The next morning Nathaniel awoke to the loud ringing of his alarm clock. He rolled over to the side of his bed, rubbing at his sleep drenched eyes. Nathaniel stretched and yawned, pressing the off button on his alarm clock. Another day of work. Oh the joys of teenage income if you could even call it that. Nathaniel glanced over at the clock as he groggily made his way to the bathroom. Miraculously, in a world record time of only 15 minutes he managed to thoroughly brush his teeth, jump in and out of the water calling it a shower and throw on a faded black, now almost grey, t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Nathaniel didn't even want to THINK about that horrid smock he'd be forced to wear as soon as he entered Shop Right Drug Mart. Quickly running down the steps and making a sharp left to the kitchen, Nathaniel almost collided with his mother, coffee mug in hand. "Nate, didn't I tell you to watch where you're going? Why can't you slow down and walk with the world once in a while?" His mom sighed. "Well, they better start running if they wanna catch up now don't they?" He smiled at his mother, lightly kissing her cheek as he swept by. Mrs. Matthews shook her head; he always found a way to make her smile. Nathaniel dashed into the kitchen checking the clock to see how much time he had. He had a good ten minutes before he had to speed down the road to make it for 8:30 am. Nathaniel opened the refrigerator and grabbed a carton of milk, chugging it down profusely with droplets of milk running down the creases of the side of his mouth. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he grabbed the car keys sitting on the kitchen countertop and shoved his feet into a pair of old sneakers, pulling on a winter jacket. Nathaniel lived for this. The morning times where everything he did was a rush, where he got to speed down the road without worrying about stray pedestrians or traffic jams. Mornings where he could push the limits, press on the boundaries seeing how far he could go before he let up on the acceleration and eased down on the breaks. A thriving teenage boy with no where to channel his spilling energy, this was his cure- at least for the time being. Nathaniel speeded down the road only stopping when the light turned red. If it weren't for winter, Nathaniel would have rolled down his windows, letting the cool breeze hit his face. He arrived in the knick of time and walked into the shopping centre towards Shop Right Drug Mart. It was early in the morning and it was his turn to help open up the shop so as soon as he let himself inside he got to work. For once, Nathaniel found himself diligently doing his work and hadn't noticed all the time that went by until there was a tapping on his shoulder. Entranced in his errands, it took a few nudges to grasp his attention but once it did Nathaniel slowly stood up from his kneeling position. "So tell me... since you're like, an expert and all, which one of these are better? 'cause honest to God I can't figure this out myself," Summer grinned from above, holding up two different packages of tampons in each hand. "So tell me...are you now like, officially stalking me? 'cause honest to God I can't figure this out myself." Nathaniel mocked, placing his hands on his hips in that male-attempting-at-being-female posture. Summer grunted and threw a package at his face. Dodging swiftly, the tampons flew past him and came crashing to the floor, "You ARE planning on paying for that right?" Seeing the somewhat angry and distorted features on Summer's face, caused Nathaniel to erupt in laughter. She didn't think it was funny- girls usually don't. Summer clucked her tongue, but walked passed him, reaching for the package of tampons. In that same instant, Nathaniel bent over and for just a second, their fingertips grazed each others. Summer quickly reclined, but Nathaniel's hands stayed frozen in place; only seconds later picking up the package and pulling his hands away. He placed the now damaged package of tampons back onto the shelf and nervously curled his fingers, cracking at his knuckles. "Why now doesn't this situation look rather awkward." Caleb chimed in, suddenly appearing from what seemed at the time from no where. "Agreed. We clearly missed something." Leah responded coming from behind, propping her elbow up against Caleb's broad shoulders. "Unless you guys don't get out of here, and quickly before my manager comes, I'll clearly be missing a job." Nathaniel said a moment too late. "Mr. Matthews, is everything alright?" His manager inquired. The manager seemed irritated, folding his arms across his chest against his top tailored suit, until he raised his head glancing at the teenagers. He smiled recognizing two familiar faces. "I sure hope you two girls aren't giving my employee any trouble now, right my strawberry muffin?" The manager asked, his voice a notch too high. Summer bowed her head low in embarrassment and nodded, "No Daddy, we're just here to pick up a few...things" "Ohhh.....I see," her father exclaimed looking around, "I'll just leave you to it then." He said, winking and giving an embarrassing thumbs up to his daughter. When the manager, also known as 'daddy' by Summer, was plain out of sight Nathaniel and Caleb burst out into snickers and laughter. Summer shot death glares in Nathaniel's direction and Leah elbowed Caleb in the stomach, causing him to gasp for air. "afukgahouch! Sorry!" Caleb yelped. "Why is it that I'M always the one getting hurt?! What about Nate? Why does he get let off so easily?" Caleb argued, rubbing at his injured ribs. "Wrong place at the wrong time- no harm intended." Summer reassured. "No, I don't think that's exactly it. You see, Nathaniel over here, is seriously packed with muscle," Leah explained rapping at Nathaniel's hard upper chest. "- while you my friend, are nothing more than skin and bones. So technically the point I'm trying to get at is that you're an easier target." Nathaniel grinned with satisfaction and carelessly tossed his arm over Caleb's shoulder, "Yeah man, don't take it so personally. It's not your fault- seriously." "We should go, don't you have to get back to your job?" Caleb pointed out. Nathaniel sighed and nodded knowing that it was about time to get back to work. It was past his lunch time which he already took off and he only had a few more hours of work before he'd be completely finished work and could call it a day. That was...... until 8:00 pm when he was going to a local nightclub nearby. On that same thought, he was reminded that he still didn't have a date for tonight nor did he even ask Leah as yet. Scratching the top of his dishevelled hair he asked, "Err Leah, you got a minute?" She whirled around, meeting his gaze with a look of confusion. "Yeah sure, why?" "There's this party-type thing going down at Pete's nightclub tonight at around eight and I was wondering if you were open for an invitation?" Nathaniel smoothly let out. So maybe this wasn't as difficult as he thought it would be. Leah smiled broadly while Nathaniel shifted his gaze to Summer who had her arms folded across her chest much like yesterday except today she didn't look irritated, but let down? "I'd love to...but what about Summer?" Leah asked, still keeping that glow to her face. Now it was Nathaniel's turn to look confused, but it all clicked when Caleb sought the opportunity to intervene and quickly jumped in, "So Summer, since those two are already paired off, mind going with me?" Summer nodded in agreement and attempted at a faint smile. Nathaniel realized what had just happened. He'd been tricked. Caleb had pretended to have already asked Summer when in actuality he hadn't. He fully knew that if he made Summer off limits for Nathaniel then Nathaniel would have no other choice but to ask the remaining girl which in this case, was Leah. He also knew that in order to make his plan work, he had to try and persuade Nathaniel to ask Leah when both the girls were present; therefore, giving himself the opportunity to ask Summer after Nathaniel had already asked Leah. With Leah "off limits" for Caleb just as he had intended, it would leave Summer. There was lots of trickery and rivalry that went into this plan- and Caleb made it work. Caleb knew Nathaniel's strengths as he knew his weaknesses. Caleb foresaw Nathaniel's weakness- his pride. Nathaniel would never go to a nightclub empty handed so he'd make a move when he had to. Caleb also knew Nathaniel's hidden respect for women. Growing up with a single mother, he learned the hardships of life when men decided to abandon their woman and child- his mother and himself. Caleb was well aware that Nathaniel would never crush Leah's hopes by telling her that this was all a mistake. He had too much heart for that- his greatest weakness of all. Unaware of what was currently happening, a cheerful Leah dragged Summer along with her out the store. Caleb trying to make a clean getaway, slipped between the two girls- a poor attempt at escaping Nathaniel's building irritation. "Yo Caleb, stay back for a sec will ya?" Nathaniel casually called his voice clear and crisp without a hint of anger. Caleb's first idea was to simply ignore him; pretend he hadn't heard Nathaniel calling him. But when the girls nudged his shoulder, he knew he couldn't deny that he'd heard or been notified. Caleb thought quickly; make some sort of an excuse. "Yeah man you know I would, but I gotta drive these ladies back home. You know with all that snow and ice outside, it's just not safe." But Summer and Leah were ready to rebuttal. It's not like they NEEDED some lame excuse for a man to take them home; they could take care of themselves. "Thanks for caring, but we can see ourselves home. You stick around with Nate and we'll be fine." Leah said. "But I won't..." Caleb mummured beneath his breath; inaudible to everyone else. "What was that? I didn't quite catch that last line there," Nathaniel asked, suspecting he'd said something. "Nothing, I said nothing. I can only stay for a second though, I've got other plans." Caleb sighed in defeat. "Okay good, it's settled then. Later guys and see you tonight!" Leah reminded. When the two girls had finally left Shop Right Drug Mart and were plainly out of seeing and listening distance, Nathaniel edged closer towards Caleb, Caleb taking a few steps back. "So, you wanna explain what the fuck just happened?" "I err, yeah about that. I was meaning to tell you about it." Caleb replied. "My mother fucking ass you were. Shit Caleb, if you WANTED to fucking take her, you could have just said so. All this bullshit with you lying to me and fucking setting me up just wasn't worth it nor was it cool- at all." Nathaniel angrily retorted. "Easy for you to say....." Caleb muttered. "What?" "I SAID easy for YOU to say. Look Nate, we've been best friends since who knows when and ever since the beginning of childhood it was obvious to me and everyone else in this entire universe excluding yourself that girls swam to you. And never to me. You were always THE one, I wasn't. For once, just ONCE, I WANTED to be THAT guy. I wanted to be the one that girls gossiped about over the phone late at nights as soon as they got home. I wanted to be the one that they dreamt about, fantasized about. Is that so wrong to want?" Caleb questioned. Nathaniel didn't reply for a few moments, pausing to extract the details and pick at the words he'd just heard. When he had finally come up with an answer, his words failed him. "But do you think, it was so hard to just ask?" Caleb looked taken aback, but pondered for a few minutes as well, "Maybe I just presumed you wouldn't get it? I really don't know what came over me, but I'm sorry. Seriously man. I acted like a dick over there." "Agreed." "What?! Aren't you supposed to say something OTHER than yeah; you're wrong, end of story?" Caleb grinned. "I don't know about you, but I'm not into that girl shit. Apology, acceptance, done. We don't need all that in between stuff." Nathaniel grinned back, pulling his friend into a sturdy handshake. "Sounds good, but I actually have stuff to do so I'll catch you later alright?" Caleb called as he walked away. Nathaniel nodded and returned to his remaining few hours of work. There wasn't much left to do since he'd already restocked most of the items on the shelves and replaced the old with the new. Every 15 minutes or so, he'd check the clock to see when his shift was over. The manager strolled by and noticed Nathaniel's prolonged staring at the large hour clock at the back of the store. "Go home son, you've done enough for today." The manager said. With a relieved thanks, Nathaniel jogged over to the revolving employees only door and tugged off his smock throwing it back into its rightful place. Nathaniel shuddered at the thought of being seen with that thing draped over him. Once again he speeded home ignoring the amber lights, never slowing down and only coming to a complete stop when the traffic lights turned red. 7:30pm, Friday evening Nathaniel scrambled to his feet, skidding to a halt in front of his closet. The club opened for visitors at around 8 'o clock, but people usually arrived around 8:30 to 9:00 pm just for the sake of being seen as fashionably late. Whether that was the case or not didn't seem to matter much. Nathaniel opened his closet and reviewed the contents. His eyes scanned from the very top of his closet where his mother neatly folded his t-shirts and dress shirts, to the cupboard in the corner that was filled with miscellaneous small items such as his boxers, vest, ties and socks. On racks and hangers were his jeans, suits, dress pants and special t-shirts and dress shirts that weren't meant for every day wear. This would probably have been the best place to pick out an outfit, but for some reason Nathaniel wasn't up to the challenge. Usually, he would have wondered what the girl he'd be taking out that evening would wear and try to have some sort of matching scheme. But tonight, he could care less. He reached up to the top shelf of his closest and pulled down a simple navy blue, long-sleeved shirt. He began to undress, pulling his faded black t-shirt off, and pulled back on a navy blue shirt. The dark set tones of the shirt were emphasized against the warm fairness of his skin. Unbuckling his belt, he shrugged out of his jeans and changed into straight legged black jeans that fit snug to his crotch and ankle area, but loosely around the waist and leg. The perfect fit. These were given to him from his mother on his 17th birthday a few months ago. They'd been tailored and customized to fit him precisely, something he wasn't used too. The jeans weren't remotely too tight, just closer fitting than the average teenage boy was accustomed to wearing. For once, the trim of his boxers weren't revealed and he wasn't forced to constantly pull them up by the buckle straps. A spray of cologne Nathaniel never bothered to read the name of and last minute ruffling of his hair, he was satisfied and went downstairs to tell his mother he was leaving. He slipped into his jacket and shoved his feet into a new pair of sneakers. Over his shoulder he called, "Mom! I'm leaving now. I'll be staying late so don't wait up for me." "Why would I ever do such a thing?" A smile was evident in his mother's words. He left knowing that she wouldn't get a single wink of sleep until she heard the turning of the lock when he arrived back home; safely. Must be a mother thing he presumed. 8:00 pm Nathaniel double checked the house number, just in case, and rang the doorbell of Leah's house. When he didn't get an immediate response, which he knew he wouldn't, he sat himself down on the porch swing. Waiting to here some sort of arrival, he stretched back causing the swing to squeak as it pushed back. He momentarily shut he eyelids, gently rocking back and forth with the cool breeze splashing his face. "Are we ready to go or are you too comfortable?" Leah joked, suddenly appearing at the front door. Nathaniel stood up quickly and apologized. Holding out his hand for her to take, she placed her hand within his palms and he walked her to his car. Walking onto her driveway, Leah stopped midway. "We're going in THAT?" She inquired. "Unless you'd rather walk half a mile," He answered. "Boy, you are SO lucky that your good looks and charm make up for all of this." "It's not THAT bad, is it?" Nathaniel asked, somewhat embarrassed now. "--Versus the theory of walking to Pete's nightclub, nope." Leah laughed seeing Nathaniel wrinkle his nose in disagreement. "I'm kidding!" she said. They both got into the car and drove away. The car was unusually silent without music or small talk to fill up the vacant space that seemed to be increasing in size. Finally, Nathaniel spoke. "Excited much?" Leah let out a vast exhale of breath, "More than you can imagine. I thought I'd self-combust any second if conversation didn't pick up in this car in the next 5 seconds." Nathaniel laughed, taking his hand off the steering wheel for only a second to tousle his hair. "How is it that you DO that? I mean, no matter how hard anyone tries to perfect that move you just did, it never seems to work. Until you." Leah complimented, her cheeks becoming rose-tinted. He was used to this kind of behaviour, and was surprised and flattered all at the same time that Leah felt some sort of timidity around him. He replied with a wide smile and a compliment of his own. "You look very gorgeous tonight. Almost makes me look cheap." "Oh, so I ALMOST make you look cheap eh?" Leah laughed with her eyes sparkling again. "Okay fine, so I admit, I'm a bit underdressed for this occasion." Nathaniel confessed, turning into the parking lot. He shifted gears into neutral and put his car into park position. Nathaniel helped Leah with her seatbelt then quickly unbuckled his own. They sat there for a minute, until Leah shifted her weight and turned to face him. "No. In fact, I'd have to say you look tall, dark and not to mention very, very handsome." She smiled. "- And those pants, fit you so well it's unbelievable." Leah continued as they got out the car and walked towards the front entrance. "Thanks, my mom bought them for me." Nathaniel said. Leah came to an abrupt halt, holding Nathaniel's hand in her own. "Never, ever say that again. The fact that your own MOTHER knows the exact sizing of your lower regions is just--- disturbing. There aren't many words in the dictionary to describe the thoughts running through my head right this second. And secondly, the sole idea of you actually admitting that you're mother bought those for you takes a lot of balls. Which from what I can tell, you've got plenty." Leah exclaimed. Nathaniel's mouth cracked, forming a huge smirk. Outstretching his arm, Leah linked hers with his and they walked onto the small platform flashing their tickets; admitting them inside by the front door man. The night had barely begun and already he felt the music pulsing within his veins and the rhythm pounding with his heart. "You wait here while I go figure out if the others have shown up yet." Nathaniel leaned forward to Leah, screaming in her ear just so she'd hear him. "You're what?! You CAN'T LEAVE ME ALL BY MYSELF! ARE YOU LIKE, INSANE, OR SOMETHING?!" Leah yelled back. "Right, right---far too many people here. Follow me." Nathaniel said, tugging on her arm as he pulled her through the already massive crowd. This was just the EARLY hours of the party; things weren't nearly as hectic- yet. Nathaniel placed Leah close beside him and stood up on a bar stool, looking overtop everyone else. Nathaniel scanned the entire club, or what he was actually able to see from this distance, for Caleb and Summer. Nathaniel caught the glint of Summer's strawberry blonde hair and stepped down from the stool turning to Leah. "I've found them. Let's go." He instructed, motioning Leah to follow once again. "Where are they?" Leah asked. "They're right under the disco ball. Should have guessed, it's Caleb." Leah laughed and followed Nathaniel through the crowd once more towards Summer and Caleb. After a few pushing and shoving sessions from the crowd, Nathaniel was finally able to pull Leah and himself out. "Caleb, didn't we agree we'd meet at our usual spot?" Nathaniel argued, but just for arguments sake. "Yeah I know, but I wanted Summer to see the disco ball up close." Caleb replied. Summer and Leah, upon seeing each other tightly embraced and stood beside the other. "Oh look, we came with girls only to be left with each other." Caleb joked. Leah rolled her eyes and stood near Nathaniel, intertwining their arms again. Caleb noticed their closeness and tried to do the same with Summer, but she looked distant as if she would rather be somewhere else. Anywhere, but here. "Would you like a drink?" Nathaniel asked Leah, his eyes only on Summer. She caught and kept his gaze, but never answered. "Sure, that'd be nice." Leah responded. Summer was the first to break the ongoing stare, turning her head in Caleb's direction. She slipped her arm in between Caleb's and he pulled her slightly closer, drawing her in. She gave a smile and rested her head on his shoulder. Nathaniel tried not to cringe at this notion, but found it hard to restrain from doing so. Nathaniel instead occupied himself with getting Leah a drink as promised. Caleb did the same for Summer and for a while, it went on like this; one following the other. They sipped and laughed over their drinks, talking about what ever came to mind. An upbeat song that only Leah and Summer seemed to know the name of suddenly came on and before they knew it, the boys were being dragged to the dance floor. Nathaniel, though he was calm and in a rather cheerful mood, still didn't take well to being dragged so he switched positions and did the pulling instead. While doing so, he looked over at Summer watching her about to place her glass down. "Don't leave that there if you're planning on coming back to it." Nathaniel warned, knowing all too well the consequences of doing so. She nodded, as if she now understood and gave an appreciative smile. Caleb tugged on her arm bringing her back to attention. She blinked and followed him into the light beneath the disco ball. It was still early, but the night was working its way in. People all around were dancing, panting and sweating to the beat of the music. Nathaniel had to admit, Leah could dance. His hands glided to her hips and she firmly kept them there with her own as she swayed back and forth. Leah turned away from him, her back pressed against his hard chest as she slid down feeling the ripples of his lower abdomen. Nathaniel was sweating profusely at this point and felt his shirt sticking to his skin, accentuating what lay beneath. Nathaniel continued to move to the pulsing beats of the music with Leah, but for a split second his eyes shifted to Summer. Then he stopped. He felt his face flush in the darkness though it would pass as unrecognizable and nothing more than the passion of the dancing. He watched Caleb place one hand around her waist while the other trailed down her spine sensually, causing goose bumps to arise on the arch of her neck. "Is something wrong?" Leah panted, her voice coming out hoarse and raspy. Nathaniel snapped his head in her direction, suddenly remembering the girl standing beside him. "No. I'm fine. I think I needa use the men's room. You'll be fine here with those two right?" She nodded and pushed him to go. Nathaniel rushed through the crowd, instantaneously feeling nauseous and sick to his stomach. His throat became parched and dry and he had absolutely no idea what was going on with his body. It couldn't be the drugs; he never took any. Couldn't be the high levels of alcohol; he hadn't had enough. Nathaniel pushed open the men's washroom door with his shoulder and braced himself against the wall. He slowly slid down, kneeling forward while tightly clutching at his stomach. A few minutes later Caleb barged into the men's room and saw Nathaniel growling and panting in pain. Leah had told him she thought something might have been wrong with him so he came to check things out. He had NO idea it was THIS bad. "Shit man, Nate you alright down there? You look like you're about to have a baby." Caleb asked, hovering over Nathaniel. "--Like you'd...fucking know," Nathaniel grumbled between breaths, a guttural sound escaping his mouth. Caleb rubbed at his temples with frustration. He didn't know what to do or how to make the situation any better, if that was even possible. So Caleb did the only thing he could do, he paced back and forth waiting for a solution to come to him. Just then he heard female voices quarrelling, the voices getting louder as if they were approaching. Leah slammed the door open, frantic as ever with a worried looking Summer just behind. "NEVER leave a man to do a woman's job," Leah exclaimed, staring at Caleb incredulously. "Oh look; there's my exact point right THERE! All he's doing is pacing back and forth like a mad man doing absolutely NOTHING while we're out there worried SICK. I thought the two of you died in here." Leah exaggerated once more. Leah took no minds to the fact that she was in a male public washroom where at any moment another man they didn't know could waltz right in and they wouldn't be able to say a damn thing. Just their luck, a boy around their age that was half knocked out of his senses, came in and smirked. "Eeey! Keep the sex in the stalls will yoooou!" The boy slurred, still with that ridiculously goofy smirk plastered across his face. "Caleb, could you handle this one?" Summer quietly suggested. It seemed she was the only sane, rational and not intoxicated person in the room. "Sure thing Summer. Hey you, whatever your name is, get the fuck out of here. Now." Caleb yelled. "Or you'll dooo whaatt?" "I'll beat your ass down, that's what I'm a do to you!" Caleb threatened. The boy shook his head, flashing his middle finger in Caleb's direction and walked out. Everyone sighed in relief. "Not exactly my idea of 'Caleb could you handle this?' but sure, that worked too." Summer grinned. Caleb shrugged, he did his best. He peered over Leah and saw that Nathaniel was still on the floor, but was now sitting upright drinking a water bottle that was being given to him by Summer. A tinge of jealousy overcame him, but he hid it well. Now was not the time to beat Nathaniel up about stealing his girl. "Are we leaving... or what's happening?" Caleb casually asked. "I think we shou-" The two girls began. "Let's dance." Nathaniel finished, getting to his feet. "But you're not feeling well; I think you should slow down a bit. Take it easy." Summer suggested. Leah nodded in agreement. "Don't worry mamma, you'll take care of me won't you?" Nathaniel grinned. "---And he's back at it again!" Leah rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Err, you guys? I think we should get a move on it." Summer cut in. They crept over and peered through the creak of the door Summer had barely opened. One of the security men was headed straight to the men's washroom. But there was no time to make a run for it, he was too close. Nathaniel's mind raced at unbelievable speeds. He grabbed Summer's hand and shoved her into the closest bathroom stall, propping her on the rim of the toilet seat. Her eyes were wild and she opens her mouth to object. Despite Nathaniel's motion of placing his fingers across his mouth telling her not to say a word, she begins to speak when the washroom door opens with a screech. Nathaniel shoves her against the wall; the collision of his kiss knocking the wind out of her chest.
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[5] Romance in Aisle 3: The Tampon Section
Today, I'm officially off hiatus for various reasons. a) my exams are over and done along with the stress b) January.27th (today) marks my first year anniversary under the username of decorated.scene @ Quizilla.com c) I've left my readers on a filler, but for good reason. This chapter is longer than my usual chapters & hopefully this will make up for my absence and make your patience worthwhile. Please enjoy ♥ RATED MATURE FOR COURSE LANGUAGE AND DESCRIPTIVE MILD SEXUAL CONTENTDid you like this story? Make one of your own!
