Nathaniel Teen Angel (4 page)

“So your answer is yes? You will accept your wings back?”

“Yes, I will accept my wings back at 4:00 pm tomorrow afternoon.”

Michael let out a huge sigh. “All right, Nathaniel. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He pointed at the ground. “And if you don’t turn up right here, I will personally come and drag you away in front of Eloise.” Waving a hand irritably at him, he strode over to his horse. “Go now and do what you have to do, but remember, there will be two angels guarding you both, though you won’t see them.”

“Oh great, does that mean our every move will be watched? Can I have no privacy?”

Leaping onto his stallion, Michael sighed. “For goodness sake, they won’t be watching your
every
move. They’ll only be there to lookout for Lucifer. We can’t let anything happen to you or Eloise before you get your wings back.” Giving him a hard stare, he shook a finger. “Now, I’m relying on you to do the right thing and not take things too far.”

Nathaniel rolled his eyes. “What do you think I am?”

Michael snorted. “A human, dear boy, a human.” Adjusting his backside on the horse, he waved his staff. “See you tomorrow, and don’t be late. I prefer not to have to come looking for you.”

“Oh, I’ll be here, though I’ll probably be dying from a broken heart.”

“Don’t worry, Nathaniel. We will fix that.” Pulling the reigns, he rode off into the clouds.

“Yeah,” yelled Nathaniel. “Whether I want it fixed or not.”

Chapter
Five

After running down the steps, Nathaniel strode across the boardwalk and ran along the main street. It was seven o’clock already and he couldn’t just turn up at Eloise’s house. Knowing Madeline, she’d tell him to clear off. And he didn’t know what he was going to say to Eloise when he saw her. He was shivering so badly, he decided to rest on a bench somewhere until he’d calmed down. As he headed towards the nearest park, his heart skipped a beat. Eloise was walking along the footpath, heading straight towards him.

He gulped and his legs began to shake. With no idea what to say to her, he darted behind a steel bus shelter to hide until she’d passed. Though he felt like a fool, he knew she hadn’t seen him because she was tapping on her cell phone.

The nearer she came, the more he trembled. Standing in the narrow space between the steel wall and the thicket, he tried to keep as still as he could, but instead of passing by like he thought she would, she sat on the bus stop seat and kept chatting to someone on her phone.

Nathaniel held his breath and cringed with shame. Where had all his courage gone? Now he’d put himself in such a ridiculous situation, if Eloise spotted him, she’d think he was a stalker—which is what he’d become. He was nothing more than a hypocrite, no better than Devlin. Oh, why hadn’t he just asked Michael for his wings back right away? He obviously wasn’t cut out to be human.

Deciding to leave before she saw him, he glanced over his shoulder at the scrub. The bushes were dense, but crawling through them would be better than trying to explain why he was hiding behind the bus shelter. As he tried to squeeze through the undergrowth, Eloise giggled. Thinking she’d seen him, he froze, but when she chuckled again, he realised she was still talking on her phone. He turned back to listen. If she was gossiping with her friend about him like she did about other boys, he was sure he’d just curl up and die. And from the tone of her voice, he guessed she was talking to one of her best friends. His heart thundering in his chest, he leaned against the steel wall to listen. When she laughed again, he cringed with embarrassment as he waited for her insults.

As Eloise paced up and down under the shelter, her voice grew louder. “You should’ve seen this guy, Brooke. He was so filthy and smelly and he looked like a scarecrow. I was scared at first, but when I saw the blood all over him, I felt sorry for him.”

Nathaniel squeezed his eyes shut.
A smelly scarecrow?
And she feels
sorry
for me? His heart broke into a thousand little pieces as he realised he’d been totally delusional. Tears pricked his eyes. He just wanted to take off and run so he didn’t have to hear any more. He wanted Michael to erase his memory right now before he died from a broken heart, but he knew if he moved and she caught him eavesdropping, he’d be mortified beyond repair. As he burned with anger, he listened with dread for the next insult.

“And you know what?” she continued. “Tom was a real jerk. He wanted me to call the cops on the poor guy. And when I refused, he started showing off in front of him. He kept kissing me and making me dance with him. Then he picked me up and carried me into my bedroom. I was so mad with him, but then guess what happened?”

When she stopped talking to listen, Nathanial craned his neck. He had to know what she’d told her mother and he was curious what happened to Tom. A swarm of sand-flies buzzed around his face and he tried to waft them away, but when Eloise began speaking again, he stopped to listen.

“I can’t believe Tom did that, Brooke. He used to be so sweet. Anyway when he started getting too frisky, for some reason he collapsed on the floor and fainted. And when he came round, he was all groggy and said he felt ill. Then he just went home. I was worried at first because I thought he’d been drinking, but he said he hadn’t. It was a good job he left though because my mum nipped home for her jacket. She was at the cinema with your mum but she said the air-conditioning was too low and she was cold. She’d never let Tom back in our house if she knew what he tried to do.”

Nathaniel was glad Tom was all right, but he wished Eloise would go and talk somewhere else so he could go back to the lookout and call Michael. Staying around here until tomorrow was not an option now he had his answer. He certainly wasn’t going to make a fool of himself by attempting to talk to her. She obviously had no feelings for him, so it was pointless. He’d been a total fool.

Hearing her voice fade, he got ready to bolt, but then she walked back and leaned on the side of the shelter. His stomach churned. She was less than a metre away and he was sure she could hear him breathing. Great, if she saw him like this, she’d call the police for sure. Not exactly the parting he’d hoped to have with her.

“Oh, Brooke, you should’ve seen him” she said. “I was so embarrassed. I thought he was in the bath, so I peeked in, but there he was.” she giggled. “He was standing stark naked with a towel on his head.”

Oh, Jesus, no!
Nathaniel slid sideways, hoping to sneak around the other side of the shelter and make a run for it. He couldn’t bear to listen to her any longer, but her voice got even louder, then she chuckled again.
Oh, no!
Now, she was laughing at him again. He squeezed his eyes shut. He just wanted to curl up and die.

“No, Brooke, he wasn’t old and fat. Honestly, he had a body to die for. He’d shaved and washed his hair, and oh my God, you should’ve seen his face. He’s drop dead gorgeous with curly hair and the most amazing blue eyes. I’m telling you, it was love at first sight. He’s the most beautiful guy I’ve ever seen in my entire life. And now he’s gone because that idiot Tom scared him off. Now, I’ll never see him again. Brooke, stop laughing at me. I’m not making it up. I’m telling you, I’m going to die of a broken heart if I don’t find him. You have to help me.”

Nathaniel stood frozen to the wall with his eyes wide and his mouth open, He was stunned, shocked at what he’d heard. Did she say
love at first sight
? Was she talking about
him
? Did she really say he had a body to die for? His heart was pounding so fast, he felt sure he was going to have a heart attack.

“Listen Brooke, I’ve gotta go. I’m going to that new gym in town and my bus is coming. Hey, why don’t you come? Oh, I know, I’m supposed to be doing my homework too. My mum won’t be home until eleven o’clock, so I thought I’d duck out to the gym.” She giggled. “Okay, maybe you can come with me next week then. Oh, and if you see a hot guy in blue jeans and a burgundy jumper,
please
ring me. Okay, talk to you later, bye.”

When the bus pulled up, Nathaniel peeked around the shelter. He just wanted to take Eloise’s hand and stop her from leaving, but he knew he couldn’t do that. He’d scare her to death. Gazing at her longingly, he leaned against the steel wall and watched as she stepped onto th
e bus and walk down the aisle. When she sat in a window seat, only metres away from him, his heart skipped a beat. Now he knew that she liked him, he prayed she’d see him and get off the coach and he waved to get her attention. But as the driver hit the gas, she just played with her cell phone.

Frustrated he had no money for a ticket, and desperate to get her to look up and see him, he ran along the side of the moving bus. He couldn’t bear another moment of his time as a man without her and he called out her name. “Eloise!”

Turning her head, she stared out the window, then her eyes locked on his. But as he tried to keep up with the coach, it sped away from him. Holding her gaze, he called out, “Eloise, I love you!”

As she
disappeared around a corner, Nathaniel’s heart sank. He cursed himself for being so weak. He’d heard what she’d said about him, so why hadn’t he approached her sooner? He should have just ran onto the bus and spoke to her. He shook his head in disgust at his cowardice. At this rate, his feelings for her would be erased from his memory before he ever got to hold her in his arms and tell her how much he loved her. Staggering back to the park, he gritted his teeth. His time as a man was quickly running out and if he didn’t get to see Eloise before school in the morning, he didn’t know what he’d do. There would only be half an hour after school before he had to go back to Heaven.

His shoulders slumped, he trudged to the park and drank from the bubbler for five minutes. Although it quenched his thirst, it did nothing for his hunger. And the smell of cooked food that was drifting from the restaurants was making the pain in his stomach worse. After using the public bathroom, he wandered over to a large tree and rested on the grass beneath it. At least it wasn’t raining and he might be able to fall asleep for an hour or two, that’s if the wind didn’t freeze him to death.

With his head on his arm for a pillow, he pulled his knees up to his stomach to keep as much warmth in as he could. Although he was shivering with cold, he was so exhausted he decided to stay where he was. Closing his eyes, he tried to remember every single thing that had happened to him since he accidently possessed Tom’s body. He still couldn’t believe he’d been banished to Earth, or that he’d actually kissed Eloise. Devlin had been right about him being a hypocrite, though he knew he’d never sell his soul to Lucifer. If it wasn’t for the danger Eloise was now in, he’d laugh out loud at his own stupidity, and if Devlin knew what had happened to him, he’d laugh uproariously for sure. He couldn’t believe that only this morning he’d worried that Devlin would fall to Earth. It was all so crazy and now here he was sleeping in a park like a homeless man with his wings burned off and painful wounds on his back.

Running naked along the beach and freezing in the cold wind had been horrible, but, meeting Eloise as a man in his own body was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to him in his entire existence, even if he was wearing stinky stolen clothes and covered in blood. He wanted to burn the scent of her into his mind in the hope of one day being able to remember how she felt when he kissed her, even if Michael did erase his memory. As he pictured her twinkling green and eyes and perfect full lips, he began to drift off to sleep, but when someone tapped him on the shoulder, he woke with a start. Bolting upright, he held his fists out in front of him.

Chapter
Six

“Whoa! Don’t hit me.”

He rubbed his eyes, then his heart nearly jumped out of his chest. “Eloise?”

“Sorry, did I wake you?” she said, rummaging through her backpack.

“I wasn’t asleep,” he lied. “I was just resting.” He gulped, nervously wondering what else to say to her. He couldn’t believe she was actually standing in front of him. Although it was still dark, the full moon was visible now that the clouds had disappeared and he could see her quite clearly. He had no idea how long he’d been asleep, but Eloise was still wearing her tight black jeans and red sweater a
nd she still had her backpack, so he presumed she was on her way home from the gym.

She pulled a blanket out of her bag and spread it on the grass, then she plonked down next to him and handed him a large paper bag.

“What’s this?” he said, inhaling the tantalizing aroma.

“It’s dinner. I thought you might like to join me. After all, you didn’t stay for my soup.” Smiling, she grabbed her milkshake and began drinking from a straw.

“Sorry about that. I didn’t want to intrude on your date with your boyfriend, so I left.”

She rolled her eyes. “Tom’s not exactly my boyfriend. I’ve known him since I was a kid. He’s usually nice, but when you turned up he started acting like a jerk. Anyway, he left just after you did.”

“Oh?”

She shrugged and fiddled with her cell phone. “Yeah, I think he was jealous of you, so he started showing off. “

Nathaniel laughed. “I doubt that.”

“I’m serious,” she said, looking over her shoulder at him.

Her face looked so beautiful in the moonlight and her smile took his breath away. He knew how thoughtful she was, but he couldn’t believe she’d gone to the trouble to buy him food. He guessed she took pity on him because she thought he was homeless. He opened the paper bag and pulled out a burger and fries. “It was real sweet of you to buy me dinner, Eloise, thank you.”

“That’s okay. I hope you like it.” She clicked her phone on and played some music, then bit into her hamburger. “Why don’t you sit on the blanket? The grass is damp.”

“Good idea,” he said, only too happy for an excuse to move closer to her. “But how come you carry a blanket in your backpack?”

“I don’t. I ducked home and got it out of the picnic basket in the garage.”

He stared at her. “You mean you went home and then came back out?”

She nodded. “Well, when I saw you asleep in the park, I thought you might get cold, so I ran home to get the blanket.”

Smiling at her, he took a bite of his burger. She was as sweet as always and her kindness never ceased to amaze him. As his food rolled around his tongue, he took a deep breath and savoured the flavour. It tasted much better than he thought it would and as he swallowed his first bite, his stomach made the loudest growl. His mouth felt dry, so he took the lid off the shake and guzzled it thirstily without the straw. Wow! It tasted so good, he was sure his eyes would pop right out of his head.

With a huge grin on her face, Eloise grabbed her phone and held it in front of him. Then she took a photo, the flash going off in his face.

He blinked. “What are you doing?”

Her eyes twinkled with mischief. “You look so funny with that frothy white moustache, I had to get a picture.”

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Well, it tasted great, thanks.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. How’s your burger.”

“It’s pretty darn good,” he said, taking another mouthful. He couldn’t believe she’d just taken his photo, but as he chewed, he wondered if the picture would be erased along with her memory of him.

She dropped her phone on the blanket. “I’m glad I found you again.”

Wondering if she’d heard him shout that he loved her at the bus stop, he began eating his fries to hide his embarrassment. With the full moon and the spotlight on the oval, he could clearly see her, though he didn’t want her to see him blushing. “Me too,” he said, keeping his head down.

She twirled a curl around her finger. “Why are you sleeping in the park? Isn’t it a bit dangerous?”

Chewing his last piece of meat, he shrugged. “I have nowhere else to go yet. I’m looking for work,” he lied.

“Oh, I see. Have you just finished high school?”

His mouth twitched with a suppressed smile. “Oh, so you think I’m a school boy?”

“Why, how old are you?”

He raised a brow. “I already told you earlier this afternoon.”

She grinned. “Oh, that’s right. You said you were nineteen.”

“That’s right, but a young lady like you, shouldn’t be walking around on your own at night. And you shouldn’t be talking to strangers. That’s a lot more dangerous than me sleeping in the park.”

She glanced at her watch. “What are you talking about? It’s only eight o’clock. Anyway, you’re not exactly a stranger. You came to my house this afternoon.”

His brows knitted into a frown. “Yes, but you don’t know anything about me, Eloise. I hope you don’t make a habit of talking to guys you don’t know.”

Her mouth opened with indignation. “Hey, what’s with the lecture? You’re not my father.”

“Maybe not, but I worry about you. Anyway, did you tell your mother where you were going?”

She rolled her eyes. “I am eighteen, you know. Anyway, she’s gone to the cinema tonight and I was going to a new gym in town, but I changed my mind because ...” She stopped talking and just stared at him.

Uh-oh, now he’d done it. She was probably going to confront him about his behaviour at the bus stop.  He collected the rubbish and carried it over to the bin to avoid her questions. On his way back, he noticed she was still watching him. He took a deep breath. It seemed she wasn’t about to let him off the hook. Sitting back on the blanket, he smiled, though he had no idea what to talk to her about.

Grabbing her backpack, she rummaged through it. “You don’t have to worry about me going home soon. My mother won’t be home until after eleven o’clock.”

“Eloise, you shouldn’t go out without your mother’s permission. That’s so dangerous. What if something happened to you? She’d have no idea where you were.”

“But I told my friend, Brooke, and my mum is with her mum. Jeez, I’m not a child for goodness sake.” She took a tube of gum out of her bag and put some in her mouth, then she tossed him the packet. “Here, have some chewing gum. It might stop you from preaching to me.”

“I’m not preaching to you. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to you.” Reading the label on the tube of gum, he wondered what it would taste like. He’d seen humans chewing the stuff, but they always spat it out. “So you like this spearmint gum then?”

“Yeah, well it’s a lot easier than carrying a toothbrush and paste around.”

Oh, so that’s what it was for, to clean the teeth. Still expecting it to be gross, he ripped off the wrapper and popped a piece onto his tongue. As he began to chew, a pleasant flavour of freshness filled his mouth and tickled his tongue, the essence of it bursting into his throat and drifting into his nose. Still chewing, he nodded. “Mm, it’s good.”

She chuckled. “Anyone would think you were eating chocolate from the look on your face.”

He raised a brow. “Are you making fun of me?”

Still laughing, she shuffled he backside closer to him. “Of course I’m not. It’s just that you’re super expressive with everything you do. You’re so cute.”

His jaw dropped. “
Cute?
You think I’m
cute?
” He scowled. That wasn’t the masculine image he was hoping she had of him.

“See what I mean? You don’t even know how cute you are.” She knelt up next to him and began combing his hair with her fingers. “And your ringlets are every girl’s dream.”

He quivered as a thrill shot down his neck. “Oh, so I’m not only cute, but I look like a
girl
?”

She giggled. “No, Nathaniel, you
definitely
don’t look like a girl, but with curls like these framing your gorgeous face, you look like an angel.”

He tensed in disbelief, his eyes wide. Did she just call him
Nathaniel?
And why did she say he looked an angel? Was she starting to remember him? No, there was no way she could. When he erased her memory of him, it was permanent—unless someone above him had given it back to her when he was cast down to Earth. But who would do that, and why? Not Michael, and certainly not God. He shook his head. There had to be another explanation.

Moving back onto the rug, Eloise bit her lip. “Sorry, did I hurt your feelings again? I’m so tactless sometimes.”

Nathaniel waited until a group of noisy teenagers had passed by, then he turned to face her, “Of course you haven’t hurt my feelings, Eloise. I just wondered how you knew my name was Nathaniel.”

Her brows furrowed as if she was confused. “You told me.”

“Yes, but I said my name was Nate.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, Nate is short for Nathaniel. Everybody knows that.”

“Oh, I see.”

Lying on her back on the blanket, she stared up at the sky.

“What are you thinking?” he asked, positioning himself next to her and resting his head on his hand.

“Your hair made me think about angels and whenever I gaze up at the sky on a clear night, I look for them.” She turned to face him, her lips only inches from his, and for a breathtaking moment, he thought she was going to kiss him. Instead, she rested her head on her arm and gazed into his eyes. “Did you know there really is an angel called Nathaniel?”

His face froze with shock. “Oh, how do you know that?”

“Because I read about it in scripture and there are heaps of books and movies about angels. Sometimes, I dream about an angel.”

“You do?”

She nodded. “Yes, often.”

His heart skipped a beat. Though he yearned to be the angel she dreamt about, he knew he’d erased her memory of him, especially the one where he saved her from Devlin, and according to what Michael had told him earlier, they’d actually kissed that night. Pressing his hand to his thundering heart, he hoped he was the angel she dreamt about, and prayed it wasn’t Devlin. But for all he knew, Devlin had found a way to give Eloise her memory back. Well, there was only one way to find out, even if he didn’t like the outcome.

He brushed a stray curl from her
forehead. “Tell me about your dreams. I’d love to hear them.”

“Really?” She gazed up at him, her eyes twinkling with the reflection from the moon. “I can’t recall all of them, just flashes, but I remember my favourite one. It was about a month ago
. I had to go to hospital to have my appendix out, and while I was recovering, I dreamt that this beautiful angel took me up into the clouds.” She smiled. “And his hair was curly like yours.”

Nathaniel stared at her and gulped. He was sure he was going to have a stroke and die right there in front of her.