Chapter 1: Mistakes

Normal POV

Nate Grey walked into his brother's house.

"Hey, Shane," Nate greeted the man seated in front of the computer.

Shane Grey looked up. "Oh, Nate. Uh...hi."

Did Shane seem nervous, or anxious, or maybe even a little of both? But Nate shook that feeling off. What would Shane Grey have to be nervous about?

"Jason and I are going to the movies. You coming?"

Shane hesitated, and again Nate thought he seemed nervous.

Since when does Shane take this long to answer a simple question? He's usually the first one out the door when we get ready to go to the movies. Something's up with him. And I'm going to find out what.

After a brief silence, Nate impatiently asked, "Well?"

"Well...what?" Shane sounded confused.

"The movie? It starts in an hour. Do you want to go?"

"Uh–" He hesitated again.

"Are you okay?" Nate asked then.

"Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?"

Nate shrugged. "You seem...preoccupied."

Shane stood up and grabbed his coat. He hurried toward the door. "If I am preoccupied–which I'm not saying that I am–but it would be none of your business anyway."

"So...what about the movie?" Nate called after him.

"Can't!" he said. He turned around. "Uh, going to hang out with Mitchie."

With that he turned around and left.

Nate sat down.

Uh, going to hang out with Mitchie. Nate sighed. That was more of a question than a statement. What is going on with him lately?

Nate was too lost in his thoughts to notice that the front door opened.

He jumped about five feet in the air when Jason yelled, "NATE!" into his ear.

"Jason!" Nate yelled back, holding his right ear. "What is wrong with you?!"

"Me?" Jason feigned innocence. "You're the one who didn't answer me when I called about a million times."

"A million times? Really?"

"No, not really. I can't count that high. But I did call your name a lot!"

Nate rolled his eyes. "Let's just go."

"Shane isn't coming?" Jason inquired.

"Does it look like he's here?"

Nate didn't mean for it to come out as harsh as it did. Luckily, Jason didn't seem to notice.

"Unless he's hiding. Ooh, are we playing Hide and Go Seek?" Jason asked eagerly.

"Jason." Nate blew out an exasperated sigh. "Shane isn't coming. It's just going to be us two."

"Oh." Jason's expression quickly changed. "He never has time for us anymore."

"I know," Nate answered. Trying to lighten the mood, he added, "Why don't we go to the movies, huh? And then afterwards we can go bowling?"

"Bowling?" Jason's face broke into a smile, quickly forgetting about what it was they were talking about before. "Okay!"

They were in Nate's car, and at the movies, minutes later.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Two hours later, the duo came laughing out of the theater.

"Adam Sandler," Nate said through his laughter, "has to be the single best actor of all time."

"I totally agree!" Jason answered, laughing as well. "'Bedtime Stories.' What a funny movie."

Nate nodded and laughed. He looked at his watch.

"Why don't we call Shane before we go bowling? He should be home from whatever it was he was doing with Mitchie–"

Someone interrupted him.

"Nate? Jason?"

Nate looked around, trying to spot the origin of the voice. His eyes got wide.

"Mitchie?"

"Mitchie's here? Where? Is Shane with her?" Jason wondered.

Mitchie walked over to them. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We just saw a movie!" Jason said with enthusiasm.

Nate rolled his eyes. "We just saw 'Bedtime Stories.' What are you doing here?"

"I just saw 'Twilight' with a few friends."

"Is Shane here?"

Mitchie shook her head. "No. That's funny."

"What is?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing," she answered.

Nate looked at her, confusion written all over his handsome face. "Why?"

"No. First tell me why you asked me if Shane was with me."

Nate sighed. "Jason and I asked him to go to the movies with us, but he declined, said he was spending the day just hanging out with you."

Mitchie shook her head. "He said the same thing to me, except he said that he had band rehearsal. But how can he have band rehearsal if he's not with the band?"

"Uh–" Jason stopped. "Does this mean that Shane lied?"

Nate sighed. "Yes, Jason, I think that's exactly what it means."

"Why don't you call Shane?"

"All right." They walked outside and Nate dialed Shane's number.

"Hello?"

"Shane? It's Nate," he said into the phone.

"Oh...Nate. Hi, what's up?" Shane seemed nervous again, even more nervous than he was this morning.

"Where are you?" Nate asked. Why deal with pleasantries? If Shane was lying to his friends–and the girl Nate thought Shane loved–he had reason to know what it was.

"Uh, with Mitchie. We're shopping."

Nate looked at Mitchie. Her eyes were wide with anger.

"For two hours?" Nate had to keep the anger out of his voice.

"Well, you know," Shane said. "Mitchie loves to shop."

"That's funny, Shane," Nate started.

"Uh, why is it funny?"

The nervousness was back for a fourth time, but this time you could tell.

"Because," Nate said, looking at Mitchie, "Mitchie is here with me and Jay."

At that moment, Shane started making crackling noises. "Can't...hear...going through...tunnel...breaking...up..." The line went dead.

"I cannot believe this!" Nate exclaimed in frustration.

"Why would Shane lie?" Mitchie wondered out loud. "What could Shane possibly be doing that he doesn't want us to know about?"

Nate thought for a moment. "Hmm...could that be it? No, I can't be...can it?"

"Uh, Nate?" Jason said, tearing Nate out of his thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"You're talking to yourself again."

"Again?" Mitchie wondered with a slight smile. "He does that more than once?"

Jason nodded. "Quite a lot, actually."

Mitchie turned to Nate. "What were you thinking?"

"Nah, it's too far out there. Never mind."

"Just tell us," Mitchie pleaded with him.

Nate sighed. "All right. Well, you know that girl I've been dating?"

Mitchie nodded. "Amber, right?"

Nate nodded. "Well, Shane really liked her. Like, really, really liked her. I told him if it bothered him that I wouldn't date her. But a week later, he told me it was okay, that he'd moved on."

"But you don't think he has?"

"I don't know. But I know a way to find out."

He and Jason got back into his car, with Mitchie following close behind. They soon arrived at a two-story Victorian home.

"Where are we, Nate?" Mitchie wondered when she got out of her Mustang.

"Amber's house," Nate answered, his voice laced with hatred.

Shane better not be in there.

Nate pulled a spare key out from under the mat and unlocked the front door. He looked at Mitchie and Jason before heading into the house.

He heard a sound coming from the living room, so he and his two friends quickly made their way over to it.

Nate stopped when he looked inside the little room. His mouth dropped and his eyes got wide. He could feel tears starting to form.

How could Shane do this to me?

Yeah, yeah, it wasn't the best. Sorry! =/

So, Mitchie and Shane aren't together yet. They might be in the future, or they might not.

Heather