Chapter 1: School, Bullies and Crushes

Nate was sprinting as fast as he could. He knew if he turned back he was as good as dead. They trailed him down every hallway, down every stairway, through every doorway, as he swerved around each corner trying to lose them but he had no luck. Sliding around the nearest corner and then bursting into one of the many science labs they had in their school and finally locking the door behind him, he let out a sigh of relief as he heard the bullies keep stampeding to the end of the hallway. He sank down and lent his head against the door while his chest heaved. He regained his strength and breath, ran his hand through his hair, searched for a tissue for his bloody nose and thought about what had just happened.

Sitting in the canteen with Chloe Frazer, one of his best friends, Nate was reading a book on El Dorado. While Chloe, on the other hand, was staring at him in complete boredom. How could he still be reading that book? Chloe was Australian and dark-haired; she had grass green eyes and was wearing a red top with khaki jeans. She was an impatient person who was very defensive. Nate, on the other hand, was the complete opposite; he was patient, open to new ideas, good at geography, history, art, Latin and gym. He was wearing a white Henley shirt, also with khaki jeans and kept a ring around his neck on a piece of string. His eyes were a magnificent blue and his hair was brown, styled up at the front and soft to touch.

All was fine until, Harry Flynn, Rafe Adler, Atoq Navarro and Talbot strode over.

"Oh my god, Nate! Look at him! His slicked back brown hair! His hazel brown eyes with that green outer rim! He's five times the man you are! No wonder he's captain of the football team..." Chloe gloated as she was fixated on the image walking towards.

Nate shook his head in disbelief. "Chloe, you are thick." Nate said with a chuckle. "Can't you see? he's just tall and skinny!"

"No, Nate. He's a dream!"

Rafe was skinny, small and Harry's right-hand man. He also had brown, slicked back hair but crystal blue eyes and anything Harry told him to do he obeyed, like a loyal dog to its owner. Navarro and Talbot were quite similar. They both were exceptionally weird and creepy. Talbot knew magic and Navarro had a crazy look in his eye as he could snap at any time. At anyone.

"Uhh… Nate?" Chloe said worried but Nate didn't notice and carried on reading his book. As the bullies got closer Chloe became increasingly troubled and needed to get Nate's attention, fast, and she went to her last resort.

"Ow!" Nate exclaimed while he gripped his shoulder, "What was that for?"

"Look!" Chloe said, pulling her fist back from the punch then pointing at the incoming boys.

Nate immediately put the book away and stared at Chloe for support but her eyes were completely focussed on Flynn approaching with all his so-called "swagger". Nate was seen as a superior to the bullies and therefore a threat that had to be eliminated. When Flynn finally got to their table, he grabbed Nates right shoulder and jerked him around so that they were facing each other.

"Nathan Drake," Harry said, drawing out every syllable in his name.

"What do you want, Flynn?" Nate replied with a tone of confidence in his voice.

"Hey, Harry," Chloe said whilst smirking behind Nate's back, but Harry ignored her and kept eye contact with Nate. He grabbed the neck of Nate's Henley shirt and tried to pull him to his feet but failed and received an amused snort from the victim.

Nate was a muscular 17-year-old and was roughly the same height as Harry; all this talk about Harry Flynn, made him out to be this cool, ripped guy but in truth, he was just like any other student at school; about average. Everyone was scared of him because he was friends with the most terrifying person you'll ever see in high school. Zoran Lazarevic. People trembled before that name and the fact he wasn't in jail was a miracle. He was Russian and people say he was a psychopath. He had about 5 millimetres of hair on his head and was a brute of a young man. The only people that liked him were Harry's group of bullies and his girlfriend, Katherine Marlowe.

"Get up!" Flynn yelled as he went red with embarrassment, but Nate didn't budge but leant back and crossed his arms as a mischievous grin appeared on his face. Flynn looked towards Rafe and Atoq and gave them a swift nod to indicate them to drag Nate to his feet. They grabbed him and hauled him up. But as soon as he stood up and regained balance, he felt a fist jab violently against his stomach and coughed hard; he fell to his knees, gripped his stomach and looked up but he didn't see who he expected was standing there.

Lazarevic was looking down on Nate and evilly chuckled at the sight of him in pain. Oh crap, Nate thought. How am I supposed to get out of this? Then, out of the blue, Katherine tapped Zoran's shoulder and teased, "What's this one done then?" Katherine was British along with Harry and Talbot.

"He has no parents," Zoran replied in his strong Soviet accent.

"Ah yes, the boy whose mother committed suicide and father surrendered him to the state at the age of five. Oh, how Dickensian!" Katherine said whilst giggling in sarcasm.

She had a creepy way of knowing anything about anyone. Nate glanced at her and frowned in guilt. He blamed himself for his mother's suicide even though, deep down, he knew it was his father's. Zoran gripped the hair on the back of Nate's head, pulled it back and landed another punch on his nose. Blood started streaming down his face into his mouth. He could taste the metallicness of it and spat some of it out to his side.

"Picking on a kid because they're in foster care? That's low Zoran," Nate replied, seeing as it got to Zoran.

"Compassion is the enemy, mercy defeats us!" Zoran screamed and readied himself for another punch.

"What on earth is going on here?" Mr Schafer intruded and cut Zoran off. Nate took this opportunity to run for it and wriggled free of Rafe and Atoq's grasp. He sprinted away, heading for the exit and barging people out the way so that he could put as much distance as he could between him and the bastards that began to follow behind him. He flew down each hallway and bounded into the lab.

Nate spotted some tissues and snatched one out of the cardboard box that surrounded them. He put it under his nose with one hand, and with the other, he pinched the bridge to help stop the bleeding.

Several minutes past and the bleeding was coming to a stop, so he threw away his 15th tissue and proceeded towards the door. He peered out of the small window in the door to check if the coast was clear. After confirming twice that there was none of Zoran's gang waiting outside, he reluctantly opened the door and took a step back into reality. Still being cautious, he checked left and then right to affirm his decision, and gave a sigh of relief. He strode out with his head down so that if he was seen he had less chance at being noticed, but he wasn't paying attention and walked straight into someone who was holding their books close to there chest. They collided and the books fell to the floor. Nate read one of the names of the books that had fallen and recognised it to be Romeo and Juliet.

"Oh crap, I'm sorry," Nate began apologetically, picking each book up and stacking them on top of each other.

"No worries, it was my fault," a girl's voice replied. As they stood back up, their gaze met. Nate found himself staring at a girl with golden hair that glistened in the sunlight. Her eyes were dark brown but still sparkled. She must have been new to the school because he had been going to this school for 3 years and never seen her before.

"Are you okay?" she inquired. Nate snapped out of the trance he was in and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine thanks. How are you?" He then mentally facepalmed. Asshole.

"I'm fine… But I don't think you are," the mystery girl replied confused as she looked at his nose while it began to bleed again. She gestured to Nate's nose and he wiped it, smearing blood across the back of his hand.

"You wouldn't happen to have any spare tissues?"

"Yeah, here," She said as she fumbled in her bag and then offered him the tissues.

"Thanks,"

"Your welcome. What happened to you?" she asked concerned.

"Oh, this? I got punched," he replied while he held the tissue to his nose.

"Ouch. By who?"

"Don't worry," Nate muttered and avoided the girl's stare.

"I don't think I caught your name," she replied reaching out for the books he held in his free hand.

"Nate Drake, Nathan Drake," he stuttered and then the bell went for last period and she grinned and walked to her next lesson. Nate stood there a while and watched her disappear in the sea of students before he made his way to his maths lesson.

When he arrived, he sat down, took out his pen and fiddled with it as he remembered he hadn't asked for the girl's name. He wondered if he'd ever see her again. Chloe came and sat on the chair next to him.

"Where the hell did you go?" Chloe said in an irked tone.

"Huh?" Nate replied, not paying any attention to what she said but just kept his eyes on the pen as he twirled it around his hand. Chloe flicked his ear to get his attention.

"Hey!" Nate exclaimed, as he whipped his head round to face her, Chloe gasped at the blood and bruising on his face.

"Nate? Are you okay?" Chloe whispered as Mr Knot began babbling on about Pythagoras theorem.

"Yeah, yeah fine…" He muttered as his thoughts drifted to the mystery girl from lunch. What is her name? How long has she been here? What is she like? Questions like this drifted around his head for at least 20 minutes.

"Drake?... Nathan?... Nathan Drake! Pay attention please!" Mr Knot proclaimed, scowling at Nate. He stared at the worksheet put in front of him.

"Um… Chloe what is… this?" Nate asked as a look of confusion spreading across his face.

"Nate! Every time! You never pay attention!", Chloe half shouted at him. Nate glanced at her and shrugged his shoulders. "Chloe! Be quiet and get on wi…."

SLAM!

The door swung open and Flynn casually made his way through immediately eyeing up Nate and Chloe who were sat at the back of the class, Nate's head was bent over his desk whilst Chloe was glaring right at Flynn.

"Mr Flynn what can I do for you?" Mr Knott questioned.

"I dunno Sir, Miss Ross told me I was in your class so… yeah" Flynn explained slowly.

"Right, okay then Harry, if you just take a seat at the front please," Mr Knott said turning his attention back to the board.

"Ugh nah Sir, I'd rather sit at the back here next to Mr Drake," Flynn said sarcastically sniggering as be made his way to the back of the classroom. Shit. Nate thought to himself and he inched towards Chloe and further away from Flynn. "How's the face, Nate? Bet the things with your dad were 10x worse," Nate jumped to his feet violently and got ready to punch Harry, but Chloe grabbed his arms before he could draw his fist.

"Boys! Go to the Headmaster's office, now!" Mr Knot screamed, the veins popping out of his temple and eyes bulging with rage.

Nate and Harry had sat outside Principal Asav's office as far apart as possible and glared at each other. There was a click that startled both of them turning their attention to the door of their principal's office and…

Mystery girl?

Elena Fisher walked out of Principal Asav's office, spotting the 'boy with the bloody nose'.

What was his name? Nate! That was it, from lunch, she shot him a look of disappointment as she strolled past. Harry whistled and both Elena and Nate scowled at him. Of course, Nate didn't know that was her name… yet. What's he doing outside the Principal's office? I thought he was the 'victim'? Who's that other boy? He's such an ass. These were all the questions that swam around Elena's head as she walked away from the two boys.

"Boys! In you come. Now!" Principal Asav ordered as his bald head and red face appeared around the door. Nate got up only to be forced back into his chair by a passing Flynn.

"Hey!" Nate whispered angrily.

"Shut it, dickhead," Flynn shot back before going through the door.

The office was roomy but over furnished with too many chairs and sofas. Nate chose out of the many options to sit on a small sofa which he immediately regretted as he sunk into the worn material.

"Do you know why you're here?" the Principal began.

"Because Flynn's an asswipe,"Nate replied.

"Because Drake here can't take a bloody joke," Flynn added smirking.

"Maybe you shouldn't bring my parents into it then I won't have to kill you!" Nate grumbled through gritted teeth.

"I was only stating the truth mate,"

"Shut up the both of you!" Mr Asav exclaimed, "You're both here for what happened in maths earlier!"

"Hey, Sir, who was that girl who just walked out of here?" Nate questioned.

"Do not change the subject! We are not here to discuss anything but your behaviour got it?" Mr Asav shouted, steam practically billowing out of his ears. Nate leant back on his 'sofa' only to sink further into it. He glanced around the room and a book caught his eye, it was out of place in the room and looked familiar to him. Then it hit him. It was one of the books he had picked up earlier but from where? Mystery Girl! It was one of her books! Nate smiled to himself just thinking of her startled face when he walked into her.

"Something funny Mr Drake?" Mr Asav said, still fuming.

"No Sir. Nothing Sir," Nate replied quickly in a small voice, trying to hold a straight face.

"Why 'you lying, Nate? I saw the way you looked at that chic earlier, don't deny it you were thinking of her, weren't you?" Flynn taunted, Nate caught his eye giving him 'the look'. Nate was lying. He hadn't stopped thinking about her for the rest of the school day; the way her eyes shone with brilliance yet searching for something... maybe someone... well he hoped him.

Once Mr Asav was finished lecturing the teenagers and discussing their punishment, he came to a mutual decision. He gave the disruptive boys detention for the rest of the week and sent them out but before leaving, Nate remembered the textbook. He knew he needed an excuse to talk to her so this was the perfect opportunity. Grabbing the textbook and placing it in his bag, then walking out the room at a steady pace, he headed for the exit doors at the front of the school.

The fresh air against his face felt amazing. It was as if he had been trapped in the school for days without a breath of clean air. He began to stroll over to the front gate but was stopped in his tracks by mystery girl. Was she waiting for him to come out? She intercepted his path, stopping him dead in his tracks.

"Hi?" Nate said, confused.

"What did you do?" She replied scornfully.

"Umm…" He was lost for words and found himself drowning in her eyes.

"Hey… Nate?" She laughed and clicked her fingers in his face.

"Huh?" and he snapped out of it, "What did ya say?"

"What did you do to be in the principal's office?" Elena said louder this time.

"You don't need to know," Nate whispered as he looked away annoyed, Elena took a step back and went to walk away from the strange boy but not before Nate grabbed her shoulder and turned her around. "No wait, I'm sorry, I just get a little...defensive sometimes, I didn't mean to scare you," Nate said; a sorrowful expression spreading across his face as he backed away from her.

"Nate wait, I'm sorry that…" Elena shouted after him but it was too late he had already walked out the gate.

Nate reached into his pocket for his keys while he thought about a way to break the news to his Guardian, Victor Sullivan, and his brother, Sam Drake. What am I supposed to say to Sully? That I was late for school, therefore, getting a weeks detention? Or that I got beat up at school and then tried to stand up to Flynn, therefore getting another week's detention? Or do I tell him that I just met the girl of my dreams? When he finally pulled his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door, Sully was already sitting there waiting patiently with a discouraged frown across his face. He had had a phone call from the school about Nate's behaviour.

"Nate? That you?"

"Urm…"

"We need to talk, do we not?"

"What about?" Nate answered with a fake tone of innocence.

"You know goddamn well what about!" Sully's voice became increasingly agitated because of Nate's reply.

Ah shit. Nate thought knowing he was in deep trouble.

"Did you start a fight in the canteen with a boy called Zoran Lazarevic?" Victor said in a calmer manner.

"I... I…" Nate sighed then glanced down as he gradually made his way into the living room.

"Jesus kid. What happened?"

"I'm not the one who started the fight. Harry Flynn and his gang were teasing me then Zoran walked over. Harry's gang held me and Zoran punched me in the stomach and face because I'm in foster care," Nate rapidly blurted out whilst trying to sneak past Sully.

"Kid, you can't let them see that it gets to you because they'll keep bullying you,"

"I didn't show that it got to me. When Mr Schafer intruded, I ran off and hid," Nate didn't mention the fact that he thought he met his -what he thought to be- soulmate in the hallway, but instead said, "Oh yeah, that week detention turned into two weeks because I was late for school but it really wasn't my fault,"

"I don't give a shit that you were late, I'm just pissed off about you almost killing Harry Flynn,"

"He bought up dad and then I showed it got to me,"

"Well, there's your goddamn problem! Don't blame it on other people when it was your fault, to begin with,"

Nate dashed upstairs, stormed into his room, hurled his bag across the room and jumped onto the springy mattress. He began to daydream about the mystery girl and took out his journal and then remembered that he forgot to give her the textbook. Once he had finished writing about the pros and cons of his day, he tried to sketch Elena but ended up tearing out page after page of his journal only to then finally giving up.

After slamming his book onto his bedside table, he hoisted himself off of the bed, yanked his shirt off and wandered over to the metal pull up bar in the door frame next to the leather punch bag. He jumped up, gripped the bar a little out from shoulder width apart and pulled his chest up to it. While he heaved himself up and down on the bar, he began to push himself to the limit with speed and ferocity. His pull ups, after around 50 reps, became slower as he was exhausted and sweaty, therefore decided to go for a shower but before getting in shouted down to Sully, "Where's Sam, Sully? He was supposed to be back ages ago!"

"He's staying at his new girlfriend's,"

"Crystals?" Nate answered with a giggle.

"No, she cheated on him!" Sully bellowed up the stairs.

"No surprise there!"

"Ha!"

Nate shook his head as he stepped into the shower, turned it on and let the heated water cascade down on his hair.

After his shower, he put on some shorts and left his shirt off. He then crawled into bed but Harry's words lingered in his head; Bet things with your dad were 10x worse. He needed to dispose of this thought and replace it with a new one. Mystery girl. The thought of this girl soothed him as he slowly drifted off to sleep.