Ch. 3 Month Off School
Nathan smiled when he woke up the next morning. He was happy to be home- but on the inside, he felt cold and lonely because Daley wasn't beside him. He got up out of his bed and stumbled downstairs.
"Nathan! Nathan! Nathan!" Nathan's little sister, Kathryn (Kate for short) ran up to him.
"How are you? How did you survive? Is it true you have a new girlfriend?" rambled the girl.
"I'm fine, but using my instincts, yes," Nathan sighed and sat down at the kitchen table.
"Oh Nathan," his father put down the paper, "you get a month off school to recover."
"Thanks Dad," Nathan grinned.
"Don't thank just me, thank all the parents. The school board thought you've already had 'time off school', what a load of hogwash," he shook his head.
Nathan grinned and ate his pancakes.
"Oh Nathan," his mom walked over, "Daley called," Nathan's ears perked up immediately, "she wants to know if you could come over today. That the rest of the strandees were coming and you were going to hang out."
Nathan rushed to the phone and dialed Daley's number.
"Hello?" answered an unfamiliar voice.
"Hi, is Daley there?"
"Yes, one moment please. Daley! It's for you!" Nathan heard footsteps running towards the phone, and a thanks Dad from Daley.
"Hello?"
"Daley!" Nathan smiled.
"Nathan! Hi! Can you come?"
"Yes, of course! Even if I had other plans I'd cancel them," Nathan smiled.
"Aww that's so sweet," Daley cooed.
Nathan smiled and walked over to a more private room, "did you have trouble sleeping as well?"
"Yeah! And this morning I felt cold…"
"I miss not having you in my arms when we wake up," Nathan murmured.
"I miss you in general," Daley laughed.
"I love you," Nathan murmured.
"I love you," Daley sighed.
"Here, let me get ready and I'll come over, okay?" Nathan asked.
"Hurry!" Daley laughed and they hung up. Nathan ran upstairs and got dressed, brushed his teeth, and ran back downstairs.
"See you Mom," he called and walked back outside.
Lucky I can drive already; he thought and went to Daley's house in the family's car. He pulled up in her driveway and ran to the door.
Lex answered, "hey Nathan! Uh… no one else is here yet, but Daley is upstairs."
"Awesome, thanks," Nathan grinned, "how are you?"
"Okay. It's weird to be home," Lex admitted.
"Yeah. It really is," Nathan nodded.
"Nathan!" called a voice from the top of the stairs. Nathan whirled around and saw Daley.
"Hey Daley," he grinned. Lex knew the warning signs and walked away quickly as Daley ran and jumped into Nathan's arms. They stared at each other briefly before Nathan brought his lips to her. Alas, it was only for a moment, because Daley's Dad walked in then. They jumped apart like wildfire.
"Hello. You must be…?"
"Nathan. Nathan McHugh," Nathan offered his hand. They shook hands for the smallest instant, and her father gave him a weird look. Like he knew or, more likely thought, that Nathan was going to be steeling something from him, but not a 'possession,' like property or money. Nathan, confused, backed away slightly from him.
"I see you have feelings for my daughter, Daley,' he said stiffly.
Daley turned a delicate pale shade and walked back over to Nathan, who placed a loving arm around her shoulder.
"Very strong ones, sir. Extremely strong feelings…"
"As in…"
"Dad," Daley looked up sharply, clearly annoyed, "I love him, and he loves me."
Nathan nodded eagerly, "I do, sir."
"Hmm," he looked suspicious still, "if and when you take her on a real date, I will properly inspect you. But now I don't have time," he kissed Daley's forehead and walked away.
"So…" Nathan began, "want to go out tomorrow?"
"Of course," Daley laughed and they kissed again.
Jackson walked to Daley's house, but only because his step dad had the car. It wasn't too long of a walk, and Jackson had got to think.
I wonder what school will be like n a month, he mused as a light finger tapped his shoulder. Spinning around, Jackson saw it was Melissa.
"Mel!" Jackson couldn't help but smile at the sight of her.
"Hey," Melissa grinned back, "how are you doing?"
"Could be better. Could be worse," Jackson smiled thoughtfully.
"Aww. Miss me?" Melissa joked.
"Horribly. Dying going on over here," Jackson whispered in her ear.
"Well, hopefully we can bring you back," Melissa joked and kissed him briefly, "now come on, we've got to get to Daley and Lex's place. I bet Nathan's already there, maybe Abby."
"Why not Taylor and Eric?" Jackson asked as they walked, hand in hand.
"Those lazy bums are probably still asleep," Melissa laughed.
"Good point," Jackson sniggered.
They reached the house and walked inside to find everyone there, even Taylor and Eric, laughing and talking. Jackson held Melissa's hand and they walked in, hoping that being home wouldn't change anything between the group.
Everyone was laughing together, certainly reliving things. Jacksondid squirt milk out of his nose at one retelling, and Melissa had to jump out of the way.
"JACKSON!" she cried, looking in disgust at the milk all over her shoes.
"Sorry!" he cringed.
"I'll go get a paper towel," Daley murmured immediately.
"Me too," Nathan ran after her.
Everyone looked at each other for a few moments, and then Lex looked down at his watch.
"If it takes more than two minuets, they're not just getting a paper towel," Lex sighed.
"Time them, Lex," Eric laughed.
They all waited in silence, until they came back in with many paper towels.
"Four minuets," Lex sighed, "you really can't control yourselves, can you?"
Both of them blushed furiously, making the rest of the group laugh.
"Ah well," Melissa laughed, "give me that paper towel!"
Nathan handed her the paper towel, Melissa dabbing at her shoes as Jackson helped her. The phone rang, and Lex got up and ran to it.
"Hello?" he asked.
"Hi, is… is Daley there?"
"Yeah, sure," Lex sighed, "DALEY!"
Daley got up and ran to the phone, giving a questioning glance to Lex. Lex shrugged, signifying that he didn't know either.
"Hello?"
"DALEY! Hi! It's Tabitha, girl!"
"Oh my God, hi! Wow, you must have thought me…"
"Dead, yeah. But I received word from Alicia who heard from Sarah who heard from Alexis who heard from her little sister Theresa who heard from her best friend Kate, who is Nathan's sister, that you guys were back!"
"Yeah, yeah we're back all right. And only three people died!"
"Who?"
"The captain, Jory, and Ian."
"Oh, well that's a shame. So that Jackson kid is still alive?"
"Um, yeah, he was our leader and junk."
"Wow, so we have to catch up! Can you come over?"
"No, sorry I can't. All of us survives are hanging out today. If you want to come over here…?"
"Um… sure, I guess. I'll be over later," but something had changed in Tabitha's voice.
Something that changed forever.
(1, 176 Words) Happy birthday to me again! The next chapter is all fluff! Yippee! Anyway, I shall update later. Right now I'm in a whir of birthday festivities! Oh yeah, I'm planning this whole series that takes place starting with "6 Years", there is 5 stories in the series counting 6 Years but not Time to Dance and As the Storm Blows. Does that mean there is technically 7 stories? Hmm… Anyway, yeah. I'm surprised that you guys didn't pick that one… I like ()life stories that have the main character's ()in them and the main characters are ()and (). No, I am not filling in the blanks! Tee hee!
