Ode to Bree

Pumpkin Relief

UNEDITED CHAPTER NINE [1]

       Cold white walls were all that was left to comfort him. He hated being in the principal's office; being absent from school without turning in a written excuse was kind of a sin for his school. Two hours of detention gave Nathan two extra hours away from home—away from his angry father.

       Nathan busied himself with the task of writing more lyrics. He felt like a dingus for running his mouth to Bree about his 'new song' that was no where near being in the works; with every line he wrote came a very messy scratch to hide the words that sounded no horrendous in his perspective.

       He had no Seth to consult with, either.

       Nathan was left to fend for himself.

       He wasn't allowed the usage of any electronics during his detention, so no classical (or any) music to help him calm his nerves.

       He couldn't even hum!

       Nathan let his pen do the taking for him, thought, he muted himself with every word he scratched out. He was getting nowhere.

       "What's the use?" He sighed.

       "Nathan," he looked up at the secretary seated behind her desk at the other side of the room, "Your mother is here for you," she said.

       "So I can leave now?" Nathan asked stupidly.

       She nodded and continued to do whatever she was doing on her computer.

       Nathan grabbed his stuff and quickly left the office. His mother was out on the steps, waiting for him. She was in a casual outfit, with a huge coat on over it; her hair seemed shorter than before, and curlier. The moment she laid eyes on her son approaching her slowly, she smiled widely and took her hands out of her coat pockets.

       "Hey," she greeted him. It looked like she wanted to go in for a hug, but pulled back almost immediately.

       Nathan felt his pride stuck like a huge piece of gum in his throat.

       "Hey," he said in a flat voice.

       "Your dad is... well, I think you could enjoy being somewhere else right now," she said.

       "I was enjoying detention," Nathan huffed.

       "I never enjoyed detention. My math teacher used to be in charge of it, and boy, was he one asshole," she chuckled.

       "What he make you do?" Nathan asked.

       "We had to clean the detention room—he was a clean freak—then, he'd have us write a five thousand word essay on why we deserved out punishment."

       "Boy, all I had to do was sit around and do nothing."

       Catherine laughed and began walking down the stone steps. She hopped off the last one like a little child.

       "But won't he be mad if I'm not home again?" Nathan asked, standing firmly in place.

       "I'll call him. He won't be mad if he knows you're with your mother."

       Nathan hesitated a bit, until he took a step forward, then another, and another, until he was standing beside his mother. He was a few inches taller than her, which struck him as strange because he was probably the shortest guy in the entire school. The shortest and the leanest.