Chapter 36: History (Nathan's POV)

The school day had ended and it was nearly 5 right now, so I was about to head to the book store, leaving Emma back at her place. "I'll see you later, okay?" I said while standing up, grabbing my phone and car keys. 

"Where are you going?" she asked, nudging me with her leg. 

"To work," I chuckled. 

"Oh, wow. Look at you, going to work, making big money," she teased, lying on her stomach, watching me pull my shoes on. 

"Oh, wow. Look at you, sitting there looking all pretty in shorts so short that with my shirt, you look naked," I smirked, looking back at here. 

"I could be naked under here, you never know," she shrugged. 

"I hate you," I huffed. She blew me a kiss. I went back to her, pecking her lips before waving her bye. 

I parked and then turned off the car once I made it to the store and climbed out, heading inside. "Right, where do I start?" I asked Mr. Hemmings who sat at the corner table by the giant window of the store. 

"There's a list by the register for you with a trolley of all the new and returned books. This place is a library too, you should know." 

"Okay," I said slowly. 

"Organize those books. The shelves are sorted genre and then by the alphabet of the author's name. Get to work." 

"This is supposed to take me 3 hours?" I asked, looking at the trolley. 

"Yes, I guarantee it will. Where's your girlfriend?" he asked, pushing his glasses further up his nose. 

"She's at home," I turned to him, "Why?" 

"I like her better than you." 

"Thanks," I said sarcastically. I rounded up to the trolley, putting the list on top, and got to moving around. I entered the first aisle. Poetry. I scanned the list, pulling out all the poetry books and keeping them on top of the trolley. "Mr. Hemmings!" I called out. 

"What?" he yelled back. 

"Where's the ladder?" I asked, looking at the top shelf where most of these books would have to be. 

He showed up moments later, dragging the metal ladder with him, still folded to a compact size. "Ha, shorty," he snorted. I gave him a blank look. "Make sure those are alphabetical," he said while I climbed the ladder. 

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." He left after that but Mia stayed behind, looking at me quizzically. "Yes, Mia. We've met before," I chuckled. She then ran off. Working here isn't that hard, luckily. 

The 3 hours flew by and I managed to get my work done today, only needed Mr. Hemmings' help twice when I couldn't find the alphabet I was looking for. "I'm heading out," I said, leaving the checked off list by the register. 

"Ay, ay, ay!" I halted, turning to Mr. Hemmings. 

"First, you did well. So here's an advance on your salary," he said, handing me $100. 

I stared at the money in shock. "How much do I get a week?" 

"350." 

"Whoa." 

"Yeah, you work good, you get good. Second, you can't leave till the other boy shows up." 

"What? Why not?" 

"Because I said so, do you want me taking that $100 back?" 

"No, I'm good," I said, slipping the money into my pocket. 

"Damn right. Wait for him," he demanded. I sighed, sitting at one of the tables, playing with Mia for a while as she ran up to me. 

The bell on the door chimed as it opened and Liam stepped in. "Mr. Hemmings," he smiled. 

"Get to work," the old man barked. I smiled to myself, satisfied knowing that he liked me more than Liam. "Nathan, show him where you kept the ladder before he bothers me about it." 

I rolled my eyes, standing up, sending Mia back to Mr. Hemmings. I led the way and he followed. "Back there," I pointed to the far left corner. 

"Does Emma know?" he asked while going to grab the ladder. 

"Does Emma know what?" 

"About Chloe," he huffed, walking up to me, anger coating his face. 

"What?" I scoffed. 

"Does she know about your ex-girlfriend?" 

"What does that have to do with you?" I asked. 

He put up the ladder and then turned to me, his sweater sleeves rolled up by his elbows. "She deserves to know the truth." 

"Right, and what's that Mr. Nice guy?" I lifted a brow at him. 

"That you have history. Fucked up history. With a fucked up family. And a fucked up ex-girlfriend." 

"Right, thanks for the advice. But get to work," I nodded, resisting the urge to punch him as I headed to the exit. 

"You should tell her." 

"Or what? You will?" I halted, turning back to him. "I'm not stupid. I'm going to tell her. When she's ready to hear it." With that, I turned back around and left. "Night, Mr. Hemmings." 

"Night," he nodded. 

I got in the car, pulling up the heat just a bit as a chilly breeze hit me on my way to the car. We can't park by the book store, so we have to park across the street. I rolled my eyes, still angry from my encounter with Liam as I drove straight to my house. I dialed Emma's number, calling it from the car's Bluetooth system. 

"Hello?" she sang. 

"Can I meet you straight at my house?" I asked. 

"Uh oh, you sound mad." 

"Not at you," I sighed, "Do you want me to come get you?" 

"No, that's okay. I'll meet you there. How long will you be? 10 minutes?" 

"Yeah." 

"Cool, I'll see you then. Drive safe," she said before hanging up. 

Drive safe. Chloe. Ex-girlfriend. 

Everything is going back to that fucked up night today. I turned off the ignition in my driveway, spotting Emma already sitting on my porch steps. I climbed out, jogging over to her quickly. She gets cold easily, she's probably freezing. 

"Hi," she grinned, standing up. 

"Why didn't you go and wait back at yours?" I asked, quickly opening the door, hoping she'd get warmer inside. 

"Whoa, are you okay? Why so irritated?" she asked, following me inside, waiting for me as I locked the door. "Was it Liam?" 

"Yes," I groaned. 

"Ignorance is bliss, babe. I don't know what else to tell you," she shrugged. 

"Don't tell me anything," I scoffed, shaking my head. 

"Okay," she said slowly. She walked up to me, stopping mere inches away. "I'll just... hold you." She wrapped her arms around my neck, resting her chin on my shoulder. My arms went around her waist naturally and I squeezed her, pulling her tighter into the hug. "I know you hate him," she whispered, "But I'm sure Mr. Hemmings liked you. Right?" she asked, pulling away just enough to see my face. 

"He did, actually. More than Liam," I smiled. 

She chuckled, grabbing the back of my neck and pulling my lips down to hers. We both knew we should stop and I should get to packing, but neither of us was pulling away. The kiss was just growing stronger, faster, more heated, and hasty. We stumbled into my kitchen at some point because I had a counter to hoist her onto while I stood between her legs, both of us still not breaking the kiss. 

We have to stop. I don't want to be here when my dad comes home. 

"Emma," I mumbled against her lips, regretfully pulling away. "We have to slow down," I chuckled. She sighed, her fingers touching her lips. "If we go so fast then..." 

"I'll end up asking you to take me right here. You're right, we should stop," she nodded, pushing me back and hopping off the counter. 

"It's too early for that, but I promise one day," I chuckled, "I'll take you on a kitchen counter," I smirked. 

She rolled her eyes, fighting her blush while I pulled her upstairs with me to start packing. "Okay, where do we start?" she sighed, looking around my room. 

"Maybe with the bookcase." 

After a long couple of hours where we just packed as much as we could of my bookcase, my desk, all the books/education stuff. "We should leave before my dad gets here," I sighed, flopping onto my bed while she stared at the photo album sitting on my desk. 

"Can I look through this?" she asked, grabbing it and sitting beside me. 

It's about time. 

"Sure," I said. 

She flicked through it, smiling and laughing at my baby pictures, asking for storytimes about some others. It was in chronological order. We were looking at photos from my freshman to sophomore year when she stopped at a picture. "Who is that?" she asked, pointing to her. 

It was a picture of Chloe and me at a party, both of us grinning at the camera while I had an arm around her. I remember that party. It was the first time she smoked a cigarette. She hated smokers and smoking but she tried it. Then she fell down the spiral. She tried a lot of stuff. Cigarettes, weed, vapes, some drugs. Once she started, it became impossible to stop her. And I hated watching her crumble right before my eyes. 

"That um," I cleared my throat, "That's Chloe."

.

.

.

.

.

Chapter 36

OOH, THE TRUTH IS COMING OUT.

one final time. tell me about your conspiracies. what do you think happened to Chloe?

next chapter: ruins