At the age of thirteen, Bailey was forced to absorb a life-altering change. Now, after spending a year at her aunt's, Bailey returns home to attend high school. Things get complicated as she deals with old and new friends, crushes, school, and the scars her stepfather left. All American Bailey Part 1 By Taylor Ryan Copyright© 2015 Taylor Ryan All Rights Reserved.

This is a continuation of the Bailey saga. If you're interested, the story begins with The Summer of Bailey, and is continued in Seasons of Bailey. This story is a fresh start of sorts, but will draw upon elements from previous stories. Comments are welcome.

Part 1

They were staring. They were all staring. I'd made the choice to come back. Now they all acted as if they'd seen a ghost. Amongst the loud, obnoxious talking, I could hear whispers. Voices from the masses bounced off the cinder block walls and concrete floor. I couldn't manage to focus on one, before another started. When I looked around, they seemed to look away. But I know they were staring, and talking.

And why wouldn't they? I imagined that I was a sight to see. Over a year ago I had disappeared without a word. The most anyone knew of it, was that the police were at my house, and then I vanished. Maybe they thought I had run away. Maybe they thought I died. In the distance I thought I heard my name whispered. I looked, but nobody showed any indication they had said it.

"Next!"

The student behind me bumped me in the back. My focus returned to the task at hand. A portly middle-aged woman beckoned me to come to her. Thick-framed glasses stuck to the end of her nose as if glued in place. Her wrinkled face looked tired, perhaps agitated. I stepped forward, paper in hand. My other hand reached up and brushed a lock of hair behind my ear.

"Name?" she asked.

"Walk…" I stopped myself instantly. I'd grown so used to my stepfather's last name. It would probably take me the next four years to get used to the change. "Taylor," I said. "Bailey Taylor."

My mother had changed our last name yet again. Tom Walker was no longer worthy of us, and my mother was quick to file for divorce. Rather than returning to her maiden name, she had gone back to using my father's last name. He'd died when I was five, so I vaguely remembered him. Though I did like the new, old name.

"I don't have you here," the lady said after nearly a minute of shuffling files. "Are you a transfer?"

"Actually, I am," I said. "My mother and I went through the paperwork last…"

The woman stood abruptly and hobbled away; hardly acknowledging that I had said anything. I looked down the row of students being helped. I had not seen one familiar face yet. Which was actually surprising, as most of my old friends were in the same part of the alphabet with me; as far as last names went. Maybe they had come and gone already, or perhaps hadn't arrived. After all, we did have several hours to pick up our class schedules.

"What seems to be the problem?"

I turned to find a slightly younger Latino gentleman walking back with the woman who had been helping me. At least he was younger than the woman. He had the same tired expression on his face. I imagined the start of the school year had to be stressful for everyone. Junior high had not been so complicated. But this… this was high school. Things could get extremely complicated for me now. And it seemed like they already had.

"She's a transfer," the woman said rather loudly.

"Maybe she's in…"

The man's voice trailed off as he thumbed through another box. Now the kids really were starting to stare. I'd caused a ruckus already, and classes hadn't even started. I lowered my head and watched them dig through box after box of files. Finally the woman gave up. She gestured for me to move to the side as she helped another student. After taking his name, she assured me that Mister Torres would help me. At least now I knew somebody's name.

Several minutes passed before Mister Torres finally pulled a folder out. "She does exist!" he said, jokingly. "I'll help you down at the end, Bailey," he said, gesturing toward the end of the tables.

I walked down along the row of tables, scrambling around other students, past X,Y, and Z, and finally caught up with Mister Torres. "If I'd known transfer students weren't in the alphabet, I would've come down here first," I said, smiling. "Shorter line."

Mister Torres laughed at my remark, though it seemed to be out of pity for my lame joke. "Well I guess being singled out does have it's perks sometimes," he said. "So where did you transfer from?"

"You don't have that on file?" I asked, still smiling.

"This is just class information," he said. "And locker assignment. The boring stuff."

"Oh… I see," I said, suddenly losing a touch of my confidence. "I transferred from Nebraska. Spent a year at my aunt's."

"Nice. Did you like it there?"

"It was okay," I admitted. "Quiet too." I reminisced for a moment about my aunt's farm house. "But I missed home," I finally added.

"Well let me be among the first to welcome you back," he said.

"Thanks." My smile returned ever so slightly.

Mister Torres slid a piece of paper toward me over the table. "Class schedule," he said. Then he pointed to an area on the piece of paper. "Locker, and underneath it is the combination."

"Okay," I said, my eyes dancing over the schedule. "Um…"

"Is there a problem?"

"Well…" I stared at the schedule. "It just says 'drama' seventh period. I asked for technical drama."

"Oh…" Mister Torres' face turned genuinely apologetic. "That class probably filled up pretty fast. It's only offered one period per semester. Being a transfer student, you probably missed the window and got dumped into the drama class instead." He reached up to scratch his neck. "We can get you into a study hall if you don't want that class."

I sighed, and looked back down at the schedule. "Study hall is boring," I said. "And I promised I'd try new experiences." I looked up to see that my personal musings had left Mister Torres in a complete state of not caring at all. "I think I'd prefer the drama," I added quickly.

"Well we have an excellent drama teacher," he said. "I'm sure you'll like her."

I shrugged. "I'll give it a shot."

"I like your spirit," Mr. Torres said. "Do you have any questions?"

"Where exactly is the Science and Mathematics Building?"

Mister Torres flashed me a disappointed look. "You missed orientation too?"

"I got this."

The highly recognizable new voice made my heart flutter. I turned to face someone I had absolutely been dying to see since returning home. Nathan Riley beamed his smile straight into my soul. His chocolate brown eyes watched me thoughtfully. He had cut his black hair short again. Most likely to keep it cooler for football.

And speaking of football, it looked like he had been in the weight room a lot. Nathan had grown quite a bit, and in all of the right ways. The black tank top he wore fit tight around his muscular torso and chest, while framing his lean arms perfectly. His calves bulged out from under his long basketball shorts. He had always been taller than me, but now it seemed he towered over me.

"Well," Mister Torres said. "I guess it's your lucky day. One of Henley High's best students. Thanks for helping out Mister Riley."

"No problem," Nathan said, not once dropping his gaze from mine.

"Good luck in your new school, Bailey," Mister Torres said.

I managed to turn my head back to him just enough to thank him. After a moment he walked away, and my focus returned to Nathan. There was so much I wanted to say to him, and I could tell he had a lot on his mind as well. His smile faded a little, but only enough to where it looked casual and pleasant. After a quick glance around, I decided it best that we got a little more privacy.

"What's your first class?" Nathan asked, beginning to lead me away, as if he read my thoughts.

"Earth Science," I said, starting to walk off beside him.

"Ah… Earth Science," Nathan said. "That takes me back." He turned to look at me. "I had it first period too."

I smiled at the coincidence. "Really?"

Nathan nodded. "I can even remember the entire day when I picked up my first class schedule," he said. "I remember going over to play catch with some guy named Justin, in his backyard. That's when his cute little sister popped out of the house, carrying two bottles of water."

"Stop it," I said, elbowing Nathan in the side. "I wasn't even cute back then. Probably looked like a little monster."

"Well…" Nathan looked down at me. "I'll admit, you're a lot cuter now."

"Please…"

"I'm serious," Nathan said, as we passed a few students trying out their new lockers. "And you really let your hair grow out. I like it."

I reached up, gently taking a strand of my hair in hand. It had grown well past my shoulders at this point. "Really?" I asked. "I was actually thinking of getting it cut before school started."

"Well don't chop it all off," Nathan said. "It looks nice."

"I'll think about it," I said, rolling my eyes away from him. "I still can't believe they threw me in drama, instead of technical drama." A change of subject was sorely needed, in my opinion.

"What's the difference?"

"Technical drama is all the offstage stuff," I said. "Set design, lighting… You know, the stuff that doesn't put you in the spotlight, but teaches you where to point it." I looked down at my schedule again. "This is going to be acting, maybe doing monologues. I don't know if I'm ready to be… out there… like that."

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Nathan said. "You seem more confident. You're probably ready for the spotlight."

I sighed. "If you only knew what it took to get here today…"

"Yo, Riley!" I watched another jock type, about the size of Nathan, walk up and give him a bro hug. "We still on for tomorrow?"

"No doubt," Nathan said.

"Cool, cool, bro," the other guy said. "I'll catch you then."

"Later," Nathan said.

I watched the other guy strut away, then turned to Nathan. My eyebrows shot upward, and a smile spread across my lips. "What's tomorrow?" I asked.

"End of the summer cookout," Nathan said. "You're welcome to come."

I chuckled slightly. "I'm not sure I'd fit in… bro."

"Oh come on," Nathan said. "Like that's the worst thing you've ever heard?"

"Nah," I said. "It's cool." I started to walk down the hallway again, but turned my head back to Nathan. "Bro…" I couldn't hold out on finishing with a little chuckle at Nathan's expense.

"Bah," Nathan said, hurrying to catch up. "Give it a rest. Joe's a nice guy."

"I'm sure he is," I said, smiling. "I was just teasing you."

We stepped out of what apparently was the creative arts building. The sweltering August air hit considerably hard, having been in the frigid air conditioning for what seemed like forever. The heat actually felt good on my bare skin. I'd gone out with distressed jean shorts, and a blue tank top. The front of which sported a faded American flag. It made me feel a sense of pride and confidence, and the blue matched my low top Converses, so that was a bonus.

Maybe my attire was what made people stare. Then again, most of the staring could've been completely in my head. The few that I had actually caught staring, were mostly boys. Only they seemed to be staring more at my legs than anything else. I hadn't changed that much, but maybe kids simply didn't recognize me. Nathan had, but then again, I'd slept in his bed on more than one occasion. Platonically, of course, but it wasn't a stretch that he could pick me out of a crowd.

"Unless you're into that scene?"

I looked up at Nathan. He had been telling me something, and I completely zoned out. "I'm sorry," I said. "My mind was wandering."

Nathan shook his head, but his look screamed amusement, more than disappointment. "I was saying this is where the skaters hang out," he said. "Between these two buildings. I'm sure they'd be riding these rails if they had their boards between classes."

"Oh," I said, chuckling. "Not really my thing."

"What is your thing?" Nathan asked, as he opened the door to our target building. "I'm curious."

"I guess I don't really have one," I said, stepping in ahead of him. Some other students poured out of the building through another door. "Is a 'thing' necessary to go to school here?"

"Uh…" Nathan shrugged. "Not really. Are you worried you won't fit in?"

"I don't know," I said. "I really don't fit into any molds to begin with." I looked up at him. "Or at least I don't try to. I like to mix it up. It hasn't really bothered me lately."

"Fair enough."

We walked in silence next to each other for awhile. All around us other kids were opening and closing lockers. There wasn't a lot of chatter, as a lot of the students were also looking for classrooms. Yet, every so often we would wander by a group of kids caught up in a conversation. I still didn't recognize any of them. I was beginning to wonder if all of the other freshmen were here on another day, or if my friends all moved away.

It felt strange walking next to Nathan. He had clearly passed the six foot mark in height. While I still needed heels to get past five and a half. Of course there was a small chance I'd get a little taller before graduation, but I didn't hold my breath. The doctors had been quite candid when they told me I wouldn't be a basketball star. Not that it really bothered me last year, as most of the kids were closer in size. However, looking around me now, I felt like a little kid compared to some of the students here.

"And… here we are," Nathan blurted out.

I looked through the open door to the classroom. At least the classrooms themselves didn't look much different. There were the same kind of black science lab tables; two butted up against a sink in the middle. Each table looked to support two chairs. It seemed the same as my last science classroom. Only last year there were four rooms divided by folding screen walls.

"Boring science room," I muttered.

"What did you expect?" Nathan asked, with a chuckle.

"I'm not sure," I said. "Something… amazing?"

"I think I'm seeing something pretty amazing," Nathan said.

I could feel his eyes on me, but I dare not look. "Whatever you say…"

"What's up next?" he asked, taking the hint to move past his awkward statement.

"Art?"

"That was back in the building we just came from," Nathan said, feigning a sigh. "Hard to miss the art room. It's one of the four rooms that isn't choir, band, or the library."

"Got it," I said. "English?"

Nathan gave me a more pronounced, and slightly agitated sigh. "Can I see it?"

"Sure," I said, turning to hand him my schedule.

He studied it for a moment. "Okay," he finally said. "Algebra is downstairs in this building, but to the left. The cafeteria is the middle building. Your music class is in the band room. And your drama class is meeting in the other side of the cafeteria with the stage." He handed the schedule back to me. "I'll take you to your other two classes on the way to your locker."

"Do you have to be somewhere?" I asked, worried about his sudden hastiness. "Because I can wander around myself."

"Not at all," Nathan said. "I was just summing things up." He gave me a reassuring smile. "We can still wander around if you want."

"I should probably let my mother know," I said, starting to pull away from him. "She's waiting for me."

"I can give you a ride home if you want," Nathan said, quickly.

I paused, turning back to him. "You can drive?" I asked, before shaking my head. "Of course you can drive. You're sixteen now." I backed away from him again. "I'll ask her."

"I'll catch up with you outside," Nathan called after me.

I quickly made my way back to the bus lane, where parents had parked. My mother and I already had a spat about her going with me. It took a night of sleepless angst, and two hours this morning, to get up the nerve to face the world alone today. When my mother said she'd like to go around campus with me, I let her have all of what I'd stored up inside of me. I felt pretty bad about it, but I didn't want her to hold my hand for this.

I'll never know if I hurt her feelings. She seemed to take it all in stride. Perhaps she had lived through it already with Justin. My older brother could be an obnoxious jerk when he wanted to be. After letting loose my teenage rage, my mother simply asked if I wanted to go shoe shopping afterwards. Now I felt even guiltier, because I was about to postpone that as well.

"Are you done already?" my mother asked as I approached her car.

I paused about two steps from the open window. "Actually…"

My mother put her latest romance novel down on her lap. "What is it?"

"I ran into Nathan," I said. "He's going to show me around campus."

"I see…"

For a moment I stood there in silence. Her tone didn't exactly scream that she was thrilled with what I had said, but neither did it say she was mad. "He asked if he could drive me home," I continued, prepared to duck for cover.

"How long has he been driving?" she asked, her tone unwavering.

"I don't know," I said. "Maybe four months."

My mother let out an audible sigh. "Well I didn't think I'd be dealing with this so soon."

"With what?" I asked, sticking my head closer to the window.

"Bailey," she said. Her tone changed now, and I still didn't like it. "I'm going to allow it, but on several conditions." She turned, and lowered her sunglasses. I suddenly got the "mom" look from her. The one that said she meant business. "You will wear your seatbelt. You will not distract him while he's driving. If he drives like a maniac, you tell him to pull over immediately and call me. And do not act stupidly."

"You act like we're going to be drag racing," I said.

My mother raised her eyebrows. "If you can't take this serious…"

"I know," I said. "I mean, I am."

"I'm very leery of new drivers," she said. "I wouldn't even let you ride alone with Justin for several months."

"I know," I said. "But Nathan's mature. I'll be fine."

"Be extremely careful," my mother said. "And I mean it… Do not distract him."

"I won't," I said. "I promise."

She picked her novel back up. "Are we still going shoe shopping?"

"Sure," I said, smiling. "I won't be out long."

"Have fun," she said, turning back to her book. "I love you."

"Thank you. I love you too."

"What in the world did she mean about distracting Nathan?" I thought, as I strolled back toward the campus. Did she think I was going to dance on the hood of his car? I smiled as I visualized the absurdity of my thoughts. My smile faded quickly when I saw Nathan. He seemed to have found some entertainment.

A fairly attractive caramel-skinned beauty seemed to be fawning all over Nathan. Her glistening legs kept bending toward him. It seemed like she found every opportunity to place her slender fingers on his arms. I was surprised, by this point, she hadn't blatantly rubbed her perky breasts in his face. She was close enough to do it. Fits of laughter spilled from her mouth, like she found everything that Nathan said amusing. It almost reminded me of Vanessa.

"Who was that?" I asked, arriving shortly after the girl had left his company.

Nathan not so discretely stared at the girl's butt as she walked away. "Danica Sanders…" A slight sigh came with the name. "She likes going by Dani."

I joined Nathan's gaze for a moment. "She's pretty," I offered.

"I guess so," Nathan said, shrugging.

"You guess so?" I slapped him on the arm. "Look at that body. She's like super fit."

"She plays softball," Nathan said, as if in another world. "But she's a senior…" He turned to me and shrugged.

"So? That never stopped Justin and Kate."

"That was different," Nathan said, starting to walk away. I quickly followed. "They were good together. Had more in common than sports."

"Come on," I said, stepping in front of Nathan. "The only thing they had in common were siblings the same age. Besides…" I looked over at Danica. "That girl is totally into you."

He looked back at Danica. She had found a group of girls to talk to. "You think?"

"She was in super flirt mode. Hanging on your every word," I said. "Looking for any excuse to touch you." I grabbed his arm. "Like… 'O M G Nathan, you're super buff and stuff.'" I flipped my hair with the back of my other hand for emphasis. "She did everything, but fall to her knees before you." I gestured toward her with my head. "You see her talking the same way to them?"

"I dunno," Nathan said, shrugging off my hand. "Let's just go."

As he turned to walk away, I glanced back and saw Danica looking back at us. "Men," I muttered, shaking my head.

It seemed as if Nathan purposely rebuffed my touching him, or something. I felt like his little sister after that; wandering after him around the campus. It was as if I were completely new to the city, let alone the school; like a tourist with a guide. Nathan seemed to know everything about each building. He knew where each group of kids hung out. Little tidbits of gossip poured out on occasion. Most of it would've been more interesting if I knew the kids he was talking about.

We seemed to wander almost everywhere, despite his lack of enthusiasm earlier. The campus became much bigger than I imagined it to be in my head. There were six buildings in total, and some trailers they had even brought in for overflow. The city had already built a third high school, but it apparently wasn't enough for the growing population. This school, however, was unique in the sense of it being more than one building; a converted community college campus. It all seemed a little overwhelming.

Unsurprisingly, we ended the campus tour with Nathan's favorite place of all. "And this…" he said. "This is the football field."

I halfway expected him to say "ta-da" as he gestured toward it. If I had been into football in the slightest, I probably would've been more impressed. Needless to say, it looked to me like grass with lines painted on it. I feigned an enthusiastic smile for Nathan's sake. However, my mind was miles away from "Go team!" Not even the black and silver Henley High Wolf in the center could rouse my school spirit.

"It's nice," I said.

Nathan's smile dropped. "That's it?"

"I mean, it's a nice field," I said, shrugging.

"You'd be more impressed if you played on some of the other dumps we've been to," Nathan said, sitting down on the bleachers. "I swear Central's field was built over a junkyard. Surprised nobody has been stabbed with a used needle."

"Aw…" I sat down beside him. "Don't look so sad."

"Nah, I get it," Nathan said. "You're not into football." He turned to me, pulling out his excited face once more. "Will you at least come to the black and red game next Friday?"

"The… what?"

"Black and red," Nathan said. "It's like a showcase for the players before the season starts. We play against each other."

"Oh…" My eyes wandered over the field. "I guess I could come."

"I'm surprised you never went to one of Justin's."

"Honestly," I said. "I never listened to a word that came out of his mouth, if it started with football."

Nathan laughed. It wasn't even one of those pity laughs either, but a full-fledged hearty laugh. "I've missed you, Bailey."

I turned to him and smiled. "I've missed you too."

My eyes wandered, and I stared out over the field in silence. The sun continued to beat down on us. It felt good, as long as we didn't get up and run around. I enjoyed the warmth. A few students wandered into the stands; some with their parents. They seemed more impressed than me. After a moment of looking over the field, they retreated back inside. Otherwise, Nathan and I seemed rather isolated out there.

It reminded me of living away for the past year. Granted my Aunt Kimberly was amazing, and her husband was the nicest guy I ever met. Even my cousin Kelly was a staunch ally in my goal to move forward. I learned a lot from all of them. I felt loved and accepted. Yet, I just couldn't shake that feeling of isolation. Nebraska wasn't home to me. Home was here.

"Things were so different back in Nebraska," I muttered. "More corn in the fields."

"So did you have a boyfriend back in Nebraska?"

"What?!" I bolted upright. "No!"

"Girlfriend?"

I shook my head.

"Well what kept you away so long?" Nathan asked.

"I…" My hands clamped down on the edge of the bench. "I wanted to come back sooner. Actually made up my mind around January. Christmas was kind of depressing. Seeing my mom and brother. It made me miss home." I rocked forward slightly, kicking at the bottom of the bleachers in front of me. "They thought it would be easier to finish the school year there."

"Still…" Nathan leaned forward to meet my posture. "August isn't exactly the end of the school year?"

"There were a few… legal issues."

"You mean with Tom?"

"Huh?" My head spun to look at Nathan. "No. I mean, there was that earlier, but…" I turned away. "My aunt and mom had a spat about custody. But my aunt finally dropped it, when I put my foot down."

"Oh…" Nathan sighed. "I know what that's like."

I turned back to him. "Did your…"

"Yeah," Nathan said. "Stepdad finally made his absence legal."

"I'm sorry," I said. "Nobody told me."

"Meh… It was kind of mutual," he said. "And a long time coming." He leaned back to stretch out. "On the plus side, I got a sweet ride out of it."

"That's terrible," I said. "He bought you off?"

Nathan shrugged. "It is what it is." He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment. "Speaking of getting bought off, I heard your stepfather struck a plea bargain."

"Yeah…" I turned my head back to the field. Somehow the field goal post seemed far more interesting now. "Nobody wanted to drag it through court."

"You don't sound too happy about it," Nathan said.

"Because Tom got away with almost everything he did to me," I said. "Apparently the federal charges he was facing were more important."

"That sucks," Nathan said.

"At least he got jail time," I said, shrugging. "Small victory…" I shook my head. "He claimed he didn't know what was going on," I said. "That he only accepted a business offer in exchange for payment on my bills." I leaned back to join Nathan. "Like he didn't know what those sick bastards were doing." My head turned to face Nathan.

He sat in stone cold silence. "I… didn't know," he finally said.

I sat up straight and turned to face him. My leg slid over the hot bench to where my shin rested against his outer thigh. "You mean Justin didn't tell you?"

"I hardly spoke to Justin after the season ended," Nathan said. "He kind of got mixed up with the wrong crowd. Started drinking…" He shrugged. "Guess that's the cost of winning a championship. You start thinking you're invincible."

"Mom never told me that," I said. "She really never told me anything bad was happening. I guess she didn't want me to worry." I looked down at my bare leg. I really needed some sun. "Still… I can't believe he didn't tell you," I finally said.

"He told me very little," Nathan said. "It's not like we had a falling out. We just… basically we went our separate ways."

"It seems we all went our separate ways," I said.

Nathan turned his head to look at me. "Some of us further than others. So what did happen to you?"

I took a long deep breath, and casually let it out. A few more students shuffled into the bleachers. "Now's not the time or place, but I'll tell you all about it some day," I said, placing my hand on his knee. "I promise."

"Let's get out of here."

Nathan said it as if it were a knee-jerk reaction to me touching him. He even stood abruptly; flipping my hand from his knee. Deciding to play it cool, I simply nodded and stood up to join him. We walked out of the stadium and found his "sweet ride" in the parking lot. Truth be told, it was a pretty nice vehicle. Somehow he wound up with a gun metal blue Jeep Wrangler.

Wavy strands of dark blonde hair whipped around in the wind, as we drove down the highway. The Jeep had air conditioning, but Nathan had taken the top off for the summer. I didn't seem to care much, because the warm breeze felt almost as good. With sunglasses on, and the radio lightly playing, I sat back and enjoyed the ride. The city went by like we were in a time tunnel.

A lot changed in the past year. There were some of the same old buildings. Like certain fast food restaurants and retail stores, some things never went out of style. I noticed a lot more dollar stores and nail salons had sprouted. Tom had always said that when those sorts of stores started to spread, it was a sign of the decline of society. I always figured the case was that nobody had any good ideas for a business to put in those spots.

There were a few new buildings I had never seen before. A large beauty store had opened next door to our old run-down cinema. It caught my eye enough to make a mental note of it being there. Though I still laughed at the sign boasting about having eight theaters at the cinema. My mother had mentioned another one opening soon with twenty-four, and stadium seating. We flew by another strip mall, where there had once been my favorite place to rent movies, and the occasional videogame. That place no longer existed.

"Still feel like home?" Nathan asked, as if reading my mind yet again.

My eyes darted from store to store. "Feels like it," I said, "but a lot has changed."

"They're opening up a huge bowling alley and arcade further down," he said.

"That might be fun." I turned to face him. "We should go some time."

Nathan nodded. "Sure!"

"I still can't believe I didn't run into anyone else that I knew today," I said.

"Well…" Nathan glanced at me. "Today was actually the last day for juniors and seniors."

I threw my hands up. "Well that explains everything!"

"Freshman orientation was Tuesday," Nathan said, with a chuckle. "I was actually surprised to see you there today."

"Good to know I'm not losing my mind," I said.

Nathan smiled as we pulled into a turn lane. "I hope you never do," he said.

A few minutes later we were driving down the familiar streets of our neighborhood. I thought back to that night a little over a year ago. Kate had driven Justin and I home. Her little sister, Tiffany, held my hand firmly as we turned up our street. Tiffany and I had just worked through our differences that night. We reached an understanding. We had settled on remaining good friends.

Once, long ago, Tiffany and I were girlfriend and boyfriend. At least we lived up to the seventh grade, twelve-year-old version of it. We started "going out" with each other back in grade school, right at the end of fifth grade. Then things got complicated.

Tiffany got a lot of pressure from her parents to be around "normal" girls and boys; as if there was such a thing. They basically didn't want me around. It even got to the point where we had to fake our own breakup. Even that got out of hand, and we actually did break up. I sighed while thinking about it. After not speaking to her in a year, I wasn't sure what we were anymore.

"You wanna come over to my place?" Nathan asked. "We can hang out and talk."

His voice brought me back to reality. "I should probably go home," I said. "My mom was pretty upset about me blowing her off, and I promised to come home early."

"No problem," Nathan said, though he looked slightly disappointed. We pulled into my driveway a minute later. "You wanna go to the cookout tomorrow?"

I slowly reached up and touched the temple of my sunglasses. "Maybe?" My face turned to face his. "Is it going to be a bunch of guys?"

"Well I mean, some of the team," Nathan said. "Some girlfriends."

Pulling my sunglasses down, I shot him a thoughtful look. "I'll think about it," I said. "My mom might have plans."

"I get it," Nathan said, nodding. "You just got back."

"Thanks for understanding."

"Sure," he said. "If you change your mind… just give me a call before noon."

"Of course." I smiled as I opened the door to his Jeep. "Thanks for today."

Nathan nodded. "Any time," he said.

I looked into the dark lenses of his sunglasses. Behind them I could almost picture his warm chocolate eyes. An unsettling force surged throughout my body; like a pulse of music causing a subwoofer to bounce. Normally such a feeling would cause me to hesitate, and reevaluate the situation. Instead, I leapt in; seizing the feeling and reigning it in like I owned it. My body joined with that leap, and together we moved forward. Closer. Crashing into the depths together.

My lips met Nathan's warm cheek. He seemed more shocked than I felt at the moment. All of these new feelings, and I never paused to analyze them. I threw caution to the wind, and kissed Nathan Riley. Granted it wasn't the kiss of all kisses, nor was it on the lips, but to me it felt huge. For those few seconds, it left Nathan speechless, and effectively showed my gratefulness for him being there today. However, I needed to maintain control of the situation. Which led me to quickly removing myself from the Jeep.

"I'll see you later?" I asked, smiling warmly.

Nathan smiled and nodded like an idiot. "Later…" He put the Jeep in reverse as I closed the door.

I waved as he took off down the street. If he didn't live around the curve, I probably could've watched him all the way home. Looking up at my own house, I realized it needed a bit of work done to it. Tom had always done most of the repair jobs himself. Justin and I helped with what we could. We'd always managed to keep it in working order. Now the house looked in desperate need of a loving touch.

For starters, the house could seriously do with a paint job. The yard looked a little less manicured than it had in years past. Weeds grabbed at my shoes as I climbed the front steps. Justin had apparently done his best, but he moved out over the summer. Anything now had been my mother trying to maintain appearances, or hired help where she couldn't manage it on her own. Worst case scenario was that I could try to help out.

I had never been an immense help around the house, but not for lack of trying. Over the years I'd learned to cook and clean; mostly take care of the inside. When it came to repairs and lawn care, however, I wasn't exactly professional grade. Tom had tried to show me things. Despite my efforts to be a willing student, in my mind, I never passed the class. Usually it ended in Tom berating me. At the very least I could mow the yard. It just didn't look like a national park when I finished.

"Welco…"

I laughed as I read the faded doormat out loud. Shoving my hand in my pocket, I pulled out the key to the house. We never really needed a key at my aunt's house during the day. Her closest neighbor lived nearly three-quarters of a mile away. My cousin and I were constantly going in and out of the house. I sighed. Life seemed so simple there. Everything here seemed so… complicated.