Hailey

: Who's this friend?

I stared at the text for a long second, wondering whether I should respond or not without knowing the reason of my hesitation.

: Herond

A loud thud from outside Letty made me jump and when I looked up didn't see the quarterback around.

Oh, shit.

Not waiting for Matt's reply I get out as well and followed the direction drunken Nate had stumbled towards.

"Nate?" I heard curses and went in that direction. "Where are you- Oh." I had to halt abruptly not to step on his waist.

He was laying there, on the grass, ten feet away from the bench of the viewpoint where we could see all the city lights beneath, almost as bright as the amount of starts hovering us.

I got to give it to him, this was such a great spot.

I frowned, carefully sitting by his shamelessly sprawled frame. "You scared me." I mumbled, not sure he was here or lost in his own thoughts for the intensity in his eyes as he glared the sky. "I thought you might have fallen or something."

"I have."

"I mean down the cliff."

"Oh, then I haven't."

I sighed, looking forwards to the view in front of us. This place was really awesome.

I'd came here once or twice with the girls, but usually it was a point for tourists, typical spot where everyone snapped his picture before moving on to the next town. It wasn't like there were a lot of other things here so I kinda understand them.

We weren't a town prepared for visitors, more like a small, familiar one. But since it was dark, both the stars and city lights were like a mirage and gave it an almost mystical halo.

It was quiet and daunting, and my mind drifted away without me noticing. Thinking about Justin again, wondering if I'd ever stood a chance or Karen was always his first choice... Who am I kidding? She obviously was. I mean, she was perfect. Lovely, social, smart, athletic... and I was just, well, me.

My heart ached as I twisted small strands of grass between my fingers. Why couldn't I just un-crush him? It was clear that he wasn't healthy for me and that he already had someone else, then why on earth couldn't I stop my heart from longing for him?

Ahh, it was frustrating. If I just could-

"What are you humming?"

I froze at Nate's sudden voice. Oh, shit, I hadn't even realized I was loud enough for him to hear. In fact, I'd almost forgotten he was there as well.

My cheeks heated immediately, but he remained calm when I turned to glimpse at him, waiting for my answer.

"I tend to do that when I'm... yeah. It's Someone you love."

His brows furrowed but he still not opening his eyes. "Uh?"

"Lewis Capaldi?"

"Doesn't ring bell."

This time I frowned. "You gotta be kidding me." Nate shrugged, not bothered at all. "Oh, no no no. We're gonna change that." and not wasting another second I slid my fingers through the phone's screen going straight to my music. "Here, listen to this and enjoy."

The soft melody engulfed us as I left the item between us in the grass, filling the place with the marvelous talented pitches of such a great song. As usual, my chest bloated in emotion as the song went on. When the chorus came I closed my lids, letting it totally get to me as the soft late spring breeze grazed my cheeks.

The magic moment was snapped when Nate huffed. "This is just sad." my chest cringed slightly. "Put something else."

"Nope." I bit my lip when he finally opened his eyes and narrowed them at me but I stayed firm. "I like it. It stays." and laid down as well in hopes once I lost the eye contact having had the last word my conviction would remained.

'Now the day bleeds, into nightfall

and you're not here, to get me through it all

I let my guard down and then you pulled the rug

I was getting kinda used to being someone you loved-'

"You're doing it again." he hoarsely mumbled and I immediately stopped humming at once.

Damn, why didn't I notice I do? This is just embarrassing.

From the corner of my eyes I saw him shifting, bending one knee and resting one arm lazily over his stomach while using his other as a pillow. Getting comfortable, are we? Guess we're staying here for a while then. I concentrate on the song again.

'-Now I need somebody to know

somebody to heal

somebody to have

just to know how it feels-'

"How can you like something so sad?"

"Because it's beautiful." I answered in a whisper, too emotional. For some reason Justin and Karen kept appearing under my lids as the melancholy filled the air.

He scoffed. "There are more beautiful things that don't make you wanna stop living, you know?"

"What?" my face blushed harder and I turned my head only to notice he hadn't moved form his magazine-like-pose, no even noticing my glare.

"You know I'm right." one of the corners of his out twitched as he slurred.

"It's my favourite song."

"I'm so sorry then."

I reached out to grab the phone. "Uh, you know what? Now you're just spoiling it. Thank you very much." but just as I unlocked it, it was snatched out my grasp. "Hey!"

"Just let me... Aha." his frown melted into a quick grin as he typed a new song. "Now we're talking."

I rose one brow at the cheerfu, loud rhythm coming from the speakers. "Really?"

"Your music, Gracie. At least I know you're not a complete waste." my teeth clenched at the nick again and that successfully prevent the upcoming smile from appearing.

"Nate." I warned when he retracted his arm as I reached out and turn up the volume. "Give it back-"

"Shhhh, hold on..." he closed his eyes as the chorus get closer and when it arrived he smiled -drunken smile- and sang along: "Had to have high high hopes for a living."

"Oh my god." my eyes widened, looking around for any possible witness.

"Shooting for the stars when I couldn't make a killing!"

"Tone it down..."

But the quarterback had it easy to keep me away from the shoulder when I once again tried to snatch it from his hold "There's no one here! Now, here's the best part." and instead raised the volume all the more. Hell no. "HAD TO HAVE HIGH HIGH HOPES FOR A LIVING! DIDN'T KNOW HOW BUT I ALWAYS HAD A- eh!"

Finally reaching the phone I lowered the crazy loud sound to a more reasonable tune and that leave Nate screaming on top of his lungs by himself. The confused demi-pouting look he gave me was adorable and this time I couldn't contain it anymore and laughed, leaning back into a sitting position again.

"You're crazy, Herond."

Once more, he shrugged, resting on his back once more as well, glancing up the stars. "Heard that before, Gracie."

Shaking my head, I laid down again too; this time keeping the phone on my abdomen, but for some reason deciding to let him had his song on the background. Taking in a deep sigh, I decided to open my mouth again.

"Could you, maybe, um, not call me that?"

I waited a few seconds for his reaction, tensing in anticipation and when it didn't come right away I thought he might have fallen sleep. But then his low voice cut the air again, baffled: "Call you what?"

"Gracie." it tasted bad as it rolled out my tongue and I shut my eyes forcefully, hoping I wasn't being as ridiculous as I felt.

"Why?"

"I hate it."

"But isn't it what everyone call you?"

"Yes." I sighed. "But it's like... How would you feel if everyone called you little Herond?"

To my surprise he laughed at that. "Well, little Herond is in fact another thing, you know?" I blushed deep red as he kept smirking like the jock he is. "A part of me that-"

"I get it! I get it. I'm sorry for the choice of words. Just... Don't call me that."

He hummed, pressing his lips together, but they still stretched. "Mh, okay, I guess. But why?"

I hesitated. I felt like I could tell him... I kinda wanted to... but did I really? To go all sharing personal stuff with boozy star here? He probably won't remember a thing in the morning and next week we'll be back on not interacting with each other.

Not for nothing, it was just that we didn't share anything. No friends, no passions, no likes... So what was even the point? We were from different worlds.

"Never mind." I sighed.

"Okay." but even in his dragging of the words I could sense how unsettled his 'okay' was.

My heart sped when I felt his shifting and from the corner of my eyes, I saw his turning to his side so he was facing me. What is he doing? I had to force my muscles not to react and just laid there glancing the stars... with a sledgehammer in my rib cage. Seconds passed and his stare start to burn the side of my face I hesitantly turned my head to meet it.

"Why were you crying?" Nate asked as soon as I did and for a moment I was speechless at his bluntness. I bit my lip, ignoring the ache in my chest as more images of their kiss came back to me.

"Why were you drunk?" I fired back instead, but he shrugged, not dropping his eyes.

"I needed to numb it."

My brows pursed. "To numb what?"

He opened his mouth like going to say something else but then something flashed under his orbs and decided to close it, sobering up a little more all at once. "Never mind."

At my bewildered expression he sent me a flash smirk and laid on his back again.

What was that? What could Roosevelt's football star possibly want to numb? True that I didn't know him that well, but all I know is he was handsome, popular, a heartthrob... Anyone in our high school would want to exchange places with him, but here he was, getting drunk to numb something.

The song changed, but neither of us was paying attention to it anymore. Gathering all my courage together, I wondered softly: "Is it about Trish?"

"What?" his eyes widened and turned to give me a startled look. "Why would you even say that?"

For the umpteenth time today my cheeks warmed. I swear I have a natural talent to say the most inappropriate things...

"Umm, I... she brought her boyfriend and... It's just that-"

"We broke up over a year ago."

"I know." his gaze turned weird. Wow, Hails, very well, this ain't sound creepy at all. "I-I mean, everyone knows. You were kinda the Couple and all."

"Right." he looked straight forward but I still mentally beated myself up for being so awkward. Then I heard him sigh and turned to carefully glance at him. "It's just... sometimes everything gets too much and I can't take it."

Whoa, was he really going to talk about it? Was I really that curious? Apparently I was. 'Cause I couldn't help but clear my throat and softly asked: "What do you mean?"

"The school, the team, football... sometimes it's just too much pressure." he admitted in a low tone, broken even and my chest twisted at its sound. "It's like I could never be good enough, but they keep pushing and pushing 'till I bend... or break."

"You won't break." I furrowed my brows, surprised at his honesty.

"It doesn't feel like that."

"You won't." I assured, not really believing I was reassuring the great quarterback about his talent. "You're amazing in the field. Everyone can tell."

This time he did raise his eyes to meet mine, almost pleading. I didn't recognize this Nate in front of me. So vulnerable... "You really think so?"

"Of course. You're Matt's patch up, after all. If you weren't good enough coach Grey wouldn't have put you in his place."

"Oh," he smiled sadly, but I was content since it was more than his depressive mood ten seconds ago. "I tend to forget you two are related."

Wow! What a low blow there! I diverted my gaze immediately. "Yeah, well, you're not the only one who's not good enough."

"What? No." Nate turned on his side again so now we were face to face, but mine still diverted not meeting his burning green orbs. "That's not what I meant."

"It's alright."

"It's not. It's just that the two of you are like polar opposites."

Yikes, more nails into my heart. "I know-"

"No, Grac- Hailey. Not in a bad way."

"So he is popular, intelligent and athletic while I'm the polar opposite and it's in a good way?"

"For fuck's sake! You girls are always this difficult..." Nate brushed his face frustratingly, resting the back of his head tiredly on the grass. "That's so not what I mean."

"It's alright." I repeated. "I know I'm not my brother. I mean it. I know I'm not as spontaneous nor outspoken, but it's fine. He's just so bright it's easy to be outshone by him, you know? Especially when I live with him." I let out a soft laugh ad sighed. "I'm gonna miss him so much, though. I guess I'm too used to seeing him around and when he moved out in a couple months..." my voice quivered and I pulled harder on the strands of grass I was mercilessly twitching.

"Is this why you were crying?" Nate chimed in, bringing me back to reality.

"No, no, it's Jus-" I stopped myself before I could mess it further, but it was already too late.

"Justin Ames?" he snorted when I looked at him wide eyes, startled at his accurate assumption. "What? You think I'm the only one that get some rumors upon my love life?"

No way. My stomach churned. There was no way there were rumors about us when it was a secret. A mistake that only happened twice. I never told anyone other than Vickie and Taylor and was pretty sure that he, being the one in a relationship, would certainly want to keep it down more than myself. So how could someone like Nate -who wasn't a friend of either of the parts- know about this?

I gulped. "W-what rumors?"

"They say you were sucking him up last week on the computer room." Nate commented with a small shrug, not at all conscious of the stab that caused to my heart.

My face paled and I felt blood run icy cold in my veins. Who would spread such awful rumors? Yes, he kissed me the first time there, but that was it. And there was no one there to witness it so who on earth would make something as degrading up.

On my lack of response, Nate turned to look at me frowning slightly. "Is it true, then?"

"Of course not!"

"Okay! Jeez! I was just wondering!"

"Well, don't." I held my head and rested my elbows on my legs, swinging back and forth. "Oh damn oh damn oh damn. I can't believe this is circulating around. No wonder why Karen hated me back there. She might think I'm trying to steal her boyfriend... Oh Gosh. I'm not! This awful, this is really awful-"

"Damn it, Hailey, chill. Nobody believes it anyway."

"It's not that easy, okay?" I stopped my movement and look up with narrowed eyes. "How would you react if someone was saying such things of you, uh?"

"They're just rumors. Don't mind them."

"I can't believe it. Justin's gonna freak out. And then stop talking to me and... oh my god, he's gonna think I'm the one spreading them! Unless... unless he's the one doing it. But no. Nah ah. He wouldn't Justin is not like that."

"Really?"

"Mhm." I nodded. "He's been nothing but sweet ever since I met him and not even once had done anything remotely wicked... well, if you exclude the cheating... I'm not saying we cheated. It was only a mistake. I never mean to hurt Karen. Now it's pretty clear they're a perfect couple and he won't leave her for me of all the people... proof of it is how pathetic I am now rambling about it with a perfect stranger. I don't even know why I'm even saying this to you..."

"Don't stop." I heard, so faintly I wasn't sure I made it out. Especially when I turned and his lids were pressed together tiredly.

"Stop?" I wandered as lowly, ready to pretend I never did if he refuse to acknowledge me, but he did. A muscle of his clenched jaw snapped.

"Talking. Don't stop talking. It soothes me."

"What?"

"Your voice."

My heart skipped a beat, cheeks warming like crazy. "Oh?" My voice soothed him? Was he making fun of me? If the situation was different I would have thought that; but since he was drunk and upset, I doubted he was aiming to tease me now.

I turned my neck to the side and for the first time I allowed myself to appreciate him.

It was easy to see why girls go nuts with him. With his face made of graceful yet hard lines, high cheekbones and those bright green eyes... Nate was easily one of the most handsome guys in Roosevelt High. Maybe even more than Justin.

My heart stung at the unwanted reminder of what he was probably doing at that party. Again, I adverted my gaze to the stars, blinking the tears away.

"Why?" I wondered in hopes not to attract attention on my little crisis.

"Don't fucking know."

Wow, what a way to blow my bubble of anticipation. I felt deflated and a little disappointed as well, but a small laugh escaped me as he drifted me away from the heartache. "Okay then."

"Did you say I'm a stranger?" his change of topic confused me for a second.

"Yeah, you kinda are."

"I know you since, like, forever or so."

"And still we don't know anything about each other." I lifted one shoulder nonchalantly.

Who would had thought I would be spending Friday's night chatting with Nate Herond, uh?

Never in my wildest dreams.

At his conflicted expression I proceeded: "I don't know your favorite color, food or even what your usual pick up line is. And vice versa. We don't know each other."