[Old Version] Playing for the Other Team [Old Version]

Chapter 17

Nathan should have figured why all the girls were acting so weird. Wendy, the hottest and most popular girl in school, was out of the game. Which meant that all the other girls now thought they had a chance. Nathan sighed at the very thought of it.

"Hi, Nathan." A short blonde girl whispered during class. Amy, Nathan thought her name was.

"Hi." He replied with a weak smile.

"I like your hair today." Amy said.

Without thinking, Nathan ran his fingers through his hair. "Oh, uh... thank you... Amy?" He said. The girl smiled and nodded, confirming that he'd gotten her name right.

Nathan continued getting complimented, and/or flirted with for the rest of the day. He dodged most of the approaches, but some were impossible to avoid. During lunch he spotted Josh and Wendy, together. Josh's arm were wrapped around Wendy's waist, and hers were draped over Josh's broad shoulders. She glared at Nathan, but kept a very superior look that was probably meant to make him jealous.

Nathan didn't feel at all like sitting by that table to eat, and lit up when he spotted Jonathan in the corner of the cafeteria. He wasted little time walking over to him, and sitting down in the empty chair next to Jonathan. "Hi." He greeted happily.

Jonathan jumped a little in his seat. "O-Oh... H-Hi." He stuttered, nervously glancing around.

Ignoring the looks, Nathan smiled at Jonathan. "Why do I feel like you don't come here a lot?" He asked, and sank his fork into his fries.

"I usually eat in the library." Jonathan mumbled, poking his food around in the plate. "I thought I'd eat here today." He added.

Nathan smiled at him again. "I'm glad you did." He said. "My friends are hanging out with my so called ex-girlfriend." He jutted his thumb over to the table on the other side of the cafeteria, where Wendy, and most of the basketball team sat.

Jonathan glanced over Nathan's shoulder, nodding. "Oh, you mean the BJ-girl." He said.

Nathan choked on his food, before bursting out laughing. Another ten or so pair of eyes turned to look at them. "Y-Yeah." Nathan chuckled. "But don't let her hear you call her that, she'll probably kill you, and me too for that matter."

"Hi, Nathan." Two girls said, plopping down on the chairs next to Nathan.

Nathan was still recovering from Jonathan's nickname for Wendy, but blurted out some kind of hello. "Yeah, hi." He looked at the girls, still chuckling.

He noticed that they were twins, but they had different hair colors. One of the was blonde, and the other had dark hair. It was fairly obvious that the blonde was not really blonde...

The two girls stayed, and flirted with Nathan, that was too tired to bother with telling them off. Jonathan on the other hand looked very uncomfortable, and quickly finished his food before getting up. "I-I'm going now." He stuttered. "S-See you later." He blurted out and picked his tray up.

Nathan frowned slightly. "Wait for me." He said. "I'm done here too." He shoved the last piece of tomato into his mouth, and picked his tray up, saying a quick goodbye to the twins before following Jonathan. "Hey, Jonathan! Wait up." He caught up with Jonathan that was almost sprinting away.

"N-Nathan..." He mumbled and stopped.

Nathan tried to catch his eyes, but Jonathan expertly averted his eyes. "Hey, what's wrong?" Nathan asked, and even dared to nudge Jonathan's arm.

Blushing, Jonathan looked away. "I-It's nothing." He mumbled. "I just... I'm not a fan of people looking at me like I'm a freak."

Nathan smiled at him, and gave his arm another nudge. "It's okay. If you don't like the looks we can eat somewhere else tomorrow."

Jonathan looked up at him with genuine surprise. "You wanna eat together tomorrow?" He asked.

Nathan smiled as they started walking again. "Yeah, that's what friends do, right? They sit together at lunch."

"Y-Yeah!" Jonathan smiled.

The two boys eventually had to go to their classes, but they promised to meet up out on the parking lot after school. Nathan hurried to get his things after class, and sighed at the many notes with phone numbers that fell out of his locker when he opened it.

Not wanting to be rude, he shoved all the numbers into his pocket to throw away when he wasn't at school, and then grabbed his things and headed down to his car. He spotted Jonathan coming from the south side of the school. Which was strange considering his locker was closer to the front of the school.

"Hey." Nathan greeted him when Jonathan came walking. Jonathan barely looked up. He had his hoodie pulled up over his head, and his gaze glued to the ground.

"Hi." Jonathan said without looking up. "Ready to go?"

Nathan bent down slightly, trying to get a good look at Jonathan, who turned away. "What's wrong?" Nathan asked.

Jonathan shrugged his shoulders. "Nothing. Let's go." He tried to walk past Nathan, but Nathan wouldn't let him pass.

"Jonathan... look at me." Nathan demanded softly.

The shorter boy hesitated before slowly looking up at Nathan. Nathan winced when he saw Jonathan's face. His cheek was red, almost purple and swollen, and the area around his left eye was turning blueish. "Oh my gosh." Nathan frowned. "What happened?"

Jonathan looked away again. "Some girls..." He mumbled, cheeks burning with embarrassment.

"What girls?" Nathan asked, pulling the hood off of Jonathan's head. Jonathan quickly looked away.

"Just some girls." He muttered.

Nathan grabbed him by the shoulders, and looked him in the eyes. "Jonathan, what girls?" He asked.

Frowning, Jonathan glanced back at the school building. "The twins from lunch... and some other girls." He said lowly.

Nathan furrowed his eyebrows, and crouched down to try and catch Jonathan's eyes again. Anger flooded through him. Why in the world would anyone hurt Jonathan? "Jonathan. Listen to me." He said. "I won't let them do that to you. If they ever touch you again, come to me, okay?" He said, and Jonathan nodded. "Good. If anyone gives you trouble, tell me."

Jonathan nodded again. "All right." He mumbled.

Nathan gave a smile, and stood back up. "Good. Now, let's go." he said and moved out of the way.

Nathan drove Jonathan home. He wanted to take him to the hospital, but Jonathan didn't want to go. He assured that he'd be fine at home.

When they stopped outside Jonathan's house Nathan stopped Jonathan before he got out. "Jonathan." He said. "I won't let them bully you." Jonathan blushed. "I'll pick you up tomorrow." Nathan added.

"All right." Jonathan nodded. "S-See you then."