The Heaven I Found In Hell

by Ashley Andrews

  "Get up. We're leaving now," I said to Nathan who was too into this football game. "For real."

  To my surprise, he turned off the television, stood up, and waited for me to do something. I was expecting the both of us to get into another argument, but he was obeying. He wasn't making any insulting jokes at me, and that made me smile.

  "Are you suddenly tired of annoying me now?" I asked, grabbing a white see-through tank top.

  I unlocked the door, but he stood behind me and held it wide open. We both did the same routine of going into the elevator and exiting it, and when its metal doors opened, we quickly made our way outside. It wasn't so hard to spot Riley and company since they were the noisiest, and everyone was huddled closely together, so from where Nate and I stood, there was like a big mass of people at the very center of the pool. I removed my shorts and then jumped in with Nathan following soon after.

  I brushed my hair away from my face, and when I finally surfaced, a number of 'Where have you been's and 'What's going on's greeted me. I was still lost to comprehend the words that came out of everyone's mouths, so I turned to Nathan and asked him what exactly everyone was asking.

  "Alex and I were having wild monkey sex," Nathan said catching me by surprise. "That's why we didn't come down immediately."

  I looked at Riley, and then at my boyfriend before I cocked my eyebrow up at him.

  "Did you listen to my conversation with Ri?"

  His eyes widened and matched the size of mine, before he told me that my joke was very funny, and that I should put that in my book of jokes. I slapped him, and told him that I wasn't being funny, before I asked him the same question again.

  "Did you list-"

  "No, I didn't," He said, cutting me off in the middle of my sentence. "Why?"

  "You said the exact same thing I did," Riley answered. "When Alex and I talked."

  Everyone started to do their own things and leave the three of us to talk, and even Anthony, who I knew couldn't be kept away from Riley for too long, decided to join Blake, Dylan and Jackson give the girls a hell-ish time in water, as they splashed Cindy, Mandy, and Kendra repeatedly, not even giving them time to breathe and get the water out of their faces.

  "We're twins," Nathan answered, as he had a much easier time pulling me closer to him since we were in water.

  "But I'm the only one who says wild monkey sex!" She said to her brother who I knew wanted to laugh at this point.

  Under water, Nathan circled my waist with his arms, and above, he leaned his chin on my shoulder as the two of us faced Riley. My roommate looked at us like were a cute bouquet of tulips before she told us how adorable we looked.

  "Cindy!" She called out to the girl clad in a pink stringed-bikini.

  The blonde immediately looked at us, and at the same time, tried to run away from Dylan who wanted to put more water in her eyes and nose. She asked us what we wanted, and Riley answered, "Can I borrow your waterproof camera?"

  Within a second, Riley had the high-tech digital cam in her hands. She turned it on, and tried to take a picture of Nate and me, but Nathan buried his head on my shoulders, and so, only his mop of hair was seen.

  "Nate, cooperate," I said, trying to get him to follow. "I want a picture with you."

  Like a dog, he obeyed, taking me by surprise, and fit his head under my chin, and beside my neck, as his jaw rested on my shoulder. I turned my head to the side, but all I could see was the side of his face since strands of his hair was covering it too much. Even though I couldn't see him, I knew he looked adorable. And then I heard the snap of a camera. And soon after, the voice of Blake saying, "He's a bastard. She's a bitch. They're perfect for each other."

  I followed where his eyes trailed, and saw Scott and Natalie, hand-in-hand, placing their stuff on a nearby pool chair. After doing so, they both removed their shirts, as they made their way to the steps of the pool. Oh, shit.

  I could already imagine what was going to happen.

  * * *

  Chapter 19: Arguing Is The Best Thing Couples Can Do

  * * *

  Scott and Natalie entered the pool using the side opposite us. They splashed each other with water, and didn't care if we were looking at them. They acted as if we weren't there, and that made Blake a little bit angry. He wanted their attention, but they didn't give him that, and so, he continued glaring daggers at them, hoping one of them, either Scott or Natalie, would break. After a few minutes, someone did. Natalie looked at our group, intensity shone in her eyes, as she shouted at us and told us off.

  "Can you stop looking!" she said, her voice rising. "What the fuck is your problem?"

  Immediately, I looked at Riley, my mouth opening simultaneously, as I turned to her and gave a small worried look. She knew what was in my head, and both of us already had in mind what was going to happen. I could picture a fight. People shouting each other, as some of us would try to keep Blake from getting closer to Natalie. I knew Blake wouldn't hit Natalie, or any girl for that matter, but verbal abuse was enough to make a woman cry.

  "What's gone up your ass?" he spat, looking at Scott and her with disgust. "I didn't do anything."

  I look down, embarrassed that more than a couple of strangers were already staring at us. I didn't want to get into this mess. I didn't even want to be part of it. I looked to my side, and then upward to stare into Nathan's eyes. He had that calm and collected aura, but I knew he too wanted this to be over.

  "Should we stop them?" I asked when I noticed a few parents had called their children to leave the pool to go back into the hotel.

  "I think we should," he said, and with it he unwrapped his arms from my waist while he went over to Blake and whispered something into his ear.

  "What? Are you talking shit about us now?" Scott asked, and I winced.

  Nathan was, officially, part of the mess already, and I didn't want him to be. I didn't know what happened, but Cindy decided to join in, telling Scot to cut his crap short.

  "No one told you to talk, ass," she said, giving the perfect ingredient for a full-blown war.

  Riley, Kendra, Mandy and I stayed in the background while the rest of the guys joined to try and make peace. I thought wrong. Instead of apologizing and telling them to stop…yes, they did tell them to stop, but with it came a few curse words, angering Scott and Natalie even more.

  "You're the ass, you bitch," Scott retorted. "You kissed him!"

  He looked at Dylan, and the superstar immediately told him not to talk to a girl like that. I was starting to want to leave, but if I did, I was the ass. I was the one running away from my friends.

  "No, I didn't make out with him!" Cindy shouted back, and from the corner of my eye, I saw a lifeguard make his way to us.

  "Knowing you, I wouldn't believe your crap," Scott answered, and that was the final topping on the ice cream.

  Blake, Nathan, Dylan, Jackson, and Anthony moved closer to the two. I knew how badly they wanted to beat Scott up, and no one was stopping them. So I felt I had to.

  "Stop it, you guys," I said, my voice cracking. "This…this is f-ed up. For real."

  Instead of Scott or Natalie agreeing with me, they started to diss me, and told me not to play the part of the Virgin Mary, because I was so far from being a saint. I knew what she said was the truth, but I also wasn't a hundred percent evil just to let everyone get at each other's throats. I felt like crying, but I knew that if I did, they were going to call me a pussy. I shut up, hoping they wouldn't be able to say anything more to me, but no.

  "What? Is that all you've got?" Natalie asked, as she tried to burn me with her gaze.

  I saw her look at me from head-to-toe and when she was finished, she said, "Pathetic."

  I was caught off guard since I wasn't expecting her to call me that, and so I remained silent, hoping someone would say something so that her attention wouldn't be on me anymore. But everyone continued looking at us.

  "I'm just trying to help," I said in a barely audible voice.


  "By how? Getting all your fuck toys to come at me and beat me up?"

  Now, I was starting to get annoyed, and all the hesitation that was inside me immediately disappeared. I found myself shouting at Cindy. What she said got on every single one of my nerves, and I couldn't help it anymore but finally curse. The blood running through my veins started to boil, and I was hoping, just hoping, I wouldn't go insane.

  "I didn't think of that, but thanks for the idea, bitch."

  "Is that all you can say?" she asked, smirking conceitedly. "That's gay."

  I looked at her, my eyes burning with fury, and after a second, I turned away. I wanted to slap her, pull her hair, ruin her make-up, anything physical, but all I did was say, "Just go work on another wall, whore."

  "Did you just call me a slut?" she asked, her voice rising even louder.

  "What if I did?"

  She didn't say anything. She just started to make her way over to me, stretching her arms out to be able to grab my hair, and before I could react and hit or slap her, Nathan covered me with his muscular physique, as he blocked Natalie from getting to me. She pounded on his chest, and told him to get out of her way, but he didn't move.

  "I think you two should leave," he said in a voice much calmer than any tone I've ever used since the brawl.

  "Why should we?" Natalie asked, as she acted like a little kid by hitting Nathan on his chest area.

  "You ruined last night for us, and you're doing the same thing today," Blake answered, and it surprised me that he didn't cuss.

  "If it wasn't for you!" Natalie said, pointing at Mandy. "This wouldn't have happened!"

  "Me?" she asked, looking at Natalie like she had gone crazy. "What did I do?"

  "You kissed my boyfriend," she said, "And isn't it obvious that boyfriends are off-limits?"

  "No! What isn't obvious to me is why your boy would kiss me while he was with someone else!"

  And everything turned around.

  "Blake, you're an ass," Natalie said, using a tone of finality. "I shouldn't have dated you."

  Instead of trying to make peace, Blake decided to feed his ego by saying, "But you did."

  Natalie screamed, unable to bear the drama any longer, before she got Scott's hand and pulled him out of the pool. I saw the two of them enter the hotel, and when they were completely gone, we looked at each other, and suddenly, no one was in the mood to swim. I remained in my place, and waited for Nathan to come over to me, and when he did, he knew what I wanted, to feel protected.

  * * *

  "Did you hear?" Sasha, a classmate of mine in French, asked, not paying attention to our teacher who was writing a number of sentences onto the blackboard.

  I turned to her, and asked what exactly was I supposed to know. It took her a while to answer, and while I waited, I thought about what had happened to me today, which was nothing really. This Monday, so far, had been uneventful, that was because we still didn't have lunch, and I woke up a few minutes later than my usual 'get-up time,' so the whole morning I was rushing for everything. I didn't even get enough time to meet with Nathan since I had finished getting dressed five minutes before the bell rang. Before I could prolong my train of thoughts, Sasha spoke up.

  "I heard Scott and Natalie are going out."

  I looked at her, and smirked. That was a shocker. Not.

  "They're so random," I said, rolling my eyes in annoyance.

  I hated Natalie, and every part of her life. I still remembered the things she said to me and my friends, and the way she kept hitting Nathan. She was stronger than what I expected, and I had hoped she wasn't. She was independent, and she didn't need Scott, or any other guy, or person, to help her get what she wanted. She could manipulate almost everyone, that is, except for my group of friends. They knew her and her shit, and besides, it didn't matter if she was head cheerleader, and was able to make her posse hate me, backstab me, or threaten me. I had three of the best jocks on my side, and one of them was my boyfriend.

  "Yeah, I mean, is Scott even that good of a soccer player?" she asked, as she took something out of the pocket of her skirt, her lip gloss, and applied it.

  I shrugged my shoulders.

  "I don't know."

  "I mean, I'm sorry, but punks and preps don't mix," she said in a matter-of-factly tone, and I found myself grinning.

  "Scott isn't really a punk," I said in return with a small laugh.

  "But still, they don't mix."

  * * *

  "Figures," Riley said when she found out Scott and Natalie had hooked up and was going out. "Are they trying to annoy us or maybe they're just really in love?"

  We exchanged glances, and after, laughed.

  "The two of them? In love? For real?" Riley said, unable to contain the laughter inside her. "Please. That will only happen the day I start hating soccer."

  "Which is never."

  She agreed.

  We put our books inside our locker, and after, made our way to the cafeteria. We quickly went to our table, and even before I could take my seat, Nathan had stood up from his chair, and he greeted me with a soft peck. He sat back down again, and I was about to do the same, but instead of sitting at my usual place, I found myself on Nathan's lap which I must say was a very comfortable position. To support me, he hugged me from behind, before he rested his chin on my shoulder.

  "You guys are adorable," Kendra said, smiling at us.

  Everyone at the table started to fix their gazes on Nathan and me, and that was when I started to feel awkward. I liked Nathan's touch, and the warmth he always gave me, but I disliked attention. Though, it's not like I could get away from that. I had my friends on the lookout for the next 'cute' thing Nathan and I would do, and the whole world wanting to know almost every part of my life. Attention was following me 24/7.

  "Nathan, stop," I said, but did he listen? No.

  His head remained on my shoulder, and I could feel his hair tickling the side of my face. Slowly and unaware of my actions, I loosened up, resting my head on Nate's. Riley and the rest continued whistling and commenting, and so I tried one last time to make Nathan let go of me.

  "Nate. Me. Off. You. Now."

  He let out a groan before he shook his head in defiance, and it made me want to raise my voice at him. Some continued looking at us, while the others stood up from their seats to get their food. I, on the other hand, couldn't do anything since I was caged. After a few minutes, I finally got tired, and decided to try and escape. I got a hold of the lower part of both his arms, and with all the force I had, I pulled them off from me. Catching him by surprise, he didn't know what I was doing, and only just realized that I had left his lap and was sitting down on my 'real' seat.

  "You're mean," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I thought you were an affectionate girlfriend."

  A lot of long 'oh's erupted from our friends, and that made me furrow my eyebrows at my boyfriend.

  "Well, you're sickeningly affectionate," I retorted, suppressing a smirk. "So bug off."

  I saw him pout, and I knew he was waiting for me to apologize. Nathan and I were always like this, argue, make-up, then argue, and then make-up. And it's a shocker to me why, until now, I am still not getting sick of our tease-fests. They were always fun, but they usually ended up with intense public displays of affection.

  "Alex, you're annoying," he said, wearing the annoyed and hopeful look of an eight-year old.

  "What's happening here?" Blake asked, returning with a tray which packed a burger, fries, and a bottle of juice.

  "Alex is just being hard," Nathan answered, as he tried to snake his arm around my waist.

  I got his hand, and removed his hold on my hips, before I put it back to where it was supposed to be, on his sides. Stubborn and apathetic to how uneasy I felt about showing signs of 'love' in public, he didn't let go of my hand, and instead, intertwined his fingers with mine. I liked the touch, but what I disliked was the way I always gave in to his wants.

  "And Nate's being s
ick," I said, as I rolled my eyes in mock-irritation.

  "You're calling me sick?" he asked, feigning a hurt of look. "Unbelievable. My girlfriend is a fag."

  With that, I let out a laugh, and at the same time, slapped his shoulder. I looked at him, smirking wide, and he returned my look of happiness and amusement. I immediately forgot about how his mushiness made me want to pretend I was annoyed with him, so now, I didn't mind how much soap-opera-y we were being.