The Way The World Ends ✓

Chapter 21. Nate

~

Sightless, unless

The eyes reappear

As the perpetual star

~

The next few months passed in a whirlwind of romance. Nate loved Indigo with all of his heart, and as soon as she told him that she loved him, he was over the moon. He relied on her love whenever his father got drunk, whenever he needed help with his classes, whenever he needed a break from being stressed out, really whenever he needed a friend. She became his best friend in the world, the person he could always rely on. Although, Indigo was much more than a friend to him. She was his light, his other half. She kept him positive somehow whenever he wanted to give up and quit trying.

After a few months of dating, he knew that he wanted to do something special for her. To show her how much he loved her. Christmas was coming up, and he took the opportunity to give her the perfect gift.

After school one day, he borrowed a camera from one of the photography students and drove to the Art Museum. He knew that Indigo liked to go on Saturdays, so he made sure to go on a Thursday afternoon when she wouldn't be there. He didn't want to ruin the surprise he knew she wouldn't see coming. It wasn't much, but it was something he knew she would like.

He made a beeline for the Maggie Clarke exhibit, looping the camera strap around his neck. He thought that he must have taken at least ten pictures of each painting, trying to make it perfect, even though one or two would have sufficed. He knew that she wouldn't care if everything was perfectly on center or in focus, but he wanted the best for her. He started to twitch a little after the first few paintings, becoming a little impatient with his slow progress, but he took a few deep breaths and kept working. He had to get this done for her. She deserved the best he could offer.

He took the camera back to the photography students and asked them to develop the photos as a favor. He had to talk two of them through calculus homework in return, but it was a small price to pay and completely worth it. When the pictures came out, they were beautiful and much better than if he had attempted to take them with his Smartphone and twitching fingers. After he carefully picked out the perfect frames, he tucked them away in a white, foldable clothing box for the next few weeks, excited to show her what he did.

After he stowed the box in his closet, Nate held his breath as he sat at his desk and checked his email for the third time that day. He felt both relief and disappointment when he found his inbox with no new messages.

Nate didn't want to admit it to Indigo, but he was slowly going crazy waiting to hear back from colleges. There were a few that looked at him earlier in the fall for a track scholarship, but he still had to wait to hear their offers or if he even got in at all. To be honest, there was one he really wanted to go to but wasn't sure if he could get in with his grades. Indigo was helping him with a few subjects, shooting his grades up full letters, but he wasn't sure if that would count toward getting him into college. Maybe if he didn't get in through the early action channels then he could use them for his second round of applications. He just hoped it wouldn't come to that because it already stressed him out to the max the first time around. It was hard enough trying to explain the disparity between his grades and his in-person interview, but even harder trying to accept the fact that he may not get in anywhere and the local college might be his only option. He felt an itching need to get out of this town, whether it was an hour away or five hours away. He needed to get out of his family's cycle of being born here, living here, and dying here.