4 Try, Help, Forgive, And Forget

I stop by Nate's house with a couple of things. I ring the doorbell and he opens the door. He lives in an apartment. "Hey?" He greets, confused as to why I am here. "Zayne gave me your address, I thought I'd stop by and have lunch." I let myself in and waltz to the kitchen. "Sure, why not." He says. "Are you trying to go on a date with me, Navarro?" He smirks. "No, actually... Alice and I were gonna have a picnic and she said she had something to do." I set up the lunch. His smirk turns to a minor frown. "Anyway, I brought a little surprise." I say smiling.

"What is it?" He asks, moving a bit closer.

I hold out at least a thousand dollars in cash, and he moves back away. I got a part from my mom, my dad, and my allowance.

"Oh no you didn't." He says.

"Oh yes I did. Take it." I hold the cash out.

"No." He says.

Nate

Unbelievable. "Keep it, I don't need your pity money." It came out very harsh. More than I intended.

"Just take it, Nate. I remember you told me about how you wish you had at least some extra cash-"

"Extra cash I earn MYSELF, Brooklyn. I'm not one of those privileged kids who's parents gave them presents on their birthday, or Christmas." My voice starts to rise. She can be very irritating, now I don't understand why I wanted to kiss her a few seconds ago. She looks frightened. I feel bad now... She stands up and walks closer to me. She hovers behind me and the scent of her hair, vanilla rushes through. She kisses my cheek. "I was only trying to help... But please don't stay mad at me, I don't think I can make it through school without talking to you." She whispers. Her warm breath in my ear. "It's fine... Thank you for everything." I forgive, though, I should be the one apologizing. "Keep the lunch, you need it." She smiles, "and here's your jacket..." She leaves it on the chair next to me, then leaves, but she left the cash on the table.

Brooklyn

I feel bad. At least we're good, right? Hopefully... I come back home to no one. Not a surprise. They're almost never home. They're private detectives. I wanna call Nate but I don't wanna be a burden...

Zayne

I'm on a call with Alice as she talks about having a vacation to her private island. "Hey babe?" I say. "Yea, Zayne?" She responds. "Is it okay if I bring my buddy Nate?" I ask.

"Fine, but he BETTER not deal or bring any drugs on the trip." She accepts.

"I'll make sure of it." I say.

"Okay, bye. Love you." She says.

"Love you too." I hang up.

I visit Nates small apartment down the street and he lets me in. "Hey man." I greet. "Hey! What's up. Want some drugs?" He offers. "No," I say in a concerned tone. Nate sits on the couch and watches a lakers game, a rerun, I think. "Alice is inviting me to her private island tomorrow since we have spring break. Wanna come?" I ask.

"Sure." He says. "Anyway I gotta go pack now, meet us at LAX tomorrow at 3:00." I remind. He takes out a post it that was lying on the coffee table in front of him and writes something down. "Got it." He says. I leave and start up my black Kia.

Nate

I go and visit Brooklyn's house. No one answers. I peek at another window next to the door and see Brooklyn playing her piano. I let myself in. I turn and hear her play a wonderful song. Very soothing. She jumps as I take a seat on the long bench next to her. She lives 15 minutes away from where I live, the rich part of town. Also where Alice lives. "Nate! What are you doing here..?" She asks as she pushes her hair back. "The question is what are you doing here alone?" I ask. "You know why. You SHOULD know why." She rephrased. Then I remember. "Right." I look down at the piano. Brooklyn and I lean towards the same note to start a song or something. She pulls her hand back when I push the piano key down. "Um, I was wondering if you want to come with me to Alices private island spring break." I offer, rubbing the back of my neck, feeling pretty nervous.

"I'm in." She smiles. I'm glad she is. But to make it not seem like anything else...

"You can invite that Mina girl if you want..." I look down. "Sure, thanks." She says. I look back up at her and look at her lips. I try to get closer to her, and she scotches closer to me, til our legs are even touching. I smell the same vanilla scent of her hair since forever. "I-I should leave." I say. "Bye Nate." She smiles. "Goodbye." I leave. I go down the pathway of her house, framed by a pattern of white and red roses. It kinda hurt saying bye, even though it wasn't even for forever.

Brooklyn

I call Mina and invite her. "Sure! Who's island is it?" She asks. "It's Alice's. But just meet us tomorrow at LAX tomorrow afternoon. Nate's booking my ticket." I say. "I'll book yours too." I say. "I'd appreciate it. Thank girlie, I'm gonna pack." She says. "Bye!" I hang up.

Mina

I pack and see Xavier. "What, you moving?" He asks, letting hisself into my room and sits on the bed. "Why so soon?" He adds. "I'm not moving, I'm packing for a vacation. Wanna come with?" I offer. "Ok, I guess." He accepts. "Well better pack now cause it's for all spring break and we leave tomorrow. I'll pay for your ticket." I say. "Thanks." He says. He gets up and goes into his room across from mine.

Nate

I arrive at LAX and get on the plane. But I sit next to Mina, the cowardly newbie.

It's been at least 30 minutes since we took off, and the ride is 7 hours long. "Hey, I wanna show you something." I say, being bored. "What is it?" She asks. "Give me your hand." I pull my hand out. She puts her hand out and I massage it. "Now let go." I smirk. "Woah, it's... weird." She smiles. "Yep." I say. "You're going too huh?" She asks, referring to the island. The plane has only us cause Alice has a private jet. Alice, by now, is already at the island. We start talking and I show her some memes and we exchange secrets and memories from middle school.

Xavier

After the party, the next day, Alice decided to "low me up". No idea what her girl logic is but whatever. She cuts my hair as it was up to the top of my ears, gets rid of my mask, AND glasses. I look like a whole new person.

I sadly sit down beside Goodie two shoes, Brooklyn. I'd honestly even prefer NATE at this point. At least we can have something to relate to. "Hey, Xavier." She says hi, finally. "Hey, Navarro." I reply. But she keeps peering at Nate, who's across from us. I didn't know they were here. Especially Mina, who's sitting next to him. They keep laughing and staring at each other. "You jealous? Brook?" I ask.

"No..." She says sheepishly. "Oh come on, I know you are." I nudge her. "Oh shut up. Me, you, and Alice were the only ones who didn't move. You sure you aren't happy to see him and got jealous he's with mrs.newbie over there?" I say.

"Oh shut up" she smiles.

She strokes her hair back and reads vogue magazine.

Brooklyn

I'm at the island and we all check into our suites. The three top floors carry 2 suites each. It was pretty harsh on Mine and Alice's credit cards. The whole time wandering around the island at night, I didn't speak to Nate. I don't really want to. Am I actually jealous?