A Day in Life with Nathaniel
The next morning Nathaniel listened carefully for the sound of his father's car pulling out the driveway before slipping out of bed. He left for school earlier than he would normally while his mother was still sleeping. He had snuck in last night after everyone was asleep to avoid confrontation, and he sure wasn't risking one now.
He headed down the same zigzagging, hillside road, glancing at the empty tennis courts as he passed them. Those present in the student council office turned as Nathaniel walked through the door at 7:30 sharp but gave him no more than a passing glance once they realized who it was. Without a word, Nathaniel made a straight shot for his desk and logged onto his computer. Undisturbed, he worked through the morning as students and council members drifted in and out the office with the start of the school day. Snippets of their conversations found their way to his ears as he worked.
"Did you finish that packet for calculus?"
"Grab me that clipboard while you're there?"
"The game was cancelled last minute, so I'll be there for Jojo's party."
His ears perked. Jojo was the student body secretary whose family was moving back to France. This was her last week at Sweet Amoris.
"Oh, that's great! The whole student council will be there to see her off!"
The whole student council? This was the first Nathaniel was hearing of any party. No one had told him – the student body president himself. A familiar pang of disappointment budded in his chest, but he quickly snipped its stems before it could bloom, leaving behind a dull ache that he was unable to shake. It nibbled away at his concentration until Nathaniel found himself staring blankly at the computer screen. This is the way it is, he sighed. It can't be helped.
"Hold the door!"
The student body vice president shuffled in with a stack of folders under her arm and a coffee in either hand. She breathlessly thanked the person who held the door for her before calling out to room. "Good morning, everyone!"
The students happily greeted her in return as the vice president made her way through the office. "Are you still going Friday, Melody?" they asked.
"Of course! I would never let Jojo leave without saying goodbye." Melody stopped at Nathaniel's desk to set a coffee down in front of him with a smile. "Thought you could use some."
Though surprised, he looked appreciatively at the pretty brunette. "You shouldn't have."
"Don't thank me just yet," she warned, placing a folder on his desk. Inside the folder was a photo of a boy in cadet uniform along with transcripts and an enrollment form.
"New student?"
"Make that two," Melody corrected and handed him a second file. There was neither a photo nor an enrollment form in the second file. "They were here yesterday but only for orientation. They're officially starting today."
Nathaniel nodded as he scanned over the documents in the second file. He just was about to set it aside when the word "tennis" jumped out at him. He did a double take. Undefeated champions. Number 3 singles player. MVP. Co-captain of Montestique High girls' tennis. He took a deep breath as he closed the folder. "Let me guess. The principal wants us to finalize their registration?"
Melody nodded, "I don't understand how she expects the student council to handle administrative work in addition to our main responsibilities. We're busy enough as it is preparing to shift over to the new data system."
She was right. They looked around at the chaos in the office. Every table, countertop, and bin was overflowing with papers. Council and committee leaders were busy at their desks while members cluttered the office, rushing to complete their daily tasks before the period ended.
Nathaniel heaved a sigh. "I'll take care of it. Since Jojo is leaving, I want you to focus on taking over her duties until we decide on who will be the new secretary. I'll look through these files in detail later."
Melody nodded and watched as Nathaniel roughly raked a hand through his well-groomed hair. Her eyes drifted from the crease between his brows to the focused look in his eyes then to the slight frown on his lips. She hesitated, but after mulling it over, she bit her lip and went against her better judgement. "I know things are hectic but be sure to make some time for yourself. You seem so worn out lately. I'm worried about you."
Nathaniel could sense her concern was genuine, but he couldn't offer her his genuine feelings to match. Like always, he plastered on a smile and fell back on his automated response. "I'm fine."
Melody's face fell at his white lie. She opened her mouth to press him further, but before she could, the bell rang.
Nathaniel shot up and gathered his things. "I need to ask Mrs. Blanc a question before class. I'll catch you later, okay?"
"Okay."
Within a minute, he was out the door, leaving her standing by his untouched coffee.
"We'll stop here for today," Mrs. Blanc set down the expo marker in her hand.
So engrossed in his irritation, Nathaniel didn't realized class was over. He hadn't been able to focus on the lecture at all. Annoyance bubbled in his stomach as he looked over again at the single empty desk in the room – its seat still vacant.
"Since we do have some time remaining," Mrs. Blanc continued, "I'm sure most of you have noticed that we have a new student."
Eyes scanned the room before coming to a rest on a boy leaning back in his chair. His arms were placed behind his head, stretching his rolled-up sleeves tight against his biceps. His green eyes flickered when the class directed their attention at him.
"Why don't you introduce yourself, young man?"
The sound of the nylon fabric of his camo pants was stark against the hushed classroom as he rose from his seat. He inhaled deeply and straightened his back, placing his hands behind him as if by habit. "Hello-" his voice came out squeaky. He awkwardly cleared his throat. "Hi, my name is Kentin. It's a pleasure to meet everyone."
Some returned his greeting while others observed him with curiosity. The girls stole glances and gestured to one another with their eyes, whispering excitedly.
"It's nice to meet you, too, Kentin," Mrs. Blanc nodded. "Tell us a little about yourself."
"Yes, ma'am. Uh, I am seventeen. I am a senior. My favorite subjects are math and PE, if that counts. I enjoy exercising – any type of physical activity, really. I spend most of my free time at the gym, which is a habit I probably picked up while I was at St. Louis Military Academy."
Nathaniel rolled his eyes. This guy was laying it on thick. Overcompensation or not, once the bell rang, the class flocked around Kentin with introductions and friendly small talk.
Sweet Amoris High School is made up of 4 buildings. The main building is the largest and serves as the front entrance. The first floor consists of administration and staff offices including the student council office while the upper 2 floors are home to core subject classes. Once you exit through the back of the main building, you will find yourself in the quad area at the center of campus. The west building, conjoined with the library, is dedicated to art and similar elective classes. The east building is the cafeteria, and straight ahead at the back of the school is the gymnasium.
Instead of heading to the cafeteria for lunch, Nathaniel made his way up the stairs of the art building after class. His keys clinked as he fished them out of his pockets to unlock a door at the end of the hallway of the second floor to yet another set of stairs. Climbing the steps, he was met with a heavy, metal door at the top. A gust of hot air blew in as Nathaniel pushed it opened and stepped out onto the sunny rooftop.
He instantly spotted a figure sitting under the shade of a small storage shed with his back against its wall. The red-haired boy was busy tuning his guitar as Nathaniel strode up to him. "You skipped French. Again."
"Is that all you came to tell me?" the boy plucked two string respectively then tightened one of the pegs.
"If it were up to me, you would have been expelled long ago," Nathaniel spat. "You pull this stunt almost every day, and every time you get close to being kicked out, you start cleaning up your act. But you only keep it up long enough to convince the teachers then the cycle starts all over again. You're lucky this school administration is a mess, Castiel. All the sh*t you pull doesn't go through to them. It goes through me. They don't know because they aren't the ones who have to deal with you. It's me-"
"Are you done?" Castiel hissed and got to his feet. "Here's a bright idea for you, Prez. If you minded your own business, your job as student body president would be a whole lot less miserable than it already is. Not to mention you not breathing down my neck every second of the day would be an absolute blessing."
"It is my business because it's my job. If you would stop being a prick and do yours by abiding the rules, I wouldn't have to."
Castiel's knuckles turned white as his grip tightened around the neck of his guitar.
The afternoon was hot with the sun beaming down on the concrete roof. They stood in a deadlock as heatwaves passed between them. Both were fuming, sweat gathering at their brows and adrenaline pumping. Nathaniel was about to give Castiel another piece of his mind when Castiel suddenly scoffed.
Slamming the lid shut, Castiel grabbed his guitar case and started to leave but stopped at the door. "You're a sad mess who's resentful of his miserable life but is too much of a coward to do something about it," he said to Nathaniel without turning to face him. "So, instead, you look for others to blame your plight on. You can harass me all you want, Prez. It won't change the sad, pathetic person that you are. We may have a deal, but there are better drummers out there. Don't you forget it." With that, Castiel disappeared down the staircase.
Everything that comes of out Castiel's mouth is garbage. GARBAGE, Nathaniel told himself. But as his anger slowly dissipated, he looked out at the now empty rooftop as the words weighed down on him like the sun's suffocating heat.
Accepting the fact that he won't have enough time to eat, Nathaniel started towards his next class. As he crossed the quad, he spied his baby sister walking in the opposite direction. He was prepared to tell her that he wasn't in the mood for whatever was about to come out of her mouth when she stuck out a paper bag at him.
"Brought you leftovers. You're welcome." She watched as Nathaniel unwrapped it and peeked inside. "Not like anyone had the stomach for seconds after listening to you and dad fight."
Nathaniel frowned, "What do you want, Amber?" His sister never does anything nice for anyone, ever. Let alone her own brother.
She smirked, flipping her curls. Her bangles jingling on her wrists. "I need a favor. Information."
"I think I know where this is going."
"And where do you think this is going?" Amber asked.
"The new guy. Kentin, right?"
"That's the one. An absolute daddy."
"The 'look at my muscles, I went to military school' guy? Really?"
"Really."
"Even you can do better."
Amber rolled her eyes. "I know all the student files go through you, big bro."
"For the last time, I'm not giving away someone's personal information just because you have a crush on them."
"What if this is more than 'just a crush?' What if he turns out to be my soulmate?"
"Then ask for his number like a normal person." Nathaniel sighed, "I'm heading to class."
Amber groaned as her brother walked away. "Hope you know if I never find true love, it's your fault!"
It was 5 pm, and Nathaniel was back at his desk in the now empty student council office. Campus was virtually empty except for those out practicing on the field and a few teachers working late. Usually by this time he'd either be practicing with the band down in the school basement or at Castiel's, but he thought he best made himself scarce today after the fight with his father last night.
His phone vibrated from its place on the desk, shocking Nathaniel out of his stupor as he stared at the unfinished email from this morning on the computer screen. He hesitated upon seeing the name displayed but tapped to answer the call anyway. The person on the other line wasted no time.
"May I remind you again that you and Castiel had a deal?"
"I'm not the only one at fault, Lysander. Castiel is, too."
"You both are at fault. However, Castiel is here at practice while you are not."
Nathaniel sucked in a harsh breath, "I'm sorry. What happened during lunch isn't the reason why I'm not at practice. I'm still having trouble with my parents. They want me home, so I'm avoiding being out late for a while."
"I understand, but you need to sort out your personal life so that it does not interfere with the band. We can't keep doing this. I'll see you tomorrow at practice."
Nathaniel kept the phone pressed to his ear long after Lysander hung up. He stayed like for a long time in the silence of the office. He felt his every inhale and exhale, and with every breath, anger and frustration rose and fell with his chest.
With a trembling breath, Nathaniel lowered the phone to his lap. You're okay. You're okay, Nat. It's fine, he told himself. Now that that was taken care of, he should head home and begin knocking out his assignments. It was barely a month into the new school year, and he was already falling behind on classwork. This would be the perfect opportunity to get caught up. Not to mention coming home early to study would please his parents. It was the most logical thing to do, a win-win situation, but he hesitated.
If he was honest, he didn't want to go home. Home was suffocating. Home was unbearable. Any oxygen left was chased away by his father's constant, patronizing jabs at his non-existent work ethic and poor life decisions. They argued almost every night about his grades that had continued to drop steadily. His father was convinced the cause of his son's declining scores was his misplaced investment of time and effort into his drums, and he believed Nathaniel first step towards improvement should be to leave his rag-tag bandmates. It was true that he spent an excessive amount of study time playing and quitting the group would clear up his schedule, but the drums – the band – was all Nathaniel had.
As passionate as he was, Nathaniel would be lying if he said he wasn't worried. It was his senior year, and if he didn't start getting his act together soon, no university would accept him. Since he was a child, academics came to him like water, but his streak ended abruptly upon entering high school. He didn't understand what went wrong. Why can't he make up his mind to head home early, sit down, and do work? If he could just do that, he could stop his grades from dropping. Then, his parents wouldn't be so disappointed of him. Then, he wouldn't feel guilty every time he picked up the drumsticks, and just maybe, he would stop feeling so sad all the time.
It was so damn simple, yet he can't seem to do it. Maybe Castiel was right, he thought. He's a weak, pathetic coward who is unable to rein in his life that was spiraling out of control, and it's his own damn fault his life's a mess right now. It's his fault that it all seems hopeless. He's to blame.
The office door opened, jolting Nathaniel from his thoughts. It was late. He hadn't expected to be disturbed.
"Office hours are over." He sat up and pretended to straighten his desk, embarrassed to be caught mid pity-party.
A student peeked in from behind the door on the far side of the office. "I'm sorry. I know it's late, but I had some quick questions about my registration. I'm a new student." She shut the door as she entered. "Principal Shermansky told me to come here if I had questions."
Nathaniel's head jerked up. The girl walking towards him was dressed in a white and rose tennis uniform, with a racket case slung over her shoulder. Her roseate eyes shined from under her visor in the dim sunlight filtering through the cracks in the blinds. As she drew closer to his desk, her eyes suddenly darkened.
"You!"
