empty → nate maloley

two

i remember nate from yesterday. i wonder how he is? did he remember he was at my house?

i jumped out of bed and got myself ready for the day. the smell of bacon instantly hit my noise while i was doing my hair. i excitedly jogged down the stairs.

"morning dad." i smiled once i reached the kitchen.

"good morning." he greeted me, flipping the bacon. "what happened to you at dinner?"

"studying."

"who studies during summer?" bryan scoffed.

i rolled my eyes and turned to face him, "people who don't still want to be here when they're almost thirty." i shaded. 

he rolled his eyes and walked away leaving me satisfied. 

"be nice." dad scolded me but ended up smiling. he handed me a plate of bacon and pancakes. i thanked him and sat down. 

my mind was still wondering about nate. is he okay? did he make it home alright? 

"what's wrong?" dad asked me.

i shook my head. it wasn't my place to tell him about ate. i'm pretty sure nate only talked to me because he was high and out of it. "nothing." i cut my pancake and sandwiched a piece of bacon in between it.

"i'm going out today." dad said cleaning up his mess. "you'll be okay?"

"bryan's going to be here too." i shrugged. dad gave me this look and i laughed. 

"see ya later kiddo." he smiled, waving me off.

i waved and continued to eat my food. there has been legit nothing to do since my best friend, dana went on vacation with her family. she'll be back next week and hopefully cure my boredness.

i finished my breakfast, placing my plate in the sink. seconds later, the door bell rang. i jogged to open it.

"nate?" i asked, shocked. 

"yeah, it's me." he chuckled. he looked a lot better than last night. last night he was a huge mess. 

"what are you doing here?" i asked. thank goodness dad isn't here, i would bombarded with questions and bryan's not going to be coming out of his room until night time.

"i, uh, came to say thank you." he paused. "because of last night."

"oh," i smiled faintly. "um, no problem." he's easier to talk to when he's high. this is just plain awkward.

he nodded once more and started walking towards the street. 

"hey!" i called out to him. "you hungry?" dad made a few extra pancakes and i'm sure there's bacon left. 

nate scratched his neck and looked around. "uh..."

it was probably a stupid idea to begin with. he probably hasn't been inside since mary jane died.i opened my mouth to dismiss the question. 

"sure i could eat." he said before me, walking back up the porch. 

"great." i smiled, moving out the way so he could walk in. 

-

"want anything to drink?" i asked the boy, scarfing down the pancakes and bacon. 

he shook his head no, taking the last bite of his pancake. "this place looks so different..." he looked around. "feels so weird without her."

i kept my mouth shut, i don't know what to say. 

"last night actually felt pretty good." he said to me. 

i furrow my eyebrows. "i don't follow."

nate paused for a moment, looking directly at me. "talking about mary jane with you last night... it felt right. my boys just tell me to move on, i don't feel like i got the closure i needed."

"oh," i nodded "well um, you talk about mary jane as much as you want." 

"first, i want to get to know you. so i don't feel like i'm talking to a total stranger." 

"understandable." i laughed. "i also need to know stuff about you, so i know i'm telling telling myself to a stranger."

"understandable." he mocked me, making me laugh. 

something tells i'm going to get along with nate very well.

"you still in school?" nate asked me. 

i nodded my head, "i'm going to twelfth."

"twelfth grade fucking sucked for me." he groaned. i gave him a look that meant explain. "MJ died that year."

"oh."

"our goals were to graduate together, be one of those couples yanno? she died during summer break before we even got to enter our last year. she was the only thing that motivated me to do well in school before; she was on my ass about my grades all the time." he laughed. "my grades started to go down because i just didn't give a fuck. hell, i aint even show up to class half the time."

"so how'd you graduate?" i asked. 

"i knew i was disappointing her. if she was here she would've wanted to me to do better; towards the end i picked myself up, not the best grades, but good enough to pass... i did it for her."

i admire how much nate actually worships this girl. she was his everything and now she's gone. i really do feel bad for this boy. he's broken, empty if you will.

"what's your full name?" nate asked.

"mia joyce villegas." i stated. 

"MJ..." he hummed. 

i didn't realize my initials were the same as mary jane. 

"may i see a picture of her?" i watched nate pull out his phone and tap on his photos. he scrolled around for a few seconds before handing me the phone.

my jaw dropped. mary jane was a fucking stunner. "holy shit dude." i hearted eye the female. i see why nate was so in love with her. she was beautiful. 

"yeah," nate took back his phone, laughing. "she was a looker alright, but you know who got her? me." he smiled. "i miss her so much." 

i gave him a sad smile, patting his arm. 

"hey, you should put your number in my phone so i no longer have to show up at your house unannounced." he joked, showing off his adorable smile. 

i laughed saving my number under  'mimi' with a heart emoji.

"mimi?" he raised his eyebrow teasingly.

"it was a nickname given to me when i was younger. shut up." i pushed him. 

he laughed, shaking his head. "i gotta go, see you later ma." 

"bye nate." i waved him goodbye. 

i sighed contently. for some reason, i feel good. helping nate makes me feel good.