Mutiny Below

Natalia

Nick woke me up by jumping up and down on my bed until I sat up and rubbed my eyes. He hopped down and stood next to my bed as I looked over at the alarm clock.

"You do know it's 7:30, right?"

"We have things to do, Nat! Come on!"

"What kind of things?"

"Well, for starters, we're going out to breakfast with some people."

"Specify please."

"It's just Halvo, John, and Jayce. Now get up!"

I groaned as he jerked the comforter off of me and pulled me up to a standing position. Once he was satisfied that I was out of the bed, he left and I went to grab some clothes before going to take a quick shower. After my hair was dried and I was dressed and ready to go, I went into the den and found no one.

I assumed they must've went over to John and Jayce's so I grabbed my cell phone and headed over. The four of them were standing outside, Eric sitting indiain style on the ground and Nick leaned up against the car, smoking of course.

"Finally! Natty, I love you but you take forever to get ready!"

I knew Eric didn't mean it like that but it didn't stop me from blushing like mad. I stood next to Nick and poked him. "Thanks for leaving me, bro."

"We're just talking. Chill the fuck out."

I groaned as he blew smoke in my face. "You're going to kill yourself if you don't stop that."

He looked at the cigarette between his fingers then back to me. "Some people think it's sexy, little sis." He smirked and put the cigarette to his lips again, taking a long drag. I shook my head at him and chanced taking a glance over at John, who just happened to be staring right at me. I quickly shifted my gaze to the ground, feeling my cheeks instantly heat up again.

When I finally got the courage to take my eyes off my coral toenail polish, I looked up and Jayce caught my eye. She stood next to John with her arms crossed, watching Nick smoke his cigarette. Every few seconds, he'd glance her way then refocus his attention on Eric who was still sitting in the grass, telling a story. I could see a hint of a smirk on his face as he nodded along with whatever Eric was going on about. Nick had been extremely happy lately the past few days. I didn't ask him why though; heapparently didn't want me to know, I guess.

Eventually, Eric got up and announced that he was famished and that he needed to be fed right away so we loaded up in John's car and drove to IHOP. Eric slid into the booth first, with Nick on his left and Jayce on his right. I slid in next to Nick and John sat across from me, beside Jayce. The middle-aged waitress came to take our order and I just sat and thought while we waited.

As we were eating, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I checked it under the table and it was from a number I didn't recognize.

What's with the serious face?

I stared blankly at my phone for a moment before glancing up. My eyes met John's instantly and he raised his eyebrows as if beckoning me to answer the question. When I looked back at my screen, I gathered that John must be the mysterious texter so I typed in a quick reply.

Nothing serious. Why do you ask?

Almost as soon as I hit send, he looked down and didn't look back up until my phone buzzed again.

You're a bad liar.

You're a creeper. Whose phone did you jack?

I didn't jack it. Eric's phone was just sitting there on the coffee table.

Right.

So...what's going on in that head of yours?

I already told you nothing.

Don't lie to me, Natalia.

I set my phone in my lap without replying and went back to eating my scrambled eggs. My phone vibrated again and I looked down at my lap.

Don't make me ask you out loud.

I narrowed my eyes at him but he just looked back innocently. My fingers moved quickly over my keyboard and I hit send.

I'm fine. Just leave it alone. Please.

When he looked up from his phone, he gave me a disappointed look but simply went back to eating his breakfast without another word. There was no reason he should suspect that anything was going on, much less the fact that I liked him.

John mentioned that he needed to stop by Kennedy's house so after we left, we went by there. A simple "stop by" turned into a long "hang out" with the five of us plus Kennedy and Gemma. The living room was packed full so I sat down on the floor in front of Eric, leaning my back against his legs.

We ended up spending the entire day there. Watching movies, talking, eating, watching more movies, and finally drinking games. Of course I didn't participate but it was sort of entertaining to watch the others. I figured I'd be forced to drive the drunk ones home but Jayce and Eric both passed out before we could leave so Kennedy insisted that we just crash there instead of trying to get them into the car.

Eric was stretched out under the dining room table, Jayce was on the couch and Nick flopped down on the chair in the corner of the room. John took a spot on the floor next to Jayce and I took one of the extra couch cushions and laid back where I was in the middle of the living room floor.

I laid there for awhile, trying to go to sleep but eventually I just gave up. I got up quietly and tiptoed quietly out the back door, shutting it softly behind me and went to sit in the middle of the yard. I laid back in the grass and stared up at the stars, much like I'd done my first night in Arizona.

Of course it wouldn't be like my first night unless John decided to join me. Of course.

"Natalia, what are you doing awake?"

"What are you doing awake?"

"I asked you first. It's almost 3am, you know."

"So? I couldn't sleep."

"Yeah, me neither."

"Then you obviously didn't drink enough."

"Says the girl who didn't drink at all."

I looked up at him and the crooked smile that adorned his face.

"Are you gonna let me sit down or what?"

"I'm not stopping you, am I?"

He sat down next to me and made a face. "Nat, the grass is all wet."

I gave him a "Duh" look and turned my face back to the sky. He laid back in the same position I was in and looked over at me but I kept my eyes on the stars. I was sure if I looked into hisgorgeous eyes I'd start blushing like an idiot or something. He stretched his arms and put them behind his head, yawning.

Within minutes, he was asleep, leaving me alone with my thoughts once again.