Chapter 1
It was summer. Nat's senior year of high school was finally over. Now it was finally time for the hot summer days and the parties that would be held by stupid rich people. (Nat would mostly show up to them all.) Not because he liked the people hosting them. He wouldn't have anything better to do. Besides, when did he ever pass on a free drink?
Though the parties in town would have to wait two weeks– Nat had gained enough money to afford the trip to Paris. He got a shitty job in junior year to earn money. Also, selling drugs with Kevyn Tan. It's not like the police in town cared enough to stop them.
Doing those two things somehow earned him enough money. So he was going, Nat would try and have a good time. Along with helping Lottie with french. They had a deal. Nat was helping Lottie with French for this summer and that would be the end of him helping her.
Sure, they had finished high school and lottie did pass in French. But, she kept telling nat she wanted to learn more. He didn't know why. He didn't understand why. He agreed anyway.
Natalie had been tutoring Lottie for a while. Lottie still didn't understand anything.. So maybe the trip to Paris would help. At least, Nat hoped it would. Don't get him wrong, he liked Lottie, but Natalie Scatorccio absolutely hated tutoring people. He just wanted it to be over.
He could handle conversations with Lottie of course. Lottie was on his soccer team, but they were never close friends. They didn't hang out outside of soccer, unless it was at parties. Nat was completely fine with it just being that.
The only people he hung out with on the soccer team were sometimes Taissa and Van. He didn't like hanging out with people on the soccer team who weren't tai and van that much. So, they kinda needed tutoring Lottie to be over. Maybe if he was even starting to like hanging out with lottie.
The other thought bothering him was that Travis was coming on the trip. Maybe they could just ignore him. Pretend they didn't date and that he didn't give two shits on how shitty Travis was. But, he couldn't do that. Because he did and he hated it.
Nat had liked Travis, she started liking him at the start of junior year. Travis had asked him out when senior year started, Nat was naive and said yes. They dated for a few months. Only for it to get revealed that it was for a stupid prank. And that kinda shit? It fucks with you. So yeah, Nat had it on his mind. It's been a month and it was still on his mind– why can't it just leave him alone? They wanted to forget everything with Travis.
If Natalie knew one thing now, he absolutely hated Travis. Fuck him. He was horrible in the relationship anyways. Why is Natalie feeling so shitty over the relationship? Why does Nat have to feel so stupid for thinking Travis Martinez genuinely loved him?
He shouldn't even be stuck on this! Natalie Scatorccio is going to Paris and is supposed to have fun. One last trip where he could be a stupid seventeen year old, before he turned eighteen and had to get his shit together for his last year of high school. (Nat most likely wouldn't get it together.) This trip was for him to get out of his shitty house and have fun with his teammates. Then worry about his future later.
Though, it's not like Nat was generally gonna go anywhere. Sure he had some good grades for the classes that were easy, not good enough for a scholarship. He also certainly didn't have enough money to pay for college. Maybe he could get a scholarship for soccer. But, nat didn't even know what they wanted to be.
Why the hell should he go to college if he doesn't even know what he wants to do? It'd be stupid. So, they didn't really care about going to college. Maybe he would miss out on things, but it's not like she would miss out on much.
Taissa was planning on going to Howard for pre-law with a double major in history and philosophy, or some shit. Van wasn't planning on going to college at all. So they wouldn't miss out on anything fun. Just Tai probably being a nerd in pre-law. He wouldn't mind missing out on that.
So, he didn't need to worry about any of that through senior year. He would most likely just get stuck somewhere in New Jersey with a shitty job at some diner or something.
He shouldn't even actually be focused on this. He needed to get to the airport.
𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪
So maybe he was a little late to the airport. He wasn't that late though! Only like.. thirty minutes. “You're late, what happened to you saying that you would be on time?” Tai acknowledged as Nat made his way over to her and Van. He figured Taissa would say something about it but it wasn't like a whole hour. It wasn't like he missed the plane. “Fuck off Tai. I'm always late to things. Shouldn't you be used to that fact already?” Nat pointed out as he sat down next to Van.
“We have about thirty minutes left, so Nat technically wasn't that late.” Van testified for one of their closest friends. “See Tai? Stop being so dramatic, it's not like I missed the plane.” Nat was actually lucky on that one. He was lucky he made it at least thirty minutes before the plane was leaving.
He actually wanted to go on this trip. Not just to help Lottie, but for himself too. Natalie needed this. He needed a break, so he was glad he was going on the trip. He needed to get out of town. Out of New Jersey in general actually.
He just needed to get out of the house. He didn't know how much longer he could deal with his mother. If he could even call her that anymore.
She hardly acted like one since the incident with Nat's dad.
𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪
Thirty minutes had passed. Everyone was on the plane. It was only the people who were coming on the trip that were on the plane. Apparently Lottie's rich father had rented a private plane for them all, Nat didn't know. He didn't mind that no one had told him actually. Maybe he thought it was a cool surprise, even if he hated surprises.
So here was Nat, looking for a place to sit. Tai and van were sitting together, he didn't want to be a third wheel again. Jackie and Shauna were sitting together, and he wasn’t really friends with them. Mari, Akilah and surprisingly… Laura Lee were sitting together? There was Travis who was sitting alone. Maybe Natalie could– no. He wasn't going to do that. He wouldn't do that to himself. He could sit with Lottie instead. So, that's what he did.
“Hi?” Lotties voice was confused. Though not the type when Nat would help her with french homework and on understanding. “Hey, thought we could sit together,” He simply shrugged as Lottie put a bookmark in the book she was reading. “Not going to test me on French words, right? I can't do that again…”
“Oh no, I'll wait till the plane lands to do that.” It was slightly a joke. Though, he meant it. He wanted to help Lottie pass her French class. “You did bring your note cards, right? Might wanna study them since you're so bad at understanding…”
“Shut up,” The taller girl shoved Nat on the shoulder, it was a light shove. Lottie still had a tiny smile on her face as she did so. “But, yes, I did bring them. I'm not an idiot. Unlike someone else, I'm actually passing my classes…” The last part was mumbled, though Nat knew who it was about; it was about him.
Maybe that's one of the things he liked about Lottie. They were honest with each other, most of the time. And Nat could tell what she meant on things.