six
Nate’s small but charming house was the one right on the junction of the street, with a nice patch of grass at the front, and all sorts of sports evidence strewn everywhere, mainly a few basketballs and soccer balls she was careful not to step on and fall spectacularly.
She also thought she saw a basketball hoop attached to one side of the wall.
The door swung open and Nate’s blank face and imposing form appeared in the doorway.
It seemed as if the few hours that Maddy hadn’t seen him had dulled her memory of him because she suddenly felt as if the cat had gotten her tongue.
Her eyes seemed to trail down his body of their own volition.
He was wearing loose jeans that hugged him to perfection and a long-sleeved, dark blue T-shirt that was really… um… nice.
“Hey,” Maddy managed to croak, trying not to squirm a little under his gaze. Her bravado had taken a hike now that they were face to face. His dark eyes were intent on her face, his hair falling carelessly on his forehead, as if he’d run his hand through it and just let it fall wherever.
“Come in,” Nate muttered, letting her move past him into what looked like a short hallway that led to the living room.
“Is your family here? Should I say hello?” Maddy asked, hesitantly.
Nate threw a look over his shoulder before saying, “My mom isn’t home yet from work and my brother is in his room. He won’t even notice we’re here, so don’t bother yourself.”
Maddy nodded and followed Nate to what she assumed was his room while trying to steal glances here and there without snooping too much.
Stepping into his room, Maddy tried to look as if she wasn’t as curious as she felt.
She tried to school her expression into something normal before Nate noticed her.
She didn’t know why she was making such a big deal out of nothing.
It was a typical room but she felt like she was getting a glimpse into Nate’s personal space and she didn’t want to take it for granted.
Nate’s room looked very organized—his bed made up, his books and CDs on the shelves of a small bookcase above his desk neatly arranged, and some sports paraphernalia, like basketball trophies and medals, added the finishing touches here and there.
It made Maddy feel comfortable and immediately at ease.
“What’s that look for?” Nate narrowed his eyes at her.
“Nothing. It’s silly,” she laughed a bit awkwardly. “I never thought I’d see what Nathaniel Keaton’s room looked like.”
Nate frowned, his expression puzzled. “Why are you calling me that?”
“Calling you what?”
“Nathaniel Keaton.”
“Isn’t that your name?” she quipped.
Nate’s deadpan expression was answer enough.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that, if high-school Maddy could see me right now, in a guy’s room and a jock’s room at that? She would be fist-bumping me. While freaking out a bit. But in a good way.”
“How is a jock’s room different?” Nate asked, still looking genuinely confused.
“That’s the point, Nate. I wouldn’t know.
Plus, you know, it’s you. You must know how popular you are in school.
I was just a tiny bit curious. And besides,” she continued, feeling her filter slowly disintegrating by the minute, “I’ve read a lot of books with the jock/nerd trope.
It is a very popular one in romance books.
This is basically a nerd’s dream come true. ”
She was not joking. Her little nerdy heart was ready to take flight.
Nate’s face did a weird twitching motion before his lips started tilting on one side in what could only be described as a, quite frankly, sexy smirk.
Maddy was not equipped to deal with something like that. A grumpy Nate was fun to mess with. With an indifferent Nate, she could manage. But a sexy smirk? No.
“And what exactly happens in this jock/nerd trope, Madison?” he asked, his smirk only intensifying.
“U-um, well... you see… that’s uh,” Maddy started eloquently. “Nothing really important,” she concluded anticlimactically.
“Mhm,” Nate nodded, his amusement still clear as day. “Are you sure? Because you look a bit flustered.”
“Well, you need to get your eyes checked because I am no such thing,” Maddy said very convincingly, looking everywhere but straight at him.
“If you say so. If you do remember anything of importance though, be sure to keep me posted.”
She could hear the smile in his voice. Maddy’s face was probably scorching hot as she all but choked out, “Sure thing, big guy.”
The heating must have been on full blast in the house, which would definitely explain why her neck was also starting to get hot. Maybe it was because she hadn’t even taken her jacket off.
Yes, that was probably it.
A small detail suddenly tickled her brain.
“By the way, how do you even know my name? We’re in different grades.
I thought you’d probably never even heard of me or seen me before.
” Maddy met Nate’s eyes, curious about his answer.
Except, from their limited interactions, Maddy was starting to realize that Nate’s face never seemed to give anything away unless he actually wanted to.
“I’d seen you,” he simply said, his tone unreadable.
She waited to see if he was going to add anything more to that but he didn’t seem inclined to do so.
“Okay then.” Maddy looked around for a place to drop her school bag that was as heavy as a bag of rocks, and decided to leave it against one side of Nate’s desk.
Nate watched her movements and threw a puzzled look her way.
“Care to explain this?” he asked, nodding towards the bag.
Maddy exhaled loudly. “Well, it’s not like I could actually come here without a reason.
I had to tell my parents you were helping me on a science project.
Which, knowing my track record, wouldn’t be so hard to believe.
” Without her bag and her jacket, Maddy felt like fidgeting.
Like now that her hands were holding on to nothing, she didn’t know what to do with them.
She tried to glance around surreptitiously for a place to sit, which Nate noticed because he was right there in front of her and thankfully, took her out of her misery and nodded towards his desk chair while he sat on the bed.
“Do you want something to drink?” Nate’s voice surprised her out of her sudden nervousness.
“Anything that doesn’t have caffeine,” she said. That was the last thing she needed. She’d probably fidget her way into next month.
A hint of amusement seemed to cross Nate’s face.
“Yes, that would be for the best.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She narrowed her eyes at him.
“Nothing,” he shrugged. “Just that it seems that it would be your natural enemy.”
Maddy stared at him. “See, I know I should be insulted but you’re right.”
The hint of amusement had become a bit more pronounced now, and Maddy suspected she really liked seeing it.
“How about some juice? And there’s also leftover homemade cookies my mom made.”
Maddy smiled. “I would really like that, thank you.”
Sighing, Nate got up and left the room, leaving Maddy alone.
From where she was sitting, his bookcase and CD collection were in her direct line of sight.
She leaned forward and tried squinting her eyes to read the tiny script of the artists’ names.
She recognized so many good ones and she was taken aback to find out that their choice of music wasn’t that far apart.
What a thing to find out they had in common, she thought as a small grin tugged at her lips.
Muffled steps sounded just before the door creaked open to show Nate balancing a plate and two glasses of orange juice.
“You have a surprisingly nice music collection, Nate.”
“And why would that be surprising, Madison?” His tone hadn’t lost his teasing quality. “Is it perhaps because jocks are supposed to listen to something different? Some mindless RnB maybe, or anything only party appropriate?”
Maddy was suddenly horrified. “No, no, of course not! I didn’t mean it like that.”
She was struggling with what to say but Nate was already chuckling softly.
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it, I’m just messing with you.”
Maddy felt her shoulders relax and her whole body sag back. “For what it’s worth, I just meant that it was surprising because I didn’t think we would have some of it in common.”
“Like what?”
“Umm, Muse for one!” she said excitedly, turning to look at the albums on the shelves again.
“I can’t believe you have ‘Black Holes and Revelations.’ I remember hearing ‘Starlight’ for the first time on the radio and I swear it was love at first listen.
And ‘Absolution’ was just,” she made an unintelligible noise, “no words. I never knew I could feel so depressed and so giddy at the same time.”
Maddy’s monologue started to fizzle out as her words were met with silence. Turning towards Nate, she found him studying her with an undecipherable look. His eyes looked softer somehow. But maybe it was just the way the light was hitting them in a certain way.
Sensing her pause, he stood up, picked up one of the CDs and popped it into the small, silver CD player he had on his desk.
The first seconds of that distorted guitar made chills spring on her skin, but her focus was on the guy who had just sat back down, this time munching on a cookie and bobbing his head to the music.
“Those are good albums,” Nate said in his low, soothing voice. “But no way there’s anything that beats ‘The Resistance.’”
“You know, that album isn’t even out yet.” Maddy felt the meaning of those words just as she said them.
Nate’s expression lost a bit of its amusement, even though a small smile still remained.
“Yes, I suppose you’re right.”
Maddy felt the mood change, a sudden weight crushing her chest. It was easy to forget the predicament they were in and just joke around and go about their lives like nothing was wrong. And truthfully, there was nothing wrong per se. They were both fine. Just slightly off-kilter. Time-wise.
Then, why couldn’t Maddy shake that creeping sense of fear whenever she thought that they could be stuck there. That they would remain hostages of time, visitors of a past that had already happened, that had already run its course, that they had already made peace with.
“Hey, Nate?” she said softly.
Nate had lowered his gaze but now lifted it to look at her steadily.
“I believe we’ll figure this out. I have to be honest, though, I really have no idea how.
But at least there’s two of us in this so we’re not stranded alone.
” She paused, feeling a small lump lodge in her throat and slightly choke her words.
“I’m scared and I can’t really wrap my head around it when I try to.
But I have to believe that maybe everything will right itself out eventually and all we have to do is wait it out.
” The tremble in her voice did nothing to make her sound confident and sure of her words, but it was all she could do for the time being.
Maddy hoped that the softening of Nate’s expression wasn’t a figment of her imagination this time. It would be nice if it wasn’t. It would be nice to have an ally in this, or even a friend.
“Okay, Madison,” he said simply.
“Okay?” she parroted.
“Okay.”
And somehow, she believed him.
The silence stretched for a bit until she broke it with a “So, can you actually give me a hand with this project I’ve got? I could really use the help.” She gave him a blinding smile, meant to persuade him.
Nate started chuckling, the tension between them evaporating. He rolled his eyes so hard it was a miracle they didn’t fall out.
“Was that speech only because you needed my help?” He tstsked. “That is just brutal, you know.” Nate might have said that but his eyes were now smiling.
And yet, help he did.