Strung (Seaside 0.5)(20)
Author: Rachel Van Dyken

She was silent for a few minutes then asked, “So they labeled me a whore?”

Alec slammed on the breaks and put the car into park smack dab in the middle of the road. Aw shit. The bear was back. Good job Nat. You poked it.

Alec’s eyes were furious as he seethed. “Don’t you dare ever call yourself that. Do you understand?”

Nat’s lower lip trembled; she gave a quick nod and folded her hands in her lap.

I reached out and touched Alec’s arm, trying to calm him down, hoping that he’d realize he was scaring the shit out of the girl he was supposed to be protecting.

The girl he would have chosen for himself, had I not stood in the way. I wasn’t stupid. Okay, so I wasn’t that stupid. And funny thing about being sober, you notice a lot more than you used to. Like the way that within twenty-four hours my brother had turned into a rageaholic who speared fish for dinner and wore war paint across his face.

“So what’s the plan?” Nat asked. All normal. As if I hadn’t just told her that her life was semi over.

My mouth dropped open. “How are you not more upset?”

She shrugged. “I missed breakfast and didn’t have my morning coffee. I have no energy to be upset.”

Alec cursed again and reached into the glove box pulling out a protein bar. “You gotta eat, Nat. You were sick this weekend.”

Aw cute, he was going to be such a good wife some day to a very lucky woman… The dude needed like… sugar or something.

While Nat nibbled on the bar I explained, “You’re my girlfriend, people know that. We’ll just have to do some damage control. And don’t be seen alone with Alec.”

“That won’t be a problem.” Alec put the car in park, turned off the ignition and jumped out.

Nat looked like she was about three seconds away from bursting into tears. Shit. Damn it Alec! He never left me in positions like this. It was both aggravating and… invigorating? I don’t know. It was like he trusted me to make it better. He trusted me when he wasn’t in control. And I kind of liked the rush of stepping up to the plate.

“He feels responsible.” I sighed, reaching for Nat’s hand. “He’s not mad at you.”

She nodded as her eyes pooled with tears. Quickly, she averted her gaze and grabbed her bag.

“Nat, look at me.”

I placed my hands on either side of her face. “You have to be brave, okay?”

She took a deep breath. “Okay. I can do that.”

“That’s my girl.” I hopped out of the car and opened her door.

We walked hand in hand into the school amidst the awkward stares and whispers as we made our way down the hall.

Some students took pictures, others pointed and laughed. In all reality it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

“Security?” Nat asked, once we reached the lockers. I was busy texting Alec to see if he’d run into oncoming traffic yet.

I almost ran into Bob. “Sorry, guys, didn’t see you.”

Nat gave me a look that said, ‘how could you not see them, they’re huge!’

“Bob.” I smirked and motioned to the security guard with the prison tattoo on his head. “You’re going to shadow Nat for the remainder of the school year.”

Bob nodded. The man took his job so seriously that even I was freaked out a bit when he was with me.

“Why am I getting shadowed?” Nat asked in a pleading voice.

“Because.” Damn it, I knew it wouldn’t bet this easy. I reached into my pocket for my phone, pulled up the latest headline that read ‘Local Girl Bags AD2’ and held it up for her to read.

Nat’s face flashed with anger as she slammed the phone back into my hand. I sighed. “Nat, it’s going to be fine. Even if it means I need to run through the streets screaming and drunk so they don’t focus on you.”

“Wouldn’t you do that normally?” she asked.

“Hilarious.” So what if I would? I rolled my eyes. “Now, Bob has been instructed to keep tabs on you all day, especially when I can’t, oh and here…” I almost forgot about the phone I had for her. “You’ll need this.”

“I have a phone.” She mumbled.

“You have a dinosaur. Take the phone, Nat.” I dangled the phone in front of her.

“Since when are PDA’s dinosaurs?” she snapped.

“I thought you had computers here?” I looked around trying to appear genuinely confused. “People don’t use crap PDAs anymore, not when they can have an iPhone. Don’t be mad, but I programmed some numbers in there in case of emergencies. You’ll have to add the ones you need too, and you’ll also have to text the friends you trust and give them your new number.”

She took the phone, though I could tell she wanted to shove it up my ass, said a ‘thank you’ then walked towards class. Bob followed close after her. It was kind of a funny sight. Sweet little Nat getting tailed by Bob.

A few hours later I found her in the lunch line talking to Evan.

“How goes Hell day?”

Evan answered for Nat. “A girl called her a bitch behind her back, another called her a whore, and I could have sworn someone just pushed her.”

“Thanks, Evan.” Nat saluted him and rolled her eyes. “He’s being dramatic.”

Evan lifted his eyebrows. “Me, dramatic?”

“See?” She pointed at him and gave me a very fake reassuring smile.

I didn’t smile back; I was still trying to process the fact that someone would call her that. “Who do they think they are? They can’t treat you like that! You’re my girlfriend!”

“Yeah, I don’t think they really care.” Nat picked up her tray, balancing it with her water bottle. “And to answer your question, they’re high schoolers. Imagine Hollywood only the drugs are cheaper, the women are looser, the men are hornier, and everyone’s hormones are spiked like they’re high on ecstasy.”

“Wow, Nat,” Evan said behind us. “That was actually quite accurate. I’m impressed.”

I hated that she was right. The sick part? Any one of those girls would take her place. If I jumped on the table and said ‘hey I need a few volunteers for later tonight.’ I’d have endless girls throwing me their bras. People could be such hypocrites. It pissed me off.

“What can I do?” I asked.

“Other than threatening everyone in school?” Nat eyebrows shot up. “Let it blow over. They’ll have to give up after a while.”