My Undefined Romeo

“People are going to stare,” I pointed out to Nate as he pulled into the school parking lot. The bell should be ringing any minute now, so there were tons of people out in the front of the school waiting. People would see when I got out of his car.

“So?” he asked confused.

“Naaaate!” I complained. “You should just turn around now and drop me off a block away where no one will see. I don’t mind, really. I like walking.”

“Emma, I’m not doing anything near that. In fact, I’d rather drive over the perfect grass and right up to the steps so you don’t even have to walk the fifty feet to the school.”

If I was in a playful mood, I would have rolled my eyes and laughed. But I wasn’t. I was worried and nervous. My hands were sweating and my mind was racing. “I’m serious, Nate.”

He pulled into an empty space and turned off the car. “I’m serious too.”

I sunk down in the seat as people naturally looked over towards the car. Nate was the most popular and well-liked guy in school. Everyone noticed him. And they would certainly notice me now, which was something I did notwant in the least bit.

“Oh, come on,” Nate said soothingly. “It’ll be okay. Who cares what other people think anyways? The girls will all be jealous because I’m no longer single and the guys will be furious because the prettiest girl in school is my girlfriend. See? No reason to fret.”

My heart skipped a beat when he said “girlfriend”. It was still too surreal. I was Nate Carter’s girlfriend. “But they will talk,” I said.

He turned in his seat and looked at me. “Emma, it shouldn’t matter what they say. This is your life. Do what you want.”

I gazed into Nate’s caring blue eyes and half-smiled. “Okay. I’m sorry. It’s just… Never mind.”

“Good. Now come on. I’m walking you to your first class.”

Before I had time to object his last statement, he had already opened his door and was getting out. My mind went blank as I tried to process what was about to happen.

People were about to see me get out of Nate Carter’s car. They were fixing to see me and him together. How would they react? What would they say? I could only imagine it all: slut, whore, he’s using you, etc.

I sucked in a deep breath to try and calm my mind. It couldn’t be that bad, right? Maybe with some time people will just start accepting it… Perhaps all those jealous girls that will want to kill me will come to accept the fact that Nate is taken… I brushed my hair out of my face and opened the door.

Nate was waiting for me at the front of the car. His hair was gently blowing in the light breeze, his eyes were shining, and he had a slight smile on. He looked like he didn’t even notice all the eyes and heads turned our way. But if he did, he acted like he didn’t even care.

I closed the door and tried to avoid the burning and curious eyes that were staring my way. I kept my eyes locked on Nate as he smiled encouragingly at me, letting me know everything would be perfectly fine. It didn’t seem like it would be fine though. My heart was beating faster than ever and I could barely breathe properly.

Finally, I reached Nate and stopped to look up at him. “Now what?” I asked.

He entwined his fingers with mine and smiled. “I’m walking you to Calculus.”

Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch us. Every single mouth was dropped wide open, and eyes looked like they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. I perfectly understood that too. The most popular guy in a high school where cliques are everything, is seen holding hands with a…not popular. Not anywhere close to it.

Right when we got the front doors, the bell rang. Nate politely opened the door for me and we went in. People crowded around us, but I could still see their eyes filled with curiosity and suspicion.

“Nate,” I whispered, closing the space between so he could hear me. “We don’t have to make this public, you know. It could be a secret.”

Nate frowned and looked down at me. “You want it to be a secret?”

I didn’t nod and I didn’t shake my head. I did, however, remove my hand from his. “That might be best. For both of us. I won’t be bullied and your reputation won’t be tainted.”

Nate didn’t say anything back. He kept his head forward and eyes straight. Finally, we reached my locker and I got my Calculus book out. I closed the door and looked up at Nate. “Nate?” I asked.

He looked down at me with a serious expression and shook his head. “I don’t want us to be a secret, Emma.”

I ruffled my hair and started to walk towards the math room. “But…why? You know-”

“What I know,” he interrupted. “Is that I care about you more than I have ever felt about anyone before. I don’t care what other people say, and I don’t care about my reputation. I want you, Emma. All I want is you.”

My heart was racing, and I was speechless. “Okay then,” was all I could manage.

When we reached the math room, I let go of Nate’s hand, but he didn’t let go of mine. I smiled and turned my head to look at him. “What?”

A beautiful smile spread across his face as he cupped the side of my face with his other hand and pressed his lips to mine.

“Hey!” someone shouted. “No PDA!”

My cheeks were burning when Nate pulled away. I never, ever thought that would have been directed at me before. I gave Nate one last smile and turned into the room to see a room full of surprised students and also a very surprised teacher, the one who shouted.