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.
“You sure you don’t want to stay and hang out for a few minutes?” Amelia asked.
“No thanks,” Nate said.
“Oh…okay,” she said in a disappointed tone.
Nate felt kind of bad when he saw the look on her face. Maybe he had been way too harsh. She had been nothing but nice to him despite his rude behavior.
“I just got other shit to do,” he said reluctantly.
Amelia nodded.
The next day, he found Amelia sitting at his table again.
“You are shitting me again with this?” he groaned.
“Oh, did someone forget to tell you we were friends?” Amelia smirked. “Stop being so angry and sit down already.”
Nate glared at Amelia for a minute. She expected him to say something mean and walk out of there, but he just sat down to her surprise.
“Why are you so annoying?” he asked.
“Most people say I am friendly,” she smiled.
“I don’t need any friends, especially not someone like you,” Nate said.
“Someone like me? And what am I like?” Amelia asked.
“Someone so preppy and cheerful all the time. Your highly pretentious attitude of positivity makes my blood boil,” he declared.
“I am not pretentious. Did you stop to think I might be genuinely happy?” she said.
“Well, stop acting like it because it’s annoying,” Nate said.
“Okay, fine. From now on, I will greet you with a scowl and only groan as an answer if you ask me anything. Turning off the positivity and replacing it with negativity starting… now!” Amelia said and pretended to look sad.
Nate sighed. “I am not asking you to change your attitude. I just need you to go away.”
“Not going to happen. In case you couldn’t tell, I like you for some crazy reason, and I am determined to make you like me too.”
“Good luck with that,” Nate scoffed.
“Challenge accepted,” Amelia declared.
Nate stared at her intently. He can’t figure this person out. People usually avoided him, especially when he glared at them with fiery eyes but this girl didn’t back down. Why did she attach herself to him of all people? He didn’t understand. He observed her features closely this time. She was actually very pretty.
It doesn’t matter, he thought. He still didn’t want her to get too close to him.
“What?” Amelia asked all of a sudden.
“Nothing?” he replied with a question.
“You were staring at me,” she said.
“No, I wasn’t,” he denied.
“Whatever you say, grumpy boy,” she scoffed and slurped her juice.
Nate was at a loss. No matter what he said, this girl always ended up arguing with him.
“So… you want to come over to my house after school again and work on the project some more?” she asked.
“I can’t. I am busy,” Nate said.
“What are you up to?” Amelia asked.
“Well, not that it’s any of your business, but I am building a car so I can race next week,” he replied.
“Wow, you can build cars? That’s impressive. Are you any good at racing?” Amelia was intrigued.
Nate’s eyes lit up. It was the first time he showed any type of excitement on his face. He must really like building cars and racing, Amelia thought.
“I’m decent. I just do it for fun,” Nate shrugged.
“Cool! Can I come?” she asked.
Nate raised his eyebrows. “What you mean, can you come? Come where?”
“Can I come watch you? At the race, I mean,” she replied.
Nate scowled. “No way, woman, I’ve had enough of you at school. I don’t need you following me around to other places.”
“Oh, come on! I promise I won’t bother you. I just want to watch the race. I’ll even cheer you on, or I’ll keep my mouth shut the entire time. Please!” Amelia gave him her signature puppy eyes.
Nate hesitated. He never had anyone from his school come watch him before. Especially not someone like Amelia. It wouldn’t hurt to have a pretty girl cheering for him on at the track, even if it’s someone as irritating as her.
“Alright, fine, you can come. Just don’t bother me there.” Nate said, frowning.
“Yay! I can’t wait. I’ve never been to a race before.” she said excitedly.
Later that day, Nate went home feeling exhausted. He had been working on that car for weeks, and it was almost ready for the race. But he didn’t mind the exhaustion. Building cars and racing was his passion. He loved every minute of it. That was the only time he truly felt happy.
He fell on the bed and closed his eyes, and slowly started to drift into sleep. His phone chimed all of a sudden.
Who the fuck was texting him? He looked at his phone with annoyance.
“Hey, grumpy pants! It’s Amelia. Some of my friends and I are going to a party tonight, want to go with me?" the text read.
Nate typed furiously, “I’d rather pluck my eyeballs out one at a time," he replied.
“Geez, so violent. A simple no would have been fine,” she said with a sad face emoji.
Nate didn’t reply and drifted off to sleep again. He slept for a few hours, then suddenly woke up with a start as his phone chimed again.
What now? He thought.
“Can you come to get me? I need help!" Amelia texted.
“Um…how about no?” he replied.
“Please, I’m begging you. I am really in trouble.” she texted back immediately.
“Why don’t you ask one of your friends?" he said.
“I don’t know where they are, and I really need to get out of here. Please? I’ll owe you one.” Her reply read.
Nate groaned. This chick is turning out to be a handful. He debated going back to sleep since this wasn’t his problem, but what if she really was in trouble?
“Fucking pain in my goddam ass,”…Nate cursed under his breath and started his car. If this was a trick, he’d strangle her skinny neck. He promised himself that. He looked at the address she texted him and drove to his destination.
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.
“What do you mean you have a date?” Nate typed on his laptop.It was Saturday afternoon. Nate was playing an online game, then suddenly, his Facebook messenger dinged, indicating someone sent him a message.Nate scoffed. He usually ignores every message, but something told him to check this one.“Hey, best friend! I found you on Facebook! Add me!” said the message from Amelia.Of course…she couldn’t leave her alone on the internet either. Nate smiled to himself. What an obnoxious and persistent girl!“Hey, what’s up?” he typed.“Oh, not much, just thinking about what to wear on my date. Any advice?” she replied.A date? Was Amelia seeing someone? Wait…of course, she can see anyone she wants. It’s not like they were boyfriend and girlfriend