“Could it be about your dad?” she questions, looking up from the page.
“No,” I say, slowly shaking my head. “That all happened after the break in, and besides, half the kids in school have moms or dads who are never here. It’s not exactly dirt, even though mom would consider it to be.”
“What are we going to do about it?” she asks, pushing the magazine aside as her interest in the destruction of a cheerleader takes over.
“Honestly, I have no idea,” I tell her. “I guess it depends on what kind of dirt she thinks she has. I mean, I don’t want to start a war with the most popular girl in school if her dirt isn’t worth it.”
“Yeah,” she agrees. “I know what you mean.”
“I have this really bad feeling about it, though. You know, especially with Ell-”
The door of my room is barged open, cutting off what I was saying. Both mine and Brooke’s eyes fly towards the intrusion and widen in surprise. I step towards him but something tells me he needs a little space right now.
Nate stands in the doorway, looking as though he’s about to explode. “Fuck,” he curses as his eyes flick around the room and see that I’m not alone.
“What’s wrong?” I rush out, studying his face while trying to piece together what the hell is going on.
He puts his hands in his hair and lets out a heavy breath. “I… Shit.”
“Nate,” I demand, walking forward and latching onto his shoulder. “What happened?” I ask as another question plagues my mind. “How’d you get here?”
“I,” he starts again before his eyes flick across to Brooke.
“Fine,” she groans, getting up off my bed. “I know when I’m not wanted. I’ll be downstairs, making myself a chocolate sundae.”
We watch her go and as soon as the door closes behind her, I look back up at Nate. “Care to explain what’s going on?”
“I lost my shit at my parents,” he tells me. “I don’t even remember half of it. All I could see was how fake they were being. I mean, I don’t know how I didn’t see it before. Mom hates him and he doesn’t give a shit. It’s all an act for me and Jess, and I just… I fucking lost it. I told them I knew something was going on and that they were hiding something,” he explains. “Mom looked horrified and dad started spouting some shit about me making up stories before changing the subject to me being a delinquent teenager.”
“Shit,” I curse as I wrap my arms around him, trying to soak up some of his panic. “Don’t worry about it. The truth is bound to come out sooner or later,” I add, hating that he’s so worked up about this. I mean, usually, he wouldn’t blink twice at something like this.
“I know,” he says with a cringe. “It’s just… Jess was there and I just burst his happy family bubble. He looked so fucking confused.”
Crap. “It’s ok,” I soothe.
He wraps his big arms more firmly around me and rests his head on top of mine as he lets out another breath. “I don’t know,” he says quietly. “It feels like everything’s falling apart.”
My heart breaks for him. After all the years I’ve known him, he’s never once admitted something like that. He’s the suffer in silence type and I wish there was something I could do to take away his pain and make everything ok. I mean, first his car and now his parents. His whole world is being flipped upside down, but if all I can do to help him is be the one constant in his life, then damn straight, that’s exactly what I’m going to be.
“It will work itself out. It always does,” I tell him, not really knowing what to say right now.
“I don’t know,” he says. “This one feels different.”
I let out a heavy sigh and just let him hold me. “Whatever happens, I love you,” I remind him.
“I love you too,” he says with a slight smile in his tone. “I stole dad’s Porsche.”
“What?” I gasp as I pull back and look up at him to find him smirking right back. “Does he know?” His smirk grows wider. “Fuck. He’s going to kill you.”
“Let him try,” he scoffs. “The bastard’s been hurting my mom.”
I shake my head as a commotion sounds downstairs. We both listen out and I wonder if it’s Caden storming in to get his prized car back. “Where the fuck is he?” Jesse’s voice rings out through the whole house.
“Shit,” Nate curses.
“Upstairs,” I hear Brooke reply. “Tora’s room.”
A second later, we hear him running up the stairs and turn to face the door. It’s thrown open and we find a very confused and pissed off Jesse standing before us. “What the fuck was that?” he demands of his brother. “What’s going on?”