Status: Inactive. I hope to continue writing this someday but right now, mostly left as comparison between my writing now and back then
Burning Out Bright
Crazy in Love
TWELVE YEARS OLD
Nicholas smiles widely at Natalia, nodding eagerly to demonstrate his understanding. She returns his grin, feeling a little tired from their brief lesson but still oddly contented.
He’s nine this year, the same age she was when she received the wishing box from Adam, the very same which she keeps in mint condition on her dresser. It’s the only object in her room that he isn’t allowed to touch and therefore, the only one that he wants to touch, especially when he’s in one of those foul moods.
Today, however, he seems to be behaving himself.
She’d just taught him a little basic Science because Bella wasn’t in the mood to deal with her younger, sometimes bratty and definitely restless, brother. Having not much memory of her nine year old self and what she would be interested in, she started with something simple—the concept of backbones and which animals had them and which didn’t.
He understood the concept fairly quickly and didn’t seem to mind lying down in their backyard as Natalia lazily observes the cloudless blue sky.
She almost drifts into unconsciousness when he suddenly asks, quietly, “Do you mind if I go get the box?”
“…what?”
“Uh…the wishing box?”
She sits up and eyes him for a few moments before bursting into helpless laughter. She should have figured out that he wouldn’t have sat there so quietly just to be company… “Aren’t you cunning? Very clever of you to ask me when I’m half asleep.”
He smiles faintly, feeling slightly hopeful since she hadn’t thrown a hissy fit.
“Unfortunately…no, you can’t.”
“What’s so great about that crummy box anyway?” Nicholas’s face is flaming red, half in embarrassment for having been caught in his lie and half because he’s angry with the protectiveness Natalia has for that stupid box.
Studying her brother, she replies, calculatedly flippant and cautious, “I just like it.”
Nicholas raises an eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate but she doesn’t, partially because she isn’t too sure why she’s so protective about the box either. Sure, some of the wishes inside could be potentially humiliating but this is Nicholas she’s talking about…the one who already knew most of her bad habits anyway.
She suspects that she likes the box because it’s from Adam. It’s pretty much the only thing she’d ever gotten from him (apparently it isn’t a typical guy to do to give a girl presents, particularly when the present had nothing to do with computer games) and also because she's alittle worried that somehow, if Nicholas knew about all the wishes inside, perhaps the box would lose its power.
Not that she’s certain that there even is power in the box, just that if she wanted something very much and she put it inside the box, it usually worked out for her.
Aware that his sister isn’t going to give him anything apart from that vague reply, he lies back down. Then they hear the doorbell, the sound of their front door opening and their mother’s alarmed cry.
Exchanging a startled glance, they quickly get up and hurry inside, where they find Bella Greene making sympathetic noises as she gazes at Adam’s face, where his cheek bears the unmistakable print of a palm.
Shooting him a pitying smile and making more sympathetic noises, Bella says, “You two…take care of Adam for a while, alright? I’m going to get the first aid kit.”
“Way to grow a backbone,” says Nicholas, finally.
Adam smiles weakly, watching Natalia, wondering if she had somehow managed to find out how he felt without him even saying a word again…the way she always did.
When she opens her mouth however, something surprising comes out.“Dance, Dance, we're falling apart to half time. Dance, Dance, and these are the lives you'd love to lead.”
She stops, waiting for Adam to continue. Fall Out Boy is something they've had divided opinions about (she liked them and he didn't) but he would know the words and what they meant.
“Dance, this is the way they'd love if they knew how misery loved me.” Adam smiles, in relief. She got it after all, why he did what he did.
It is all because misery loved him.
Nicholas smiles widely at Natalia, nodding eagerly to demonstrate his understanding. She returns his grin, feeling a little tired from their brief lesson but still oddly contented.
He’s nine this year, the same age she was when she received the wishing box from Adam, the very same which she keeps in mint condition on her dresser. It’s the only object in her room that he isn’t allowed to touch and therefore, the only one that he wants to touch, especially when he’s in one of those foul moods.
Today, however, he seems to be behaving himself.
She’d just taught him a little basic Science because Bella wasn’t in the mood to deal with her younger, sometimes bratty and definitely restless, brother. Having not much memory of her nine year old self and what she would be interested in, she started with something simple—the concept of backbones and which animals had them and which didn’t.
He understood the concept fairly quickly and didn’t seem to mind lying down in their backyard as Natalia lazily observes the cloudless blue sky.
She almost drifts into unconsciousness when he suddenly asks, quietly, “Do you mind if I go get the box?”
“…what?”
“Uh…the wishing box?”
She sits up and eyes him for a few moments before bursting into helpless laughter. She should have figured out that he wouldn’t have sat there so quietly just to be company… “Aren’t you cunning? Very clever of you to ask me when I’m half asleep.”
He smiles faintly, feeling slightly hopeful since she hadn’t thrown a hissy fit.
“Unfortunately…no, you can’t.”
“What’s so great about that crummy box anyway?” Nicholas’s face is flaming red, half in embarrassment for having been caught in his lie and half because he’s angry with the protectiveness Natalia has for that stupid box.
Studying her brother, she replies, calculatedly flippant and cautious, “I just like it.”
Nicholas raises an eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate but she doesn’t, partially because she isn’t too sure why she’s so protective about the box either. Sure, some of the wishes inside could be potentially humiliating but this is Nicholas she’s talking about…the one who already knew most of her bad habits anyway.
She suspects that she likes the box because it’s from Adam. It’s pretty much the only thing she’d ever gotten from him (apparently it isn’t a typical guy to do to give a girl presents, particularly when the present had nothing to do with computer games) and also because she's alittle worried that somehow, if Nicholas knew about all the wishes inside, perhaps the box would lose its power.
Not that she’s certain that there even is power in the box, just that if she wanted something very much and she put it inside the box, it usually worked out for her.
Aware that his sister isn’t going to give him anything apart from that vague reply, he lies back down. Then they hear the doorbell, the sound of their front door opening and their mother’s alarmed cry.
Exchanging a startled glance, they quickly get up and hurry inside, where they find Bella Greene making sympathetic noises as she gazes at Adam’s face, where his cheek bears the unmistakable print of a palm.
Shooting him a pitying smile and making more sympathetic noises, Bella says, “You two…take care of Adam for a while, alright? I’m going to get the first aid kit.”
“Way to grow a backbone,” says Nicholas, finally.
Adam smiles weakly, watching Natalia, wondering if she had somehow managed to find out how he felt without him even saying a word again…the way she always did.
When she opens her mouth however, something surprising comes out.“Dance, Dance, we're falling apart to half time. Dance, Dance, and these are the lives you'd love to lead.”
She stops, waiting for Adam to continue. Fall Out Boy is something they've had divided opinions about (she liked them and he didn't) but he would know the words and what they meant.
“Dance, this is the way they'd love if they knew how misery loved me.” Adam smiles, in relief. She got it after all, why he did what he did.
It is all because misery loved him.
♠ ♠ ♠
Lyrics (in the story) belong to Fall out Boy.Hope you liked this.