Nowhere boys: The Forgotten Element

Chapter 3

At the sound of her voice, all three whipped their heads round to face her. As soon as Jake laid eyes on her, his face twisted in shock.

"What are you doing here?"

"No!" Natalia shouted. "You don't get to ask the questions. Not yet. I won't answer any until you tell me what just happened."

When it was clear that none of the boys were going to answer, Natalia sighed and turned away. Jake grabbed Natalia by the arm before she could leave. Looking into her eyes, he allowed the worry to show.

"What did you see?"

Natalia frowned, ripping her arm out of his grip.

"Nothing. I didn't see anything."

"Are you sure?"

He desperately wanted her to trust him, to admit what she saw, but he didn't want to push her. He knew it made her uncomfortable and that was the last thing he wanted to do. The look in her eyes told him everything. She had seen something but wasn't sure what or whether it was real or not.

"Yes. I didn't see anything."

"I think you should go home. And stay away from us."

It was the weird goth boy who had spoken. Natalia glared at him.

"You can't tell me what to do."

"Look, being around us is dangerous and I don't need someone else to look after. It's best if you just go and stay away from us."

Turning her head towards Jake, she looked at him. A small speck of hope bloomed inside her; he would stop her from going, tell her to stay, tell her it was alright.

"Jake?"

He smiled and nodded, reassuring her.

"It's ok. We'll be fine. I'll come and see you soon."

Knowing she was utterly defeated, she sighed. She was disappointed in the lack of trust Jake had in her.

"Fine. I'll go."

As she turned to leave, she overheard the goth boy address Jake.

"Jake, leave her. It's for the best. You know what could happen if she gets involved."

Natalia didn't realise she was crying until she felt a tear drip onto her cheek. What Jake had just done was a slap in the face to her. After becoming her friend, getting her to spill her secrets and even going so far as to invite her to the party, he just dropped her. Her first real friend had dropped her as soon as possible. She felt as if the world were mocking her, teaching her a lesson after she had let down her barriers.

Her feelings simmered over the next few days. A tiny part of her still hoped, still believed that Jake trusted her. After all, she did see a hint of hesitation before he answered, signalling he might not have wanted to drop her the way he did, but that he had done it to protect her. His friend had said that being around them was dangerous. The last thing she wanted was to be dragged into something dangerous just because it gave her friends. Finally, she decided that she had been conflicted for too long. The only way to really know what had happened and how Jake felt was to ask him. She had seen him around school, always hanging out with his friends. The next time she saw him, she would confront him about what had happened at the party; see whether he truly wanted to let her go, or if he was holding something back from her.

Natalia was on her way to the library when she next saw Jake. He was sitting in the reception area on his own. A sickly pale sheen covered his face and he looked to be struggling to breathe. Even though she didn't want to disturb him; he looked incredibly ill, she took the rare chance of Jake being on his own. Timidly making her way over to him, she plastered a smile over her face, allowing a trickle of concern to shine through.