While Eric was off having his afternoon of fun, Nate was upstairs in his bedroom working on his homework. He was nearly finished when he got a phone call from Kenya (remember her?).
“Hello?” Nate answered like the call meant nothing. In the past thirty six hours, he’d found that his problems were pretty trivial compared to his brother’s. Julie was far crazier and deranged than anyone thought possible. Suddenly dealing with Kenya didn’t seem that much of a task. And Nate had finally made up his mind about what to do about her.
“I heard what happened to Eric. I wanted to make sure everything was ok.” Kenya said.
“He’s ok. Actually he’s a were now. Not a mer, he found a classmate willing to turn him.” Nate said.
“Really? What sort of were did he finally choose to become?”
“Oddly enough, panther. Though from what I’ve heard from Spencer he looks more like a snow leopard.” Nate said, recalling an earlier discussion the two had had during one of their shared classes.
“Well he has my congratulations.”
“Thanks, I’ll let him know. Now, what did you really want to talk about?” Nate got right to the point. He knew Eric was just an excuse for Kenya to call. Maybe she really was concerned about Eric, maybe not. Either way, there was an ulterior motive that was as obvious as a pink elephant.
“About us. I realize recent events probably have your family on edge, but I was still hoping to see you later tonight. Or tomorrow if that is more convenient.”
“Tonight works fine. It’ll have to be after dinner though. I’m up to my shoulders in homework.” Nate lied. He really just needed a few hours to prepare himself.
“Alright. Thank you Nate. I know this isn’t easy, and I don’t deserve another…”
“I know, believe me I know. Let’s save the emotional talk for later, okay? I’ll see you tonight at the usual spot.” Nate didn’t give Kenya a chance to say anything further. He quickly hung up and put his hands in his head.
No sooner did he hang up than his phone buzzed again. He smiled when he saw Liv had finally texted him back.
“SORRY, NO CELL RCPTN OUT HERE. BUT DEF READY 4 TMRRW NIGHT.” she wrote.
Nate had tracked her down via social media earlier, and the two exchanged phone numbers. Despite all the craziness surrounding him, from Eric’s problems to his own, Nate was genuinely excited for this “date”. He and Kenya skipped over that part and went straight from casual sex to engaged. An obvious factor in their breakup.
“HOW’S ERIC DOING?” Liv texted Nate. Naturally she’d heard what happened to Eric. Everyone in Moon Lake knew. And the very public breakup between Brian and Julie was going viral. Not just in town, but outside it as well. Thankfully there were no references to weres, as that would have posed a serious threat to Moon Lake safety and secrecy.
“OUT W/ SPENCER NOW SO I’D SAY HE’S FINE.” Nate replied.
“AND HOW R U? BORED?”
“HMWRK DONE. JUST HNGING AROUND.”
“ME 2. BUT @ LEAST WE HVE TMRRW TO LOOK 4WARD 2.”
The more they talked about it, the more Nate was looking forward to tomorrow evening. It was the perfect distraction from everything else going on. And after spending less than an hour with Liv, Nate was over eager to see more of her. She was different somehow. More approachable and easy to talk to than the other girls Nate met in town.
He’d told her most of the story surrounding Eric and Julie, only excluding the details about Julie grabbing Eric’s boyhood. Nate felt comfortable sharing with Liv, and the feeling seemed to be reciprocated.
“I probably know more about Liv than Kenya. Funny how that is.” Nate thought. Here he had been planning on marrying Kenya, but didn’t know anything about her other than that she was a banker/escort, her parents were dead, her only living relatives were an aunt and uncle, and she was ten years his senior.
After spending an afternoon chatting with Liv, Nate knew she was a fan of the Seattle Mariners and the Sox, her favorite movie was Inception because of all the special effects, and she had a very ironic fear of boats and open water.
“OH HAHA, BCS CATS DONT LKE WATR. VRY FUNNY.” Liv responded to one of the “you’re afraid of water” jokes Nate sent her.
“WOULD IT MKE U FEEL BTTR KNWING I’M AFRAID OF SILVER BULLETS?”
“REALLY? MY MOM GROWS MONKSHOOD IN HER GARDEN. WANT A BOUQUET?”
“???”
“AKA WOLFSBANE.”
“A BOUQUET OF POISONOUS FLOWERS? I THINK I’LL PASS.”