No Strings Attached, Please?

font=georgia]It’s been two weeks since the last time I hung out with Nat.

Two weeks since Lynn forced Nat to dump me for her in front of the whole school so she hoped she could humiliate me, but it didn’t get to me.

Two weeks since Lynn declared that she and Nat were officially a couple.

Two weeks since Nat joined Lynn’s table at canteen and didn’t bother to sit with Carlton, Kale and me again.

And it was a week ago that Nat and I had our last sex in the girls’ bathroom that had finished with the renovation.

Nat said it was a mistake that he dragged me along to that bathroom again, because he cheated on Lynn. When we gathered our scattered clothes from the floor, Nat told me to stay away from him because he surely couldn’t keep his hands off of me when I was around. He wanted to be serious with Lynn and didn’t want to fuck around with me anymore. He loved Lynn so much so he wanted to keep his commitment as a loyal boyfriend for her.

I wasn’t that good at handling rejection. I kept my best straight face for him as he told me to stay away. I silently wanted to slap him there because he used me for sex and then he just pushed me away. I wanted to cry and hug him then tell him not to leave me alone because I needed him. But that wasn’t my call, that wasn’t my place. I wasn’t and never will be his girlfriend, but hell, I turned out into a possessive girl for him.

He didn’t belong to me.

Nat apologized to me because he got carried away, and what an asshole he was being when he put a gentle kiss on my temple before he left the bathroom, leaving me alone.

What a heartbreaking asshole he was. And I hated how gentle he was to me. I hate to know he kissed me on the temple because it’s freaking sweet!

Kale, Carlton and I still hung out together without Nat. We went to a Diner together, watching action movies together, went bowling together, and pretty often watching Kale and his friends skate in Ronnie’s Wasteland. Every time we hung out, Nat never showed up. He’s too busy with his new girlfriend.

Nat was practically owned by Lynn and he was stuck with her vicious circle of friends. Nat still dressed up like prep, he talked like prep and even acted like prep except the bullying part. Yes, Lynn and her so-called friends still bullied people around them, and Nat—who used to be bullied by Lynn—joined the scene even though he wasn’t involved with it.

Nat was the prince of Maurice High at the moment. Since he dated Lynn, many girls worshipped him and wanted to be Lynn. Well, man, he’s hot. Although Nat wasn’t the quarterback of football varsity team, or he wasn’t the part of the jockster, the football team had come to pay a respect for him. He’s now even friends with Adam, Brad and Tyler. They became bros and shit like that.

Apparently, Nat left his old friends. Even Carlton now lost his partner in crime to play Call of Duty, because Nat was too busy keeping Lynn company everywhere.

But, one thing was, Nat might have left his old friends, he might have turned into one of the prep, he might be Lynn’s sex slave now, but he’s still the old Nat. Whenever I met him in the hallway, he would greet me with his thousand watt smile, he would say his hi to me. But he still kept the distance between us; he didn’t want to break his promise. Well, he wouldn’t keep a long conversation with me and tended to avert his gaze from me.

He still huddled his brother when he met Carlton, he still greeted Kale with brotherly hugs but they never hung out together anymore.

There was something I still didn’t understand. When I passed the hallway, before I noticed Nat, Nat looked at me as if he’s been watching me beforehand. I didn’t know what it was, but there’s something in his stare, he looked somehow sad. Maybe he felt sorry that we couldn’t hang again.

Ever since Nat stopped giving me a ride home, Cam always approached me and started to claim me as his. Yes, we kissed a lot now, we fucked several times, but I always refused his offer for the ride home. I didn’t want to start any stupid rumors about me being a whore again. I didn’t want that reputation anymore when it occurred that after I broke up with Nat I would easily ‘mingle’ with Cam.

Truth to be told, my reputation being the school slut slowly drowned to the pit. Since I ‘dated’ Nat, people began to think I wasn’t slut anymore because I properly dated Nat and we looked like a real couple. No cheating behind each other back, no fighting and stuff.

People didn’t notice my ‘thing’ with Cam. Well, we didn’t kiss in front of public. I always told him to keep it intimate and private every time he wanted me.

I was glad I had Cam, though he wasn’t my boyfriend, but he’s the only one who cared about me at the moment. But, I wasn’t close to being happy when I was with him. The only one who kept my pleasant mood was Nat.

I always reminded myself that I wasn’t attracted with Nat. I didn’t like him that way. However, the way he treated me now began to make me realize that maybe I liked him a bit.

I reminded myself about my promise not to fall in love with boys again because damn, it hurt like a bitch when you’re hurt by boys.

Ever since Nat stopped giving me a ride home, Carlton offered to. So now, I went home with Carlton.

One time, before I went home with Carlton, I told him that I need to pee and he said he would wait for me in his car. So, I went to the bathroom and finished my business there. I flushed the toilet and was about to get out from the cubicle but I was stopped by the sudden hustle that came inside the bathroom.

I listened to the sound and heard that it was a couple who decided to make out in the girls’ bathroom. I held my breath and climbed up to the closet, in case the couple would check on me. But the only thing I heard was their kissy lusty sound. I even heard a zipping sound which made me think that they were about to multiply in that freaking bathroom.

That’s not the best part, because soon, I heard between their kisses, the guy moaned.

Nat moaned my freaking name!

Fuck that was Nat and Lynn there. And they were having this intimate session in the bathroom with me witnessing it. I sat on the closet and silently hugged myself. It already hurt to know he’s with someone now, and it become even worse to hear him fuck her near me.

But he moaned my name. I didn’t know if it’s becoming a habit for him since we usually fucked, but yes, he screamed my name.

Soon after that, I heard a slapping sound. Lynn suddenly yelled at him, accusing him of cheating on her since he moaned my name. With that I heard the rushed movement from them as I presumed Lynn stormed out from the bathroom with Nat trying to catch her. They left the bathroom and me alone again without even noticing that I had been there for a long time.

Nat moaned my name. Wow, Nathaniel Sean McGregor moaned my name!

“You don’t look fine today… what’s bothering you?” Dad suddenly split my daydream apart. My eyes snapped to him as I arched my eyebrows. I was having a delightful lunch with my Dad at his house after I argued with Mom about letting me.

Mom and Mike decided to have an early summer break in Ontario where Mike’s original residence was. She finally permitted me to stay over at Dad’s house until she came home. Dad was beyond happy to know his only daughter could stay with him even if only for a while.

Lunch with Daddy was warm and fun. He served me everything that I wanted and like a request on genie, magically they appeared on the dining table. Well, the butler served us actually. So, the butler practically was the genie.

A smile appeared on the crook of my lips as I shook my head to Daddy. I continued to spoon my Lobster Bisque when I felt Daddy’s eyes on me.

“Apparently, you’re not quite good at lying, Savannah” Daddy said. I stopped eating and only watched my Lobster Bisque in front of me. It was the same thing Nat said when he found I was being a fidget over my problem with Daddy and Mom. “Something wrong with the meal, Munchkin?” he asked more concerned with my facial expression.

I quickly lifted up my head to him, “No, not at all. The Bisque is really yummy. I really like it,” I smiled weakly.

“Then?” Daddy pressed. He arched one of his eyebrows to me.

“I… umm...”

Daddy didn’t let his eyes off of me; he still examined me as if I hid some secret. Well, maybe it’s a secret between me and… myself.

“Trouble in paradise with Nathaniel?” he shot. I almost choked when I heard he verbalized Nat’s name. “It’s really about him, isn’t it?”

“Daaad…” I pressed.

“What happened?”

I watched him for the longest time. Then, I decided to hunch my back before letting out my long sigh.

“Promise me you won’t tell anyone. This is a secret. I’ve never told anyone about this…” I began. It dragged his full attention, so he dragged his seat to come closer to mine.

“I promise, my dear…” he whispered softly.

“Right…” I sighed. “So it started with… umm… Nat and I didn’t get along…” I told my dad everything from the beginning. From when Nat hated me, being humiliated, crushing my heart with his mean words, and my attempt to help him get Lynn by being his fake girlfriend. I told him that only Carlton and Kat knew about this problem. I got along with Nat, but I didn’t mention that I usually fucked him. Heck, wouldn’t it be awkward to tell your sexual life to your parent?

“I think, after he wanted this fake break up, I’ve come to find this weird feeling in my stomach, Dad…” I softly told him. Dad looked calm from the very beginning; he studied my face as he let out a low hmm. “The back of my mind still wants him to be my fake boyfriend. I want him to be by my side and…”

“So you like him for real now?”

I gasped, “No, I don’t. There’s no way I will like him…”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s not possible. I only helped him get Lynn. Not a slightest chance that I like him. We’re just friends… uhhh…”

“Are you sure? You seem hesitant about it…”

I sighed, “Dad, I…” I bit down my lip and was defeated by my own mental battle. “Maybe I like him… a bit. But not the kind of that like like… you know…” I blushed. I just confessed my darkest secret to someone. Not Carlton, not Kat, but my Daddy.

Dad chuckled delightfully, “You like him, child… You surely like him. Maybe you don’t realize it but you’re finally attracted to him because you always spend your time with him. Well, it’s not impossible for you to like him if you regularly kiss him, cuddle with him or even sleep with him like the common couples do”

I blushed deep red when he mentioned the sex. It was too awkward for me to talk about sex with adults.

“Well, maybe I like him… but I’m not really sure about it. Daddy, I don’t want to be hurt again…”

“Munchkin, if you like or love someone, you will get hurt. Well, aren’t you hurt to see Nat with another girl?”

“Maybe a bit,” I faced down. Damn, Daddy really knew what’s going on in my mind.

“Tell him that you like him, tell him the truth”

“Dad, it’s not that simple. We’re friends and he even doesn’t like me that way. I don’t want us to be awkward…I want him to be happy with his new girl…”

“How do you know he doesn’t like you back? What if he felt the same thing you do but the reason is, he’s still confused if he likes the girl he’s with now or…”

“Daddy, I’m sure. I’m really sure he doesn’t like me that way… The way he sees Lynn is different, Dad. I know him…” I squeaked as I picked the napkin to wipe my mouth.

“So, what do you want now?”

“I want to erase this feeling from my mind. I don’t want this feeling…”

Daddy looked at me solemnly with winced eyes then he spoke, “Find another boy who will take care of you. Date some decent boy so you will slowly forget this Nathaniel kid”

Daddy’s idea was quite brilliant. I know how to deal with it. Of course, find another guy to date. Wouldn’t it be nice if I dated Cam and be his official girlfriend? I would be preoccupied with Cam while I tried to wash the feeling away.

“I thought you guys really dated… and…” he started again

I chuckled softly, “You didn’t stalk us that much then…”

We both laughed lightly as we came to conclusion that I would pick another guy to date. I was glad that I finally could confide in someone about my little crush on Nat. And Dad surely gave me a good advice on how to handle it. I was really happy to finally have him in my life even though he said he’s having…

“Daddy?” I called him when he sipped his wine. He turned to me and gave me a question look. “I’ve told you my darkest secret. Can you tell me about yourself? Maybe your secret?” I hinted.

Daddy chuckled, “I don’t have any secret to hide from you, Munchkin” he simply replied.

“What are you suffering from, Dad?” I shot.

Daddy suddenly deadpanned there when he heard me. He became so uncomfortable when I brought up the conversation.

“Honey, I think we can discuss that any other day”

“Daddy, please…” I made a face. I was dying to know what disease he suffered from because he always hid it.

Hunching his back, Daddy seemed defeated. He stared at me with his sad facial expression and finally spoke, “A year ago, the doctor diagnosed me with heavy headache. But it’s not some simple headache because I always have this random high fever. My neck is always stiff for unknown reason. And then the doctor decided to make a few tests. The doctor inserted a needle into my lower back and began to identify it” he paused, looking hesitated as hell.

“So?” I asked again.

“He diagnosed me with Bacterial Meningitis. It’s not just that, somehow I’ve reached the fatal stage where I can randomly go into brain damage, coma, or even death. I’ve been in a coma several times now, and once I go into coma again, it’s a final” he whispered with a sad look.



I watched Evan Sinclair, Tyler Smith, Adam Jackson, Brad Hamilton, Tommy Clinton and Cam Garretson walking away from the field as they pulled off their safety helmet from their head. Tyler smirked at me when he saw me sitting on the back-up seat near the field. I glared at him and wishing he wouldn’t undress me with his look again.

Adam wolf-whistled to me when he found me there, but suddenly Cam snapped back of Adam’s head and sneered at him. Adam went the opposite direction of Cam, while Cam approached me with his sparkling eyes. He sat next to me while he put down his safety helmet then spit out his mouthpiece.

He grinned at me when I scrunched my nose at his sweaty figure.

“You’re sweaty,” I told him as he pulled off his shoulder pads and his gloves.

“So? Don’t you like when I’m sweaty? I mean, you make me all sweaty after sex,” he teased making me slap his side playfully and laugh with him.

“Thanks for watching the practice,” he smiled up at me as I only shrugged playfully. “Damn, why are you so cute?” he couldn’t help snaking an arm around my waist and collided our lips together while I could feel his elbow pads. He swallowed my lips roughly and left a big wet kiss on my lips before I saw Couch Wood slapping the back of Cam’s head.

“This is a battle field, Garretson. You can’t bring your girl here and show off your skill on mouth locking. Get a grip, practice your running skill more because you run like a girl instead of shoving your nasty tongue down her mouth”

Cam suddenly stood up, he chuckled and scratched his nape, “I’m sorry Couch, I just can’t help it,” he grinned.

“Get into the shower and get back here tomorrow to practice one more hour” Couch Wood said as he waltzed towards the exit.

“I gotta shower now, damn, I smell so awful. Meet you outside in fifteen minutes?”

“Sure,” I said before leaving him to the exit.



“Why do you look so upset today?” he asked when he intertwined our hands together on our way to the parking lot.

“You noticed, huh?” I replied then suddenly he stopped his pace. He pulled my hand and showed his concerned look to me.

“What happened?” his asked genuinely. His eyes showed some emotion as if he really cared about something happening to me. But that’s not Cam Garretson. He’s the biggest asshole at school. He cheated on Lynn with me and he could care less about shit that happened to his fuck buddy. In this case, it’s me.

“Well, nothing serious. I just found out my Dad suffers from Bacterial Meningitis and he could die anytime soon” I faked a chuckle, hoping he would make fun of this as he would usually do. Cam was usually careless.

Instead of joking about it, he quickly cupped my cheeks and stared at me with his big brown eyes.

“Damn, woman, you’re joking, right?”

I pursued my lips together and then averted my eyes from him. He forced me to look at him while he rubbed my cheeks. I knew I needed someone to confide to about my Dad, but I would burst into tears. Usually, Nat would take care of me, he would hug me to make me feel better, but now he wasn’t anywhere in sight. Heck, he didn’t care about me anymore.

I couldn’t help but crying silently in front of him. I really loved my Dad, I just met him for awhile and I wasn’t ready to lose him again, this time I would lose him forever.

“Oh no,” Cam responded. “Please don’t cry, Sweet Cheeks. You know I can’t handle crying girls…” he sounded panic. He wiped my tears with his thumb and stared at me with his sympathy look. I couldn’t hide my emotions anymore when I was melting from the way he treated me. Why hey, he really cared about me. At least, that’s how I saw.

“Please, stop crying…” he begged. When I didn’t stop crying, he just leaned in and closed the gap between us. He pressed his lips on mine and started to swallow them gently. Cam wasn’t usually gentle when it came to kissing, but he did it anyway. Maybe in his mindless brain, he found the idea of shutting me up by kissing me.

Giving in was what I did, kissing him back as he tried to make it better. I really needed someone. Someone like him who could make me better about my entire life problem. Maybe Nat already gave up on me, maybe he’s already out of from my life, but now I finally found someone who could replace him.

Cam encircled my waist and pulled me closer. He surely knew how to be a professional kisser. He could make me forget about my Dad for a moment. The way his fingers traced the exposed skin on my waist, the way he bit my lip playfully, the way he enjoyed our session making me want him more.

“God Dammit!” I heard a loud shout came and I realized Cam was ripped away from me. Someone pushed him away from me and dropped him on the grass. “What the fuck did you do to her, Garretson??!” the voice sounded angry and then I snapped open my eyes that were entirely closed since the first time Cam kissed me.

Cam who was down on the ground looked clueless, but when he saw Nat was about to pounce on him he pushed him away.

“Are you stoned, McGregor!? What the fuck are you doing!?” Cam was shocked to find how wild Nat became. I was shocked to know Nat reacted that way. What’s wrong with him?

“You fucking fuck, you made her cry and then took advantages of her! She doesn’t want you! Heck, she doesn’t even like you. Have a reality check, you filthy bastard!” Nat screamed at the top of his lungs and was ready to punch Cam.

I quickly ripped Nat away from Cam and pushed him.

“Nat! What the hell is wrong with you?!” I screamed bloody murder.

“Savannah, I told you to stay away from him. He’s a bad news! Even when we were dating, he tried to steal you away from me”

What? Steal me away from whom? Him?

“Now he made you cry, and fuck, he forced you to kiss him? That motherfucker—“

“Nathaniel!” I stopped him “He didn’t make me cry! He’s here to comfort me. He only tried to be a gentleman,” I explained and suddenly his anger went down.

“What? What happened to you? Is this about your Dad? Or your Mom? You never tell me anything anymore, Sav…” Nat spoke softly in a concerned tone.

I stared at him in disbelief. How the fuck am I supposed to tell him if he’s with Lynn 24/7? Did he think that I want to spill anything in front of that bitch so Lynn could name-drop me more? And says he, who wanted me to stay away from him?

“You don’t have to worry about me anymore, Nat. Now, I have Cam to take care of me” I told him as I approached Cam who was on the ground. I helped him to stand up and took his hand in mine.

“Savannah, this tool doesn’t care about you. I care about you. You can tell me everything about your problems. I’m always here to listen. You don’t need him. He only takes advantages on you, he even freaking kissed you when you’re this upset. What an asshole he is”

I glared at Nat and tightened my grip on Cam’s arm who was being a mute with Nat and mine scene.

“I don’t mind if he kisses me. I wanted that kiss anyway. So, shut up Nat and leave us alone. Mind your own business with Lynn,” I said before dragging Cam and leaving Nat alone, deadpanned there in his spot. Too surprised to find my reaction opposite of what he expected it to be..

Nat knew I hated Cam’s demanding manner. But Cam wasn’t the old Cam I knew. He slowly changed to be more concerned. Oddly, he was concerned about what happened to me. And Nat didn’t have to worry anymore because I had someone who would look after me after Carlton, Kale and maybe Nat.

Maybe I liked Nat, but Dad’s right. I needed to find someone else to forget about Nat. It’s not possible that Nat would like me as I liked him, it’s not possible for us to stay together again like the good old times.