NOCTURNE » Nathan Prescott

» xi. chrysalis

I spent most of the remaining weekend taking care of the cat and my homework, while mom was always somewhere around asking me for my opinion on a new clothing line she was working on. I hadn't heard from Nathan at all; Victoria did ask me about him a couple times so I assumed neither had she.

When I walked towards the school on Monday though I spotted him, pacing in front of the building.

"Morning," I hummed and sat down on a bench. He stopped for a split second and looked at me, before continuing to walk around with his hands behind his back. Shaking my head I quickly texted Victoria that Nathan was still alive and stared up at the statue in the fountain.
When more people arrived Nathan sat down next to me.

"So you seen the video yet?" he asked at which I raiser an eyebrow.
"Oh god, don't tell me somebody uploaded the video of Kate." He nodded. "It's viral by now, ha!" -- "Nate that's not funny." -- "Whateverthefuck you say honey."

Rolling my eyes I scrolled through social media for probably the first time since Friday and was disgusted at the amount of times the link had been posted and the video had been shared. The poor girl …

"What's going on with you anyway, why are you so damn nervous?" I asked the boy and he stopped the leg bouncing for a moment. "Got some business to attend to later." -- "Jeez, just be careful, alright?"

He glanced over at me for a second and looked down at his phone again. When I saw Victoria jogging over to us I waved at her and got out of my seat, entering the school. She was probably about to interrogate him as to why he disappeared off the face of the earth for two days which would then cause him to get angry again. I didn't want to be there when that happened, although I probably should be. I just really didn't feel like I could cope with anything aside from my routine today.

Most of the day went by relatively normal, Luke and I got an A- on our art project at which he immediately demanded we celebrate our success.

Photography class, which was the last class for that day, was the first I saw Kate after learning about the video.
She looked terrible. I didn't mean to be rude or anything; she just looked awful. It reminded me a lot of myself a few years ago, and that was far from good. I just hoped she wouldn't fall apart completely because of this. From what I had observed people were gossiping and spreading rumours about her the entire time. People really were horrible.

I wanted to talk to her but Jefferson walked into class and started right away, and I noticed how Max at the table next to me fell asleep. I thought about waking her up but since Jefferson didn't say anything I let her be.

Then she suddenly jerked up and looked around, confused. I shot her a reassuring smile, like the first day here, while she slowly reached for her camera and … took a selfie? Jefferson shushed the class and rambled on about the word 'selfie' for a while, making a terrible pun in the process that Victoria snickered at -- of course.

"Now Max, since you've captured our interest and clearly want to join the conversation, can you please tell us the name of the process that gave birth to the first self-portraits?"

She didn't think too long before she responded. "The Daguerreian Process. Invented by a French painter named ... Louis Daguerre. Around 1830."
Jefferson seemed slightly taken aback by the oddly confident answer from this quiet girl. "Somebody has been reading, as well as posing. Nice work, Max."

Victoria shot the girl an annoyed look and Jefferson resumed lecturing us about how we all needed to focus on our books more and that Max was way ahead of us, apparently. The bell rang and he reminded us about the contest yet again -- it almost felt like Groundhog Day to be in his class.

Max wanted to hurry out of the room but the teacher stopped her, and I scurried over to Kate.

"Hey…" I started and she looked up from her notebook. Some of the sketches looked very … unmistakable. There was a tree with a noose hanging from it. Shit…

"Look, I'm not gonna ask you how you're doing. I just want you to know that things will get better again. I promise they will. You might not believe me when I say this but I know how you're feeling, I've been there." She just stared up at me with empty eyes. "It's a very, very dark place and it feels like you're never going to be able to leave. But you will, eventually." I pointed at the drawing. "There are so many people out there who would miss you so much, even if it doesn't seem like it sometimes. If you need to talk, about literally anything, call me. Anytime. Doesn't matter if it's four in the morning. I'm here for you, Kate."

My speech had probably been a little too much and out of the blue, since she just kept staring up at me, her empty eyes glistening. "Thank you," she said, her voice merely a whisper and I smiled.
"Anytime." -- "I have to finish my homework now."
I nodded and rested my hand on her shoulder for a moment, before walking away.

I left the building, taking a deep breath before sinking onto the bench again. I didn't feel like driving home yet so I continued reading, until suddenly the fire alarm went off and people poured out of the building. Not much later Nathan was called into the principals office and I decided to stay a little longer.

When he came stomping down the stairs again after a while, cursing under his breath, I got up from the bench and raised an eyebrow.

"Nate-" -- "I'll be right back," he muttered through clenched teeth and I looked after him as he made his way to the parking lot. Shaking my head slowly I placed the bookmark in between the pages and closed the book, slipping it into my bag before standing up and following my friend.

When I arrived in the parking lot I was almost run over by Chloe's truck, and soon found Nathan hovering over Warren, repeatedly punching him in the face.

"Nate! Stop!" I yelled and sprinted over to the pair, pulling at Nathan's arm to get him to let go of Warren. "Nathan! That's enough!"

With a grunt he let go of Warren's shirt and the boy stared at us for a second. "Hey, come on," I murmured and pushed Nathan in the direction of the main building again. I held out my hand for Warren and he grabbed it, letting me help him back on his feet. "You good?" -- "I'll live," he replied and got into his car.

I sighed and linked arms with Nathan, who had scratches on his cheek.
"Need your drinking buddy?" -- "Please."
I smiled and we headed for the dormitories, and while I made myself comfortable on the couch Nathan pulled out a bottle of Whiskey from underneath the bed.

"What did Wells want?" I asked as he handed me a glass and dropped down next to me.
"That little bitch Caulfield told him I had a gun!"
I furrowed my brows, taking a sip. "Did you?" -- "For protection!"
He jumped up again, downed the shot and refilled it.

"Well why did Max know you had it then?" I asked at which he shrugged. "Was probably hiding somewhere in the bathroom, I dunno!" -- "Who did you need protection from? What was that business you mentioned?"

Sitting down at his desk he set down the bottle. "Doesn't matter."

"Just, please, promise me you're not involved in anything seriously life-threatening."
He turned around to look at me, but he didn't respond.