Array
(
[text] =>

This chapter was finished faster, and its a bit longer than the last, yay! Annnnnnnnd, it's in Nathan's P. O. V. What more can you ask for? Lol, don't answer.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I know I did.

Picture of Jake to the >>>>>>>>>

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nathan's P. O. V.

It was here again, except, this time, it was in the form of a poem:

Life In A Love

- Robert Browning

Escape me?

Never-

Beloved!

While I am I, and you are you,

So long as the world contains us both,

Me the loving and you the loth,

While the one eludes, must the other pursue.

My life is a fault at last, I fear-

It seems too much like a fate, indeed!

Though I do my best I shall scarce succeed-

But what if I fail of my purpose here?

It is but to keep the nerves at strain,

To dry one's eyes and laugh at a fall,

And baffled, get up to begin again,-

So the chase takes up one's life, that's all.

While, look but once from your farthest bound,

At me so deep in the dust and dark,

No sooner the old hope drops to ground

Than a new one, straight to the selfsame mark,

I shape me-

Ever

Removed!

I stared at the notebook paper, read the compelling words for a second time, and breathed out a resigned sigh.

For about a week now I've been receiving such things. At first it was a quote, now its moved on to poems or certs from books I've read, every time neatly folded into a sealed envelope with my name written on the front in cursive letters and expertly hidden somewhere where I'll unexpectedly find it.

I have no idea who keeps placing these envelopes inside my locker, or in my composition notebooks, my folders, even my book bag, and other places too; or why they were doing such a thing in the first place.

But, it was obvious to me that whoever this was, had done their homework on me since, each phrase, each line, was from an author or artist that I admired or have read works a few times from, enough so to recognize their masterpieces.

And, if what the poems/quotes/certs are hinting at, I'd have to say this person is entirely in love with me, or something of the sort, and is trying to convey that to me though these... Messages, I believe is what they appear to be anyways.

And what, may you ask, have I been doing about this?

Obviously, I've been trying to figure out who it is that is sending these things to me.

Granted, they don't leave a name, or even an initial to go by, making it harder for me to track them down. They seem to want to remain anonymous, but I wasn't going to have that. I was going to find out who this is, and when I do...

I'm not even sure what I'd do.

The standard reaction would be to accuse them of stalking, ward them off from doing it again by threatening to call the cops, or verbally reprimand them, etc. There were many options to choose from.

However, my heart had other ideas. It was curious. It wanted to meet this person for different reasons.

I will admit, and only just this once, that whoever this was doing this, has caught my interest. I won't deny that I was slowly being swayed by this mysterious person. That their letters haven't penetrated my heart; that they haven't made me swoon per se.

But, however much my heart wanted to waver, or to try to convince me otherwise of this persons wrongdoings, I was not blinded by such childish acts, such attempts to win me over by indirect means.

It was as if this person was too afraid to face me directly and that, in my books, was grounds for suspicion.

What would make him/her so afraid to face me? What had they done that may incur my wrath, if they did anything at all? And if they didn't do anything, why the need to hide?

I frowned, these questions putting me on edge, and folded the paper back up, then slid it into the envelope it was delivered in and into my locker, where it would stay until further notice.

Once it was secured I slammed my locker shut and locked it, then spun on my heels and observed with caution those around me.

My eyes scanned every student that passed by me, my mind suspecting each and every one of them as possible matches to this mysterious person.

I looked for watchful eyes, for suspicious behavior of any kind, but found nothing, but that didn't mean I couldn't feel their gaze on me, tracking my every movement, even if all these sensations were part of my imagination. I knew that out there, this person lay in wait for me, and that was all that I knew to be true.

I squared my shoulders and began walking to my next class, and as I entered the room, I glanced around at the few students who were in their and narrowed my eyes at them.

Could it be one of them? I questioned, but even as the thought crossed my mind, I already knew the answer to it.

No, they were not the one I was looking for.

I continued on with my search, and then my eyes landed on Aiden, and a thought formed, but I dismissed it out of my head just as quickly as it had appeared, every fiber in my body full of denial.

I moved away from the doorway and towards my seat, my thoughts in turmoil.

There was no way that it was Aiden doing this. Sure he had seemed forgiveness from me for his past to sooth his guilty conscious, but that was all he had sought after, nothing more. No romantic feeling to it.

Yet, I couldn't shake this gut wrenching feeling that something wasn't quite right with him, but for the life of me, I could not figure out what it was. Something about him just screamed at my instincts, made my earlier denials doubtful.

Was it his behavior, the way he acted?

I watched as he laughed at a comment one of his classmate said, his lips spreading wide to reveal a perfect set of pearly white teeth that reflected the classroom lights.

He seemed to be acting normal enough, from what I could tell, so what was it? What was it that was putting me on edge?

As I continued to observe him from my seat, I started to notice other things about him, things I had long ago banished from my mind the moment I resolved myself to taking revenge upon him: His beauty.

My eyes widened in surprise in this realization that I was having such thoughts about Aiden, that I was beginning to be aware of him yet again.

No, this can't happen. I'm making the same mistake all over again. Do not fall back in love with him just because he might of changed a bit.

But what if he actually didn't change? What if all this was an act to lure me in and trick me again? But even I was doubtful of this, as Aiden's change had happened before my arrival.

Aiden suddenly stopped laughing and turned his head sharply my way, as if me thinking about him had gain his attention somehow, and our eyes met. It was too late for me to look away and pretend I hadn't been staring intently at him. I had no excuses, and I would offer up no explanation if he demanded for one.

Something flashed in Aiden's eyes then, an unreadable look that was there and gone, that if I hadn't been so focused on him, I might have missed it. I froze and held my breath, an unknown feeling coursing through me.

There it is! That's what's been bothering me, that look in his eyes.

I couldn't explain what it was, the emotion that had flashed in them for only a second. But whatever it set my blood ablaze. I had only seen that look a few times before during the last couple of days, but already it felt like a familiar sight.

It was strange. Why would it be such a familiar sight if I'd only seen it a few times?

However, now that I thought about it, why have I been able to see it so much, if it only occurs once in a while?

But the answer came to me with not a moment to lose.

Isn't it because I'm always looking at him, paying too much attention to Aiden lately? That must be it. Unconsciously I must be drawn to him, for whatever the reason, and I was only now noticing this behavior of mine.

How long have I taken notice of him, and since when? Has Aiden himself discovered this newly formed habit I seemed to have developed, or has it remained hidden from plain sight? There was no way for me to know for sure, I could only hope for the best.

As the day went on, my thoughts of the mysterious person subsided until it was completely locked in the back of my mind, forgotten.

However, my peace only lasted till the end of the day...

The bell signaling the end of the school day sounded off and everyone was in a hurry to leave. It was Friday, so everyone was in a rush for the weekend, as I was, as that would mean no more letters the whole time, hopefully.

As I sped through the crowd of moving students to my locker, I was joined by my only other two friends who weren't Zack, Mia, or Kyle. Aiden... I couldn't really call him a friend, more like a nuisance.

There was Simon, who was the straightest person I had ever met, which was a shame for me as I liked his type: Blond hair, blue eyes, handsome; and was in a long distance relationship with his girlfriend. Usually those kinds of relationships never work out, but it was for them. They've been dating for over three years now, and showed no signs of stopping.

Then there's Brandon: Brown haired, brown eyed, a bit of a baby face. Sweet, sweet Brandon who had the unfortunate luck in falling in love with Simon. He doesn't know that I know this secret about him, but it was kind of hard to miss if you know what you're looking for: The way his eyes always followed after Simon, or how whenever Simon was absent, Brandon was like a deflated balloon, or how Simon was all he could talk, and no doubt think about. I could keep going, but I think you get the point.

The both of them greeted me with wide grins and Simon fist bumped me, a little thing we do for our own amusement.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" I asked, feeling myself begin to relax, my worries once again pushed aside.

"It's going good," Simon replied.

"Same," Brandon said.

Simon's face lit up suddenly. "Hey, I talked to Jill last night, and she said she might be able to arrange a trip to come down here and visit during spring, that's if her parents let her though. And then there's the worry of the cost. God I hope she can come!"

The spark in Brandon's eyes dimmed at the mention of Jill, and I couldn't help but feel bad for him.

Simon, you dumbass, I thought.

Jill was Simon's girlfriend. She was a sweet girl with a face to match, but that's all I really could tell you about her. I wasn't really acquainted with her, unlike Brandon was, who's met her over online chat more than a few time.

I'm sure that must have been painful. Having to pretend to like your love rival, having to watch how they interact with each other, how lovey-dovey they are to each other.

"Congratulations," I commented, a bit sarcastically, then winced, knowing I was being unfair to Simon.

It's not like Simon was a bad guy, he was just extremely dense to others feelings sometime.

However, Simon, like the dense guy he was, didn't detect the sarcasm in my words. "I know right, this will be the first time we meet face-to-face if this works out," the excitement in his voice was palpable.

See, Jill and Simon had met on a internet dating sight - Simon had only tries the site out foe amusement, just to see what his options would be. However, when they began talking, they realized they had a lot in common and actually decided to try dating. They exchanged phone numbers, emails, and set up Skype accounts. They talk almost every day, and it seems that they were mean for each other.

I know all this because I had asked Brandon one day. It was also then that I realized he was in love with Simon.

I smiled at Simon, but didn't say anything. Brandon also stayed quiet. Simon didn't seem to notice our strange behavior.

I reached my locker then, and stuffed in it what I didn't need, and took out what I did.

We headed for the front of the parking lot after that, and conversation between Brandon and Simon started up again. I just spaced out as we walked, my mind elsewhere, that is, until something occurred to me.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath, and Simon paused with his conversation with Brandon to address me, worry in his eyes.

"Nathan, what's wrong?" He asked.

"I forgot something in my locker," I said with a frown.

"You going to go get it?" Brandon asked, slowing down to a stop, Simon following suit.

"Yeah, I'll be right back, it should only take a minute to go grab. Don't leave without me," I shouted over my shoulder, already jogging back the way I came.

I reached my locker within a minute, but came to a halt when I turned the corner and saw that someone was standing in front of my locker, something in their hand. My breath stilled in my lungs as I recognized who it was standing there, and disbelief coursed through me.

No, it can't be.

At the sound of my approach the person spun around, startled, and what they were holding fell to the floor between us.

The words on the paper were visible to me, and my eyes couldn't help but curiously drift down to the small piece of paper, and as I read, I realized this wasn't a poem, wasn't a cert from a book, or a quote, this was something else: a confession, one I was sure I was supposed to have gotten on Monday, after the weekends pass. I would have come to school, looked in my locker, and found this.

"The time has come for me to reveal who I am, but I will not do so on this paper. Sometime today, that's when I'll do it, so look forward to it," it said.

Slowly I looked up from the paper and to the person in front of me whose face held a mixture of surprise and horror, my eyes wide as realization dawned on me.

Aiden was my mysterious person.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nathan found out, what will Aiden do? How with Nathan react to this development? Find out, next chapter! ;D

Anywhore, V/C/F.

Until next time, peace out! :)

[text_hash] => af4d035a
)