Rashomon Effect - 2. Nathan

Nathan stood outside his home shivering from head to toe. The bright morning sun was doing little to keep him from freezing. In reality, the tall thin brown haired teen wasn’t built for cold weather. At least, he thought to himself, he hadn’t forgotten his tuque this time around and so he placed his hat firmly on his head to protect himself from the blowing wind.

Nathan wasn’t outside of his parent’s bungalow just for the hell of it. He was waiting for his close friend Jake, the one he expected to appear around the corner any minute now so they could drive to school and share a few moments together, just like any regular teenagers would do.

But time was running out fast and there was still no sign of Jake. He was starting to get annoyed because this wasn’t the first time that this friend would either forget or bail on him at the last minute. Obviously, he knew that it wasn’t done intentionally, but the results were still the same no matter what angle you were looking at it.

Furious, Nathan dug out his cell out of his pants’ pocket and dialed his friend’s number.

It rang three times before Jake finally picked up. “Hello?” Jake muttered. It was very obvious to Nathan that his friend was barely awake. In fact, the chances were high that Jake was still in bed.

“Jake, I’m gonna kill you! Where the hell are you?” Nathan asked, even though he already knew the answer to the question he had just asked.

“Shit! I overslept. Give me ten minutes and I’ll be over,” Jake told him.

Nathan knew that it would be more than useless for him to wait for a lift from Jake because Nathan lived ten minutes away from school himself. He decided that as much as he originally wanted to spend a few extra minutes with Jake, he didn’t want to hear the ‘I’m sorry rant’ all over again on their way to school. So Nathan started walking on his own.

“Forget about it. I’ll get to school by myself,” Nathan finally said annoyed.

Nathan began walking down his driveway and arrived at school 15 minutes later. He entered through the side entrance, which most of the students used, since it was closest to his locker.

As he got through the door, his friend Sandra ran up to him. “Hey! Nate, where’s Jake? I thought that you guys were coming in together?” she said.

If the walk to school had helped cool his temper about getting stood up, Sandra’s words were like adding oil onto a fire.

“He hasn’t arrived yet, he overslept. He’ll be here in not too long,” Nathan answered calmly trying to hide his anger.

“Oh well, we can’t change him. Anyhow, I gotta get going, I’ll see you at lunch,” Sandra replied.

As his fellow students swarmed up and down the hallways, Nathan opened his locker and took out his book bag. After Nathan closed his locker and was about to go to his class, he heard Jake shouting above all the noise and chatter.

“Hey, Nathan, wait up!” Jake yelled.

The sound of Jake’s voice didn’t make Nathan want to stop and wait to have a nice little chat, especially since the first bell sounding for the start of the period had just rang. As most of the students had rushed into their classroom, Jake finally caught up to Nathan.

“Hey, Nate, I’m really sorry. I feel really bad,” Jake apologized.

All the fury of not having had those few minutes alone with Jake earlier, all the disappointment of having been let down again got to Nathan. Nathan just needed to get his emotions out of his system no matter how harsh it would sound.

“Ya, well, next time try to live up to your promises,” Nathan spat at Jake. “Now, if you will excuse me I need to get to my class.”

Nathan turned on his heels and left Jake standing in the hallway as he walked into class. Most of the students had already found a seat and his preferred seat near the back was already taken. He choose to sit in the front row instead.

His French teacher was about to start his lecture when Jake finally entered the room and sat right next to Jake.

“Jake, nice of you to join us,” the teacher commented as his friend took his seat. The teacher continued his lecture about past participles and discussed something about direct complements and the verb ‘avoir.’ It wasn’t that Nathan wasn’t a good student and made a habit of not following his classes, in fact it was quite the opposite, but his mind wasn’t in his school work just now.

The next moment, Nancy surprised Nathan by gently tapping him on the shoulder, asking him if he wanted to team up for the exercise the teacher had given them to do in class. Nathan was surprised, because Nancy had the reputation of having been friendly with almost all the school jocks and he wasn’t exactly the type of guy that she’d want to be seen around with. Nathan was used to teaming up with Jake during French class exercises but for some reason, he automatically jumped on the offer and started working with Nancy. Nathan always liked to work with Jake because it was so much fun, it didn’t really seem like work. With Nancy, it was pretty boring and they had nothing to say to each other.

He wasn’t disappointed when the class finally ended, especially since he had to endure the stares that Jake was giving him every time Jake looked his way. Jake looked like a lost little puppy. Nathan left in a hurry after the class and didn’t really give Jake time to say anything.

After the last class before lunch, Nathan went to his locker to drop off his books and to grab his meal. Sandra was already waiting for him when he got there.

“Is everything alright? You seem a little out of it? Did Jake finally arrive late for class this morning?” Sandra questioned Nathan.

“Oh ya, sorry, I was just thinking about something. I’m alright. Ya, Jake arrived just on time for class,” Nathan answered.

Together, Sandra and Nathan made their way to the cafeteria.

“Good. Hey, I wanna go to the movies friday night, are you free?” Sandra inquired.

“Umm, I’m not sure yet, I’ll think about it,” Nathan replied hoping that she would forget about that idea since he had other plans for that night that didn’t include Sandra.

As he entered the crowded room, Nathan immediately spotted Jake who was sitting at their usual place, staring out at nothing, lost in his thoughts.

Of course, Nathan still was angry at Jake in his mind, but just seeing him was enough to forgive him for everything and make him feel better. Nathan already knew that he wouldn’t be able to be angry at his friend for too long.

“You look like a guy whose morning was a snooze fest,” Nathan told Jake, making sure to give him his best smile as he and Sandra sat at the table.

It seems to him that Jake caught the hint as he answered back with a smile “Bah, it was just boring as usual, school is school after all.”

There was about a thousand things that Nathan wanted to ask and to say to Jake, but with Sandra there with them, there was no chances of that happening.

“Jake, what are you doing friday night?” Sandra asked.

They were doomed, that’s what it meant, she really meant it, there was no way that he’ll be having a nice night out with Jake, just the two of them. At least, that’s what Nathan thought when she asked that.

“Nothing for now. What do you have in mind?” Jake answered.

Nathan swore to himself as he was hoping that his friend would say that he already has plans.

“Well, Nathan and I are going to the movies, so you’re coming with us,” Sandra declared.

“Oh, because I’m going to the movies? When did I say yes to that?” Nathan said hoping that he could somehow salvage a sinking boat.

“Yup, remember you just told me that you’d come. In fact, you promised me that you’ll come,” Sandra replied.

“If I remember correctly, I only said that I would think about it. I didn’t give you any answer, Sandra,” Nathan said. He tried to make big eyes at Sandra to send her the silent message that Jake and he didn’t want to go with her, that if they were to go to the movies, they’d be alone.

“Nate, there’s no point arguing, she just wants to have some moral support when she sees her beauty Mike. You know how she’s into him, she just needs someone to keep her from saying dumb stuff.” Jake told him.

“Do we need to keep her from saying stupid things just then or all the time? Cause I do have other things to do,” Nathan said. He regretted having said those words as he received a nicely placed kick on his tibia from Sandra.

The three of them suddenly became quiet and stopped their arguing when they heard someone fall onto the ground. Nathan looked up to see what the commotion was all about, only to find the student who will most likely be subject of all the gossip this afternoon on the cafeteria floor. He noticed that the guy was having difficulties fighting back his tears. As the guy got back up, he not so quietly rushed out of the cafeteria.

Nathan wanted to laugh so badly, but it wasn’t an option, that’s when he realized that Sandra was shooting him a icy cold stare. “Dude, that was so nice did you see the face he was making? It looked like he was about to go home to cry to mommy!” Nathan said as he tried to explain himself.

Now it was Jake’s turn to give Nathan the same look that Sandra shot him a moment earlier. “Well what?” Nathan asked “You might not like the reason why he got tripped, but you gotta admit that the end result is kinda funny.”

“Nathan, you can be such a jerk, you know that? The ones that laugh at that sort of bullying are just as bad as those who beat up on others,” Sandra desperately said.

Now, Nathan was feeling really low and didn’t know how to get out of the mess he just dug himself into. It was just an immature kid reaction that he had, of course, he didn’t condone what had just happened.

“Remember you’ll have to put up with us at the movies. And you even have our authorization to ditch us if you score with cute guy. Ain’t that right Nate?” Jake asked.

Nathan couldn’t have been any more grateful to his secret lover than he was right now. The change of subject was exactly what he needed and it seemed to be working too.

“Oh ya, of course, and maybe you’ll be making out in the projection room,” he added.

After their lunch period, Sandra finally left them alone as she didn’t share their next class. As Nathan and Jake walked toward their classroom, Jake unexpectedly made a turn and started heading away from where they were supposed to go. Still, Nathan followed his friend without any hesitation.

“Umm, where are we going now?” Nathan asked. He was wondering what Jake was up to.

“Just follow me,” Jake replied.

Jake led Nathan into a deserted hallway.

“What about class? it’s about to start,” Nathan said. He wanted to know if whatever they were doing was worth ditching at least part of class.

Jake pulled him into a restroom. Nathan wasn’t too worried as he knew that this particular restroom was almost always unused by students. As soon as they were inside, Jake looked around and then locked the door behind them.

Nathan couldn’t help but make a joke out of the situation. “I’m guessing that you’re not bringing me here cause you really have to go, right?”

“Right!” Jake pulled him into a hug that and followed it up with a warm kiss before continuing. “Hun. I’m really, really sorry about this morning. Please, will you forgive me, sweetie?”

In his mind, Nathan had already forgiven him since the beginning of lunch, everything was history, but Nathan decided that he could still use it to his advantage. “Oh dear, keep doing that and I’ll completely forget all about it.”

Jake understood Nathan’s not so hidden message and kissed Nathan again then kissed his neck and nibbled on his earlobe. All Nathan could do was to enjoy the pleasure that his lover was giving to him.

Nathan’s head ignored his natural desires for a moment as he pushed away Jake and asked once again: “Sweetie, what about the class?”

It was like he had confided in Jake some crazy idea he just had “Who cares about it, it’s just sex ed, it’s not like we’ll miss anything that’s gonna be useful to us in that class. Besides, we can give each other some lessons right now.”

With that being said, Jake didn’t waste another second before getting back to the work he gave to himself.

After having fooled around and having stuffed Jake’s bubble butt, Nathan started to put his clothes back on. At one point, Nathan heard a noise coming from the corner from one of the stalls.

Jake must have noticed his discomfort as he asked, “What’s wrong sweetie?”

“What was that noise?” Nathan responded quickly.

Jake had been too occupied getting dressed to notice. “Sorry, I didn’t hear anything,” he said.

“Oh well, I thought I heard someone,” Nathan said again as he lowered himself to look under the stalls and saw that the bathroom seemed deserted. Soon, he felt better.

“We’re all alone here, don’t worry about it dear,” Jake reassured him.

Nathan forgot all about it as he finished cleaning himself up. When the two of them finally got out of the bathroom, it was about ten minutes before the end of the period. Therefore, they decided that there was little need for them to show up for the end of their class.

“Darn, I need to run to my locker, forgot my book there,” Jake said to explain why he had suddenly stopped in his tracks, before turning around.

Despite being already there, Nathan had every intention of going back with him back to his locker. “Don’t worry, I’ll go with you,” he replied.

“Nah, really, it’s alright, the class is about to end anyway, just wait for Sandra here, I’ll join you soon enough,” Jake said.

Nathan didn’t argue for long. After he arrived in front of his next classroom, he sat down right next to the door and waited, and waited. After what seemed like an eternity, he heard a distinct and loud crack, followed by another one just a moment afterward. It sounded as if someone had set off a firecracker somewhere far off.

Suddenly, Nathan felt really sick to his stomach, almost nauseous, but he didn’t know why. Something inside him told him that he should get up and go to his lover’s locker. But he wasn’t fast enough because before he could leave, the door opened beside him and his teacher quickly spotted him.

“Nathan! What are you doing sitting here? I suggest you get in the classroom right now. We’ll talk about disciplinary action later,” His teacher shouted at Nathan upon setting his eyes on him.

Nathan got up and did as he was told. When he got inside, he rapidly found an empty seat and ignored the roughly thirty eyes that were glaring at him. The classroom erupted in murmurs, although Nathan assumed, that the students weren’t all talking about him.

The teacher didn’t take long to get his class quiet and back in order and continued lecturing from where he had left before the interruption.

Right before the bell was about to ring, the blare of school PA system disrupted the class once again.

“Your attention please. There’s been a shooting in the hallway, the police are on their way. Please stay in your classroom and wait for further instructions. You will be allowed to leave only when we know the school is safe. Teachers, please account for all your students and follow the school emergency plan,” the voice on the loud speaker said as calmly as possible.

Nathan didn’t feel well after he heard the announcement. Of course, all the rest of the class was freaking out too, and even the teacher was obviously nervous though he was doing his best to keep his emotions in check. Nathan personally felt like half of soul had just disappeared.

It felt as if time had stopped as Nathan and the rest of the class waited for more news. Their teacher tried as much as he could to keep the students occupied, but most of the teens simply started talking and comforting each other. Seeing some of the trampy girls on the verge of crying seemed surreal to Nathan, but mostly it just annoyed him, since deep down he knew that he was probably the one that should be upset. He knew that Jake had to have been in that hallway when that gun went off.

Staring out the window looking outside of the school, Nathan could see a swarm of police cruisers crowding the parking lot. There was even more than one ambulance. There were enough people outside to form a small army but the hallways of the school seemed deserted. A few times, Nathan noticed police officers passing by their class but nothing more.

About half an hour later, someone knocked at the door. Their teacher got up and opened it just enough to be able to talk with the intruder. Less than a minute later, he closed the door.

“Nathan, get your things, you’ve been asked to go outside,” the teacher said.

Yet again, Nathan felt all the attention burning onto his back as he got up, took his bag and walked to the door to get out.

Nathan was greeted outside the classroom by Mr. Timothy Johnson, the school psychologist.

“Nathan, follow us to my office, if you will. I need to talk to the both of you,” the young psychologist said, keeping a serious tone.

It wasn’t until that moment that Nathan noticed that Sandra had also been taken out of her classroom. His stomach became tied in knots and he begun to have trouble walking.

Nathan and Sandra followed him silently all the way to his office. Inside, Mr. Johnson gestured for them to sit down and to get comfortable. He then took his time to sit down beside them.

The psychologist cleared his throat before beginning to speak. “As you’ve been informed, there was an incident earlier.”

Nathan really couldn’t control his thoughts right now. His mind kept racing, he thought to himself he really should have went with Jake to his locker, that he shouldn’t have let him go by himself. At least that way, whatever had happened, he’d be beside his lover during all of it.

“I’m afraid there’s no easy way to say this. It appears that your friend, Jake, has been shot in front of his locker,” Mr Johnson said.

Nathan felt his entire body become numb. It seemed like, as much as he had prepared his mind for the fact that Jake was involved in the incident, he hadn’t been ready to hear just that.

“Oh my god!” Sandra shrieked. “Is he alright? Is he injured badly?” she added hopefully.

Nathan definitely wanted to hear Mr. Johnson’s response. But instead, he saw Mr. Johnson’s long white face go pale and that said it all.