Nate opens his eyes. The sound of his phone alarm blares into his ears and he rolls over to turn it off, heavily annoyed. Now the silence hit. The sun shone through the blinds and the birds chirped outside. He did his casual morning routine. Piss, brush teeth, shower, put on clothes, the usual routine. On his way into the kitchen, he saw a note on the counter from his Mother. She was rarely around due to work and from the note, it seemed that she restocked all the cupboards. Nate was definitely appreciative of her and knew it was hard doing it alone since his dad left. Nate even got a job the year before which he still has. He sort of felt distant from his mom this past month though. She’s been taking up late shifts usually but the money keeps rolling in. Is this really the relationship she wants? 

Nate cooks his eggs on toast and sits down to watch the news on the tv. Something about three kids around Nates age going missing. He was infatuated with the story until he realised he was going to be late for school. As he left the door, he dreaded the coming abuse from the local bullies who just so happened to attend the same school as him.

Time went by slowly. Nate wasn’t a bad student in school, not a good student either. He was actually extremely intelligent. He always scored in the top five for exams but he just didn’t seem appealing to others. His high iq must have been a reason for those bullies to target him. Having no friends led Nate to do nothing but study, then again, studying doesn’t give you a high iq. Does it?

Eventually, the school day came to an end. Nate was covered in water and had a bruise on his stomach from the recent bathroom beating. 

“Why does this happen every damn day.” Nate said. 

He walked to his job and his four hour shift began. The day was usual, a few customers would come in, the casual alcoholic would also come and go. The manager suddenly called Nate to the back.

“I’m sorry Nate but it seems I’m going to have to let you go.”

“What? Why?” asked Nate.

”I just don’t feel like you want to be here. You come late almost every day and your still young. You have your whole life ahead of you to work Nate.” the manager said while typing on his computer.

A business opportunity clearly arose where he had to let Nate go. Nate was rarely late and he was a hard worker so most of his statements were false. However he was right about one thing. Nate didn’t necessarily have to work. It’s not like he didn’t save up enough money for that new game he wanted. He could buy a multitude of games for himself. 

“Alright sir. I understand, thank you for keeping me.” Nate said. 

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

He went to his locker and began to clear it out. As he cleaned, his female co worker came through the door. Nate had a crush on her for the past year. Her personality, face, body and overall vibe were incredibly alluring to him. Luckily they were on good terms.

“Hey Nate.” She said

“Hey. How was your shift Tiana.” Nate asked

“It was good. Luckily, we’re the same age so we can both work four hours.” She laughed.

Nate blushed and responded with an awkward, “Yeah.”

“You don’t seem so well Nate. You okay?” Tiana asked.

“Well the thing is. The manager just let me go. I’m not going to be working here anymore.” Nate said.

“Really? Why would he do that? You’re such a smart and hard worker.” she said, trying to reassure him.

Nate was happy that she was trying to comfort him but he couldn’t let this be their last interaction. He had to what he wanted to do for so long.

“Um, Tiana you think it would be fine if we were to go somewhere together. Like a date?” He asked nervously.

Tiana smiled.

“You’re asking me out on a date?” Said Tiana.

“Yeah, just the two of us.”

It felt like Nate was playing with his life here. Would she say yes or laugh in his face. Tiana walked up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“I’ve waited so long for you to ask me that Nate. Of course I’ll go.” 

“Whaaaat. She said yes? I don’t even know where we’re even going to go.” Thought Nate.

She wrote her number down and said, “Give me more details later and call me.” 

Nate stood there stunned as she ran off flustered.

Nate entered his house full of joy. Not only did Tiana accept his confession but she also gave him her number too. The day couldn’t get any better. Nate made his cup of noodles he bought from the convenience store on his way home and had a side of tea. He pulled out his phone and scrolled on social media until he was ready to sleep. While in bed and ready to sleep, he realised something. Why the hell did his manager make him work the four hours of he was going to fire him anyway. That annoyed Nate until he fell asleep thinking about his upcoming date with Tiana. 

Nate was suddenly awake. It was both bright and dark at the same time, and he felt sort of moist. Did he wet the bed by accident or something? If he did that would be really embarrassing. He could hear voices all around him. He tried to move his limbs but he could move a finger or toe. His head felt really heavy and he felt sort of irritated. He slowly started opening his eyes. Two large people were near him and were speaking, but Nate could barely hear them. To his left he noticed a boy holding a toy car looking him dead in the face. 

“Don’t scare him.” A female voice said.

“Don’t worry honey. Our little baby here won’t get startled so easily. He’s big and strong like his father, isn’t that right.” A male voice said.

“Where in the hell am I!?” Thought Nate desperately