itsnekh

Nathaniel walks out of his last class, cigarette in between his left index and middle fingers, just in front of his lips. He's accompanied by his two friends and his sister, and they are laughing at something the teacher shouts to them as they walk out. The only girl of the group is scolding them.

"Come on you guys," she says sternly, poking her brother in his hard chest. "You have got to grow up! This is college, you know."

Her name is Jesse Ryder and the is the youngest of three siblings, Nathaniel being the eldest. She has a male twin named Trent who is a few minutes older than her and goes to a college out of state. They both share their light brown hair and blue eyes. They are both shorter than Nathaniel, at 5'9" for Jesse and 6'0" for Trent. She is the 'good girl' of the family, seeing as both her brothers went down paths of partying and women.

Nathaniel Ryder, however, has grey irises to contrast his siblings' blue ones. He runs his hand through his dark brown quiff and closes his eyes for a second. He is the eldest and tallest, at nineteen years old and 6'2". He is a well-known 'player' and 'bad boy' around the college, and basks in his glory. Despite his love for partying and sex, he is devoted to his studies and refuses to become 'one of those guys'.

Mason shoves Nathaniel's shoulder playfully and guffaws. His dirty blonde hair halls over his eyes, covering his brown eyes. He's 6'3", slightly taller than Nathaniel, but the same age. He is the more rough of the group, and the most sexually active. He basically introduced Nathaniel to the party scene of the school when the boy walked in as a lone wolf.

Logan rolls his eyes and walks next to Jesse, a sly blush creeping up his neck. Nathaniel pauses his conversation with Mason and sends the brunet a warning glare. Logan sends one back telling him to leave him alone. Logan has had a crush on Jesse ever since high school, and Nathaniel has been overprotective of his little sister ever since guys started hitting on her. Logan's hair is up in a sweep, because he likes to flaunt his brown eyes. Girls don't come to his feet, but if he smooth talks them and runs his hand through his hair, they're done for.

"Logan," Nathaniel hisses. Jesse groans and rolls her head back.

"Lay off, will ya, Nate?" Logan suggests in a mocking tone, smirking. Another thing that Logan lives for is riling him up, though he usually is more careful around Jesse.

"I will if you stay away from my sister, Hayes," he snaps, clenching his fists. Mason watches the two intently. The blond creeps around the two and gently pulls Jesse away from the line of fire.

"If it's a fight you want, Nate, what are you waiting for?" Logan taunts, spreading his arms wide on either side of his body. "Too sissy to be a man in front of Jess?" Nathaniel raises his fists and charges towards Logan.

"You son of a bitch!" he shouts as Mason grabs both his arms and holds him back. He struggles and continues shouting profanities and an amused Logan. They've unknowingly caused a scene.

"Nathan! Calm down!" Mason shouts to the struggling boy.

"Just one! Just one fuckin' punch!" Nathaniel shouts back in protest.

"Nate, come on," Jesse says softly to her older brother. She shares a look with Mason, who sighs. Logan chuckles.

"Let him hit me, Mase. I'm not scared of you, Nate!" Logan shouts. Mason lets go of Nathaniel, who walks up to Logan and gives him a strong right hook in the face. Jesse shouts in protest and Logan stumbles backwards.

"Did you have to hit him so hard?" Jesse asks. Her brother simply grunts and rubs his hand.

"Bastard had it comin' to him," he says after a moment, shrugging. He shoves his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket and walks away from the group to find time alone.

Mason turns to Logan. "Did you have to rile him up that bad, man?" he asks, frustrated that Nathaniel has gone lone wolf on them again. Logan shrugs and shrinks at the sight of Jesse's disappointment.

And then they were three.

A car passes and a bus slows down and halts at its next stop. A boy stands there in the rain, with a half-smoked lit cigarette in between his lips. He sighs and runs his hand through his hair before dropping the cigarette and smashing it under his foot. When he's satisfied with the dying flame, he gets on board the bus and hands his fare to the driver, who simply nods and says, "There's no room to sit, son."

"I don't mind standing," Nathaniel assures as he makes his way to the back of the bus. On his journey, he notices an empty seat next to a brunette. No room to sit my ass, he thinks as he sets himself down in the seat next to her.

Nathaniel takes a moment to really appreciate this girl. Her hair ends just below her shoulders and her eyes are a sort of shade of pine green. Her sweater bears the words 'FLAWED DESIGN' in white letters to contrast the black fabric. Her jeans aren't skinny, but they seem to fit her perfectly. She wears an armband just above her left wrist, the fingers of which tenderly turn the pages of the book she's reading, set in her lap. She doesn't seem to have noticed him, so Nathaniel looks up at her face again, then starts to look down at her-

"You finished checking me out?"

Nathaniel swallows out of nervousness. Her voice is sweet, but with a rough edge to it. Like she has something in her throat or is very tired. He quickly regains his composure—he has no right to lose it in the first place!

"Hey," he flirts. "Not quite, I'll get back to you when I am, babe."

"Ugh," she groans. Nathaniel is taken by surprise by her obvious disgust. No girl has ever been this disgusted by him. His eyes widen.

"That's a first," he mumbles, turning away from her. She turns back at him and notices a shy blush seeping in on his cheeks. She chuckles and turns back to her book.

I would miss Roscoe.

It's enough time for her to read that single line of her book before she feels the boy's eyes on her again. She ignores it until she hears him mutter, "But there's no way she is..." Her head turns back to him.

"What?" she asks, annoyed. Nathaniel is taken aback.

"Are you a virgin?" he blurts out nervously, scratching the back of his neck. She looks at him in confusion. Of course she isn't. Why would he ask that?

"Of course not, jesus," she says. "Are you that conceited that you would think I'm only rejecting you because I wanted someone special as my first?"

He's silent.

"Do I seriously look like some romantic girl looking for a romantic guy? I mean, I'm reading Killing Floor, for fuck's sake!" she continues on. "Romance doesn't exist anyways. Not for someone like me."

Nathaniel is speechless. He's only just met this girl, hell, doesn't even know her name, yet she intrigues him. She's different. (Also, hot.)

"So," she says after a while of silence. "What's your name?" He smirks, but she sees right through him and narrows her eyes.

"When I say that, I don't mean some hot nickname and a flirty pick-up line that's worked tons of times and is sure to make me fall in lust with you because I've been used enough to last me a lifetime," she scolds. "Don't get me wrong, you're hot and I'm sure a lot of girls will agree with me, but I just want your name. Your full name."

The silence ensues once more, and she turns to her book. "Nathaniel."

"What?" she asks, turning to him to make sure she heard right. His name can't be Nathaniel. That's insane. A hot guy with a sexy name is not funny anymore to her.

"Nathaniel," he repeats with more confidence. "Nathaniel Ryder."

"This isn't fucking funny anymore, you up there," she snaps, looking up at the ceiling, then sighs and smiles a genuine smile—a rare sight for her. At least he didn't try to flirt with her again. That's something to admire, right? Then again, he may not be one of those guys at all. "I'm Andy," she says, stretching out her hand. Nathaniel takes it.

"Nice to meet you, Andy," he says, his smile matching hers. "I must say, you're the first girl to reject me and render me speechless. I salute you."

Then, he gives her a mock salute, and she giggles. She then notices his leather jacket, and raises an eyebrow at him skeptically. He notices this, and frowns. He then follows her gaze to his jacket and opens his mouth in an 'o' in recognition. He shakes his head.

"I don't have a motorcycle, if you were wondering," he says. She rolls her eyes.

"I wasn't going t-"

"I have two, actually," he continues, cutting her off. Andy's eyes widen, and Nathaniel laughs.

"You jerk!" she exclaims giggling, punching his arm. He flinches at her force and rubs the spot.

"No, I honestly have one, though," he says quickly, defending himself. "Jeez, you're strong!"

They begin to talk, first about Nathaniel's motorcycle, then moving on to anything and everything under the sun. They begin to talk about their friends, their experiences in the town, funny stories, jokes, pick-up lines... Nathaniel even slips in a story about a girl he knew was clingy, so made sure to warn that it was only sex he wanted, who then claimed to be his girlfriend and even acted the part. Andy finds this extremely amusing.

"She made sure that all the girls rejected me while we were 'in a relationship', and trust me, that week was horrible. Every girl I made a move on denied me or called me a cheating pig."

Andy giggles. "I bet you went insane."

He nods, rolling his eyes. "At some weekend party, I finally scored with some chick from another college, and the next Monday she freaked out in the cafeteria."

"What did you do?"

"I told her—and everyone else—that we were never in a relationship, and asked why nobody thought it was weird that being me, I wasn't making out with her between classes," he explains, throwing his hands up in the air. "I swear, I don't even know how their college applications got accepted. I have better grades than all of them, and an academic scholarship."

Andy tilts her head in confusion and surprise. "You have an academic scholarship?" she asks.

"Of course I do," he replies arrogantly. "I'm Nate Ryder."

"I just thought someone with such a long history with girls would get in college with sports and be dumb as a fetus, but oh well," she counters, dramatically sighing. Nathaniel snorts.

"Sports? Pffsh, noooo. They take away all the time I could be using to get laid," he states. "Plus, all the players are—as you said—dumb as a fetus."

Andy chuckles, and the bus stops. She stands up and Nathaniel panics. He doesn't want to seem love-struck, but this girl just interests him so badly and he can't lose her now! Still, he stands and lets her pass, then grabs her arm before she can get away. "Andy, wait," he chokes out. "Will I see you again?"

She looks at the college student amusedly, then asks for his phone. He happily obliges, and she adds her number to his contacts list. He grins when he sees the name she's given herself: Hot Bus Chick. He makes a mental note to change it to Andy later.

"Call me, but don't nail your phone to the bed if you can't wait the 72 hours the bro code requires you to," she teases and winks before walking up to the front of the bus and stepping out. Nathaniel sits back down and watches her in awe as she walks down the street and turns at the block. The bus starts up again and as it passes the street she turned in, he sees her enter a two-story house.

The brunet runs his hand through his hair and leans back, exhaling and closing his eyes. He runs the tip of his tongue over his teeth. He's never met any girl like that girl. No girl has ever talked to him to bluntly like that and expressed their disgust for his flirting that easily, yet made an effort to have a conversation with him. Andy looked like she actually was interested in what he had to say, and he admires that. He could easily tell when she didn't find him interested, because she conspicuously yawned in his face.

When the bus finally halts three stops later, he scrambles up and gets out just as the driver is about to close the doors. He watches the two girls and the boyfriend of one of them run to the bus. As a result of his heightened mood, Nathaniel tells the driver to wait, then walks away, ignoring the thanks of the two girls. He recognizes the guy and one of the girls from the halls at his college. He doesn't want them to spread rumors of his selfless act.

He takes out the pack of cigarettes from the pocket of his leather jacket, takes one out, the pockets the box and swiftly removes his lighter. He lights it, then sticks it in between his teeth and puts the lighter back in its place. The nineteen-year-old makes his way to the park that he hangs out at with his brother when he visits. He walks around the children's playground, a smile occasionally gracing his lips. An auburn haired girl and an ash blond boy of about ten years are playing together.

"Come on, Joshua!" the girl encourages as she sits down in a tree. The boy is watching her with concern and caring, Nathaniel notes. He chuckles.

"Joanna, please come down!" the boy, Joshua, begs. "What if you get hurt?"

"Oh, shush," Joanna says, sticking her tongue out at him. She climbs up higher, and Joshua's face contorts into one of horror as her foot slips.

Nathaniel sighs and shakes his head, rolling the cigarette between his teeth. Joanna appears to require some assistance, and it's pretty obvious that Joshua likes her. He walks up to the tree, but the little ash blond is quick to react.

"Hey!" he shouts angrily. "Go away! We don't need people like you!"

Nathaniel raises and eyebrow. "Listen, kid, Josh, whatever you want me to call you," he says. "You don't judge a god damn book by its cover, because if you knew me you would know that I'm not who I seem to be. Now zip it and let me get your crush out of the pickle she's gotten herself into."

Joshua swallows and watches as Nathaniel climbs the tree and wraps an arm around little Joanna's waist. Jealousy flares inside him, but he remembers that this boy is much older than he is and probably finished high school and referred to her as his crush. When he puts the little girl down on her own two feet, Nathaniel nods at the little boy and walks away with memories of his tree house.

He begins to walk around again and notices two high school pairs. One by the swingset, a blonde and brunet in embrace. The other is two guys sitting by the lake. One of them appears to be a sports player—ugh, no—and the other is kind of scrawny. Their hands are intertwined, and the smaller one leans in to kiss his partner. Nathaniel smiles faintly, but hears the snap of a camera and turns to face the culprit. He's not at all surprised that it's a girl, but it does anger him. He walks over to her as casually as he can. The boys and girl seem to be seniors. She looks up at him and flushes.

"Hey," he greets casually, aware of the 'bad boy meets good girl' fantasies that she's probably having.

"Uh, hey," she says, smiling flirtatiously.

"So, you like photography?" he asks, trying to inconspicuously approach the topic. She nods excitedly to mask the relief he saw.

"Yeah, I love it! Especially-"

"Ones that you can use to sabotage reputations, right?" he interrupts, and she deflates.

"That's not what I was-"

"Look, girly. I don't know what you were going to do, but frankly, if you do something against those two for the hell of it, have me on your conscience."

"O-okay, Nate," the girl stutters. He hesitates, but then remembers that his reputation goes around. He walks off.That's a little too much drama for one day, he thinks to himself as he sits down by a tree, throwing the cigarette in a nearby bin.

"In the memory you'll find me-"

Nathaniel sighs and ends the call, not even bothering to check who was calling. He needs some time alone, and time alone is what he is going to get. He sprawls himself over the grass, the rolls over on his side and shuts his eyes. His thoughts wander, from the lessons they learned, the scolding that Logan earned all of them for no reason and his sister. His fists clench as he thinks of Logan and Jesse, but then relax as he drifts off to sleep.