Stolen Youth

Chapter 7

*Nathan POV*

I get woken up by a knock at the door.

"NATHAN! You are late. Get ready they are going to be arriving soon." My mothers voice comes through the door.

Shit. I jump out of bed and start scrambling to the bathroom. I quickly shower, dry off and grab the clothes off the chair from my desk. I put on my underwear and socks before another knock at the door.

"Hurry now they are here." My sister this time.

I grab the pants and slide them on. Then my shoes and then I grab my shirt and start heading out the door. I run down the hall and stairs putting on my shirt at the same time. As I reach the open front door, I can see the girls already lined up outside the carriages. I start tucking in my shirt and take my spot next to my sister when I see her.

There she is. The girl from yesterday. I stare. I stare way too long. She's still so beautiful. Her brown hair falling in waves down her shoulders. As she turns her head her eyes lock with mine. She quickly averts her gaze and blushes. She's even more gorgeous when she's nervous. This party might not suck after all.

My mother says her spiel and starts ushering girls inside and up to their rooms. I start to follow my sister inside after them when I feel a hand on my shoulder holding me back.

"What was that between you and that girl?" My dad asks in a nonjudgmental way. He was always the calm, cool and collected parent. He never made us feel like we were anything but his kids. My mom was the one who held us to higher standards.

"Erm. Nothing..." he stares at me and I can tell I'm not going to be able to lie out of this. "Ugh fine, I met her yesterday when I snuck into town."

"Hmmm." He looks past me inside to make sure my mother wasn't on ear shot. "What's her name?"

"I don't know." I say with a shrug.

"Well I guess that's a good place to start. She's a pretty girl. Don't screw it up." He pats me on the shoulder and turns towards the front gate as we see the boys carriages emerging.

I stand there thinking of how I should introduce myself. Do I wait til the lunch? Do I find her now? No that'd come off creepy like I was following her. Ugh normally I can talk to girls fine but she makes me so flustered. That's a good thing right?

My mother and sister walk back out front and take their spots. I can hear the distant sound of laughter. I look up at an open window and see her looking out the window at the incoming carriages. My attention is pulled back toward my duties as my sister shoved her boney elbow in my ribs.

"Ow what the hell?" I sneer back at her.

With no words she gestures towards mother. That's when I see the glare. You know the one? The one all moms have when their kids are misbehaving. I look away and stand up straight as the boys take their places in front of us.

Another annoying speech later and it's time to head inside and get ready for lunch. I decide I want to introduce myself before lunch so that I can maybe convince her to sit with me. To get to know each other and see if she's as amazing in real life as my dreams.

I head up the stairs and as I come to the corner she walks around the corner with the younger girl I saw with her earlier. She looks shocked to see me.

"Nice to see you again. Maybe I'll get your name this time?" I ask with a smile.

"It's Annabeth or Anna. And this is Mary." She says motioning to the younger girl but all I'm noticing is her deep blue eyes that draw me. It almost feels like I'm drowning in them and I don't ever want to come up for air.

"Nice to meet you both. Would you mind if I escort you to lunch?" I ask holding out my arm for young Mary to take. I figure I would turn up the charm by 100%. And being a gentleman is a great way to do it. What woman can resist a man who is good with kids?

"Yes please." Mary giggles as she takes my arm. We walk down the hall and stairs and make our way into the back garden. My mom has of course decorated perfectly and set out feasts of sandwiches and snacks on each table. I see an empty table and walk over to it. I pull out Mary's chair and she gives me a cute wide smile. I see Anna about to sit in her own chair and I rush over to grab it before she can, almost tripping over my feet.

"Thank you." She says as I grab her chair and push it in for her as she takes a seat. She tucks her hair behind her ear and shifts nervously.

I sit at the table next to her and grab a sandwich. A few girls fill the empty seats and I try to hide my annoyance. I wanted her attention all to myself and I wanted to give her all of mine.

We small talk with the other girls and then I ask her how old she is. When she reveals her birthday is today and she's 19. I am relieved to know she is an adult because of the weird pull I feel to her, I would never pursue someone romantically who wasn't an adult. I do feel a strange sadness that her birthday is being overshadowed by my sister and I's birthday. I should see if there's something I can do or get her to make it a bit special.

*clink clink* Oh good another speech by my mother. I don't listen to it, I just stare at Anna as she listens to every word my mother says. I don't know anything about her but I keep falling deeper. I can't explain why but it's like love at first sight.

The speech finishes and all the guests start to stand disperse most heading inside to relax and get ready for the party tonight. Anna stands to leave and I quickly ask her to save a dance for me tonight before I head off to find the perfect present for her. Too bad it has to be something in this mansion.

I walk into the house and turn down the hallway to head to the kitchen. Marge might know of something.

Just before I reach the kitchen I feel a tap on my shoulder scaring the crap out of me. I turn around and see a tall bulky boy standing behind me. He has to be about 6 ft and definitely over 200 lbs of muscle. Not gym muscle but like he works on a farm or in a factory.

"Sorry to scare you, Your Highness." He says in a deep voice that makes what he said almost more commanding.

"Please don't call me that. I'm Nathan." I hold out my hand for him to shake.

"Brick." He grabs my hand and shakes it. It hurt a little.

"What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to thank you guys for inviting us to your birthday celebration."

"You're welcome but it wasn't really my idea" I answer.

"Oh I know. This has your mother written all over it. Makes you wonder why she'd want dirty orphans here a bit." He says with a weird smirk. Like there's underlying meaning.

"I think she just wanted some brownie points or something." Shrugging my shoulders as I answer,

"Sure I guess that's it. I would just hate for the girls ,like Annabeth, to get caught up in something nefarious just because your mom wants some brownie points." His answer shocks me and comes off as almost condescending.

"Nefarious? No one here would hurt them." I answer back with a bit more condescension than his statement.

"I hope so. Well I'll see you later tonight I guess. Happy birthday, Nate." He turns and walks away before I can say something else.

His whole demeaned came off mean and menancing. It could be his stature or his comments but it seemed like he knows something I don't. Or he just wants to rattle my cage.

I shake my thoughts and head into the kitchen in search of marge and hopefully a lead on something for Anna.