Amber Eyes

FIFTY FIVE

a/n: once again, the chapter isn’t edited. enjoy :)

Nate

[ Present ]

My phone rings the moment I'm leaving my room to leave for the cafeteria. Vera's name flashes across my screen and I just know that she'll kill me if I decline her call. I pick up the call and I'm greeted with silence. I know she's there but I have no idea why she's not saying anything. This isn't like her at all.

I stand in the hallway, waiting for her to speak. She's probably taking her time to say whatever the hell she wants and I can wait for her despite the anxiety that's beginning to build inside of me. Just what could be serious enough to make her nervous? Or scared. Or whatever the hell she is at the moment.

"Listen," she finally says. "I've to talk to you about something important. And no, it can't wait at all. Are you alone right now?"

"Give me a second, alright?"

She hums in response. I make my way to the stairs, going up a floor to the terrace. There's no one here at this hour so it's the perfect place to talk without any background noise and interruptions. I enter the roof, the fresh air making me feel a little better than how I had been the entire day, exhausted from the practice.

"I'm alone now," I tell her.

I hear Vera take in a deep breath and exhale. "I know you didn't want me to talk about him. I know you want nothing to do with him. I know that whatever the hell that happened all those years ago was complicated and I'd never know the whole and true story about it and I also know that me bringing this up is the last thing you'd ever want—" She breaks off and I'm frozen in my place. My head feels heavy suddenly as if I'll fall in a moment. "I'm sorry. But we need to talk about it."

"Why are you bringing this up again?" I whisper because I can't bring myself to process everything and say those words out loud. Vera was the last person I had thought would bring this up with me and here she is, nervous—no, panicked.

"It's been ten years."

The realisation hits me. Ten years. Ten years. Ten years. Ten years. I can feel the panic rise inside of me. Does this mean what I think he means? Is he...?

"Nate." Vera's firm voice snaps me out of my thoughts. "I know you didn't want to know this. I wouldn't have told you this either. But there's been a problem. I don't know how this happened and I don't know why this is happening and I don't know how to fucking fix this."

"What happened?"

"Have you been talking to Sam recently?"

I exhale. "No, I haven't been. Why?" I ask, even though the worst has already come to my mind.