy with myself than that’s the only thing that matters.

Nathan moves in to kiss me. I wrap my hands around his neck. I panic a little when he places his hands on my waist, but the panic feeling quickly disappears as he holds onto me tightly. With our arms lock together, I feel safe in his arms and knew everything is going to be fine with Nathan around.