Page 98 of The Fake
* * *
I wait for five minutes outside the locker room, but I can still hear Coach Daniels inside talking about a change in the weightlifting and practice schedule and he doesn’t sound like he’s going to stop any time soon. I text Nathan that I’m going to my dorm, and it’s an hour before he finally texts.
Nathan: Longest after practice talk EVER. I think he dragged it out just to get back at me. I’m so sorry.
Me: Maybe wasn’t the best plan, but I have no regrets.
He sends me the meme of the guy withNo Ragretstattooed on his neck.
Nathan: Totally worth it. I can’t wait to hang out, but can I raincheck until tomorrow? I have something I need to do tonight.
Disappointment deflates my excitement and the build-up to tonight, but I try not to let it show. He knows how I feel and that’s all that matters. We’ve got time.
Me: Of course. See you in class tomorrow. We can go out tomorrow night and celebrate finishing our project. You ready?
Nathan: I will be.
* * *
I’m more nervous than I thought I’d be when Nathan and I make our way to the front of the classroom to give our communications presentation. I introduce our product, its current selling features and target audience.
When it’s time to make our pitch and try to sell our pricey pen to our peers, Nathan leans over and whispers, “Roll with it.”
He turns to the class. “Now I know you may be thinking, any old pen is fine. Why would I want to spend seventy dollars on anything when I could use that for alcohol or new kicks?”
The class plays right into his hand and murmurs their agreement.
“Because there are moments in life when any old pen just won’t cut it. You want a pen that writes clearly and most importantly, one that has backup ink in case you run out. Some moments require a guarantee that only a seventy-dollar pen can give you.”
He holds up the pen and the extra cartridges and then walks to my backpack and pulls out my notebook. Then he pulls two chairs that I hadn’t noticed pushed off to the side to the front. He motions for me to sit and he takes the other chair. Flipping open the notebook, he crosses one leg over a knee and uses it to write on.
On a blank page, he writes,Will you go out with me?He hands it to me, and I read it aloud so the class can follow along while I writeYes.
“Like getting a date,” he says to the class and they laugh.
He scribbles something else on a new page and hands it to me.
“Nathan 867-5309,” I read.
“Exchanging numbers.”
I look up to the class as he starts writing again. They’re totally hanging on every word. It’s so much better than what we’d planned, and I have no idea how he came up with it or why he didn’t tell me. It’s genius. This time he hands over the whole notebook instead of a single page.
I start to read and then stop when I realize it’s the notes we exchanged back and forth at the beginning of the semester. I find my voice and read Nathan’s messy scrawl. I’ve looked at it so many times since that day, I practically have it memorized.
Things I’ve learned about Chloe:
1. Likes Bran Muffins (yuck)
2. Likes my mouthon her fingers
I roll my eyes when I get to number three where he’s added,
3. Loves Nathan
“Keep reading,” he urges.
Things I’ve learned about Nathan:
