Chapter 61

Olivia

“You don’t remember?” Nathan asked.

As we stood by the pond, I furrowed my brow, trying to recall how I knew this place. I knew that it was familiar, but I didn’t remember much else about it.

Nathan, always quick to tease, noticed my expression and couldn't resist poking fun at me.

“What's the matter, Olivia? You really can’t remember?” he said, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.

I rolled my eyes playfully and sighed. “Give me a break, Nathan. It’s been over a decade since I last saw this town, and probably even longer since I saw this place.”

He chuckled and nudged me gently. “Well, maybe this will jog your memory. We used to come here all the time when we were kids, remember? We'd catch tadpoles and pretend we were explorers.”

Suddenly, it all came rushing back to me. My eyes widened. “I remember now!” I exclaimed, grinning. “Those days were so much fun.”

The pond, once teeming with life, now looked deserted and chilly due to the cold weather. The water was too cold for tadpoles right now, and I couldn't help but feel a pang of nostalgia for those carefree days.

“Let’s walk a little,” Nathan said, breaking me out of my reverie.

I couldn’t help but grin. The ground here was covered in soft grass, protected from the cold winter elements by the trees. I tugged my high heels off and held them in one hand while holding up my skirt with the other.

Nathan and I walked along the edge of the pond, picking up rocks and skipping them across the water. As we played, we began talking about the things we missed during the time I was gone.

“I remember it now,” I said, pointing over at a cluster of trees off to the side of the pond. “We used to gather big sticks and fallen branches, and we’d build little forts and lean-tos up against those trees.”

As I spoke, Nathan’s face turned red. I glanced over at him and caught the bashful gleam in his eye.

“What is it?” I asked.

Nathan cleared his throat. “About those trees…”

His voice faltered. I cocked my head and gave him a nudge. “What’s wrong? Something you need to tell me?”

Nathan was silent for a few moments before he finally scratched his head and chuckled. “I… I sort of lost my virginity between those trees, in a fort that I built.”

I blushed, feeling my cheeks grow warm. “Really?” I asked.

Nathan nodded, his cheeks just as red as mine. “Yeah. It was with one of our old classmates, Sarah. Do you remember her?”

I had to rack my brain for a few moments, but finally I remembered Sarah. She was a sweet girl that I remembered from high school, before my dad and I were evicted.

“She was really pretty,” I said quietly.

I would never admit it, but imagining Nathan with such a pretty girl for his first time filled me with a bit of angst. Sarah was tall and slim, even in middle school, and she had long, curly black hair and long eyelashes. All of the boys liked her.

I was always a little jealous of Sarah, but now I was even more jealous; although I couldn’t let Nathan know that.

Much to my surprise, though, Nathan simply shrugged. “It was awkward, though. I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say that we went home with more bug bites than anything else.”

I had to laugh. Imagining Nathan coming home after his first time with a girl, covered in bug bites, raised my spirits.

Nathan cleared his throat again. “What about you?” he asked. “What was your first time like?”

I felt my cheeks flush red, and I started to stammer as I remembered my first time being with my ex, Ryan. Looking back now, it wasn’t a very good experience. In fact, the longer that Ryan and I were apart, the more I realized that sex with him was terribly one-sided and uncomfortable.

“You alright?” Nathan asked, his worried face coming into view. “You don’t have to talk about it.”

I shook my head, forcing a nervous smile. “It’s fine. It’s just… Um… My ex was my first, actually. I was a virgin for a long time. It's kind of embarrassing, if I’m being honest."

Nathan suddenly stopped and turned to look at me with sincerity in his eyes. "Olivia, there's no shame in holding onto your virginity. I wish I had waited too. None of my previous girlfriends turned out to be my true love."

His words struck a chord within me, and I saw a hint of sadness in his expression. I knew he was thinking about Layla, the one who got away.

“Would you give up that teenage experience, though?” I asked, cocking my head. “Would it matter so much to save yourself for the one you love instead of experiencing different people?”

Nathan shrugged and kicked a rock at his feet. The rock tumbled across the ground and fell into the pond with a plop, sending ripples across the water’s surface and ruining the perfect reflection that was being cast down.

“I’m not sure,” he said quietly. “Sex is fun and all, but sometimes I think that it can confuse your true feelings for someone. I mean, just think about all of the people who are friends with benefits. One of them is almost always bound to catch feelings, and then they get hurt.”

Nathan’s words hit me deep. I almost wondered if he was referring to whatever was happening between us; if it was a warning somehow, telling us that becoming more than friends would ruin everything.

And maybe he was right.

Nathan was quiet as he sat down on a nearby log and began to pick at the moss on the bark. I sat beside him, and together we sat in silence for a long time.

“Don’t regret the things you’ve done in the past,” I finally said after a while of chewing my lip and thinking. “If you really want things to be different, you can always start now.”

For a few moments, Nathan looked at me with something soft behind his eyes. “I’m sorry for being a jerk lately,” he said quietly. “I hope you’re not too mad at me.”

I shook my head. “Of course not,” I replied, offering him a gentle smile. “You’re always my friend. I know we bicker, but so long as we don’t let our differences in opinion push us apart, I’m happy.”

Nathan smiled. "I'm glad to have you back, Olivia. You're my friend, and I've missed you."

Moved by his words, I felt a surge of affection for him. In that moment, I realized just how much I had missed him too. Nathan's arm found its way onto my shoulder, and we sat there, sharing an unspoken connection as we looked out across the calm pond.

Reluctantly, we rose from the log, knowing it was time to leave. But as luck would have it, the sky opened up, and rain poured down upon us. We dashed toward the car, laughter erupting from our lips as we were drenched to the bone.

We hopped into the car, shivering and soaked, but our spirits were high. The rain cascaded down the windows as we burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter. In that moment, it didn't matter that we were soaked or that the weather had turned against us.

We were together, sharing a bond that could weather any storm.