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DRIVING FAST DOWN THE SMALL SIDE ROADS of the poorer side of town, we headed a bit out of reach, out to the lakeside near the Cabana, where both Samuel and Nano worked. The original plan was to go home, but spontaneously we decided we'd relax and smoke before he had to go to work. At first, I was against the idea, not wanting him to mess around at work, but then I remembered this was Nano I was talking to, and that he could handle himself. "How's your wound?" I asked him as we pulled up beside the lake, only a ten-minute walk from the Cabana. He slammed the door shut, walking to my side as I copied his actions, slamming the door too. I turned to him, still waiting for his response when he lifted his shift to reveal a new bandage to replace the old one I put on. "It's getting better. Not gonna show you though Princess, stop trying to get me undressed." He smirked and I groaned, about to walk away when he pulled me towards him, holding my hand as he walked me to the lakeside, plotting himself against the tree, half pulling me down with him. We put our earphones in, connected to his phone as an old playlist began to play. He lit his second joint, this time passing it to me after a few pulls, making me thankful he decided to share this time. I laid back, completely relaxed, and he copied me this time, forcing his arm under my neck to support me. "I have to go soon. You know I'd stay here for a lot longer if I could." He spoke quietly to me, almost whispering. "It's fine, I get it," I say, just wanting to enjoy the moment of peace. It was rare to find peace like this in the city, especially in our part of town, where the days were busy and the nights were busier.
Almost thirty minutes later, my eyes opened to a loud alarm, and I found myself wrapped around Nano's body, head resting on his chest, leg draped over him. My eyes adjusted to the light, and I looked up at him, seeing him smiling softly at me. "Why didn't you wake me?" I asked, and he just smiled at me as I sat up, not even uttering a word. "I have to go." He said, sitting up too, before standing. I pushed myself off the grassy bank, standing up and stretching, feeling that weird feeling you get after a heavy nap. He laughed as he watched me yawning as walked back to the main road, with Nano walking slowly behind me. Wrapping his arms around my waist, I felt him rest his head on my shoulder, feeling his breath against my neck as he mumbled about how warm I was. I laughed as his breath tickled my neck, and we continued trying to walk in this position, heading towards the Cabana, since he had to start work in twenty minutes. We walked like that the whole way until the Cabana was in sight. Then I unattached his arms from my waist, complaining that he was weighing me down, and to apologize for that his idea was to carry me, pulling me onto his back, holding my ass to keep me up. I giggled as he tickled my sides slightly, with me screaming about how he would drop me, although he never did. As we reached the Cabana, I noticed a certain curly redhead standing, waiting by the side of the restaurant, and I realized it was Marina. Worst of all, I realized she had spotted us as she gave me a dirty look when we reached the front of the Cabana.
"Samuel's not working today," I said, getting off of Nano's back as she stood staring between me and Nano. "I'm not here for Samuel. I'm here to speak to him." She said, pointing at Nano. I shook my head, laughing quietly. "Okay, well I guess that's my cue to leave," I said, and Nano wrapped his arms around me in a quick hug, whispering that he'd text me before I watched them walk off to the back of the restaurant, confusion rushing through my head.
I managed to hail a cab home, arriving back home just as my parent's faces appeared on my screen, requesting to facetime me. I missed them so much, and as soon as I got into my room, I slumped down on the bed, calling them back. "Hey, kiddo. Why didn't you answer the first time?" My father asked, and I quickly made up a small excuse about how I was on the toilet. "Makes sense. How are you?" He asked, and my mother chimed in, "How's school? Made friends? What have you been up to? How's studying going?" My mum bombarded me with questions, and I sat answering each one as if this was an interrogation. I knew she was just excited, and I had no complaints, I enjoyed their questions, I even missed them. "I'm good, just a bit tired so I'll probably sleep soon. School is good, I'm learning lots, studying hard and yes I have surprisingly made a friend- or a few." I told them, and my mother clapped her hands in excitement as my dad nodded, happy with what he was hearing. "Oh, Samuel's mother told us Nano is back? How is he? As nice and as funny as Samuel used to tell us?" My mother asked, and I smiled instinctively, recalling how Nano's return made Samuel super happy, and that Nano had occasionally dropped her to school with Samuel which was kind of him. Both my parents were very happy and promised they'd be home soon, only a few weeks to go, but I never could be sure if that was true. Several times over the years I'd heard that promise, and several times I'd been let down, but I smiled happily, still excited at the thought of seeing them. "We love you lots, darling. Make sure you are resting well, keeping the place tidy, and studying hard, okay?" My mother said, and my dad nodded in agreement, and I repeated, telling them I love them too and that I promise to do all of those things, before hanging up the phone.
I quickly changed into a big t-shirt that I always wore for bed, and I sat down at the desk, swinging side to side on the swivel chair as I studied the papers from class, answering questions from a test we were supposed to complete for tomorrow. I also wanted to tidy up my notes, typing them out perfectly to make sure I kept up to date with all my notes so I would do well at this school. I had to do well. For a few hours, I sat at my desk, occasionally getting up for a snack, or a drink or to move position for a bit. Not even sure how long I'd been sitting there, I checked my phone, noticing it had been 4 hours of studying, researching and homework. I decided to take a break, checking my messages. I had one message from Samuel, which told me a little bit to much information about how 'amazing' him and Marina having sex was, to which I replied 'congratulations!'. I also had a text from Nano, from a mere few minutes ago, telling me not to worry about the money, and that it was sorted. Wondering where he had got 40,000 euros in the past four hours, I sent him a message back, asking where the fuck it came from, and I received a response seconds later - 'marina helped me steal some watches from the rich. fuck the rich.' I groaned, brushing my hand through my hair in frustration as I knew this would end badly, but by now it was too late, and whatever was going to happen would happen. I couldn't believe Marina was involved, but then it seems she really likes Nano, and maybe, he really likes her too. My mind was spinning, and I smacked my head lightly, trying to get rid of the mess inside. My phone rang, breaking me from my thoughts, and I answered quickly, not even checking who was calling.
"Hola." I heard a miserable voice on the other end of the line, and it took me a moment to realize it was Christian. "Christian? What happened?" I asked, and I heard a bottle lid being unscrewed through the phone, before my response came, "Fuck Polo." He said, upset clear in his voice, and I shook my head, wondering what they'd done to upset my best friend again. At first, I thought Polo wasn't too bad but now, it's clear he's an ass. "Me lo arruinó. La fundición del modelo. Sé que tuve una oportunidad. Lo arruinó." He said, and I could hear banging from the other side of the phone, almost as if he was taking out all his frustration on a wall or something. "Extraño estar contigo." He mumbled through the phone, and I just wanted to make sure he was okay. He sounded awful, so I invited him to come and stay at mine, and we could go to school together tomorrow. He agreed, and got in a cab as soon as possible, staying on the phone with me until he reached my front door thirty minutes later.
I got up from my seat on my bed, throwing my blanket beside me before opening the front door, letting a drunk and miserable Christian Varela inside my house. Seeing it was 9 pm, I led him straight to my bed, knowing that when he drinks he gets tired. He dropped his bag on the floor, sitting down on the bed as I handed him a few slices of pizza I had saved for him from my dinner I made while we were on the phone. He scoffed the pizza down, which I knew he would regret in the morning, and I gave him a glass of water, before sitting beside him in bed. He immediately made himself comfortable, with Christian stripping down to just his boxers, not saying much as the pair of us laid down in my double bed. He immediately buried himself in between my arms wrapped in my embrace, seeking comfort and warmth. I played with his hair for a short while, hearing his breathing slow as he quickly began falling asleep, snoring not long. I pulled the blanket over the pair of us as my eyes began to close, drifting off into a deep sleep, more comfortable than I had been in a long time.
