Nate sat in his class with a scowl. He was still annoyed about meeting that stupid girl. She is lucky that he would never mess with girls, or she would’ve ended up with some broken bones for crossing him. The door opened, so he looked up.
You’ve got to be shitting me, Nate thought. It was her. Now he has to be in the same class with her too?
“Oh look, it’s my new friend Nate,” Amelia said with a big smile that irritated him even more.
“I’m not your fucking friend,” he said and furrowed his eyebrows.
“You know, it won’t hurt you to be nicer to me. I may become a very valuable friend if you give me a chance,” she said.
“I don’t think so. Now stop talking to me,” he snarled.
Amelia stared at him intently for a minute but didn’t say anything. She turned back around as the teacher walked in.
“Alright, everyone, today I will assign you a partner for this project you will be working on. You’ll be working in pairs, and no, you cannot choose your own partner,” the biology teacher Ms. Webb declared.
Several of the students groaned at that announcement, including Nate. He didn’t like working with another person anyway, and he wasn’t too thrilled about working with some nerd.
“I’ll be announcing the names now,” she said and started to read the names off of a paper.
“Elle and Jessica, Aaron and Sam…” she kept reading the names, and Nate was getting impatient.
“Nate and Amelia,” she called.
Oh, fuck no! There was no way he will work with this annoying chick. It was like he couldn’t get away from her.
“It looks like you can’t get away from me,” Amelia smirked. “This must be fate.”
Fate my ass, Nate thought. “Um…Ms. Webb?” He called, waving his hand. “Can I have a different partner? How about Ricky over there?” he pointed at the scrawny, nerdy kid in the back. Ricky frantically nodded his head no as he was terrified of Nate.
“Now, Mr. Wolf, I told you in the beginning, I will be assigning partners for everyone, and you are not an exception to that rule. I’m sure you and Ms. Martinez will get along just fine if you give her a chance. “Ms. Webb said.
Nate stood up and walked toward the teacher’s desk. He leaned in and whispered, “you don’t understand, this girl…I think there’s something wrong with this girl. You need to find someone smarter to pair with her because I don’t think I can handle it, you know what I’m saying?”
Ms. Webb narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know what is going on between you two, but I suggest you work it out because my decision is final. Ms. Martinez transferred here with a very high GPA, so I know she can handle this project just fine, so you should be all set. Now please go back to your seat so I can resume my task.”
Nate scowled and walked back to his desk without saying another word. This is going to be a long semester.
The project was simple. They had to create a replica of a flower of their choice and identify each part. Then make a presentation explaining how each part works.
“I can sculpt a Lily flower out of clay! That’s my favorite flower,” Amelia chirped.
“Whatever, I just want to get it over with,” Nate yawned.
They met up after school because Amelia insisted they have to work together on it. She threatened to tell Ms. Webb if he didn’t agree. He couldn’t afford to get a failing grade, so he complied.
And that’s how they ended up hanging out together.
“Nah uh…buddy. I’m not doing all the work for you. You are going to help me create this masterpiece. How about I create the sculpture, and you type the report?” Amelia suggested.
“Fine…that’s okay with me,” Nate agreed. “Just don’t expect me to just hang out with you. This is strictly for the project,” he added.
“I get it. I get it. You are too cool to socialize with anyone and all that, but we’ll have fun, I promise!” Amelia chirped.
“I doubt that, so where are we working on this? Your house?” Nate asked.
“Yeah, sure! Come on over to my house after school tomorrow. I’ll have all the materials ready to go,” she said.
“Great, now if we are done here, goodbye,” Nate waved at her with two fingers and strode out of there.
Amelia shook her head. What was this guy’s problem? It wasn’t like she was so hideous that he couldn’t stand to look at her. Guys usually liked her. What was he afraid of?
The next day, Amelia wrote her address and the phone number on a piece of paper and slid it toward Nate.
“I’ll drive you home since you have to ride the bus,” Nate said.
“I’m shocked! I figured you would keep as much distance from me as possible since you always act like I have some type of virus or something,” Amelia said.
“I regret my offer already,” Nate grumbled.
They drove to the house after school.
“Mom, I’m home!” Amelia yelled as soon as they entered the house, but they were greeted with silence.
“Wait here while I get the stuff for our model. Mom told me to keep boys out of my room, so I can’t let you go upstairs, sorry,” she said.
“Fine by me, it’s not like I’m interested in that kind of thing with you anyway,” Nate shrugged.
“Ouch! I’m slightly offended. Are you telling me I’m not hot enough for you to take advantage of me?” Amelia pouted.
“That’s not what I’m saying… " Nate protested.
“So, you do think I’m hot?” she pressed.
“No… I mean, yes, I do think you are hot. I’m just not interested. I find you annoying,” Nate said bluntly.
“Geez…shoot me where it hurts the most, I guess. Anyways…I’ll go get the stuff.” with that, Amelia went upstairs.
Nate looked around the house. Amelia wasn’t rich. Her house was a cozy little place compared to his place. He lived with his dad, who owned a huge house that could fit five families. He didn’t particularly enjoy living there since he was all alone. Instead of people talking, he heard echoes of his footsteps.
He started to look at the pictures hung on the walls. Amelia with her parents, Amelia was playing in the park with another boy who looked a few years older. She looked happy.
“Oh, that’s my brother Jeremy,” Amelia spoke suddenly behind him. “He is at college now.”
She pointed at the dining room table, which now had some craft materials.
“Shall we get started?” she asked.
Nate looked at the slab of clay in confusion.“What are we doing with that?” he asked.“Well, I will be creating a model of a Lily flower, and you will write down the names of the different parts,” she said.“Thrilling,” Nate rolled his eyes.He opened the book and started to write down the information while Amelia worked with the clay. After watching her for a few minutes, he couldn’t help but admire her crafting skills. She looked focused and determined to get things perfect.“I think that’s good enough for now,” she said after 40 minutes. “We can pick this up tomorrow since the project is not due till later this week.”“Great, I’ve had enough myself. So, I’m going to go. Peace out.” Nate said and stood up to leave.&ldqu
Nate arrived in front of the house. The party was still going on. A bunch of kids were drunk and running around the yard, acting crazy. Typical, Nate thought. He has never been into the party scene. He liked to keep to himself. He went inside the house.“My, my if it isn’t Nate Wolf. Did you finally change your mind and accept my invitations?” a girl’s voice asked, making Nate turn around.It was Ginny Walker, one of the popular kids in his school. She looked like a model who stepped right out of the cover of a magazine.“I’ve been trying to get you to come to these for years. What changed?” she asked.“I’m not here for your stupid party. Where’s Amelia?” Nate was already annoyed.“Who?” Confusion flickered in Ginny’s eyes.“Amelia Martinez, lo
“NATE!” Amelia screamed and frantically waved her arms. “I made it!”She ran towards him and wrapped him in a tight hug.“Yeah, I can see that,” Nate growled. He wanted to push her off immediately, but something inside of him made him hesitate. Her hair smelled like Lilies, and he could feel her warmth spreading through his body, which felt comforting. He found himself placing his hand on her back and gently stroking it.“You can let go now, you crazy woman,” he said after few seconds.She let go of him right away, and he suddenly missed her warmth. “Oh my god, look at you! You look so sexy with your tracksuit,” she grinned and gave him the flirty eyes.“Yeah, thanks, whatever,” he said, trying to hide that he was flattered by her compliment.“Where can I sit to wa
Nate was furious when he saw Amelia holding the picture of him and Destiny. He didn’t like anyone to know about her, which is why he never let anyone go inside his room.“Sorry, I shouldn’t have come inside the room without your permission,” Amelia said, her eyes were full of regrets.“I need you to leave, right now!” he said with his voice full of rage.“Look, I said I was sorry, okay?” she insisted.“I don’t want to fucking hear it. Just get the fuck out of my house.” Nate said heatedly.“Okay, I get it,” Amelia said and ran downstairs. She didn’t understand what the big deal was. She had a feeling he was angrier about her looking at the picture than the fact that she was inside the room. She was curious to know why but she didn’t want to push him.It
Nate started to eat his lunch and expected Amelia to interrupt him and annoy him, but she didn’t sit at his table this time. Does that mean he is finally rid of her?He saw her walk in, and she went straight to another table with some other kids. He should feel relieved as she ignored him instead of aggravating him, but he couldn’t help feeling slightly lonely. It was too quiet as she wasn’t sitting near him talking his ears off, and he didn’t know how to feel about it anymore.It was the same way the next day. Amelia avoided him all day then sat somewhere else during lunch. Nate’s life was back to how it used to be. She finally left him alone. But he didn’t feel as happy as he thought he would be.He tried to force himself to stop thinking about her all day, but he couldn’t. What was wrong with him?On day three, he saw her standing by her locker
Nate lightly knocked on the door.“Hold on!” Amelia said from the other side, so he waited quietly.The door opened, and there stood Amelia. She was wearing a cropped t-shirt with a pair of Victoria’s Secret shorts. Her hair was messy like she had been lying down for a while.She looks adorable. The thought flashed in his mind before he could stop it.Her eyes turned huge with surprise when she saw him standing there.“Nate? What are you doing here?” she asked.He didn’t know what to say at first and stared at her. He was just about to open his mouth to say something but stopped when her facial expression suddenly changed.Her face turned pale. She grabbed the side of her stomach, and her facial expression contorted as if she was in pain. She looked like she was struggling to stay o
“Alex? What the fuck do you want?” Nate barked.Alexander Wolf, his twin brother, was standing in front of him with a sickening grin on his face. Nate’s old intense hatred for him resurfaced upon seeing him, and rage boiled inside him.“Last time I checked, this is my house too,” Alex said. He was used to Nate’s rude behavior and was not swayed by it one bit.“Just answer my goddamn question,” Nate said.“Relax, bro, I just came here to visit dad. Is this any way to treat your brother?” Alex raised his eyebrows.“You are not my brother. I denounced you for what you did,” Nate glared at him.“I’m afraid that’s not how it works. I’m still your twin brother. And come on! It has been a year already, so just let it go! I miss how close we used to be.&r
“Sorry I’m late,” Alex said and sat down beside Jessica.“Whoa! I didn’t realize there were two of you, Nate!” Amelia exclaimed.Alex chuckled. “Hi, I’m Alex. Nate’s twin.”Wow, Amelia thought. They looked exactly alike yet different somehow. Nate had a dark shadow over his face and always looked depressed, but Alex gave out a completely different vibe. He was more cheerful and had a certain spark in his eyes.I want Nate’s eyes to glow with happiness too…, she thought suddenly.Another difference she noticed in Alex’s face was that it was missing a tiny scar on his forehead.She noticed Nate was avoiding looking at Alex the entire time. Aren’t twins supposed to be close? Their attitude towards each other was more like a distant relative than a brother.