Where it all began

Ch. 7 - An old friend

~ CHAPTER 7 - AN OLD FRIEND ~

Some time during the dinner the subject at hand had side tracked and I ended up agreeing to shopping with Diane, Emma and Logan. Since I had to go shopping some day soon anyway, I might as well do it with them.

So here we were, walking down the road towards the harbor, where the stores were located.  The were a lot of people out and about today and the streets were almost crowded, but that could also depend on the fact that it was a single file street where you could only fit one car at a time. There were about twenty stores, of which about ten or nine where clothing stores. So the chance of buying a whole new wardrobe worth of clothes was slim. 

I could have gone to the next town over where there was a real mall, but I wasn’t up to going though such a hassle for just some cloths that I might not need to since I might find some nice cloths here. 

We had arrived at the harbor, and we entered the first store we saw. 

The fifth store we entered wasn’t a clothing store but they did have some jewelry and accessories. Walking a through the shop I found a nice everyday silver necklace and a ring with a dark blue stone that I bought. I did find a really nice watch, but it was overpriced so I decided I would by it during the end of summer sale.

Diane and Emma was looking at some wedding rings and I felt kind of disgusted by the thought of my father marrying Diane. Sure I didn’t have the best relationship with him but I still couldn’t understand why he was together with someone like Diane.

Not wanting to hang around in the store waiting for them to finish, I told them I was going to the next store across the street. It was probably the fourth time this had happened. Some women would just take forever to go through a store.

Logan had grown tired three stores ago and was sitting at some cafe waiting for us to join him.

The store I had just walked into was long and narrow built and had lots of fishing tools, boat equipment and other things I didn’t quite know what they were used for. 

The further I walked the more I felt like I knew the place. And as I made my way to the back, and though a door. In side the small room I was now standing in, I noticed there was something wrong about the scenery I was looking at. Something was missing. 

“Do you need some help, ma’am?” A voice appeared out of nowhere. Startled I jumped away form the voice. Looking to my right where a boy about my age now stood looking at me. He had light brown hair, kind green eyes and was half a head taller than me.

“Eeeh...” was all I got out, still staring at the boy. It was like a light switch had been turned on and I realized who it was. Nate, looking like an older version of his younger self, he hadn’t changed that much. He had grown handsomer but he still had that nice guy aura and the boyish charm, he had when he was younger. 

Nate was my best friend before I left, that was why I thought this store was familiar, we used to hang around here. Looking at him now I realized that he didn’t know who I was, his eyes were kind but there was no knowledge of who I was in them.

“Ma’am” he said now trying to get my attention, and realizing I had been staring at him for a while I quickly shifted my gaze towards the wall I had been looking at before.

“Is there a secret room there?” I blurbed before I managed to stop myself. He looked at me as if deciding where or not to trust me. 

“Actually there is” He says as he leans forward and touches a hidden button. A lock clicks open and the secret door is now ajar. Pulling the door open he reveals some old faded photos piled in the far left conner and two skateboards put together using duck-tape. 

An angry voice is closing up on us and a man walks into the room. The man's ears are burring red and half screaming half speaking he says “Why can’t you answer when I call you?” at first I think he is angry with me and almost yell something rude back at him, but I then understand that he is looking at the person next to me. 

“There is a customer who needs a - ” the man didn't finish his sentence as he just seemed to noticed me and the open secret door. “How is she and why are you showing her that?” he no longer yells but you can tell he’s still angry.

“It’s nothing, dad. I was just - ” but the boy next to me is cut short by a scream coming form the store, telling the man to immediately come out and help a costumer with a fishing rod. 

“I’m not done with you” Nate's dad says before he stalks out towards the voice, on his way to help a costumer.

Awkward tension was growing between us after his father left, deciding to break the awkwardness. I asked “Do you wanna take a ride?” moving the two skateboards back and forth.

“Why not” he shrugged and a smile made it’s way across his lips. He picked up the two skateboards and opened a back door that lead to the boat docks by the sea. “Oh, and by the way I’m Natan, but you can call me Nate.” he said smiling and giving me his free hand to shake.

“Well, hello I’m Red” I smiled, and shook his hand.

Walking down a wooden ramp and turing left towards the parking lot, Nate followed but as the ramp ended he tripped on a lose plank and in his fall the two skateboards broke due to being old and a bad construction and one of them rolled over the edge and into the sea. 

Nate was hunched over on the ground and staring after the lost skateboard in shock as one of his best childhood memories slowly sank towards the bottom of the sea. 

When we were nine we had connected our two skateboard to be able to race the trains as they left town, and because we though we would go faster if the two of us was on one skateboard we put our skateboards together. And since he wanted to become a mechanic he got to use some of his non existent knowledge to make the two skateboards one.

Not wanting to lose one of my best memories I dived into the sea without thinking and swam down to get the skateboard. Reaching the surface I realized that I my cloths were soaking wet and I was freezing. I also realized that there was a gathering of people all observing the scene and I could no longer see Nate because three people was standing in front of him. Emma, Diane and Logan to be exact. 

Logan took the skateboard from me and shoved it into Nate, while Emma and Diane just starred at me as I swam towards the closest ladder about twenty meters away form the chaos. 

When I got out of the water my body was covered in goosebumps and Emma and Ethel was rushing to my side and pushing me towards our house to get me dried up. Looking over my shoulder I could see Nate getting up and Logan shoving him out of his way as he followed us.  

That was strange, Logan have always been a nice guy but the way he acted when he though no one saw was weird.