When I Met You

Chapter 6

Diary entry 1160

Alone. Alone amid everyone. Drowning. Drowning while wearing a life jacket. Deaf. Deaf amid loud noise...

Natalie thought he was joking when he said he was going to come over the next morning and ditch with her, it didn't seem much of a joke when she saw him standing on her front porch with a grin on his face. She opened the door wider and let him in, Cree on the other hand was very surprised. He didn't even know that she was ditching.

"Well, in that case, you can check out the cafe, where'll you start working this weekend", Cree called out to her. Natalie shot a glare in his direction but said nothing. She rushed up the stairs and threw on some shorts and an oversized hoodie. She grabbed her bag and headed down the stairs to where Jarred waited.

"I thought we'll take a walk" Jarred said as they walked past his car and into the sidewalk. They walked in silence allowing the cars that passed by and the other passersby to fill in the silence. Natalie could feel Jarred's stare on her face as they walked, she knew he had many questions like why she decided to ditch school. Something she would never have thought of doing a few years ago. Natalie had no destination in mind so when Jarred turned into the park, she followed without question. She'd always loved the park.

At least she had when her parents were still around and would sometimes take her to the park. She took a seat on one of the benches while Jarred sat on the swing opposite her. He stared at her and this time she stared right back.

"Why are you skipping?" he asked, lowly, almost like he didn't want her to hear his voice. She looked away for a moment, pretending to observe the scenery around them. "If you don't want to tell, you don't have to, I understand". he added.

"Why did you skip?" she asked in reply without answering the question he'd asked. Jarred looked at her carefully, pushing himself softly on the swing, back and forth. He shrugged.

"I wanted to keep you company" he replied. Natalie nodded and looked away. They lapsed into silence again. "Want to swing?" Jarred asked, standing up from the swing. Natalie stood slowly and took a seat on the swing. Jarred grinned to himself and went behind her to push. She pushed the swing slowly and softly. He wasn't sure but he felt like she saw a small smile pass Natalie's face. After a few minutes, they headed down the street to a cafe downtown.

"I'll pay," Jarred said as they stood at the counter. Natalie shook her head and took out some money from her purse. "Go find a table," he told her, pointing in the direction of an empty booth beside the window. Natalie placed the money on the counter, turned and headed for the booth. Jarred snatched it up and placed it in his pocket. He made their orders and paid before heading to the table. Natalie was staring out of the window with a blank look on her face, she turned around when Jarred took a seat in front of her.

"I ordered you, a burger and coke, okay? Or do you want to change your order?" he questioned. Natalie shook her head and leaned back in her chair. "So, do you know why Noah was looking for you?". Natalie frowned deeply and Jarred understood the response immediately. He quickly changed the topic to something else, he talked, and Natalie listened.

The waiter brought their food and they fell into silence as they ate. Natalie didn't feel weird eating in front of Jarred anymore. It was like he'd entered into her good books already. After eating they headed to the pond to feed the ducks. Jarred watched and handed Natalie the bread as she threw them to the ducks in the water. They were interrupted by a large horn. They both turned to see Jacob looking at them from his car. Jarred frowned at his presence while Natalie had a passive look.

"Two runaways, how wonderful" he laughed, looking between the both of them "Are you on a date or something?" he asked. Natalie and Jarred exchanged glances but none of them explained because they had none, they weren't sure whether they were on a date or not. Jacob rolled his eyes at them. "See you around peaches" Jacob called as he drove off. Jarred muttered profanities as they watched the car fade away in the distance. "let's go to the cafe, Cree was talking about". Natalie nodded and walked alongside Jarred.

The pink lily cafe was small, in the middle of a very busy street, so it was bustling with customers mostly students because it was close to the community college. Natalie felt intimidated by the huge crowd but jarred the supportive friend took her hand and led her into the cafe. The bell above the door rang as they came in, so a lot of people looked their way, Natalie looked down suddenly finding her shoes very interesting. Jarred pulled her along and they went to the front counter where a tall guy stood, he didn't look like someone who should be working in a cafe from the tattoos that ran down his arm, his dark hair and grey eyes.

"hey,' Jarred said, pulling them to a stop "Natalie Pickett, supposed to work here". the guy looked down at Natalie who was drawing figures on the marble counter.

"Natalie, Cree's little sister" the guy stated "I'm Blake, it's nice to meet you and your friend" he looked at Jarred waiting for his name, which Jarred offered immediately. "You can look around, I'll take you through the rudiments of working when you start fully". Natalie nodded and headed deeper into the cafe. It was bigger on the inside than on the outside. There was a small library with chairs and tables, a piano at the side for karaoke, vending machines and a small arcade.

"Well, this Is one hell of a nice place" Jarred exclaimed, looking around the place. He looked down at Natalie who was lost in her thoughts. She stared aimlessly at the piano that sat in the karaoke section, untouched and gathering dust. She could remember the last time her father played with her, the day before he left.

The song he played was called Forever in my heart, a personal composition from him. That was also the last time, she ever played the piano. The ringing of the bell made the duo turn to see who had come in, Natalie felt her heart drop at the sight of Noah and even worse Catherine with her friends. Jarred went rigid beside her sensing her discomfort already. It didn't help that Noah sighted them from where he stood, causing Catherine to look at them too.

She rolled her eyes and entered into one of the booths with her friends. Natalie felt her heart start racing as Noah walked towards them, she looked around for the nearest exit, seeing the bathroom door, she was about to bolt when Noah called her name, and she froze. Noah came to a breathless stop in front of them.

"Natalie, jarred" he said slowly, but he was looking at Natalie who was shrunk back "You guys' ditched school?" he said more of a question than a fact. Natalie looked at Jarred, speaking with her eyes and telling him that it was about time, they went but Jarred didn't seem to understand. "Can I talk to Natalie?" Noah asked. Natalie shook her head and looked away. Jarred looked between them but said nothing. He wondered when they suddenly started talking. "Natalie, please", Noah added. She bolted then, walking past Noah and heading for the door. Catherine took that beautiful moment to stand and make the poor girl bump into her. Natalie looked down at her hoodie that was soaked in coke.

"sorry" Catherine muttered; her words filled with sarcasm. Blake came over in that instant and handed a napkin to Natalie. She took it from him and headed out of the cafe. Jarred ran after her until they were walking side by side. They walked in silence until they got to Natalie's house. She could feel her eyes brimming with tears, but she didn't want to cry in front of Jarred.

"Thank you," she said when they got to her front door. Jarred realized that she probably didn't want him to come into the house with her, so he took a step back and smiled.

"it's okay but are you okay?" he inquired. Natalie nodded her head. "I'll see you tomorrow then". jarred hesitated before he leaned down and kissed her cheek. Natalie froze, her entire body going rigid with shock. She could admit his lips felt soft against her skin, her cheeks went red at her thoughts and Jarred looked almost embarrassed too but when he opened his mouth to apologize nothing came out. He nodded at her and walked to his car. Natalie still stood there watching him, even as he entered the car, waved at her and drove off. She reached up and ran her fingers on her cheek, a ghost of a smile appeared on her lips, she turned and walked into the house.