The Beginning of Never (The Never Trilogy #1) (8 page)

Tears gathered in my eyes as I watched him, feeling so
relieved that my knees felt like they would give out. I wanted to cry, or at
least throw myself against him in a hug, but I chose to stay where I was and
waited until he reached me. When I saw that he had my shoe in his hand, the
tears rolled down my cheeks. Turning away, I quickly brushed them away before I
turned back to face him. I avoided his eyes, but then wanted to say something
when I saw that he wasn’t going to.

"How did you find me?" I asked, but he didn’t
respond. Instead, he just dropped down on one knee, and placed his hand on my
left leg. With a damp handkerchief that he had in his other
hand,
he gently wiped off as much of the mud as he could from the feet of my
pantyhose, and then slipped the clean shoe back on. It was a little damp but at
that moment, that was the last thing on my mind. Taking my hand off his
shoulder, I quickly wiped away another tear as it fell, just before he rose to
meet my gaze.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked, and at that
moment, I didn’t care that I had lost. So with all my heart, I nodded a
definite yes.

There was no talking as we headed back, and even when
we reached the intersection that led to our different houses, he didn’t say
goodbye. He just headed off towards his own direction, while I went the
opposite way towards mine.

Three days later, I had come to a conclusion. It was
Friday, and the assignment that had given so much grief in so many ways was
done, but I was aggravated.

With time to mull over the ordeals of that day, I had
somehow managed to skip over the shock of all that had happened and to only
focus on the fact that I had been subtly mocked- Nathan had let me stew in my
fright for an entire hour, before coming to my aid.

It shouldn’t have mattered, I knew, but given the
terror that I had experienced in those moments when I was lost, it was more
than enough to conclude and be irritated by the fact that the boy was
completely evil. This was precisely why I needed to run into him again, so I
could tell him just that, and a couple more things I was sure would come up
when I came face to face with his pompous self.

Loud angry voices that currently rocked my floor had
pulled me out of a much needed nap, so as I angrily pulled on my house t-shirt
and a pair of shorts, I thought of how I was in the perfect state of mind to be
completely enraged with him. But that would be if I ever saw him again. In the
three days that had passed, there had been no trace of him.

The corridor seemed to quiet down as I locked my
wardrobe and headed down towards the dining hall. One would have thought that
after almost three years at L.A., I would’ve found a fixed seat for my meals,
but I hadn’t. I’d sat with Kate a few times, but her table was always too noisy
and I needed some element of quiet as I ate. And since I didn’t keep any other
‘friends’, I was forced every time I came in, to browse through the myriads of
people, just so that I could find a seat that had not already been taken or
reserved, and was at the end of the wooden benches.

I doubted I would have any luck since I was late, so when
I arrived at the hall, I stopped at the front of its majestic oak door and just
stared. It was twice my ‘5 ft. 8’ height, and had square wooden-framed windows,
stacked upon it, and all the way up to meet a huge stone archway. I was
thinking of what I was going to do because as soon as you entered, most eyes
turned on you, and you had to know where you were headed otherwise you appeared
pathetic and lonely.

As others continued to stroll past me, laughter and
idle chatter ringing in the air, I reminded myself that I didn’t care about
such things.
I shouldn’t care
, I
reemphasized, so after a deep breath, I walked in to meet the gigantic hall
packed with rows upon rows of innately carved wooden benches, and tables filled
with students all happier than I was.

No one seemed to have thought it reasonable to miss
Friday dinner, so the entire 1,900 students of the school were present and
babbling, each one trying to be heard over the next. Resisting the urge to
cover my ears with my hands, I stood to the side of the door and focused on the
still pressing problem of where I was going to sit.

I took a quick look around, praying to find a direction
that I could quickly escape to. However, after a few minutes had passed and I
found myself still standing there, I lost hope. I was about to turn around to
leave when a swinging arm high in the air, caught my attention.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was James-
Nathan’s cousin, and instantly, I breathed easier. I was sure he was calling
out to me, so before my mind could convince me otherwise, I headed over to his
table. His was at the extreme end to the right, and about two tables from the
first. I reached it and to my relief, he moved further down the bench so that I
could take a seat on the edge. I was more than grateful.

“Hi,” he greeted with a bright smile, but was still so
shy that his eyes were barely able to hold mine for more than two seconds. It
amused me enough to temporarily forget that I was upset, and I returned the
greeting with a genuine smile of my own. But the sight I met as I turned from
him, instantly wiped the cheer away from my face.

Nathan was sitting directly across from us.

He had a book on the table and was reading, his head
casually balanced against his palm. I was stunned enough to keep my gaze on him
for at least ten seconds, but when he suddenly moved to turn a page, I darted
my gaze away.

It landed on the couple beside him, a curly blonde and
an Asian boy, their faces a little too close together for comfort. But
absent-mindedly, I left my gaze on them, still reeling from the shock of seeing
Nathan, until their lips met and they started kissing. It took me a few more
seconds to realize what was happening and when I did, I moved my eyes away, a
deep frown carved into my forehead.

Laughter from my side drew me to see two other boys
beside James chatting away, but when I took my eyes away from them, Nathan’s
eyes caught mine.

“Are you alright?” James asked right then, and I was
more than glad for the save. I turned to him, my heart pounding in my chest.

“I am,” I answered.

“I wanted to apologize for what happened on Tuesday,”
he said. “I had no idea that you’d left your book. I would’ve brought it to
you.”

“Its fine,” I quickly dismissed, and looked down to the
hands I didn’t realize I had been
wringing
. I
untangled them, and took a deep breath. I wanted to get out of there.

My gaze drifted to Nathan again, but thankfully, his
attention was back on his book. Earphones were plugged into his ears, and to an
extent, I was glad that he wasn’t listening to James and I.

“Do you live in the UK?” James asked.

I shook my head. “No, the US,” I said. I thought it was
quite obvious but he was probably trying to fill up the silence so I didn’t
mind.

“Oh,” he said. “No wonder your accent’s all messed up.”

I smiled.

“So, how did you end up here?”

“Long story,” I replied, as I looked towards the buffet
line. It was going slower than I would have liked.

“Alex mentioned that you two met earlier,” he said, and
that instantly caught my attention.

He talked about
me?
I thought, and my entire body tingled with excitement. I turned to face
James but only realized moments later that my eyes had been boring into his,
willing him to say more. I looked away from his confused expression and back to
the buffet line to hide my shame.

“Another long story,” I said, and thankfully, that
severed our communication enough to get myself under control.

What’s wrong with
me?
I
wondered. Right now, I was
sitting with my hands underneath the table to hide the fact that I couldn’t
stop wringing them, and was even consciously trying to control my breathing,
afraid that it would be too loud and that Nathan would notice. What was
happening to the hardened girl I had cultivated for close to three years?

Soon, it was our turn to head to the buffet counter, so
I instantly got up to escape and James followed. Yet somehow, I managed to end
up with Nathan beside me as we went through the steaming hot plates of
spaghetti and tomato sauce. Acting for
all the
world
like the food I had now lost interest in held my complete attention, I tried
not to notice that I literally trembled from my awareness of the unbelievably
attractive boy that stood to my left. His earphones were still plugged into his
ears, so at least he wasn’t able to hear the pounding of my heart, which in my
opinion, should have been loud enough to be heard across the noisy hall.

I wondered where the rage I’d worked up over the last
two days to pour on him had gone to. Now he was standing right beside me, and I
had all but forgotten my name, including, I realized, the tomato sauce that
would go with my spaghetti.

Without thinking, I turned to retrace my steps, but
instead stopped when my disconcerted grey eyes met his cold blue ones.
Something cool, yet warm at the same time, slithered down my spine.

“Do you want something?” he asked, but I had already
spun right back from the embarrassment. It was several moments later before I
realized that I hadn’t even answered him.

“No it’s fine,” I said without looking back, hoping he would
catch it. Grabbing a piece of bread, I gave up on my dinner altogether and
returned to my seat. I was angrily tearing at it, disappointed in myself, and
intending to eat as fast as I could so that I could get the hell out of there,
when a small bowl of tomato sauce and meatballs was placed in front of me.
Surprised, I looked up, but Nathan had already turned to leave. I watched him
return to the counter to pick up his plate, and continue with his serving.

What is wrong
with you?
I cried to myself, so distraught by my actions that I felt an
almost desperate need to escape, and hide until I managed to regain the lick of
sense that I had somehow lost during the course of the evening.

Looking down at the bowl of sauce, I considered
ignoring it so that I could save my pride and insist if he
asked,
that I had actually planned on eating the spaghetti on its own. That, I
realized, would be even more idiotic, so I just took what I needed from it and
started eating.

The rest of the table soon returned, and we were all
quietly going through our meals when the racket started. It began with
increased tones around the middle of the hall but at first, everyone ignored
it.

“So,” James started, “I really want to hear the story
of how you two met.”

I stopped and rolled my eyes. “
James
…” I complained but he rushed to explain himself.

“It’s just that when he mentioned you broke a tray on
his back, I’ve just been so intrigued. And he’s refused to tell me any –”

“Wait, he said I broke a tray on his back?”

“Yeah.
Isn’t he right?”

“No! … I mean yes, but he pushed me to the floor.”

Without thinking, I reached forward and tapped Nathan’s
arm. He looked up at me and took the earphones out of his ears.

“You told James I broke a tray on your back?”

He kept his eyes on me, and then moved them to James
before bringing them back to me again, unhurriedly, like he had all the time in
the world. I told myself to bring my temper down a notch.

“Didn’t you?” he asked, and my mouth fell open.

“How can you say that? You pushed me to the floor,” I
accused. He straightened, an eyebrow slightly arched.

“Excuse me?” he said, and my mouth snapped shut.
Embarrassed at how intimidated I felt, I lowered my head in annoyance and
returned to my food.

To my surprise, he reached across the table and put his
fingers on mine. My eyes widened, both at the contact and at the coldness of
his fingers, but as soon as he pulled them away, my fingers burned with
a sweet
warmth.

“I bumped into you,” he said. “And I apologized.”

The fight had gone out of me, and I wondered why I was
even bothering when my mouth opened to reply to him.

“You ruined my lunch,” I accused, and I tried to add a
little harshness to my tone but it sounded as if I was flirting with him. I
cleared my throat.

“And I replaced it,” he said. I found my temper again,
but it was barely flickering; the flame had gone out.

“Still, you can’t just go around saying that I broke a
tray on your back. It makes me sound like I’m crazy.”

James chuckled then, and the sound gave me the
distraction I so desperately needed. I turned to frown at him and he reigned in
the smile, but when I returned to Nathan, he had plugged in his earphones and
was eating again. I thought to tap his arm, but I had absolutely nothing left
to say so I just returned to my meal too. James however, wasn’t done.

“I just knew there had to be an interesting story
behind it,” he said, the loud crunching sound he made as he chewed on what I
assumed had to be metal nuts for it to be that loud, digging into my eardrums
like tiny needles. “You’re the only girl I’ve seen him actually relate to, and
you didn’t chase him down. At least I hope you didn’t – you did pretend not to
know him the first time
we
met.”

I shoved his elbow and he laughed. “Shut up,” I said,
worried that Nathan would overhear. “Why would I chase him down?”

“Oh you haven’t heard?” he said. “I don’t blame you. I
didn’t believe the craze over him either until Valentine’s Day earlier this
year. His room was filled with gifts from apparently
every
girl in school. A lot of guys developed a grudge for him that
day.”

I smiled despite myself. “Are you serious?”

“I should be asking you that,” he said. “Why is this
news to you? Everyone knew about it.”

“Well
I
didn’t,” I said, and his surprise dissipated. He popped another handful of
roasted almonds into his mouth. I cringed when he started chewing and returned
to my food.

“He’s called the Italian
bong
,” he said in a voice just above a whisper, and instantly, it
pulled a laugh out of me. I couldn’t help it.

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked as I struggled
to keep my amusement under control.

“I have no idea,” James said “And he’s not even
Italian!”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Nathan look up. He
asked James what was going on.

“Lenora just learned of your nickname,” he said, and I
turned just in time to see Nathan frown at James before he returned to his
meal. The fact that he didn’t even look at me quickly killed my smile.

“Anyway, so far, you’re the closest thing to a friend
he has so –”

I interrupted, “Trust me, we’re not friends.”

“Trust
me,
you’ve come farther
than most.”

“I wasn’t looking to come anywhere.”

With a smile he nodded, and returned to his meal.

A few moments later, the racket that had been slowly
rising over the last few minutes erupted, and we all looked up to see two girls
towards the middle of the hall on their feet and at opposite sides of the
table, yelling at each other. Everyone else was of course interested, so all
eyes had turned to them. I saw two teachers get up from their respective
corners of the room and start to approach them, but they weren’t quick enough.