4 Trophies

-Melanie

I waved Jennie good bye and saw her slowing getting into her Uber. When she drove off I let out a sigh. I was always in the worst situations ever possible. How was I going to find Nate?

I sat on the bench thinking of what I should do. I decided to walk around the parking lot to see if he was already there with his car. As I stood up, I felt droplets of water fall on my nose. I looked up at the angry gray sky. Really? You too?

I sighed deeply not knowing what to do. I ditched my plan of walking around the parking lot and stayed under the roof of the school's front entrance. I shivered as I felt the cold wind through my hoodie.

In the middle of my mental breakdown, I felt my phone vibrate in my back pocket. I slid my backpack off of my shoulders and grabbed my phone to see an unknown phone number.

"Hello?" I said into the phone.

"Melanie? Where the hell are you? I thought you were going to text me?" he asked angrily.

I took a moment trying to figure out who this was. "Nate?" I guessed a few seconds later.

"Yeah it's me. Where are you? Don't tell me you're standing in the rain. You're going to catch a cold Melanie!" he blurted at me.

"Okay, okay. I'm not standing in the rain and I'm not going to catch a cold. I'm at front entrance of the school. Like, near the student parking lot." I explained surprised at his tone.

"I'm coming there. Don't hang up."

After a few minutes of silence, I saw a white Tesla pull up on the sidewalk. I heard the call end with the sound of a car door opening. Nate walked towards me with an umbrella.

"Why didn't you text me? I was worried." he said while picking up my backpack and slinging it on one shoulder.

"I lost it." I mumbled. "Where'd you get my number?"

"Leo." he answered while walking towards his car. "Here, take this and there's a blanket in the front seat if you feel cold. I'm gonna put your backpack in the trunk." he gave me the umbrella and walked towards the other end of the car.

I grabbed at the handle of the door, still looking at where Nate was, but I couldn't feel anything. I looked down, confused. There was a silver part of the car that was supposed to be the handle, but there was no place where I could grab the it. It looked like a shiny silver sticker was stuck on the car door. I scrunched my face up. How do you open this thing? I stood there, trying to figure out how to open the stupid car when Nate came next to me, slightly wet from the rain.

"What's wrong?" he asked, confused.

"How the heck do you open this thing? It doesn't even have a handle!" I said, grabbing at the smooth door.

He threw his head back and laughed. "You don't know how to open a car door?" He swiftly grabbed the silver part of the door and opened it.

"How did- What?" I looked at his amused face with an opened mouth, surprised how easily he opened it.

"Just get in." He said while laughing and shaking his head.

...

We were driving in awkward silence that was eating me from the inside out. I couldn't think of what to say to break the silence. But thankfully, I didn't have to.

"Sorry for yelling at you in the phone earlier. I was just really worried about you." Nate glanced at me before looking back at the road.

"Oh it's okay. I didn't take it personal."

"That's good. So, what did you have for lunch?"

...

I stepped out of his car to see a huge house. The word "house" was an understatement. It was a mansion with a pool house next to it. I tried not to look surprised as I walked next to him towards the mansion.

As soon as we entered, I widened my eyes as I saw a couple of maids bow to him. What was this kid? The floor was a white marble and I could see the high ceiling in its reflection.

"Are you hungry? We have a few snacks." he suggested while casually walking towards the kitchen.

"Um, I think I'm fine but a little bit of water would be okay." I managed to say without stuttering.

I set down my backpack next to the kitchen island while looking around. There were pots and pans neatly hung up on the walls. They looked brand new, unused. I walked towards the light filled living room. It had a white piano in the corner with various different instruments displayed. Was he into music? Next to the instruments, there was a glass case that held dozens of golden trophies along with medals and certificates.

"Here's your water, if you need anything just ask." I turned around seeing Nate holding a glass cup of water with a can of pop for himself.

"Oh, right. Thanks." I said trying not to sound too awkward.

"Were you looking at the trophies?" He took a gulp of his pop, eyes still on mine.

"What?" I asked, still dazed by the amount of expensive looking things he had.

"The trophies?" he asked again, setting his can of pop down on the side table of the couch.

"Yeah I was," I admitted. "Did you win these?"

"No, they're my parent's." he said looking down. "Do you want to go to my room for the project?" he asked, switching the subject. He was clearly feeling uncomfortable talking about his parents.

"Yeah, let's go." I answered, not wanting him to feel uncomfortable.