Kaiden

Nathan is a Mr. Know It all.

Granted he's smart and Biology seems to be a part of him, like he swallowed the entire textbook but he is insufferable sometimes.

"Kaiden, that's too much stain! You're gonna clog the damn slide!"

"You do it then, if you're so clever!" I huff, giving up. "God you're irritating!"

"I'm just a perfectionist. And it's literally the easiest part of mounting, you can't possibly get that wrong?"

Apparently I can.

"Quit with the acting. We both know you're the slob!" I nudge him, grinning. He laughs.

"Fine. At least I can do a better slide than you and no, that is not up for debate!" 

"I'll just stick to the diagrams then," I concede.

We work in silence for a while, him writing the observations and me doing the paperwork. We make a good team, our work ethic is compatible even if he is a bossy bitch.

It's very rare that this happens for me so I'm glad my senior year assignments for this class would be with him. And I'm hoping for every other class as well... to have an excuse to be near him.

"How's school going? You're disgustingly popular already, I am jealous!"

We're allowed to talk in lab, just not loud enough to disrupt others.

"Don't be, I'd much rather just stick with you. Everyone else only wants to get me in bed," he mumbles.

"And how do you know that? Friendship is a thing, you know," I chuckle, trying to ignore the butterflies at his statement.

"I have impeccable instincts."

"What are you, a wild animal?"

Nathan smiles, making my heart skip a beat.

"Only you, Kai-Pie."

"There's that nickname again! Stop calling me that!"

"Nope, shan't."

*****

"Where are you going? You can sit with us for lunch. Or are you gonna sit with Sasha again?" I tease, after our Chemistry lecture.

I made sure I was paired with him again, purely for academic purposes.

Our professors usually assign pairs with seating pattern. I may or may not have intentionally pushed Raven out of the way, to sit beside him. She didn't notice, thankfully.

"I have work with the Principal. I'll catch up later?" He smiles, sauntering off.

I spot a few juniors ogle him. He smiles politely at them before walking away and they giggle. What a bunch of simps! Right, as if I am not the same.

I make my way to my group at our usual table, smiling to myself.

"Stop fraternising with our enemy!" Daniel groans. I roll my eyes.

"Getting tired of your shit Daniel. We've been through this already," Alex sighs.

"Yeah man, he's my friend," I mutter.

"Guys guys! I was thinking, for Spirit Week, we could keep the following days!" Bella interrupts us, sitting beside me with a folder of papers and notebook. She pushes her glasses up her tiny nose, looking overworked and frazzled.

Girl does the most for the student body and keeps everything strictly confidential as per rules, so we can't even help the poor thing out.

"Pajama Day?" she asks.

Everyone cheers.

"Fuck yes, I'd be so happy to come to school in sweatpants!" Raven laughs.

She lists a few other days and says the council is still in the process of shortlisting them but will be finalized in the coming week.

"Coach is going crazy for the season already. I am so sore and it's only been a week of school! Should we go hang out at the Starbucks today after school? No practice today so we're free," Alex asks.

"Sure, we could all do homework there!"

"Can we invite Nathan?" Raven asks, grinning at Daniel. He flips her off, continuing to eat his food in silence.

"I don't see a problem," Alex nods. "I need you guys to help me with Calc, I'm in a slump!"

"It's decided then."

******

Rest of school rolls by. Nathan takes AP Psychology so he isn't with me. I catch him at the lockers, speaking to Sasha. She waves at me when I approach and leaves. I wonder what they talk about all the time.

"You didn't come through entire lunch! What held you up?" I ask Nathan, putting my books in.

"Met Principal Hamish and then had some work with the Econ teacher."

I frown.

"God, today was exhausting. I could do with an XL coffee," he sighs, leaning his forehead against the cool metal of the locker.

"Oh hey that reminds me, do you want to hang out with us at the Starbucks near school?"

He straightens, raising a brow.

"The one on Grant street?"

I nod and he smiles.

"I work there."

"What?"

"I got a part time job there, joined a couple days ago."

"You did?! That's great! I mean, I can meet you even if you're busy at work! So, do I get a free Starbucks everytime I visit you?"

"Why would I do that? We're not friends Kai-Pie," he laughs, putting an arm on my shoulder.

He has to walk slightly on his tiptoes to be comfortable in that position.

"Yeah, don't do that, you look ridiculous," I laugh.

He nods, immediately putting a distance between us, ears red. I hate myself for suggesting that, I was enjoying having him near me.

God, I need to get my shit together.

"You grew like half a foot in the month after camp. We used to be equally matched!" He grumbles.

"It's called a growth spurt, Nathan. You should know, right? You're the bio whiz," I say snarkily.

"You're literally so mean. What did I ever do to you?"

We walk to the parking. I spot my friends chatting near their vehicles. Two girls approach us. I know them from junior year, Tamara and Harper.

"Hey Nathan, hey Kai!" Tamara sings, batting her eyelashes. "We were wondering if you would want to attend my birthday party on Friday eve? It's at my place and I have several people coming!"

Nathan gives her the most uninterested look ever.

"My mother said no," he says in a dead voice and drags me away before I can even open my mouth. I hear them huff and walk away, muttering among themselves.

I laugh. He lets go of my hand when we reach my car.

"See what I meant? About people only wanting me in their beds?" he asks, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, since you're heading to the Starbucks, could I come with you?"

"Nah, you can walk since you won't agree to giving me a free coffee."

"Seriously?" he groans.

"Yep!"

"You're a child! What if you order something outrageously expensive and then have me pay for it?"

"Set a budget then. Free coffee, only then I will give you a ride. It's fair since you said we're not friends!"

"Aw come on, that was a joke! Besides, all your friends would expect a free coffee everytime they visit then. I don't wanna sponsor anyone except you. The boys aren't nice to me."

I laugh.

"I'm messing around, get in."

He rolls his eyes again and gets inside the car.

"I will give you that coffee. But just for you, okay?"

"Yeah!" I punch the air. "Make it a venti."

"Absolutely not! A grande at the most!"

"No deal! I will eject you from my vehicle!"

Nathan rolls his eyes.

"Just drive," he huffs, turning on the radio.

"Don't worry about the boys. I mean if they're bullying you, you have my permission to punch their daylights out. But they're good peeps, they'll accept you eventually."

"Hm."

"I think they envy you. Ryan was telling me yesterday that you play like there's a magnet between the ball and your feet. They're all in awe of you, just their ego doesn't wanna accept it."

"What?! I wouldn't have expected that!" he says dryly.

"It's true. I mean, you're an amazing person. Everyone will see it sooner or later!"

Nathan looks at me wordlessly till we reach. I pull into the Starbucks parking and turn to him.

"What?"

"Ugh fine, I'll make it a Venti."

******

"I didn't know he worked here!" Raven whispers, looking over at Nathan. She is extra fidgety, playing with her hair and not so subtly throwing looks at the counter.

"Seriously Raven, focus on my homework!" I sigh. "I finished your calc and now I'm doing my Bio work. All you've done is write half a paragraph of my essay!"

"You were doing the same with Vanessa so shut your trap!" She pouts at me, going back to work.

"He is so normal, isn't he?" Ryan says, looking to him. He's busy frothing a cappuccino with his back to us. "Not a cocky insufferable dick."

"What did you expect? He's a high school kid like us, not some supervillain!" I roll my eyes.

"Why are you getting all defensive?" Alex laughs.

"They're friends," Raven says from between sips of her hot chocolate. "They were at his summer camp together."

"What?!"

Oh crap, I forgot they didn't know.

"And you couldn't have given us a heads up that a Westbrookian was gonna show up to steal our thunder?!" Daniel frowns. He's going to be the last to warm up to Nathan, I can tell.

"He didn't tell me."

"Some friend he is! I would be excited to tell someone if I was coming to their fricking school!" Alex says, fluffing up his hair.

"He still seems shady to me," Daniel says. "I was speaking to Seth the other day, the Lacrosse player. He didn't speak a word about Nathan. I am itching to find out why he left."

"He must have his reasons. Let's not go digging into his past for drama," I frown, not liking the idea of invading Nathan's privacy one bit.

"Who are you and where is Kaiden? Did Nathan do something to you at the camp? I knew your pettiness has reduced. The old Kaiden would never back down from some good old goss!" Ryan grins.

"It just seems inappropriate you know? Just drop it. I'm still petty, but not towards a friend. How would you guys feel if I just spied on you?"

"You don't need to do anything, we have Bella for that!" Ryan smiles smugly. "You can go be all soft for your new friend!"

"Nope, I am in no way or shape, a part of this thing!" Bella says sweetly.

The boys all groan in disappointment. I mouth a silent thank you to Bells who nods in understanding.

I am dying to find out everything about Nathan but I want him to tell me of his own accord. Okay no, maybe I could dig around a little.

I look at the Venti frappe in front of me.

Gah, why is a damn coffee making me feel guilty?