Nathan Prescott X Reader

Chapter Twenty One

School on the following day was not fun. Dana, Max and Kate had all made an effort to comfort me after I got back to the dorms, but despite their good intentions I didn't feel any better. In fact I felt awful. Like I was being crushed with anger, embarrassment and a deep sadness that lingered stubbornly. All those special moments I'd had with Nathan, the perfect evenings, the shared secrets... meant nothing now.

I felt completely disassociated as I entered English class. Victoria was giving me a satisfied smile, Max looked concerned and Kate did too. I just stared on blankly, moving towards my seat next to Warren. He put his hand on my back for a moment as I sat down, the kind of 'I get it, you don't have to talk about it' gesture. I appreciated it, and we got on with our work quietly for most of the lesson.
"Hey, y/n?" He said once the bell had rang and we packed our books away. "We should probably get to work on this project soon. Would Saturday be any good?"
"Yeah, yeah sure," I replied, my mind elsewhere.
"We can do it on the grass out front, maybe get some snacks."
"Sounds good." I said, attempting a smile.

Students began making their way out of the room and Max and Kate approached me.
"Are you okay?" Kate asked softly, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just give me one second." I said, turning to look out of the window while I held back from crying. I sighed. "Okay, let's go."
As the three of us started walking out of the room, I noticed something glinting under one of the tables. I leaned down quickly to investigate, to find gold bangle. It was heavy and I suspected it was real gold. It was near Victoria's chair, so I assumed it was hers, especially considering she had an affinity for overpriced shit. Great, now I'd have to pay her a visit after school to return it. Not exactly who I wanted to see at a time like this.
"Come on what are you doing?" said Max turning around to look at me from the doorway.
"Nothing, I'm coming," I said, scurrying to catch up with her and Kate.
~

After coasting through the rest of the day, I found myself outside of Victoria's dorm door, her bangle in hand. A thought flittered through my mind; I could just keep it. I brushed it off. Victoria was mean, but I wasn't about to rob her. My stomach in knots, anticipating the mean comments I might be greeted with, I knocked.
"One sec!" she yelled from inside. I stood and waited for a moment. "Okay, come in!"
I opened the door sheepishly, and despite emotionally preparing myself for Victoria's bitchy attitude, I was immediately hurt. Nathan was there, sat on the bed with her. Of course. He'd moved on fast. He was looking down at his hands, probably on his phone and facing the other direction. I couldn't see his face and I didn't want to.
"What are you doing here?" Victoria snapped at me, an expression of annoyance on her face.
"I just..." I began with a gulp, trying to ignore Nathan. His head perked up slightly when he heard my voice but he didn't turn around. "I just came to return this." I said, holding her bracelet out. "You left it in English, so I just came by to bring it back." I finished, my voice cracking a little.
She looked at me skeptically for a minute. "Why are you giving me this?"
"It's yours isn't it?"
"Yeah duh it's mine." she replied, still not having taken it from me. "But why bother giving it back?"
"Why wouldn't I give it back?" I said, feeling more and more uncomfortable by the minute. What was she talking about?
"I've been horrible to you. Why wouldn't you just ignore it or keep it?" Jeez, at least she was self aware I guess.
"I guess I'm just not like that," I said smiling sadly. Maybe I should be more like that. Maybe if I was more like Victoria I wouldn't have let Nathan manipulate me.
I put the bangle on the side, as Victoria continued to just look at me, confused. I didn't exactly want to hang around with these two any longer. I took one last glance at Nathan, who was still facing away from me, then turned and left for my own room.

I lay down on my bed and allowed myself to cry. Was Nathan with Victoria now? They'd always been close... maybe they were chatting shit about me together. It doesn't matter, I told myself. I don't care what they think of me. But I absolutely did. I cared what Nathan thought of me more than anyone else in the world. And I was sick of it.