Chapter 8

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Nathan was upset that his father was going away, and he was disappointed that he couldn't pick Jonathan up before school. He skipped breakfast, and drove straight to school. He was almost an hour early, and went down to the gym, and changed into his gym clothes. He felt a lot better wearing his basketball shirt, and a few laps around the court always cheered him up.

After a quick shower, he headed to his first class. It was Friday, and everyone was talking about their plans for the weekend. Nathan had completely forgotten about his own plans, until he ran into Wendy right before his last class.

"Hi, Nate." She smiled when she strutted over to him in her high heels tight miniskirt, swinging her hips, and chewing gum. "I'm glad you said yes about tonight. You can come over by... say eight?" She suggested.

Nathan had to think before remembering his promise. "Oh, yeah. Your house. Eight." He repeated to himself.


Wendy smirked, and ran her hand down his arm. "Great. I'll be waiting." She purred, and winked before sauntering away, just as she'd come.

Nathan sighed. He didn't want to go to her house. Especially not if her parents weren't home, but a promise was a promise, and Nathan Bone never broke a promise. He continued down the corridor, and walked into the classroom for his last class.

After spending his time in class doing close to nothing but listen to the teacher rant, Nathan walked slowly to his locker. He said hello to those who stopped him in the hallway, but mostly he just wanted to get back home. Sulking, he didn't look properly when he turned the corner, and bumped into a smaller body on his way around the edge.

"Ouch." Jonathan complained, looking up at Nathan. "Oh. Bone..." He mumbled.

Nathan smiled, happily at that. "Hi, Jonathan." He said. "You know... we've gotta stop meeting like this." He chuckled, pointing between them. "We'll break our necks if we do." He joked.

Jonathan shrugged his shoulders, as if he didn't care. "Sorry." He mumbled.

Shaking his head, Nathan gave another smile. "It's all right. I was actually hoping I'd run into you." He confessed. "Need a ride home?" He asked, and watched Jonathan glance over his shoulder.

"S-Sure..." Jonathan nodded. "I'm just gonna.. uh... get my stuff from my locker. C-Could you meet me outside?" He asked, and Nathan nodded. "I-I'll just see you out there." Jonathan turned around and hurried away down the corridor, leaving a grinning Nathan.

Nathan's day had just been made, so walked back to his own locker, where Oliver waited for him. "'Sup, Oliver?" Nathan asked as he got his things from the locker.

"Killing some time before the bus comes." Oliver replied, sounding bored. "You talked to Wendy?" he asked.

"Yeah." Nathan nodded. "She wants me to come over tonight. Her parents are out of town." He explained.

Oliver gave him a look. "So you're gonna do it?"

"Do what?" Nathan asked.

Oliver gave a nonchalant shrug. "Go to her house and.... you know. Do her?"

Nathan chuckled, and shook his head. "Nah, nothing like that. I'll stop by, but I don't want anything like that." He said. "She's not my type." He added. Oliver arched an eyebrow, surprised. Wendy Smith was known for dating almost every single guy in school, and Nathan Bone was one of the few she hadn't been with yet, he was also the one she'd been going after for a while, but Oliver knew his friend. Nathan was too much of a good guy to ever date someone like her. He was just going to her house to keep her at bay, or politely deny her what she wanted.

"All right. See you, man." Oliver gave a brief wave before walking off.

Jonathan was waiting outside for Nathan, looking pale, and very nervous. Nathan smiled, and waved at him, and together they walked to his car. Jonathan seemed to cheer up a little when they got into the car and got away from school.

"You okay?" Nathan asked after a few moments of silence.

"Yes, I'm fine." Jonathan replied.

Nathan nodded, and kept driving. He was worried about Jonathan, but he wasn't sure if it was okay to ask him what was wrong or not. As much as he liked to just sit there in a somewhat comfortable silence, he really wanted to talk to Jonathan.

"Jonathan." Nathan mumbled. "How old are you?" He asked, opting for a milder question.

The smaller boy glared at him, seemingly offended by the question. "I'm seventeen!" He said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I turned seventeen three months ago. I'm as old as you." He muttered.

"Oh." Nathan said. "You look younger, but maybe it's because you're a little short?" He hummed, not meaning to be mean.

Jonathan glared at him, but didn't say anything. Jonathan was pretty short. Quite a few inches shorter than Nathan. The top of Jonathan's head just barely aligned with Nathan's chin. "I can't help that I'm short." Jonathan snapped, and pouted again. He looked like such a kid when he pouted his lips like that. Nathan couldn't help but chuckle. "What's so funny, huh?" Jonathan asked.

"Nothing." Nathan smiled. "You just look so cute when you pout like that." he said. "Oh... um..." He realized what he said, and this time there was no phone call to save him. "I mean... uh..." He stuttered, trying to think of a way to fix things.

"U-Um..." Jonathan looked away. Nathan didn't dare to look at him, scared that he'd just screw things up even more. The two boys both looked away from each other. "D-Don't say that..." Jonathan mumbled.

Nathan nodded. "I-I'm really-" He started, but closed his mouth to stop himself.

They sat in silence for a while, and Nathan could tell that Jonathan was getting fidgety as he drove. "Y-You can drop me off here." Jonathan suddenly blurted out. "Bone, stop the car." He said when Nathan didn't stop immediately, and unbuckled his seat belt. The car pinged irritably, making sure everyone in the car knew that someone was without seat belt.

Nathan pulled over and stopped the car. "Jonathan, I can-"

"It's fine. I'm pretty much home anyway." Jonathan interrupted him. "I need a walk." He scrambled to get out of the car.

Nathan couldn't do anything but watch Jonathan get out of the car, and shut the door without even saying goodbye. He watched Jonathan hurry away, until he turned a corner and disappeared out of sight.


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