Hey friends that I love dearly and hope forgive me for the long awaited update, *nervous smile*
Please read the authors note at the bottom! + WARNING; if you are imagining the characters as someone else, just skip really fast near the bottom because I will be revealing who I think should play as Nathan. A lot of people keep asking for the cast so I will be putting one together— even though my original goal was to NOT make a cast at all. Maybe I'll just cast Thalia and Nathan and you guys can imagine the rest to look like however you want.
Vote - Comment - Share (If you wanna but I'd appreciate it if you did. But you don't have to. But please do.)
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Thalia Lively
I sat on the side of my bed numbly, staring at the shoe box I tucked away under my night stand. I don't know long I've been sitting here, not being able to remove my gaze from the box that held every childhood memory that I can't seem to remember myself. I've never seen what was inside, maybe it was because I was too stubborn and I want to remember everything on my own, or maybe I was too afraid to look.
I remember bits and pieces but not enough to put the whole puzzle together. I remember my family but very briefly. I remember playing soccer, that must've been a huge part of me since that memory and feeling stuck to me while everything else was wiped away.
My numb stare turned into a gaze of longing, I so desperately wanted to see what I had lost, the curiosity was killing me but no matter how badly I wanted to look, I never did and never will. The hidden memories seem to be locked in a safe at the back of my mind, the emotions remained free in the open though. The unknown emotions flowed inside of me with freedom, pulling at every nerve in my body carelessly. It was like having paint but no canvas. It was like having a field with no soccer ball. Emotions but no memory to connect them to.
"Still haven't opened it, huh?" Nonna's voice took over the silence. My eyes were glued to the box, I didn't bother looking her way but even if I wanted to, I couldn't.
I shook my head slowly, becoming angry at the fact that I was the only thing holding myself back from my past. I felt the bed dip beside me, and a hand rub my back comfortingly.
As time passed by, gaps in my mind were being filled but it wasn't enough. I remember my love for them, my adoration for them. I need more though, I need to see them physically, I need to hear their voices, I need to stare into my mothers eyes that were a duplicate of my own, I need to hug my brother just one more time because I miss the feeling of being safe. I hate myself for not remembering those little things.
I don't know what their voices sound like, I wish I remembered though. I have their faces printed in my mind forever but the little things about them are gone and as much as I wanted to refuse to believe it, I wasn't going to get them back. They're gone. They always will be.
And I'm still here, with a blank memory and a pained hollow heart.
"That night in the hospital, when I woke up." I finally spoke, regretting it after hearing my morning voice croak through. "And it was just you in the room, holding that box." I paused again, my voice wavering near the end.
"You never told me who put that together or who gave it to you." I finished, not wanting to speak again since I didn't trust my voice at the moment. It was slowly breaking between each word, but I couldn't help myself from asking. I've always wondered but I never built up the courage to ask.
"Your brother." She answered and that was when I finally looked at her. My eyes were begging to allow them to cry but I forced myself to keep it together. "He mailed it to me and I got it just days before the incident."
"Do you know what's inside?" The words flew out of my mouth hurriedly, I suddenly— very desperately wanted answers.
"No." She looked at me. "There was a note left for me and at the end it said only you were meant to open it." She confessed, now eyeing the box that I was previously also staring at.
He knew.
My brother knew something was going to happen that night, why else would he have made this box ahead of time? Out of everything and everyone, my brother was the one I remembered the most. Despite all the things people told me as the year went on, no matter what they said, I didn't forget him— not completely.
I nodded and stood up, I was already dressed for school and was ready to leave before I was sidetracked by the big box.
"Riley is downstairs, making a mess in the kitchen." Nonna informed me as she started walking out of my room and I looked at her curiously.
"What?" I said, not understanding why Riley was here so early. Nonna's previous saddened expression turned into one of amusement as she shook her head once we both heard a pan drop loudly on the floor.
Nonna didn't bother responding as she just walked out and went across the hall, disappearing into a room. I sighed and grabbed my bag, turning off the light and exiting my room. I followed the noise and dropped my bag at the bottom of the stairs.
I didn't waste any more time as I walked into the kitchen carelessly, stopping abruptly when I saw a scene that would make Nonna faint over. My eyes travelled from the smoothie that covered the ceiling, walls and Riley to the burnt pancakes covering the floor. I blinked at Riley who stood in the middle of the mess nervously.
"So, you see what happened was—" she paused and looked around, trying to buy some time to come up with a good explanation. "I was just trying to make you breakfast." Her shoulders slumped and she looked down at the floor.
"Why?" I tried holding back a laugh.
"Because yesterday you were so sad about your family—" she paused once again, looking at me once saying the last two words, almost as if checking if it was okay to say them. "I wanted to make you feel better but I didn't know how and Heidi said you never really eat breakfast so I woke up early and tried to make you something, but the problem with that was I can't cook—" I cut her off by making my way over to her and putting my hands on her shoulders.
I was speechless. I couldn't comprehend the fact that she went through all of this for me, someone who wasn't worth all of this trouble.
"Thank you." I said softly and went in for a hug but paused once my eyes made contact with the smoothie covering her clothes. I backed up and shook my head at her as she sent me a cheesy smile. Thankfully only her clothes were all dirty so she just needed to change and we would be out of here in time for school. I heard Nonna coming down the stairs and my eyes widened as her footsteps came closer.
She stopped at the entrance of the kitchen. "Mio Dio, Riley. Non credevo che fosse questo male. Entrambi di voi." ("My god Riley, I didn't think it was this bad. Both of you, out.") She said in Italian and I looked at Riley wide eyed. She only starts speaking in Italian when she's really mad, she just suddenly switches to different languages. I loved hearing her speak in Italian though, it always intrigued me how she speaks so many languages so fluently. Her and my father both loved learning new languages.
"Scusa." Riley replied back wincing at Nonna's harsh glare. Both, Nonna and I, turn to look at her as she apologized in Italian. "What? You think I'm going to just stand by with two Italians and not learn the language? You guys can shit about me and I wouldn't know—" she stopped talking when Nonna groaned at her fowl language. I chuckled at her and pulled her with me as we walked out of the kitchen, step stepping over and around the mess that covered the floor.
"Ti amo, ciao." ("Love you, bye.") I said to Nonna as I kissed her cheek and made my way to the front, Riley hiding behind me as we passed Nonna. We walked outside and I shivered as the piercing cold wind hit my cheeks harshly, the shiver ran through my back and around my arms. I ran back inside, stupidly forgetting a jacket. I opened the door and saw Nonna walk by the wall that our jackets were hung on. She grabbed mine and threw it to me, causing me to blow her a kiss then close the door.
Riley was already sprinting into her house to change out of her dirty clothes. I was about to get into my car, wanting to escape the cold but the clear blue sky caught my attention. I threw my bag into the car but remained standing outside. The merciless wind wasn't bothering me anymore, I was too focused on the empty sky that stared back down at me. An airplane came into view and it just suddenly appeared in the sky and I watched it as it crossed by. I, all of a sudden, started feeling homesick as I watched the airplane knowing it was full of passengers that were about to reach their destination.
Funny how I'm feeling homesick for a place that doesn't exist anymore.
I inhaled deeply, allowing the fresh wind in and out as I tried to collect my thoughts. I heard Riley's house door shut and I looked over to see her running across the street and towards my car that was parked in the driveway. She flew into the passenger seat wordlessly and I looked through the window to see her sinking into her huge winter jacket. Autumn was going away slowly and winter was straight around the corner from now, and oh how I dreaded it, not because of the weather, but rather the feeling of going through it alone once again.
I climbed into my Jeep and closed the door, still feeling cold even though the wind was being cancelled out. I turned on the car and let it heat up for a couple minutes, seeing we still had time before we needed to be at school. I woke up strangely early this morning, I've never had to look at the time and see that I didn't need to rush, it's weird. I looked over at Riley to see her smiling at her phone and without hesitation, I leaned over and looked at her screen. I caught the sight of Emmett's contact name and a lot of messages being sent back and forth from the two.
"Thalia, what are you doing?" She squeaked out and hid her phone away from my view causing me to look at her wide mouthed. Something was definitely there between the two.
"Who were you messaging?" I asked, knowing the answer but wanting to pry nonetheless.
"No one, just the group chat." She defensively retorted back at me but I saw that it was a private conversation, not a group chat. I squinted my eyes at her and she started blushing, locking her phone and turning her face away from me.
"That was Emmett." I said, falling back into my seat and looking over at her. "Don't deny it, I already saw what I needed to see." I told her as she faced me ready to deny the fact that she was texting Emmett. I pulled out my phone for the first time this morning and opened it to see the notifications. Her group chat excuse would've worked since there were messages being sent in the chat but I already saw only Emmett's name.
I read through my messages, starting with the recent ones.
Ethan
You might wanna check the group chat real quick Lia
Ethan
No really, it's just getting juicer
Ethan
Nathan is getting feistier
I stared down at Ethan's messages amusingly, going straight to the group chat now that he got my curiosity raising. My eyes went wide immediately as I scrolled up to the top of the group chat, seeing so many messages that I was deciding if I even wanted to read it all. I finally made it to the top and just realized the group chat name was changed.
Nahlia
Austin
THALIAAAAA
Austin
THIS IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE
Ethan
He's going to come after you and I'm not helping, this is all you bro
Emmett
He's so going to kill you
Carter
I've never been more excited to read this conversation
Austin
THALIA, YOU'RE NATHAN'S LOCK SCREEN AND YOU'RE IN HIS BIO ON TWITTER AND INSTAGRAM
Austin
MY SHIP HAS SAILED FOLKS
*Ethan changed the group chat name to Nahlia*
Ethan
Aw, they're so in love. I mean, YOU DON'T JUST PUT ANYONE IN YOUR BIO.
Nathan
You fucking asshole
Nathan
Just wait until I find you
Austin
OKAY I LIED, I TOOK HIS PHONE AND DID THAT
Austin
You can relax now, no need for violence
Austin
Nate? Buddy? Best friend?
Austin
WHERE DID HE GO
Austin
OH DEAR GOD, NATE I WAS JUST JOKING
Ethan
Dumbass
Austin
IT WAS JUST A JOKE OKAY. I mean I took his phone to call my phone cause I couldn't find it then I found pictures of him and Thalia so I DID WHAT I HAD TO DO.
My eyebrows raised as I read through the beginning and I couldn't read the rest when Riley took my phone away.
"Hello, drive." She waved her hand in front of my face and I started pulling out of the driveway in seconds. I was too focus on the messages that I didn't even realize we were wasting too much time.
"Did you see the group chat?" I asked her and she started jumping up and jump in her seat once I brought up the group chat.
"Yes, you're his lock screen and in his bio. In Nathan Reyes' bio." She blinked repeatedly at me and squealed loudly. My heart skipped a bit at the sound of his full name and I have no idea why. It wasn't that big of a deal, but I still suddenly got butterflies in the out of my stomach.
"I don't even have Twitter or Instagram." I confessed and I could literally hear her stop breathing for a second. There was a moment of silence before she started freaking out beside me.
"What the hell do you mean you don't have Twitter? Or Instagram? What's wrong with you?" I looked over at her weirdly, not knowing why that was a big deal.
"I don't even go on my phone unless someone texts me or calls me. I just never thought about social media." I said, stopping at a red light and sinking back in my seat. I didn't hear Riley respond, actually I didn't hear her make an noise for the next few minutes which got me curious. I turned to her and saw her on her phone— on my phone.
"What are you doing?" I reached for it but she moved it away from me. I didn't have time to continue to fight for it since the light turned green and I needed to get back to driving. I looked over my phone and saw her making a twitter account. "Are you serious?" I scoffed, shaking my head at her.
She still remained silent, too focused on making me an account for both social media apps. As I pulled into the school parking lot, I turned back towards her abruptly, a thought coming into my head quickly.
"How the hell did you get into my phone?" I asked and she handed my phone back as we both exited the car, regretting it once the even colder weather surrounded us.
"A couple days ago you left your phone open and I took it and added my thumbprint." She answered shrugging.
"Why?" I said as we hurriedly walked into the school, neither of us wanting to walk. I didn't have to look in the mirror to know that my cheeks were probably red by now because of the cold. I always had a problem with licking my lips, and it sucked when I did it in the cold weather and it chapped easily. Thankfully, I learned from my mistakes and pulled out a lip balm from my bag instead of licking them because they were too dry.
"I don't know to be honest." She replied and I didn't really mind that she had her fingerprint on my iPhone, there's nothing in my phone anyway. Unlike others where their lives revolve around their phones, I can live without it. There's more to life than a screen.
We stopped at my locker first since mine was in the main hall, whereas hers was all the way upstairs. She leaned on a locker beside mine as I started taking books from my locker into my bag. I kept my jacket on because even though it was warm in the school, I know Ms.Nelson will have the windows opened as usual though. I'm certain she's cold blooded, does she never get cold? I closed my locker and turned around quickly when Riley started pulling at my arm, laughing hysterically at something behind me.
I can clearly see Austin pushing people out of his way as he raced down the hallway, Nathan hot on his trail with the rest of the boys laughing behind them. Austin and I made eye contact abruptly and he flew towards my direction, roughly grabbing onto me and hiding behind me, using my as shield. He made me drop my bag so I tried bending down to grab it but he pulled me back up.
"Save me Thalia, use your girl magic on him or something." I turned my head to face him and raised my left eyebrow at him.
"Girl magic?" I questioned but he didn't reply as he turned me to face Nathan who was now right in front of us. I looked up at Nathan confusingly and his eye went from looking at Austin to meeting my own. I felt Austin let go of me and grab Riley instead who just pushed him off of her.
Before Nathan could return to going after Austin, I saw his phone peaking out of his sweater pocket so I grabbed it quickly, opening it to see a picture of he and I, in his car. I smiled at the picture, I was expecting it to be the one of us making silly faces, but it was the one of me smiling at the camera and Nathan was leaning against his seat covering his face but you could clearly see his breathtaking smile showing.
I felt Nathan's eyes on me so I looked up at him and just put his phone back into his pocket. I smiled up at him and I could physically see his shoulders become less tense.
"Now that's the girl magic I was talking about." I heard Austin say and Nathan rolled his eyes, shaking his head. I looked behind Nathan to see the other three boys staring at us with different expressions.
Emmett, first of all, was not even looking at us but rather at Riley who was shaking her head at Austin. He looked at her with admiration as she laughed when Nathan glared at Austin who flinched and hid behind her quickly.
Ethan was looking at Nathan and I happily. I saw him mouth 'aw' at us, which then caused me to roll my eyes this time.
And Carter, he was looking at the two of us with an unknown expression. I couldn't observe him long enough to find out because Riley averted my attention from him to her when she started speaking loudly.
"We have two minutes." She rushed away from us and down the hall. I bent down to grab my bag and put it on my shoulders, walking away to get to my first period class. I stopped walking when I realize Nathan wasn't following me, so I walked back and grabbed his wrist, pulling him with me.
"Come on, leave him alone." I looked at Austin who looked back at me gratefully. Nathan didn't object as I started tugging him behind me and to our class that just around the corner. We made it on time and walked to our seats, sitting down and waiting for the teacher to come back in since she walked out just as we entered. I went on my phone immediately wanting to check what Riley had done when she was on it.
I saw the two apps downloaded, so I clicked on Instagram first. I went to my account and saw nothing posted.
@ThaliaLively
N.R
I saw my username and bio, then quickly went to Twitter to see if it was the same, and it indeed was. I hid my phone from my Nathan's view and I tried to change my bio but he already snatched it away when he saw that I was hiding something from him. He looked at my phone and read the bio, a smile breaking out once he did so.
"Riley did that, okay?" I defended myself and tried reaching for my phone back but his stupidly long arm stretched out, causing me to not be able to grab it.
"Oh, did she now?" He questioned.
"Yes she did. What about you? How do I know if it really was Austin who not only put me in your bio, but as your lock screen." I shot back at him, allowing him to hold my phone as I rested back into my seat.
"He did." He said back defensively. He pulled out his phone as it started buzzing in his pocket, I leaned over and saw a bunch of Instagram and Twitter notifications popping up. I read the tweets that were being sent to him and my eyes widened at the amount of people who were asking who 'T.L' was and if he's dating anyone.
"Woah, popular much?" I said as I continued reading the comments along with him. He looked at me from the side of his eye and then back at his phone. He locked it out of no where and shoved it back into his pocket.
"You should be happy that you're in my bio and lock screen, I mean who wouldn't want to be?" He said cockily, smirking at me as he handed me my phone back.
"Oh is that so?" I challenged him. "Well what if I don't care if I'm in your bio and lock screen or not. You can change it now if you want." I wasn't sure if I was speaking the truth entirely. The bio thing meant nothing to me but seeing that picture as his lock screen somehow made me feel giddy inside.
His challenged me back equally as hard and his smirk stayed plastered onto his stupidly good looking face. "So you want me to change it?"
"Yeah." I replied back, trying not to regret it but that was hard since as soon as the word left my mouth, I wish I hadn't said that. He took out his phone again and started to change it but I grabbed his phone and put it under my thigh.
"Oh look, class is starting. Guess you'll have to do it later." I said as I kept my eyes focused on Ms.Nelson who walked in holding her bag and a bunch of papers. I could feel his stare against the side of my face but I refused to look because I knew that if I did, I wouldn't be able to hold in my blush.
His phone was under my thigh.
As Ms.Nelson started talking and the class quieted down, I felt him get closer to me. "Can I have my phone back?" His breath hit my cheek, and my eyes slowly started growing wider.
"Uh, no." I replied, not making an attempt to take his phone from under my thigh.
I heard him chuckle lowly and that was enough to drive me crazy. I didn't have to look his way to know that his dimples were probably showing as he tried holding in his laugh. My heart was beating faster and faster but it really started exploding when I felt his arm skin past my left leg and his hand touching my right thigh were his phone was stuck under.
I held in my breath as his touch sent shivers throughout my body. He grabbed my thigh, getting his phone himself— or so I thought but when he made no attempt to lift my thigh and grab his phone but rather just kept his hand there, you could not imagine how red my face turned. I know that he knew the affect he had on me yet he still did these little things that quite honestly make me want to hit him. I didn't understand it and at this moment, I didn't want to.
I felt him squeeze my thigh and I almost— almost allowed a loud gasp out but I held myself back, not wanting to draw attention to us, more so myself. I tried moving my leg to get his hand off but no luck, obviously. I took his phone from under my thigh, and grabbed his hand, giving the phone to him so he would stop his shenanigans. He laughed at my blushed covered face and took his phone, resting his arm on the back of my chair.
I covered my face with my hands as I tried hiding my smile that he caused to break out.
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{not— you guys already know by now}
CAN I RANT FOR A SEC?
Okay so, I haven't updated in forever— you guys know this of course and I'm sorry. I thought I would give you guys a real explanation real quick because it has been a while. These past few weeks, the crazy growth in followers and reads overwhelmed me like crazy because when I say that I would've never imagined this, believe me. They overwhelmed me so much that I started losing focus in my writing and instead of writing chapters that came from my heart, I started writing forced chapters. I felt like I had to live up to everyone's expectations and I wanted to be the best for you guys but I'm not the best. I'm still learning as an author so ANYWAY, I was going through a lot out of wattpad also so that caused delayed chapters.
BUT 'M BACK AND I'M BETTER WITH ANOTHER BOMB CHAPTER— well I think it's bomb but you guys leave your feedback also because again, I want to continue growing as an author so I need some feedback.
NOW TO THE PART YOU ALL WERE WAITING FOR,
NATHAN REYES
SO, THIS IS WHO I PICTURE NATHAN AS, but of course, you all may continue imagining the cast as whoever you prefer!
THANK YOU ALL FOR READING!
@ nathan ^^