The New Boyfriend

Nate’s father is out of the picture. That is all the background you need. It was just Nate, his younger brother Mason, and their mom. Nate was a fairly normal teenager. He went to school, rarely did his homework, had a knack for baseball and all things baseball-related, and absolutely loved his car. His 2009 Corvette got him anywhere he needed to be, along with the occasional girl in the passenger seat.

  He had a passion that set him aside, though. Nathan Romano wanted to be a detective. His family lived in a pretty large suburb in Massachusetts, and every Saturday he found himself standing in front of an abandoned house. 

Unlike his father, a backstory is very necessary for this scenario. The year was 1957 and inside lived an old, wealthy woman, her husband who was at least 25 years younger, and their one child, a nine-year-old girl named Daisy.  No one had heard from them, or seen them in over two weeks, so a neighbor decided to check things out. The husband and the wife were dead in the kitchen, they were stabbed with kitchen knives. The girl was nowhere to be found. Cops found out thirteen years later that the daughter killed them. They never caught her though. This case was known state-wide as the murder of the Browns.

Things Nate cared about, in this exact order:

1. His car
2. His mom
3. “The house”
4. Mason

Nate’s mom had dated a couple of men, but never got serious with anyone, so when she mentioned a man at the dinner table, he choked on his mashed potatoes. Have you ever heard of anyone choking on mashed potatoes? Yeah me neither. After his little fit, he went into interrogation mode about this “man,” and was pleased to know that he would be meeting Bennet (Yes, “the man” has a name) on Saturday. He also found out that Bennet just moved to the area, and he had a daughter who was Mason’s age. 

Nate was not much of a student. So when a new student, in the ninth grade, showed up to his math class, he wasn't exactly shocked. Mrs. Williams pointed to the seat next to Nate and told the girl 

“There is an open spot in the back, Willow, we just started the lesson, so ask Nathan for the page numbers.”

 She pointed to Nate with an eye roll. Important to note: Mrs. Williams was not exactly a fan of Nate. The girl strolled to the back, took her seat, and did exactly what the teacher asked.

“Hey, what page are we on.”  

“No clue, I’m a little preoccupied at the moment.”

Nate was in fact not preoccupied. He was staring at his phone. 

 “With Candy Crush?” 

“Look I know you think you are smart because you are fourteen and in the same math class as a junior, but that doesn’t give you the right to be rude about it.”

“It’s Willow, just, by the way, thanks for asking.” 

She then turned to the girl behind her and asked for the pages.

He could tell this Willow girl and him were not going to get along. But he couldn't think about that now, he was busy with Candy Crush. 

His alarm clock went off and Nate jumped out of bed. This was highly unlike the boy that usually woke up at 1:00 PM on weekends. It was finally Sunday. He showered and actually brushed his teeth? He put on his cleanest pair of jeans and managed to find a T-shirt that was not wrinkled. He slid on his converse and scurried downstairs. The house was actually clean and his mom was cooking a huge meal.

“Good morning Nate. Make sure you're ready for Bennet and his daughter!”

He and Mason looked up simultaneously. 

“Daughter?” 

“I must have forgotten to mention her. She’s your age, Mason. And be nice to her.”

The doorbell rang. 

“THAT’S THEM! NATE! Get the door please!”

He rolled his eyes and opened the door. Standing in front of him was a tall middle-aged man, he looked like he worked out a lot. Behind him was a teenage girl who looked oddly familiar. 

“You must be Mason!”

“I’m Nate, actually, this is Mason.” 

“Got it. You two look alike!”

“So you’re Bennet I guess.’’

“Yours truly. And this is Willow.”

Willow stepped beside her father and looked Nate right in the eyes.

“Willow from geometry. Ring a bell?”

“Right- I remember you.”

  “Anyways come in, my Mom is in the kitchen.”

  The dining room was set for what looked like Easter. 

  “You didn't have to do this for us!”

They greeted each other. 

“So you met my boys.”

She smiled and put a hand on Nate’s and Mason’s shoulders.

They chatted for a while, leaving Nate with Willow and his brother. 

This was just plain awkward. All three of them were standing there in dead silence. Nate glanced at his mom and Bennet. They looked like they were arguing. Mason seemed to be fixated on the same thing. He said something risky.

“Hey, what exactly is going on with our parents?”

Willow replied quickly and nervously.

“I uh- don't know. Want to do something in the backyard maybe?”

The brothers exchanged glances. She definitely knew something. Nate saw his mother make her way to the bathroom out of the corner of his eye. Willow ran and gave something to her dad. Nate and Mason went straight over, but by the time they got there he had put a match on the wooden dining room table, next to the wooden chairs, on top of the wooden floor. Within moments the smoke alarms went off. Bennet and Willow were already pulling out of the driveway. Nate screamed at Mason.

“Go make sure Mom is ok, I’m going after them.”

He drove for miles but couldn't catch them. He got a facetime call from his brother, answering just to see that the fire department got there too late. Their home burnt to ashes. That day he made a promise. He was going to catch that man.

It is about time you know who Bennet really is. Bennet Brown, the one and only son of Daisy Brown. 

Thanks for reading! This is the first short story I have written besides school projects so it won't be amazing haha.