All's Well that End's Well

*Part Fifteen*

"Okay, well, what's your favorite number?"

He leaned back in his seat, pondering. "Two," he finally said, "because it feels complete."

"My favorite number is seven," Nathaniel said, and I nodded.

"Seven is the superior number."

"Whatever," Luka smiled, putting his earbuds back in and returning his attention to the project.

I glanced at Nathaniel, praying he hadn't done the same, which would doom me to staring at my screen pretending to work for the rest of class. He hadn't and I mentally rejoiced.

"Are you going to rehearsals?" he asked me, and I nodded.

"Yeah, I thought I'd go cheer everyone on again and hang out and all. Gabriel will be there, so he said it would be cool if Adrien and I went." I said, and his eyes glinted mischievously.

"You sure you're not just going to hang out with that cute boy?"

I snorted at the idea of Toby and I liking each other. Toby was a great guy, don't get me wrong, and he was very attractive. But he liked another girl, and he was my friend, and I was rooting for him and whoever he liked. And I liked Luka, even if my feelings weren't getting me anywhere. That much wasn't changing, at least not for a pretty face.

"Toby and I are just friends, Nat. Plus, he already told me he likes some other girl that was at the competition." Unfortunately, my strained vocals decided to crack on the words 'other girl', gaining me a smirk from Nathaniel.

He leaned closer, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Oh yeah? Who does he like?" He asked, and I shrugged.

"I don't know, just some girl in the crowd I guess. I didn't get to meet her."

"Was she at the diner with us Saturday night?" He asked, and I shook my head.

"No, I asked him about it, and he said she wasn't there. It's too bad too, because I'm sure she would have fallen head over heels for him if she'd heard him sing," I laughed, and Nathaniel smirked.

"Comme tu l'as fait?" he said, in a tone implying he'd just asked a question.

"What?" I asked, but he just laughed at me. I wish I knew enough French to at least type what it sounded like into Google Translate to see what he'd said because I was certain it was something intended to make fun of me. But I didn't, so I let the matter drop.

"Right. Anyway, are you going to rehearsals too?" I asked, and he shook his head.

"I can't make it to the first rehearsal, Marc and I are working on our comic," He explained, and I nodded along.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you guys were doing that. How's it going?"

Nathaniel's eyes took on a gleam, as they always did when they were talking about his comic or Marc.

"Well, actually we're finishing the last chapter, and then we're going to send it in to see if we can find a publisher!" He said, talking animatedly.

I grinned, "Wow, Nat, that's awesome! You guys definitely deserve to get published."

"I know, our comic is going to change the industry forever," he exclaimed, pushing away his computer entirely. Internally, I sighed in relief. Nathaniel could talk about his comic for hours, but I only needed him to do it for about forty-eight minutes (when class ended).

We ended up chatting up until the last ten minutes of class, five of which were filled with packing up. When the bell finally rang out her song of freedom, I followed the herd out into the hall and down the stairs. At long last, school was out and I didn't have to pretend to work or study.