It had been one week since Matt Pinfield’s story was released. Our tour was coming to an end, and Nat and I still hadn’t made peace with each other. I wasn’t sure why we were still so angry; the story had already been confirmed false and the boy was just an assistant at the concert. For some reason, though, our anger didn’t fade, and I was starting to get sick of it. The last concert of the tour was in two days, and this was not how I wanted to end my summer.
Having slept throughout the entire bus ride, I was restless tonight. I wandered down the hallways and stopped in front of Nat’s hotel room. Beams of light seeped through the cracks of the door; I guess he wasn’t getting any sleep either. I raised my hand to knock on the door but decided against it. Just as I began to leave, the door opened and Nat stepped out.
“Rosalina?” he said, quietly. “What are you doing up this late?”
“I could ask you the same question.”
He smiled slightly and shut the door behind him. “I was actually going for a walk.”
“Oh,” I said awkwardly. This conversation was going nowhere fast. “Goodnight, then.” As I made my way back down the hall, Nat called out to me.
“Wait.” He shifted his wait uncomfortably. “Do you want to join me?”
I paused and looked at him. He gave me a small, crooked smile and pleaded me with his soft eyes. This was the Nat Wolff I had always known.
“Sure.”
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We made our way to a nearby park and decided to walk he path around it. The night was cool and not a soul was in sight. Nat hadn’t said anything since we started walking, and I knew that if I ever wanted to settle this fight, I would have to be the first to speak up.
“Hey, Nat?”
“Yeah?”
“What are we doing?”
“What do you mean? We’re walking,” he said with a slight smirk. At least he wasn’t mad anymore.
“You know what I mean,” I replied, pushing him playfully.
“No, really. What do you mean?”
“I mean about us. Are you still mad at me?”
He remained silent for a moment and all I could here was our footsteps. “No,” he finally said. “I haven’t been for a long time.”
“Me, too.”
“I was just scared, you know?”
“Scared?”
“Yeah. Now that you’re in high school, we don’t see each other anymore. How could I be sure that the story wasn’t true? How could I be sure that you weren’t seeing some other guy that I didn’t know about?”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to what Nat had said. Part of me was flattered because it meant that he cared and wanted to protect, but another part of me was insulted. He had unintentionally categorized me as his.
I, Rosalina DiMeco, belonged to no one.
But I didn’t want to fight with him anymore. Maybe I was just thinking about it too much.
“Nat, you don’t have to worry about me, okay? We’re friends, and you know that I don’t like keeping secrets from you. You’re just going to have to trust me, okay?”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. We should really be getting back soon. We never know where the cameras might be.”
“Yeah. Sometimes I wish it were easier to be famous.”
“Or maybe just not be famous at all?”
He turned his head sharply. “What?”
“Nothing,” I lied. I wasn’t sure where that thought came from, and I didn’t want to know. The band was a part of me and I didn’t know what I’d do without it.
“Alright,” he said distantly. I couldn’t tell what was on his mind, but it didn’t matter because he seemed to shrug off the thought. “I’ll race you back to the hotel.”
I grinned back at him. High school really had changed things for us. Nothing would ever be the same between us, but at least, for now, I could be sure that things were okay.
“Bring it on, Nat Wolff.”
