Nowhere boys: The Forgotten Element

Chapter 1

Walking down the street, Natalia inhaled deeply. Feeling the oxygen fill her lungs, she allowed herself to relax a little. She had escaped the house after yet another argument with her dad. This time it was about unpacking the boxes. Usually problems were sorted out quickly, but Natalia had a feeling that the tension between them would stay for some time. The argument had frustrated Natalia; she was being ignored, her dad didn't even care about how she would feel before he uprooted her from her life and dumped her in a strange place. She needed to blow off steam, and the perfect way to do that would be to explore her new hometown. After all, if she was meant to live here, she might as well scope out a few spots she could claim as her own. Her safe haven.

She had had a couple of these back in her old town. Whenever she felt too overwhelmed, too crowded, she would visit them. They would always be in woodlands, surrounded by nature. She felt safe there, like nothing could touch her. She could just blend in with her surroundings, become part of nature itself. Others thought her obsession with the natural world was weird. She was considered somewhat of a freak in her old school. She was the girl that no one got too close to for fear they would become associated with her. Only her small group of friends would dare to be seen with her, and even then, all talk of nature and the beauty of it was off limits. They would tolerate her up to a point. Anything beyond that and she would have been ridiculed. She had to pretend, to block out a part of herself in order to try to fit in. And she hated it. She hated pretending. It was unnatural to her, hiding her real self, playing a part, putting on a mask just to seem normal. It was claustrophobic for her; she felt restricted in every way, unable to breathe properly. Perhaps that was why she loved being around nature so much. With nature, she could be herself. She didn't have to hide anything; she could be her true self, free from judgement.

Her train of thought was interrupted when her shoulder was nudged violently to one side. She glanced up and caught the boy staring at her. His grey eyes looked into hers as he reached out a hand to steady her slightly.

"I'm sorry."

Natalia's voice was soft. She kept her eyes trained on the ground, near his shoes, avoiding his gaze. A slight scoff was heard before the boy replied.

"Hey, it's ok. I should have been looking where I was going."

The friendly tone his voice held did nothing to ease Natalia's embarrassment. She had already drawn unwanted attention to herself, and she had barley been in Bremin for 48 hours. With a curt nod, she turned to go before being stopped as the boy grabbed her arm. Hesitantly, she turned around, this time allowing her eyes to lift to his face.

A smile graced his features, lighting up his face. His dark blonde hair was short and suited his face shape nicely. Natalia noticed herself being drawn into his grey eyes, the force of the pull being too strong to resist. She allowed a small smile to appear as she took his appearance.

"You're new here, right?"

Natalia cleared her voice before replying.

"Yeah. I just moved here with my dad."

"That's great! You're going to love it here."

She nodded in reply, the smile dropping slightly.

"That's what my dad said."

After a few tense seconds, Natalia cleared her voice again. Flicking her eyes behind the boy, she saw three other boys stood looking at them. They seemed to be growing impatient, waiting for the pair to finish. Taking this as her signal to leave, she nodded her head in the direction of the group.

"Looks like your friends are waiting for you. It was nice meeting you."

The boy in front of her shook his head, as if breaking himself from a trance.