Behind These Hazel Eyes (Nate)

[Ashelia Volkov]

Rekindling with an old friend was all great and stuff, especially when said friend was a jock who had lots of cute jock friends. Ashe hadn't exactly been hard to talk into coming to Nathan's game and watching him play football. Ashe was and had always been a sucker for jocks, and as hard as she tried changing her trail of breadcrumbs, she couldn't. She would always be that kind of girl who went for the popular, fit and jerky types of guys. Not that she really minded it all that much, seeing as how she had decided she wasn't cut out for love and probably wouldn't be for another few years. No, flings suited her much better. After all, she didn't exactly have a stainless record when it came to dating and falling in love.

Sitting on the the bleachers, Ashe had made sure she had her beanie, her jacket and a scarf to keep herself warm from the cold autumn weather. She pulled the beanie further down on her head and huffed. She didn't really know a lot of the people around here. Not that it was weird or anything, seeing as how she didn't even go to this school. But she didn't mind too much. At least she didn't have to indulge in any boring conversations that didn't really interest her.

No, she'd much rather watch all the hot jocks run after the ball like a kitten runs after a string of yarn.

[Nathan Darwin]

Who knew what his problem was lately. He blamed it on the vulnerability he'd been left with after Willow and with all of the bull shit that had been going through his head about his relationship with his brother. Things were crazy, his emotions were all over the place and he had no one to really talk to about it. At least, not anyone that would understand or sympathize with him. All of his friends would just call him a pussy and say that he needed to change his tampon. That could be the reason behind him wanting to get close to Ashe again.

Back when they were kids, things had been easy. No love, no popularity contest, just them being themselves and having fun doing it. Now all that Nathan focused on was his social image because it had been pounded into his skull that is social status was what could make or break him. Even if his mother always told him he was a likable person, that no one could ever dislike him, he still constantly worried that he'd become an outcast. That something he did would be unforgivable and all of his friends would ditch him in an instance. Maybe he was hoping that things would be different with Ashelia, after all, they'd known each other for so long. She knew him, the boy that he was before social standings meant so much.

The quarterback called out the play and Nathan ran his course and as soon as the ball was in play, he rushed forward and took off through the middle where the other team left a gaping hole. Now he liked to think he was a bad ass at football, but even he knew that swimming was his best sport. Still, he was fast and probably one of the most in shape guys on the team thanks to his constant involvement in sports. His blockers helped him down the field until he got tackled at the twenty yard line.

There were only seconds left in the game and once the quarterback got everyone set again, Nate readied himself for the next rushing play. The QB hiked the football and handed it off to Nathan again and after doing a spin off of one of the other guys, he ran down the rest of the way and scored for the team with a second left in the game. The refs called it and Nathan peeled off his helmet, sweaty as could be as his friends all high-fived him and paid him a few compliments.

Nate found her sitting in the bleachers and he smiled before waving his friends off and jogging over to her. "Hey, you made it!"

[Ashelia Volkov]

Popularity had never been something that really worried Ashe. It seemed to come natural to her. She hadn't really cared why that was, but her best guess was that both of her parents were celebrities, so to say, so she was used to dealing with people, whether they were actors or not. It could also be that people purposely tried to get close to her because of the fame. It didn't really matter to her either way. She wasn't much of a doormat when it came to friendship and statuses. She didn't really put up with much crap and if people didn't know to behave... Well, it was their loss in the end.

But she did enjoy her friendship with Nathan however. Even if they hadn't really talked much the past six years, it was still nice having him around again, even if it was also very strange. A lot had happened in six years, and they were no longer those eleven years old they had once been. Not that it seemed to matter too much anyways, because they had managed to hit it off right away, more or less.

Watching him and the other boys play was fun, and it was also something she was used to. She would usually go to the games the jocks from her own school used to play, though she spent less time watching and more time flirting. Here she didn't really know a whole lot of people, so she took her time to actually watch the game for once. They were good, there was no doubt about it. Really good too. Not that she knew a whole lot of rules or anything, but at least they managed to get a hold of the ball and score, so that was at least something, right?

As Nate came jogging over, she walked down to the end of the bleachers and leaned over the railing at the bottom. ''If you think any seventeen year old girl would miss out on watching lots of sweaty guys run after a ball, you must be crazy.'', she replied with a laugh.

[Nathan Darwin]

One would think that with a dad who is a big time sports reporter, a kick ass tennis player of a mother and the most popular guy at Hammel as of 2008 for a brother, Nate wouldn't be nearly as worried about popularity as he was. But they were the problem. His family was all well-known, very well-liked and here was Nathan, a mediocre football player trying to fill his brother's shoes that everyone places him in. It wasn't easy being as perfect as Nick had been. Everything came easily to him. Sports, women, popularity. It was like he never had to try and he never made things awkward or uncomfortable. Granted Nate was fairly good at avoiding uncomfortable and awkward situations, nothing came as easily to him as things did to Nick. Just look at him now, bumping into an old friend and realizing she was perfect for him. Why couldn't that happen to Nate? (Heh)

When he came over to Ashe, he glanced over his shoulder to see his friends eyeing her up. It was so typical of them, not subtle about it at all. Not that he blamed them, she was hot, even if he wouldn't admit it to her. For some reason he got this feeling inside him that sparked a bit of irritability towards them. Who knew why. Who cared. It wasn't anything that he should worry about. Still, their hooting and hollering was annoying him more than he had expected for it to.

"Good point, I'm the same way whenever the dance team practices," He smirked and ran his hand through his hair, making it stick up all over the place. Nate could hear a few of his friends coming closer and he frowned faintly. Well fuck, now he had to be all friendly and introduce them even if he reeeeally didn't want to be.

With a sigh, he put on his smile and got bumped and nudged by the guys. "Here, now that they decided to interrupt, I'll introduce you to some of the guys. Uh this one is Rex, one of the quarterbacks, starter today. That's Max, Patrick, and Lou." They all waved and gave her their own version of 'the nod.' "Guys, this is Ashelia, good friend of mine from the ol childhood."

[Ashelia Volkov]

Even if Ashelia wanted to, it would be foolish of her to start hitting on all of Nate's friends this early. They had just restarted their friendship again, and she wasn't going to be a fool and ruin it all by putting him in an awkward position. No, she wasn't going to flirt with his friends. Even as tempting as it was. Because hello, they were all hot jocks. She'd be a lesbian if the thought didn't tempt her at all. The childish way his friends started acting just made the corner of her lips turn upwards, but she kept her attention on her blue-eyed friend.

''Oh, I don't doubt it, loverboy.'', she said with a chuckle, returning his smirk. She couldn't really blame him either. Not that it bothered her or anything, because he was a teenage boy, and if he didn't watch girls dance around in small outfits, she'd really start doubting his sexuality. Not that him being guy would be a big surprise or anything, seeing as how much of a wuss he had been as a child...

When the guys approached, Ashe leaned further in over the railing and nodded slowly at the introductions. ''Hey guys.'', she said with another smirk. ''I think you guys have misplaced your collars.'' Because they had dog names? Right, right? Ah, whatever. She didn't really care if they got it or not, it was still amusing to her. She put on her most sugarcoated smile and blinked innocently. How typical of boys. New girl in the house and they act like a pack of brutes rolled in fried hormones. She could almost smell the testosterone.

[Nathan Darwin]

Pfft if she wanted to hit on all of his friends, he wouldn't have cared. Okay he would have, but she didn't know that. Besides, it wasn't like he would stop being friends with her because she flirted with other guys. If anything he'd claim dibs with his friends so that they couldn't make any passes at her. But that would make it seem like he had a thing for her, and he definitely did not. So either way it wasn't like he had any right to claim her. He wanted to just be friends with her, and that's all he was going to be. YUP, just friends. That was it. And that's all it would be. *Puts foot down*.

Her joke got a laugh from Nathan, but none of the other guys seemed to get it. He just shook his head and leaned again the railing, glancing up at her. Gosh his friends could be obnoxious sometimes. Didn't they know the finesse that went into flirting with a girl? Amateurs they were. Then again, he knew that they weren't exactly in it for her to like them. They were in for the score, nothing further than that. Sometimes he wondered why he did it. He made it seem like he cared and yet used girls for the same thing his friends did. Was he any better than them? Nate sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"So Nate, you're gonna bring your friend to the party at our dorm tonight right?" Rex said, still staring at her, getting a few nudges from the other guys as they all smirked. Oh goody, Rex was going to try getting into her pants at the party. As if Nathan would willingly subject her to that.

Looking up at her, he shrugged, "Take it up with her. It's her choice."

[Ashelia Volkov]

Honestly, Ashe hadn't really expected his friends to get her joke. Not that she thought they were dumb or anything, just.. Ignorant maybe? Sure, most of the time she wasn't any better when it came to the typical 'Jock hitting on popular girl, and vice versa', but at least she had a little something, something inside her head. Well, she wasn't going to dwell on it, it didn't really matter in the end. It wasn't like she'd ever settle for a guy like that. And she wasn't in the right place to ever judge casual dating and getting in other people's pants. 'Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.'

Ashe's eyes shifted from the boys to Nathan, back at the boys and back at Nathan again. Oh dear, a dorm party? That sounded... Well. She wasn't even going to start explaining how it sounded. It could be fun, sure. Especially if it meant her getting to spend more time with Nate. Besides, she didn't even know if Nate wanted her to come, and she wasn't exactly in a position to intrude on his personal life. ''I suppose you'll just have to keep your eyes open, and wait and see.''

Now, Ashe wasn't really here to sniff testosterone. She wanted to spend time with her friend without the puppies sniffing his ass. But she also knew how the mind of a teenage boy worked. Had to seem all cool in front of the gang and stuff, and not being some girl's doormat. Usually these things came pretty natural, so why was it so God damn hard to come up with something cool to say now?

''Well, guys, I guess I'll see you later.'', she said with a smile, nodding towards the boys she had already forgotten the names of. ''Pozvoni mne.'', she said, nodding towards Nate and stepped down from the railing, sticking her hands in the pockets of her jacket.