When I Met You

Chapter 2

Diary entry 1155

Silence. Silence is all I feel. I cant seem to understand it. I'm drowning in a sea of my own emotions, my thoughts, myself. I cant seem to understand it. It's been years but I can't let go. Not yet, not yet, maybe not in a long time or forever.....

Natalie found the view very exhilarating, she sat on the balcony floor, a soft blanket underneath her to protect her from the cold of the hard marble floor. She'd watched the sun rise and now the soft orange rays bathed her face in its early morning glow. She loved it, the feel of the sun on her skin even though she didn't go out much. She looked down at the book she was reading, she'd moved on to Emily Bronte's Wuthering heights, her fancy went to Heathcliff, of course.

She was just like him in many ways, rejected by the world around him and forced to a pit of hatred and revenge. She was angry. Angry at her parents, at her brother, at the world for being so annoying, but she wouldn't go such lengths as Heathcliff did just to get revenge. She was angry, but her anger was subtle, a burning rage within her heart. Natalie shut the book and placed it behind her. She was tired of life and moving did not help at all.

Natalie looked up when she heard soft footsteps walking towards where she sat. It was Cree. He was still dressed in his sleeping clothes, namely a shirt and a pair of shorts, he let out a loud yawn as he came to the door of the balcony and looked down at Natalie.

"Good morning, Natalie" he said, walking onto the balcony and taking a seat opposite her with his back against the wall. Natalie nodded at him and looked away. "are you still mad at me?" he asked. She turned to him and shook her head no. "then talk to me, you haven't said a word since yesterday". He was used to her silence. Long periods of silence, but this one was irking him so much. He needed to know, he wanted to know what she was thinking and feeling. It was hard to just read the emotions of his sister's face and he knew that her face was always blank.

She sighed "I'm fine, Cree" she replied. Cree smiled. Such a relieve. At least she could still talk, he felt that if she didn't talk for long she'd lose her voice.

"Just making sure, and you also have school today. I'll drop you off if you want" he offered. Natalie just nodded her head even though she wasn't sure whether she was taking the offer or not. She preferred to walk to school by herself, her headphones on her head playing soft music and not in Cree's car with his loud music and off-key singing.

Cree leaned forward and picked up the black leather bound notebook. Her diary. He'd never peeped inside it before. She'd never let him. He was holding his sister's mind in his hand. The only thing she'd let him look at was the picture of their parents. She felt that that was the one thing she could share with him but the others no. "Do you mind if I look at the picture?" he asked. Natalie shrugged. Cree opened the very last page of the book where the picture was kept, he held the crumpling paper in his hands. It was a picture they'd taken on their vacation to Hawaii.

Cree was 12 then and Natalie was 6. He ran his eyes over his parents' faces. He didn't look like them and he wondered why. They had different features but he looked so much like Natalie, though Natalie had their mother's hair, the same strawberry blonde hair.

Cree had never felt pain like the pain he felt as he stared at the picture in front of him, as he remembered the letter they'd left behind, as he watched their childhood home burn to the ground and as he looked at his little sister, with those dull eyes of hers that once shone with excitement. He closed his eyes in anguish, trying to make all the painful memories go away.

He opened them again and looked at Natalie. She was staring at him with a blank look but a different kind, the one that said she was in pain, emotional pain. Cree folded the picture and placed it back into the book, he handed it to Natalie who took it back with trembling hands.

"we'll be late if we don't start getting ready" cree said. Natalie's eyes unconsciously moved to the clock that was ticking softly in the background. It was still a few minutes past 6. she knew Cree had just said that to get their minds off things. Cree stood up and held out his hand for her to take. She took it and he pulled her up. She gathered the blanket and the books before stepping into her bedroom. She'd already taken a shower and was more or less ready.

Natalie looked down at her outfit, she was wearing an oversize shirt that said Blessed over green cargo pants and canvas shoes, her hair was tied into a bun and her glasses fitted firmly on her face. For someone who didn't care about first impressions or even how she dressed, she'd been told she dressed rather fashionably without knowing it. She grabbed her school bag, stuffed her phone and diary into it, slung it over her shoulder and walked out of the room.

She could hear voices down the stairs, and for a moment she halted trying to place it. She just wanted peace and quiet, but that was not to be so. It was Darius. He had a huge box of donuts in front of him and a tray of coffee too. He looked up when he noticed her presence and smiled. She did not smile back.

"Morning Nat, how was your night?" he asked. Cree looked at him, weird and looked back at Natalie, who didn't seem surprised at the nickname.

"Since when are you guys on nickname bases?" Cree asked, to which Darius shrugged. Natalie walked towards them and took a seat at the table. "I'm going to be late, Natalie,Darius is dropping you off, I have somewhere to be". Her eyes bulged out. It wasn't very fair for her brother to ditch her on the first day and leave her with a stranger. She wanted to call out to him and curse him out, but with Darius' stare on her face, the words got stuck in her throat.

"Special donuts for a special girl", Darius said, handing her a chocolate-glazed donut. How did he know she loved chocolate? Special girl?. He handed her a cup of coffee too. "I always start my day with coffee". like she cared?. "I know you don't talk much but I want you to be comfortable around me, consider me your big bro, that you can tell anything no matter what". Natalie didn't understand Darius. The way he behaved was weird and she gave him a look that expressed her thoughts about him.

"OK, we have to leave now or you'll be late on your first day" he said. Natalie wrapped the donut in a paper towel and shoved it into her back. She'd have it for lunch because there was no way she was going to eat in the cafeteria. She grabbed the coffee too and followed after him. Darius had a jeep, a leek black one. He pulled out the keys from his pocket and opened the doors.

"you can seat in the front" he said. I walked over to the other side, pulled open the door and entered the car. It smelt of Darius and the black interior reminded me of him. I didn't even realize that I knew how his cologne smelt until I came into the car.

Darius slid into the driver's seat and shut his door. He switched on the car, backed out of the driveway and headed down the road. They drove in silence, comfortable for Darius but uncomfortable for Natalie. Darius unlike cree didn't put on any music, he didn't sing, he didn't hum or even talk. Natalie almost felt that he understood she wanted silence. Darius soon drove into the parking lot of Hillview High school, Home of the wolves. How wonderful.

"have a great day and if your day isn't going well call me to come pick you up". he handed her a piece of paper that had his numbed scribbled on it, she hesitated and took it before stepping out of the car. Darius could have sworn he heard her say thank you as she left. People were staring, at her, at the car, at Darius who'd come out of the car to watch her go.

Their stares irked her but she didn't show it. She tightened her grip on the straps of her schoolbag and walked into the hallway. It was crowded, the yells of students filtered into her ear. Natalie kept her head down but up enough to see the signs, she entered into the administrative office to collect her schedule and locker number. There was an older lady there, she looked to be in her forties, she gave Natalie a big smile.

"you must be Natalie Pickett, all the way from Mayor Heights, I hear you are an excellent student" Natalie could have smiled on hearing that but she didn't. the receptionist opened a drawer and pulled out some papers "this is your schedule, you have half day on Thursday, your locker number is 203 and the combination is on there too, have a nice day and if you need anything come right down". Natalie nodded, turned and headed down the hallway.

She looked at the numbers as she went trying to find hers, she soon found it, a milk coloured locker with the words Wolves on it. She put in the combination that was on the paper and the locker opened. She took that opportunity to look into her schedule, she had English first with miss Miller, Art with Mr Rhodes before lunch and PE and music after lunch. She was sure Cree was the one who picked music because she wouldn't have. She would have taken French though she was taking Italian already. She took German in her former school.

Natalie froze when her locker was slammed shut right in front of her. She looked at the girl who was standing there and she knew what she was about to witness. A typical high school cliche, where the new girl is welcomed by the school queen bee. Though the girl actually did look like a bee with her round face and striped top.

"hi"she said "You must be the new girl, I'm Catherine, and I own this school so you better watch out, cause I'm gonna make life hell for you". the girl warned. Natalie blinked, once, twice and three times. She just stared at the girl wondering what the warning was for, even if she was crazy she wouldn't hang out with someone like Catherine. "are you deaf? Tell me you under stand". Natalie could hear snickers from all around the hallway but the loudest came from the group opposite them, from their outfits, she could see they were the football players also known as the jocks.

The ringleader was who caught her attention, he was tall, taller than the rest bulky, with his well sculpted face, dark hair, sharp jaw and blue eyes. He was beautiful, even more than Darius was. Natalie was brought back to earth when she felt cold liquid being poured on her. She looked up at Catherine who just dumped a cup of smoothie on her head. Catherine laughed with the rest of her cohort before going over to the boy, she wrapped her arm around him and pulled him along. She was left there in the hallway, standing alone.