Memories
Chapter Four (Natara)
Hello everyone, sorry for the short delay in updating, I re-wrote this a number of times as I didn't like the scenario or anything, plus it was CoD Monday yesterday ;D Since no one voted I've come up with a plan to have Natara, then Jeremy, then Mal to finish off. You know, since Blaise was talking about College so I thought I could link that in with Natara's high school past, and then continue with Jeremy that would lead to Mal. If that makes sense? Sound okay? Anyway, HUGE thank you to everyone that read/reviewed etc. I appreciate all of your support! :D Hope you like this chapter.
Review Replies:
Things in Ink: Thanks for all your words, maybe next round (if I decide to do one) I'll include your idea! Thanks again Rose!
The Sarcastic Polar Bear: Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it!
BreezyFan: Haha I can imagine that dance now xD You want a sequel to Lost In Blue? :O Well then, I shall begin planning. Thanks so much Lisa!
My Quiet Riot: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, don't worry Mal's memories are so fun to write so I might write about his rebelliousness if you want me to.
Nat157s: Thanks for the awesome review Natalie, made me smile loads! I'm glad you thought I got Blaise's character correct too and I had to include Sandra and Mal of course haha. Hehe that's our rugged babe after all! You think so? :O THANKS! :D
But I Have Promises To Keep: Thank youuuu :)
HopelessRomantic1994: You are? Hehe that's great to hear, thanks so much!
Maltarajaise: Oh good, glad you enjoyed it. Urrmm, I'm not sure as of yet, depending on if I can come up with more memories for each of them but I might only do one memory each, depends! How long would you like it anyway? :) You want a sequel to Lost in Blue too? I shall plan, no worries... ah, dying, lovely haha ;)
"I'll go next," Natara said softly "Your story kind of reminded me of my high school times."
"Ooohh," Mal chuckled "We're actually going to hear about nerdy Nat in high school?"
"I wasn't a nerd Mal! I was just... intellectual. And popular people frowned upon that..."
"Still I gotta hear this."
"You know what, fine; I'll tell you about a time when I actually gained a boyfriend in high school then."
"Oh this I have to hear, go on girl!" Blaise chirped in.
Mal had fallen silent, twiddling his thumbs. Jeremy and Kai listened in unusual silence while Blaise wore a huge grin on her face. Natara looked to Mal and smiled, reaching over and nudging his arm, making him look at her. She said nothing, only smiled at him. Mal tried to fight it, but couldn't stop the smile that found its way onto his lips as well. Leaning back in her chair, Natara thought for a short moment and then smiled again.
Natara sat in the last double lesson of the day, which just so happened to be her favourite: Psychology. It was Tuesday, and like most Tuesdays, Natara had been looking forward to this lesson all day. Beside her was her best friend in the whole world, Jessica Parke. Jessica 'Jess' Parke was a couple of months younger than Natara and had beautiful, long, wavy auburn hair that flowed elegantly down to her shoulders, with clear pale skin and sparkling light blue eyes. Jessica hardly ever wore very much make-up and you could see that she was naturally beautiful. Despite her beauty though, she was pushed into the 'nerd' category in this school, much like Natara herself. Having joined a number of curricular activities, by choice, it was hard to even gain a look from one of the popular kids, let alone be spoken to by them; unless they wanted you to 'help' them with their homework, meaning they wanted you to it for them. Natara never said okay to that. Ever. They could do their own damn homework.
Listening to her psychology teacher, Miss Best, explain in detail the theory of Criminal Psychology, Natara found she was unable to pull away from every word her teacher said. It was fascinating, but she couldn't understand how people could do such horrible things, driven by a traumatic event or some other cause. After that, Miss Best began explaining the core theory, which was the James Bulger case. And a horrific case at that. They got a brief rundown of the incident and psychology behind it before Miss Best put on a case study video and the rest of the class began moving into different seats dotted around the room to be with their friends.
Natara and Jessica didn't move though, since they were already sat where they wanted to be, but in a couple moments as the video started, Natara felt someone's presence the other side of her at the end of her table. She didn't move, pretending to be looking at her book, but she risked a look out of the corner of her eye at the figure and could make out it was masculine.
Jessica wore a completely puzzled look upon her face as she looked at the guy sat beside Natara. When the guy subtly nudged her arm she immediately looked up and met the mysterious grey eyes of her short time crush...
Phillip Johnson.
When he smiled at her subtly, only the corners of his mouth raising slightly, she couldn't stop the grin that forced its way onto her lips, not forgetting to try and hide her braces by lowering her gaze faintly.
Phillip Johnson, the schools heartthrob was actually communicating with her, she couldn't believe it, but still didn't put her guard down. Most likely he just needed some help with the work. Nevertheless, she couldn't stop her stomach from doing back flips from the excitement of it all. Phillip had grey eyes, and short dark blonde hair. His skin tone was lightly tanned and he was extremely fit. Handsome and neatly styled, Phillip was by far the most handsome guy in the entire school. Almost every girl wanted him, Natara included.
"Hey Natara," He whispered with his masculine yet genteel voice. "Do you understand this... stuff?"
"Y-Yeah." She stuttered, mentally cursing her sudden shyness. She was Natara Mansingh; she didn't get nervous especially over silly matters such as this. "Do you need some help?"
"Kind of, I get parts of it, and I've heard Psychology is kind of your thing... so..." his voice trailed off.
"So...?" Natara urged.
"Would you, I mean if it's not too much trouble, would you mind... tutoring me?"
Natara sat in silence for a short moment, taken aback by the question. Sure she thought he was just using her for knowledge, but this was Phillip Johnson asking her to tutor him, not some stuck up cheerleader. She found herself unable to speak, so instead just nodded her head a number of times. Watching as Phillip's face broke into a huge smile and he reached over, placing his hand on top of hers. She blushed slightly, but luckily the darkness of the classroom obscured it.
"Thanks Natara, I'm really grateful for this."
"A-Anytime."
With that said, Phillip leaned back in his chair, thus ending their conversation. He resumed talking to his friends, and Natara went back to watching the video.
"What was that Nat?" Jessica whispered wearing a huge cheesy grin on her face.
"Oh, nothing Jess," Natara replied casually "I'm just going to start tutoring Phillip about Psychology."
"Wait, what?"
"Shhh!"
"Sorry... what?" Jessica whispered. "You never tutor anyone, especially not the popular kids."
"So? People can change, why not share my knowledge? Besides this is different Jess, he's not asking me to do the work for him; he just wants help is all."
"Suuurrreee he does." She scoffed.
"Hey, if he wants me to do work for him, I'll stop tutoring him straight away. No way I'm doing stuff for people, they can do it themselves."
"There's the Natara I know! Just don't get distracted because of his looks. He's-"
"Just a guy, I know."
"Exactly."
Jessica smiled and threw an arm around Natara, pulling her into a quick hug. Then they resumed watching the documentary until the lesson ended, taking notes and exchanging polite chit-chat about the work.
"Total. Nerd." Mal commented, smiling slyly at Natara and leaning back in his chair.
"Shut it Mal, I wasn't that nerdy!"
"Riigghhhtt, just taking notes and talking about the work instead of ignoring the documentary and talking about actual things. Nerdy."
"That's not nerdy, that's called 'caring about schoolwork'."
Blaise pulled her feet off of Natara's desk finally and repositioned herself so she was leaning forward.
"Anyway," she said, smirking "Natara this guy sounds so sexy."
"Oh he totally was, not gonna lie."
"Where can I find him? Seriously, I wanna track this guy down!"
Natara and Blaise laughed while Jeremy and Kai exchanged a glance that clearly said they didn't want to hear this story or be here right now. No guy liked to hear about girls swooning over other guys. Mal sunk into himself, dreading hearing the rest of the story, the way Natara spoke about this Phil guy irked him even more than when she spoke about Oscar. He despised hearing about her boyfriends, ex or present. It made him... jealous if he was honest with himself. They might have all screwed things up with Natara one way or another, but at least they had a chance with her, which is more than he could say. No matter what he thought though, he was forced to listen as she continued her memory.
After the double lesson had ended it was time to go home and before Natara could walk out, Phillip caught up with her and grabbed her arm gently. Jess waited by the door, until Natara gave her a look that told her to wait outside. When Jess was out of sight, Phillip began talking.
"I forgot to ask when you'd like to start the tutoring."
"Oh, anytime. I'm free whenever Phillip."
"Call me Phil," He smiled charmingly, gaining a smile back from Natara. "And... how about starting now?"
"Oh okay... Now?"
"Yeah, if that's alright. I'd like to start as soon as possible."
"Um... s-sure, why not? We can go back to mine if you want?"
Natara realized how utterly awful that sounded but tried not to show her embarrassment. Phil just chuckled, grasping what she said, but didn't comment. He just nodded in reply and grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. Natara smiled sheepishly and turned on her heel, heading outside and meeting Jess who had been waiting.
They all walked out the school gates and down the road in the direction of Natara's house. Talking about random things with Jess and surprisingly Phil, Natara found herself feeling more relaxed around him, which was unusual. The point came where Jess and Natara would part ways, Jess heading in the direction of her house and Natara in hers. They shared a long hug before saying their goodbyes and parting.
Phil stayed silent until Natara was ready and they began walking down the road again. Phil slid his hands into his pockets and looked straight ahead of him. Natara had suddenly run out of things to talk about and felt her throat tighten again. They walked in an awkward silence for what felt like forever until Phil broke the silence.
"So... have you been interested in Psychology long? I thought you were into Business studies?"
"Uhh, I'm not sure really. It's kind of expected of me to go into business, since my dad owns his own company and everything... I just find psychology interesting, learning how people's brains work and stuff, you know?"
"Yeah I feel you. My dad's like yours in a way, apart from he isn't some millionaire who owns his own business," Phil chuckled "He wants me to follow in his footsteps and become a doctor. I really don't wanna be that though."
"No? A doctor sounds pretty interesting though."
"It is, I guess, but it's-"
"Not your thing?" Natara finished, smiling caringly.
"Exactly. At least you understand. It just seems that everyone wants you to be something, you know? My friends want me to be the quarterback in football, my dad wants me to be a doctor and my mom wants me to be something really successful."
"Like a doctor?"
"Yeah... like a doctor."
"What do you want to be though? Forgetting the expectations of your friends and family, of course."
"I wanna be..."
"Yes?"
"An air pilot." He whispered, almost shyly. "In the army, you know the air force."
"Really? I would have never guessed-"
"I know it's stupid." He mumbled.
"No!" Natara protested, stopping walking outside her door and opening it. "Phil, that's not stupid at all, being a pilot sounds amazing. Especially if you want to do it for the army, I think that's amazing."
Natara smiled sweetly up at Phil and gestured him to follow her to the study room upstairs. She quickly greeted her family and heading up the stairs, Phil close behind her. He shyly said a small greeting, but otherwise stayed silent, at least until they got upstairs.
"Thanks for doing this Natara, I actually thought you might say no... Since you normally do to anyone that asks you."
"Yeah, but that's only because they want me to do their work for them. I hate that. I would gladly help them with work but never do it for them, there would be no point. In the end they wouldn't learn anything."
"I totally understand that, and also thanks for understanding my dream, no one seems to."
"No problem, thanks for sharing it with me."
They shared a short smile before Natara threw open the door and strolled inside the study. The study walls were lined with books of all kinds and on the far left wall was a large oak desk. Natara lazily threw her bag in the corner and walked over to the centre of the room, where a coffee table and a two seated sofa resided. She sat down and patted the empty space next to her, gesturing for Phil to sit beside her. He hesitated, but walked over and slumped down, putting him bag beside him neatly.
"So, first things first," Natara started formally "what things are you struggling with in psychology Phil?"
"Um... most of it."
"Just Criminal Psychology or...?"
"No, most of it." He laughed lightly.
"Ah, that's not a problem; we can always start at the beginning. Memory to be precise."
"Great!" Phil smiled.
Natara got up and walked over to the bookshelf, scanning it and taking out a large book entitled 'Memory'. She walked back over and handed the book to Phil, who looked at it blankly. Laughing, Natara turned to a page and told him to read through it while she prepared.
They studied for most of the night until it was getting late and Phil would be forced to leave, by orders from her parents. Natara quickly ran through what they had gone over and even though it wasn't much, Phillip seemed to have understood parts of what Natara had taught him, which was an improvement.
"See? You understand parts of it, and that's really good for one afternoon." Natara said reassuringly.
"Yeah..." Phillip bit his lower lip and looked up at Natara. "Thanks for doing this."
"It's fine Phil, you can stop thanking me. It's getting late though, you should probably..."
"Yeah, my dad would be worried about me."
Natara took the book off Phillip and replaced it back among the shelves once more, before leading Phil outside of the study and downstairs to the front door. As she opened it and stepped outside onto the front porch with Phil, she felt the icy cold night air whip gently at her skin. The night sky was illuminated with a couple of visible stars in the polluted city and the bright, white moon resided above them. The city skyline was visible in the distance, and a couple of stray cars drove by with their lights beaming ahead of them.
"Phil," Natara said, getting him to look at her with those sparkling grey eyes of his. "Are you going to be alright walking alone at this time of night?"
"Oh, yeah I'll be fine, no worries."
"Are you sure though? You've heard about what can happen at night..."
"Natara," Phil said, taking her hand gently "I'll be fine. My home isn't that far from here."
"I could probably get my mom or dad to drive you if-"
"No, it's fine. I'll... cya tomorrow at school then."
"Y-Yeah. Just, be careful."
"Always am. Goodnight Natara."
"Goodnight Phillip."
They stood together for a moment longer before Natara noticed Phil looking away and biting his lower lip. She was going to question him, but before she could he reached over and quickly wrapped him muscular arm around her petite waist. Natara gasped as he pulled her close to him and put her hands against his hard chest. She immediately blushed heavily, unable to hide her face from him, which made her blush even more. He smiled down at her for a long moment, scanning her features, before tenderly stroking her cheek. His hand moved behind her neck and he pulled her into a long blissful kiss.
She felt her knees go weak and her eyes widened at the shock of it all. Phillip Johnson. Gorgeous, muscular, charming, adorable Phillip Johnson was actually kissing her. HER. 'Nerdy Natara' as the popular kids teased her. She couldn't believe it, feeling her heart pounding in her chest and her stomach getting butterflies. He pulled away after an all too perfect moment and looked away, suddenly going shy.
"T-Thanks again, Nat. I'll... call you?"
Not waiting for a reply he took off, his hands dug in his pockets and his head hung low. She was stood in complete shock as she watched him fade into the distance, speechless. Subconsciously, Natara reached up and ran her fingers across her lips, feeling herself smile uncontrollably. Phillip hadn't cared about her being a nerd, or the fact she had horrible braces on her teeth. He had kissed her, and then said he'd call her! She felt herself want to squeal with delight...
Until she saw that her Dad was watching from the living room window. Hell.
"Reminding you that you are engaged Natara." Mal mumbled, folding his arms across his chest with an unhappy look on his face.
"Oh shush you," Natara retorted playfully "I can reminisce about my past can't I?"
"... I suppose so."
"Exactly."
"Natara, why on earth did you let him go?" Blaise inquired, beaming.
"I... didn't." Natara replied shyly.
"Oh? What happened?"
"He... joined the army." Natara said calmly "We eventually decided a long term relationship wouldn't work out and that contact with him was hard to come by anyway, so... we ended it. Haven't seen or heard from him since."
"Awww... sorry to hear that Natara."
"Don't be, I have Oscar after all right?"
"True, Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome. I'd have him if you hadn't snagged him first!"
"Blaise!" Natara giggled "You have no shame."
"Nope!"
They laughed again and Jeremy groaned. Blaise shot him a look that settled him.
"What?"
"Can we just move on please?" Jeremy begged "This sappy girl story is killing me."
"Fine," Blaise smirked "since you're so keen to move on, go ahead Jeremy. You tell us a story."
"Finally!" Kai perked up, straightening himself up. "Go on Redbird, please."
"Okay, okay Kai."
"Make it entertaining, oh! How about one where you use your awesome Native American magic on something?"
"Kai... I haven't got... ugh, never mind."
Jeremy rubbed the bridge of his nose while Kai continued to ramble on about Native American, so called, 'Magic'. He just didn't understand at all... there was no magic, it was completely different. There was no such thing as magic anyway.
Ugh... what would they do with him.