Playing For The Other Team [REMAKE]

Chapter 15

Nathan makes his way to the nearest restroom and spends a few moments in front of the mirror, attempting to do something about his bed-head. He's mostly unsuccessful, and his hair remains a mess - the left side slightly more spiky than the right. He pulls the hood back up, thinking it'll be the easiest way to avoid strange looks.

Apparently, keeping his hood up doesn't just keep the strange looks away; it keeps most people from looking at him too much. He gets to his locker in record time, unlocking it to stash away some of the books he won't need until later.

"Hey!" Josh says when he comes walking. "What are you doing here?"

Nathan turns to look at his friend, shooting him a confused look. "I go to school here."

Josh smiles as he shakes his head. "I didn't see your car," he says. "Thought you hadn't shown up yet." He raises a hand in a wave as Oliver comes around the corner from down the hall.

"Jennie gave me an early ride," Nathan says - having already come up with a suitable excuse. "One of my headlights gave up on me, and I'm not about to get a ticket for a light."

There's no reason for Josh not to believe him, and when Oliver catches up and reaches for the padlock on his locker, he stops and looks at Nathan. "What's up with you today? You look... worn."

"Slept weird," Nathan says with a shrug. "Barely got up on time." He runs his hand over his hood. "It's a bad hair day if I ever had one."

"You'll live," Josh chuckles. "Weird to see you in a hood, though. If I didn't know it was you, I wouldn't have recognized you."

"It's just a hood," Nathan laughs.

"And you never wear one," Oliver says.

Josh and Oliver are right. Those that don't look at him for too long don't seem to realize that it's him. It even goes so far as someone asking Josh and Oliver about him, just for Nathan to wave and reveal that he's right there.

It's easy enough to slip away during lunch. All Nathan has to do is step into the crowd of people exiting the classroom and make his way to where he's agreed to meet Jonathan. No one stops him.

Just like last time - but without being late and stressed out of his mind - Nathan finds the storage room that Jonathan had described to him. The door is unlocked, and he finds Jonathan inside, seated on the stool by an old piano that's covered with a thin layer of dust. The room itself isn't very large, but there are two tall windows on the wall across the room. Shelves are pushed up against the walls filled with various junk and old books.

Jonathan looks up from his phone when the door closes behind Nathan. "Hey, you made it." He smiles a big and bright smile that makes Nathan's stomach feel like it's full of butterflies.

They eat their lunch outside, on a bench near the parking lot. The weather is nice, and Jonathan seems relieved to be out of the cafeteria. It's a friendly and easy ordeal that ends with the two of them making plans to meet after school. Once again, Nathan promises to be on time, and then he goes to meet back up with his friends.

Josh doesn't seem very upset that Nathan comes and goes. He laughs when Nathan meets up with him and Oliver before the next class. "We need to make this a game," he says. "I swear I didn't even see you until you were right here."

"At least keep the hood off," Oliver says, yanking the hood off of Nathan's head. "It's really freaky when you disappear."

"No way," Nathan pulls the hood back up. "I'm keeping this up, and you can't stop me."

Nathan laughs more than he has done in a long time, and he thinks that he finds that he's a lot happier than he has been in an even longer time.

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