~Natalie~
It’s been more than two weeks since we found Dad. I never went back to school. Dad let me be homeschooled with no questions asked.
Every day I went to work with Dad, he didn’t want me home alone for too long considering everything that had happened. I brought my laptop and the other small things I would need for school. Then I sat in the corner of his office all day and did my school work, and played games on my Facebook when I was finished.
I figured this was the best way to start over once again. I had promised myself that I would cut myself cleanly from Jeff’s life. And I can't do that if I saw him every day. This was the best choice.
And now I was spending time with Dad. It was a win in every direction.
But there was only one flaw in my big plan, Dad was presenting Jeff with an award in two days’ time.
Jeff was receiving an award from Dad thanking him for his commitment and persistence in helping the cops find both of us. It was like a good citizen award, but on a larger scale.
I didn’t want to go to the ceremony, but Dad was making me. He said it was the least I could do after all Jeff had done from me. He didn’t understand why I wouldn’t want to see him.
Dad had given me money and sent me with Cheryl, his secretary, to go a get a dress for the ceremony. Cheryl was in her mid-twenties and enjoyed shopping, so naturally I had bought a super girly dress that Cheryl was convinced I looked ‘stunning’ in, to get out of the mall as soon as possible.
So not only did I have to see Jeff and his family again, something I had avoided doing, but I had to do it wearing a dress.
So not my definition of fun.
~Jeff~
She’s gone. And this time I can't rescue her. She isn’t in danger, the cops have no reason to be alarmed. No, this time Natalie, my angel, is hiding from me. It’s just me she’s chosen to cut out of her life.
Natalie wasn’t the one to tell me she wasn’t coming back. Mr. Anderson, our English teacher, was.
I had left her alone like she had asked, for the rest of the break. More than once I had been tempted to pick up my phone and call her, but I knew she wanted her time alone with her dad.
I had expected her to call me when the break was over, but the call never came. I went to English the first day back and her desk was empty. At lunch she never came to me and the next day when I asked Mr. Anderson if he had heard anything, he said that Natalie no longer went to this school.
Natalie had gone to this school for only three weeks. One week out of those three, she had been missing and hadn’t even attended school. No one mourned the fact that she was gone except for me.
Mum tried to convince me that I wasn’t the reason Natalie was gone. She told me that there were other things that Natalie must have wanted to avoid at the school other than me. Like all the bad memories surrounding her kidnapping and the week without George.
I’m having a hard time seeing the positive in all of this. All I can hope is she will be there at the award ceremony. It’s supposed to be her and George presenting me, not just George.
What have I done wrong? What did I do to make Natalie hate me? I hope whatever I did I can fix. I don’t want to be away from Natalie much longer.
The only positive thing I am seeing in the last couple of weeks, is at least Mum didn’t kill Brandon and I for going to find George. Dt. Greene had called her right away, but she hadn’t cut her trip short visiting Grandma.
We didn’t get grounded or anything. But we did receive hourly checkup calls from Mum and Dad to both of our cells. If we so much as missed a call the house phone would be bombarded with calls and the neighbour would be sent over to check on us.
It was insane, but at least it kept my mind off of my angel a little.
At the award ceremony, I wore the dress pants, shirt and shoes that Mum forced me to wear. I didn’t put up much of an fight because I wanted to get there faster to see Natalie sooner.
Brandon was home from college for the ceremony. It was a Saturday, so he wasn’t missing anything. He normally didn’t come back on weekends, so it really made the whole thing special.
Mum thought it was sweet that Brandon was coming, I knew he was coming to make fun of me if I did anything to embarrass myself. I really hope I don’t, Natalie would be there.
The ceremony was taking place in the ballroom at a hotel. There was a little stage set up with chairs for George, Natalie, the detectives and myself. There was a single desk thing with a microphone on it and that was it.
The rest of the ballroom was going to be filled with family, guests, and paparazzi. I thought it was weird that people would want to take my picture, but George is a senator so I guess it makes sense.
There weren’t any people yet watching, no one would be let in for another ten minutes. There was still just over an hour to the ceremony and there was already a huge crowd outside the doors waiting to be let in.
It was a good thing no one knew who I was yet because my family and I slipped in quietly through a side door after flashing the security guard our ID. I’m not sure if this was the normal hotel security, or if it was just because of who was here. I think it was the latter, George would take every precaution to protect Natalie, especially now with Donald’s boss still out there.
We cut through the ballroom to the stage. There was a little temporary room behind it with security guards around it. I guess that meant George and Natalie were in there already. I showed my ID to the guard at the door, even though the fact that I was already in here had to be proof enough that I was allowed, and then pushed the plastic flap away to enter the makeshift room.
George was pacing the small claustrophobic room with his cell phone pressed to his ear. When he saw us he waved not even breaking stride.
But I barely noticed him. My eye was drawn to the small angel in the corner.
Natalie was sitting on one of the three long benches that went along the walls of the tent. She had one leg crossed over the other and a thick book perched precariously on her knee as she played with the ring on her finger. Her hair was curled softly and it framed her face perfectly as she leaned over her book. The black band in her hair seemed out of place in the fiery red.
She wore a dress of deep burgundy and set off her red hair just perfectly. It was a short dress that was ruffled liked someone had grabbed it at multiple spots on the bottom half. There was a black band with a flower on the side just above where the ruffles stopped and then the material was smooth and flawless up the rest of her stomach and her chest.
“Jeff, Brandon, it’s good to see you again,” George said breaking me from the trance that was his daughter. When had he gotten off the phone?
Natalie’s head snapped up and her eyes widened slightly like she was scared when she saw me. Why was she still scared of me? I had shown her many times that I was not someone to be scared of.
“David, Jade, I never did repay you for looking after my daughter,” George said continuing with the greetings.
“Go to her you idiot,” Brandon hissed appearing at my side.
Of course, right. I got this. I went to take a step forwards and Natalie scrambled to her feet, tugging at the bottom of her dress like that would do anything to bring it closer to her knees and then she went to George.
She whispered something to him, he nodded and then she scurried from the room, still tugging at her dress like that would make it grow the last couple of inches to reach her knee.
I hung my head in defeat and crossed the room to sit in the spot Natalie had just vacated. Whatever I had done must have been terrible for Natalie to leave just at the sight of me. It was clear now that her avoiding me was just a mistake or a misunderstanding. She really had meant it when she had said goodbye the last time I saw her.
“What was that about? Did you guys break up or something?” Brandon asked sitting next to me. He had known that I hadn’t seen Natalie for the rest of the break, but he didn’t know about the week afterwards. He thought we had just carried on like usual.
“You know the day we found George and Natalie left?” I said instead of just answering just question.
“Yeah, what about it?” Across the small room our parents and George were still talking.
“I haven’t seen Natalie since then.”
Brandon’s eyebrows came together in confusion. “But I thought you had class with her?”
“I did. She doesn’t go to my school anymore.”
“Have you talked to her at all?”
I shook my head. “Not since we said goodbye.”
“That has to be the worst breakup ever,” Brandon said shaking his head. “And you finally see her, and she looks smokin’, but she won't even talk to you? That is tough man.” Yeah I really didn’t want him rubbing it in anymore.
“Can you just stop?” I said crossly.
Brandon realized he had crossed a line and shut up.
“Jeff, I should prepare you for what’s going to happen,” George sitting down on the bench perpendicular to the Brandon and myself were sharing. My parents were seated on the last one. There was a sudden buzz in the ballroom and I knew that people were being let in now.
You could have prepared me for seeing you daughter looking that amazing as she rejected me immediately, I thought.
“Yeah what do I need to know?” I asked trying to look interested. This was after all a ceremony to recognize me.
“Well there will be many people filming the entire event and it will be televised on certain channels,” George said. I knew all of this already. “You’ll wait back here as the detectives, Natalie and myself each give a short speech, then you will be called onto stage to receive the award.
“You have something to say right?”
I nodded. I had an idea of what I wanted to say. I would wing the rest.
“Remember to smile because they’re taking pictures the whole time,” George said with a wink.
I nodded and waited a heartbeat before asking, “Where did Natalie go?”
George waved his hand dismissively. “Oh she just wanted to be alone, she usually does.” I had a feeling that Natalie often disappeared during these types of things.
“How has she been?” I asked. “I haven’t talked to her in a while.”
“She’s doing better. It’s hard to tell with her, she’s always been like this.”
The detectives came in just then, more dressed up then I had ever seen them.
“Any news on Donald’s employer?” I asked hopefully. I hadn’t talk to them either since we found George.
“No there isn’t,” Dt. Brailer said coldly.
“But today is a celebration, let’s keep it positive,” Dt. Greene said.
I nodded.
We talked pointlessly for a long time. Natalie never surfaced and George didn’t seem alarmed.
Just minutes before the ceremony was supposed to start, Natalie slipped through the makeshift door.
My parents and Brandon were already gone, so it was just the detectives, George, Natalie and myself in the tent.
Natalie set the book she was holding down on the bench I was sitting at, managing to ignore me completely. Then she went and stood next to her dad. George put an arm around her like she hadn’t just disappeared for an hour.
George whispered something to her and Natalie nodded. I desperately wanted to reach out and touch her like George was, but she had made it clear that she didn’t like me anymore, as a friend or more.
Someone came into the tent and said that everyone but me were to go to the stage. Everyone complied and soon as I was alone in the small room.
As soon as everyone was gone, I put my head in my hands and just let all the defeat that I had been feeling for the last couple of weeks, show.
Someone on stage announced George and the crowd cheered. I didn’t know how many people were out there, but it sounded like a lot.
George got up on stage and his words washed through me. “Thank you all for coming out tonight to recognize the bravery of one outstanding young man.” That was sure high praise. I almost forgot that it was me. “This young man’s name is Jeff Porter. He has not only done what was extraordinary and unexpected, but what any young person would do.
“On her first day of school, Jeff immediately befriended my daughter Natalie. Then when she went missing he did all that was in his power and much more to find her. When I left in order to protect Natalie, Jeff was there to comfort Natalie the whole time. Him and his brother Brandon took Natalie the moment they could, and used their hope to come and find me.
“I don’t know Jeff as well as Natalie, Dt. Greene, or Dt. Brailer, but I know that he is a remarkable young man.”
I was surprised by his words. Everything he said was true, but it made me sound like a hero or something. I didn’t feel like a hero. The hero always got the girl right? So why was I so depressed after rescuing the damsel in distress of my dreams?
George introduced Dt. Greene and then she got on stage and said that she was proud of me for working so hard to find the people she cared about even if it was going against her orders. “We all need more people like Jeff. People are the most stubborn in the best of ways. People who are pure and gold at heart.”
Dt. Brailer went out and said how there is an unexpected hero in everyone. “There’s good in everyone hearts. Some just have more than others. Some choose to ignore their good, and others put everyone else before them without about themselves.”
I was amazed that I had made such an impression on these people who were just more amazing than I could ever be themselves.
I knew some people lied in front of all of those people, but I had no reason to doubt any of their honesty.
Dt. Brailer then introduced Natalie as “an remarkable young women”. There was applause and I heard some shuffling from where I was behind the stage and then I heard Natalie’s voice through the mic.
“Jeff is all of those things my dad and the detectives said he was. He did all of those things.”
“You’re wanted on stage,” said the assistant who had told everyone else to go on stage. I stood up, I wasn’t supposed to go up until later, right?
“But Jeff isn’t made of steel like everyone hasn’t made him out to be. He isn’t this super being that he sounds like.”
I was at the side of the stage now. The assistant gave me a small shove and I half stumbled onto stage, half fell.
Natalie looked over at me and gave me the smallest of smiles. But to me it was like the sun had come out the first time in months. It was that brilliant. It was so dazzling I just stayed where I was standing in the shadows of the stage.
“Jeff is the only friend I’ve ever had. I kept trying to push him away because I didn’t know how to do the whole friendship thing.” I came out of my trance and walked slowly to stand next to Natalie. I wasn’t sure what she wanted me to do, but this seemed like the most natural thing to do. And now Natalie was talking to me tilting around the mic, and not the vast crowd spread out on the floor in front of us.
“After only two days of knowing me, Jeff knew everything terrible that had happened to me. He had been there when my… When I had broken down into tears. He hadn’t asked any questions just told me that everything would be better.”
I nodded remembering the time her jerk of an ex-boyfriend had called her one night. That was the night the secrets had come spilling out.
“After that I realized what it meant to have a real friend. But I went missing and then I thought hope was gone. But Jeff was the one who came and found me not even a week later.” I felt kind of awkward standing next to Natalie in front of this many people, but I had no idea how Natalie was feeling towards me right now.
“When I was Dad disappeared, it was Jeff’s bed I crawled into to keep the nightmares away. It was Jeff who held me as I cried for hours each day. It was Jeff who protected me from the monsters that came for me each and every time I closed my eyes.”
I was shocked by that. Natalie hadn’t told me it was that bad. Before I could stop myself, my hand reached out and my fingers threaded into Natalie’s. Shockingly, she didn’t pull away from me. She gave me another small smile.
“I wasn’t the best friend. I was hardly friendly to Jeff at times. But he stayed by me the entire time, that’s more than what anyone else has ever done.”
Natalie looked back out over the crowd to reach out to them one last time. “Jeff calls me ‘Angel’. At first I didn’t know why, but now I know it’s because he’s the guardian to my angel. He’s the keeper of my secrets and the only friend I have had. I might be his Angel, but he always my guardian, right from the first day.”
Natalie bowed her head and the audience erupted into applause. “Thank you,” she mumbled into the mic before stepping back and going back to her chair, dropping my hand like it was red hot. She went back to her seat and sat down elegantly tucking her skirt under her. She sat tall and straight like the goddess I knew she was.
“Everyone, this is him, Jeff Porter!” said the women who must have been the announcer I heard earlier.
The crowd clapped and cheered, but I didn’t care about the strangers in front of me. All I cared about was the girl I had thought for a moment might not hate me, was back to ignoring me.
***
Happy 2012!! 2011 ended 13 minutes ago!!
I think about 1-4 chapter until the end.
Thank you so much for reading!!
Vote + Comment + Fan please!!
I should have a new story up by the second week of 2012.