Nowhere boys: The Forgotten Element

Chapter 2

It was on Thursday that Natalia found herself in the library. It was her free period and she wanted to work on some of her assignments. So far, she had been introduced to 5 different teachers and been given 7 assignments. Starting a new school in the middle of the year had its challenges. She had to catch up with everything they had learnt so far, whilst also learning the current stuff and becoming familiar with the place. Safe to say, she was feeling overwhelmed.

Once she had found an unoccupied seat in the library, she opened her bag, reaching in to grab her books. In her old school, she would use her free period to read or spend time with her friends. Now, however, she was forced to start on one of her assignments. She had to write an essay for history. The spread of Catholicism in England in the 1600s was apparently something she needed to know about. Half an hour later, and she was just about ready to give up. The stress of catching up to the rest of the class was getting to her.

As soon as Jake walked into the library, he spotted Natalia. He frowned, taking in her distressed state. Sitting with one arm propping her head up, whilst the other was holding a pen, scribbling away on a piece of work, the frustration was practically flooding off her in waves. Unable to let her continue in this state, he carefully made his way over to her and took a seat opposite her.

"Hey Talia."

His cheery tone contrasted drastically with her state.

Lifting her head, she glanced up at Jake, her eyes lighting up slightly.

"Hi."

"I am your knight in shining armour; coming to save you from," He paused, glancing down at her notes. "History."

Natalia chuckled.

"Thanks, it's beginning to kill me."

Jake smiled as she began to relax.

"Well, we can't have that. If you're up for it, I'd like to come to a party."

Natalia frowned.

"Party? What for?"

"It's kind of like a welcome home party for me and my friends. We got lost whilst on a school trip for two weeks. The whole town went crazy trying to find us. So, now that we're back, they've thrown us a party."

"That's what you meant when you said everything changed the other day."

Jake nodded.

"Yeah. A lot happened in the time that we went missing, and then I was expected to come back and act the same as I always had done. It was exhausting trying to keep up the pretence, so I just changed. Anyway, will you come? To the party, I mean."

Natalia felt her lips twitching down in a small grimace.

"I don't know. I'm not that good around people and I don't know anyone else apart from you. It might be a bit weird."

Jake shook his head.

"Not at all. I'd be there to keep you company and make sure you were ok. You wouldn't have to stay long if you didn't want to. I'd love it if you came."

Natalia sighed. She had promised herself she would try make the best of her new start, even if it meant going out of her comfort zone a bit.

"Ok. I'll come, but only for a bit. I don't want to stay too long."

Jake grinned, delighted that he would be able to spend more time with her.

"Great. It's on Saturday at 12. I'll meet you at the skate park at 11:45 and we can walk there together?"