nathan dawson's pov
So, there I was sitting in a car with the prettiest girl of our school. She just happened to be my brother's ex and, on top of all, I had heard about the breakup from my step dad instead of Nicholas himself. It kind of sucked that we used to be so close, but now he didn't even care to tell me the highlights of his life. Nicholas had changed and I hated it with every cell of my body.
In all those movies they always picture twins to be inseparable, so close they could read each other's minds. Well, I don't know where they get all that telepathy stuff, because I for one had never had much idea what was going on in Nicholas' head. I think it's safe to say that he didn't have any idea what was going on in mine either.
"You probably think it's weird I'm talking to you all of a sudden." Audrey Grace pointed out while she was trying browsing through her Spotify lists to find something to listen to. I had a feeling she did that to hide her nervousness, although I wasn't sure why she would feel that way.
"Basically, y-yeah." I shrugged, keeping my eyes strictly on the road.
"Well, there's actually something I wanted to ask from you." Audrey Grace continued.
"Uh-huh." I mumbled, not the least surprised by her words.
"Harper is having a pool party on Friday and I want you to come with me." Okay, I didn't see that coming. I glanced at her, incredulously.
I didn't have time to give her my answer — which would have been "NO." with capital letters — because we had just arrived at Jonathan's school. I won't lie, it was a huge relievement. Even though there was no way I was going to that party, or any other party for that matter, telling that to Audrey Fucking Grace wasn't something I could do lightly.
"Hi." Jonathan greeted us with a congested voice when he took his seat.
"Are you ill?" I turned to look at him. He did look a bit pale and he wasn't smiling like he normally did. Jonathan just nodded, leaning his forehead against the car window.
"Oh no." I bemoaned, but then my lips curved into a smile: "But you know what? There's nothing a hot cup of tea and a movie wouldn't fix. Star Wars or Disney?"
"Star Wars." Jonathan smiled, but then something made him frown. "But no tea."
"Hot chocolate?" I suggested.
"Hot chocolate." Jonathan nodded.
"Deal." I grinned at him, completely forgetting Audrey Grace was still in the car and staring at us intently.
Jonathan and I spent the entire evening curled up on the sofa and wrapped up in quilts even though it wasn't that cold in the living room. We watched the first three Star Wars movies, before Jonathan dozed off and I realized it was way too late to get the essay, which I was supposed to return to the teacher tomorrow, done.
I washed my teeth and walked upstairs. I had dragged that out for hours and in all truth it had little to do with Jonathan or the movies. The real reason was that I shared the room with, who else but, Nicholas. He was already laying on his bed, on top of the cover and listening to music from his wireless earbuds.
Without so much as looking at him, I changed to an old t-shirt I always slept in. Then I pulled the blanket to my chin and pressed my eyes shut, but even then I could feel Nicholas' gaze on me.
"Are you awake?" He asked after a while.
"No." I muttered, turning my back to him.
"You're not a consolation prize." Nicholas vowed solemnly, and as I didn't say anything, he continued: "I didn't dump Audrey Grace, she dumped me. That kind of spoils your theory, don't you think?"
"Whatever, I'm not going to that party." I grumbled quietly. It did kind of spoil my theory, but it didn't explain why Audrey Grace was now after me instead of my brother who she had dumped only a short while ago.
"You should come. I'm going too and you can hang out with me and the guys." Nicholas probably thought he was increasing my eagerness to go to the party, but it was the opposite. I couldn't think of a worse way to spend my Friday evening than to do it at a party with my least favorite group of all.
There was a snowball's chance in hell I was going to that party.
°°°°
Ms. Delaney's English classes were giving me a headache. First of all, I couldn't return the essay, which I had only just started in the morning. I wasn't the only one late from the deadline, but that didn't really get me off the hook. Instead she gave us extra homework to make sure we wouldn't repeat our mistake.
Secondly, I was supposed to read a book that had over 500 pages till the end of the month and I hate reading. I often just end up moving my eyes on the pages only to realize I haven't actually assimilated any of it. Sometimes I felt like the words moved, which made it even harder to focus. It didn't matter how many times I sat down determined to read the book, I just couldn't get it done.
And well, there was the third thing as well. Ever since that little incident in the school yard and the realization of Gray Eyes sitting so close to me in the classroom, all I could feel during the English classes was his presence. I tried not to acknowledge him in any way, but it was difficult when I could feel his eyes drilling into me. Constantly, that is. Whenever I glanced at him, he was already looking back at me.
Along with the staring, Gray Eyes was always playing with his pen. He didn't even seem to notice doing so, and everything about his appearance gave off ease. He didn't seem too bothered about anything when he lounged at his seat.
He was wearing worn out boyfriend jeans, a black Led Zeppelin t-shirt and shabby sneakers. His black hair was cut short and his skin was fair, almost pale. He had thick eyebrows and his left ear had more piercings than I could count.
I admit it was possible I had been sneaking glances at him a few times more often than was absolutely necessary. If he hadn't punched me in the face, I could have said he was easy on the eyes. Not that I was looking at him for that particular reason though, I was just trying to figure out what his deal was.
"Today we'll talk about the first four chapters of Crime and Punishment. Surely you all have read that far by now?" There was no way I would admit to Ms. Delaney that I had only read five pages of it.
"What do you think drives Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov to do what he's about to do?" Ms. Delaney asked. She wrote the name of the character on the white board and under it one word: "motive".
"Dawson?" I think she had something against me, especially now that I had failed to return the essay on time.
"I-I, um.." I had absolutely no idea what could have driven the guy to do whatever he was about to do, and making something up on the fly wasn't my strongest suit. It didn't help that everyone was staring at me or that I could hear the clock ticking oppressively on the wall.
"I have a theory." I couldn't believe my eyes when Gray Eyes lifted his hand and volunteered to put me out of my misery.
"Okay.." Ms. Delaney let her eyes browse through the name list.
"Solar — Clarke." Gray Eyes offered. Then he told his theory. Ms. Delaney loved it. I felt like the dumbest person in the world. When he looked at me the next time, I answered the gaze with new curiosity.
Around that time I realized two things. Gray Eyes probably wasn't trying to make an enemy of me, and this little hide and seek game of mine was getting ridiculous. I knew I couldn't keep avoiding him forever, so why not hear him out? Then we could both continue living our lives like none of this ever happened, right?
So, after making the decision, I didn't rush out of the classroom when the class was over. Instead I put my books in my bag deliberately and slouched to the hallway. When I felt his hand tapping my shoulder, it didn't make me flinch.
"Hey, Nathaniel." Gray Eyes said as soon as I turned to look at him. He was at least three inches taller than me, so I had to look up at him. It felt weird to hear my name from his lips, especially the name no one used. Yet I didn't correct him, because I would probably have ended up stammering.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to —" This time I didn't tell him to stop or even shake my head, but all the same someone interrupted Gray Eyes before he could finish what he wanted to say.
"Do we have a problem here?" Liam wrapped his arm around my shoulders and fixed a pointed look at Gray Eyes.
"No, I just wanted to say something to Nathaniel." Gray Eyes cleared up quickly.
"Nathaniel? No one calls him that." Liam shrugged and started pulling me away from Gray Eyes. "Anyway, we gotta go."
"But.." Gray Eyes complained.
"No buts, bye!" Liam glanced at him for the last time before he started to blabber at me: "I heard Audrey Grace asked you to O'Sullivan's party. She came to talk to me just now and I'm invited too!"