Chapter 3: The Jock

It had been a week since school started, and everything was going smoothly—especially with Danny and Athan by my side. But some misunderstandings were just too hard to shake off, like how the girls hated me almost instantly for being close to them. And the fact that I excelled in my studies didn’t help either.

Sometimes, they would say mean things to me, but I knew they wouldn’t hurt me because they couldn’t. If they did, the boys would hunt them down, and I definitely couldn’t stop them. Still, I did my best to understand them. I mean, no harm, no foul, right? Only losers get mad at meaningless words.

Oh, and I finally learned the name of their other friend—the one who everyone said was the hottest guy here. His name is Nathaniel Stevens, but people call him Nathan. I also found out that while they’re friends, they’re not as close as Danny and Athan. They said Nathan was a great guy, just cocky and arrogant. And he wasn’t part of our table because he needed to be at the popular table since he was the basketball captain. In short, he’s a jock.

It was lunchtime, and I couldn’t help but glance over at Nathaniel. I now understand why so many girls liked him. He had fair skin, a well-built body, light brown eyes that matched perfectly with his mousy brown hair, and, of course, he was 6'2".

As I watched him, I couldn’t help but smile, and then a nickname popped into my head—Nate.

‘Nate? Geez, what was I thinking? Did I just make up a nickname for him?’ I silently thought, which caused my smile to fade into shock. I loved giving nicknames only to people I cared about.

‘But I wasn’t attracted to him, right? I couldn’t be.’ I thought as I quickly averted my attention back to my meal.

"Rosie, do you have something you're not sharing with us?" Danny asked teasingly.

"Yeah, do we need to beat someone up? More specifically, do we need to beat up Nathan?" Athan asked like he was ready to pounce on him.

What? Pounce on him? What were they talking about?

"Wait, wait, wait, hold up! Beat him up? What did he do? And what are you talking about, Danny? You know I never keep secrets from you guys!" I asked, both surprised and confused.

"Well, you've been staring at Nathan for quite a while now. Do you like him or something?" Danny said, looking intently into my eyes as though he could see right through me.

"Are you guys crazy?! I know he’s handsome, but seriously, you know I don’t have time for that kind of stuff, especially romance. I don’t want to get hurt again. I’m tired of it. I’m not even fully recovered yet." I reassured them, but I was pretty sure they didn’t hear the last part. I didn’t want to be treated like I was made of glass—too fragile to be handled.

After lunch, we had a free period—no class, yay! I headed straight to the aisle between two rows of bookshelves in the library to read. I loved reading, surrounded by the smell of books, rather than sitting in the reading area with chairs.

Time passed in a blur, and I was nearing the end of the book I’d started reading a few days ago. I would have finished it today if it weren’t for someone who made the books fall on top of me from the other side of the bookshelf. I didn’t care whether it was an accident or not—he ruined my peaceful time!

Come on, it was the only time I had to myself. The boys were always with me, and they were in all my classes. So, I only had alone time in the library since they hated the library, just like most students.

"Hey! Could you be more careful?" I whispered-shouted at the culprit, massaging my head. Luckily, there was no lump on top of it.

"Well, who said you could read in an aisle? I’m pretty sure we have a reading area for that," the culprit answered, peeking through the hole in the bookshelf.

I stood up to answer him and saw his face. "Well, there’s no rule saying I can’t be in here, you know. Mr. ...," I started to snap, but then I realised who it was.

"Oh, it’s you, Nate," I said, smiling brightly at him. I had unconsciously called him by the nickname I’d made up.

"Oh, if it isn’t Daniel and Athan’s girl, who’s been staring at me at lunch. And my name is Nathan," he said cockily, leaning against the bookshelf and looking through the hole.

"First of all, I wasn’t staring, and I was looking. There’s a big difference. And Nate is my nickname for you... See, I love making nicknames for my friends, and since you’re friends with the boys, I thought I’d make one for you, too. It's too bad that I can’t always call Athan by the nickname I gave him. He can be scary sometimes, you know." I blurted out while I helped him fix the shelves from my sides to hide my face, which was probably red by now with embarrassment. When we finished, I grabbed my bag from the floor and started to clean up my mess just as he came around to face me.

"So, you were just looking, not staring, huh?" he said with a smirk.

I simply answered him with a "yes" and grabbed my bag, giving it a quick check before looking up at him again.

"I don’t like that nickname, so you’re not calling me that. And don’t fool me. I know you like me—that’s why you gave me a nickname. And don’t act like we’re close or something. I don’t even know your name. That’s why the students are saying you’re a ‘wannabe,’ thinking you’re popular just because you’re close to Athan and Daniel," he said, leaning against one of the shelves. So that’s what they thought of me.

"Oh, too bad. I’m already calling you that. And just so you know, I’m pretty stubborn. Yes, I have a nickname for the boys, and no, I don’t want to be popular. But I can’t help it if I’m always with the two of them. So, could you please stop judging me? I’m not doing anything to you." I said, just as Danny and Athan came into view.

Yes, Tan-tan is my nickname for Athan, but he gets mad whenever I call him that. He rarely gets mad at me.

"Hey, guys, is there a problem here?" Athan asked, putting his arm around my shoulder and glaring at Nathan while Danny stood beside him, looking equally intense.

Oh boy, here we go again—my overprotective brothers, acting like I’m their responsibility.