CHAPTER ONE
A/N: Hi. It's been a while since I last wrote a fanfiction. This story is based on Winter Wolves' Nicole. Basically, I'm just trying to kill time before work officially starts. This is a Ted Stahr x Nicole Grave pairing. You've been warned. Do leave a review! Thanks!
"Nicole…"
I looked up from my phone's screen. Nothing cool was in Rollr today. Though, I have reblogged few stuff that I'm sort of interested in.
"What's up, Ted?" I asked, giving my phone a double-take after I felt it vibrate. A message! Who could it be?
"Ahem!" Ted angrily grunts.
"Oh! Um, yeah." I quickly shut my phone and hid it away from his view. "My undivided attention is all yours."
"You're using that Rollr thing again, ain't ya?" He said.
"No!" I quickly corrected myself after realizing that lying won't do me good. "I mean, yes…"
"I don't give a hoot about that thing, but if I had my druthers, that dang phone would have been dunked into that soup you're eating right now."
"One minute! Promise!" I plead, quickly checking my phone to see who sent me the message. After that, I can finally relieve myself.
He cocked his head to the side. "Unbelievable."
I know that Jeff's probably tucked away in a mental institution, perhaps wearing a straitjacket for all I care, but I can't help but feel anxious whenever I receive messages in my Rollr. I have to know who it is or else I will freak.
It's over, I know, but no one will ever know if he'll strike back again.
Two weeks before Christmas, he called me out to the "abandoned battlefield". Our school had been notorious for the mysterious disappearances of three girls. I was supposedly the fourth girl.
If Ted didn't follow me that day, I guess I wouldn't be enjoying Christmas two weeks from then. My parents would lose their only daughter, and my little brother would probably cry over the loss of his favorite sister.
The girls didn't exactly die, but their personalities did. Jeff planned to hurt me that day and who knows, I could have been the first to die. My parents were eternally grateful to Ted for saving my life – and were even discussing the theme of our future wedding.
The screen of my phone blinked relentlessly. I felt Ted shift in his seat. I almost forgot to check the message!
Voix: Good afternoon Nicole. We have set the occasion this Saturday evening. Kurt and I decided to buy the drinks. Maybe you, Ted, and Chandra could bring the snacks? Anything's fine, though Kurt says he wants pizza and popcorn. Hopefully you can acquire mint ice cream while you're at it. Many thanks, m'lady.
Oh goody. It's just Darren. Don't be fooled by his wordy message. In reality, he speaks lesser than he types. I guess the Internet is just a way for him to speak better (since he is very awkward and shy in real life). I type a quick reply before Ted bursts into bright red 'Ted's wrath'-flames.
HautaCoutoure: Hi Darren! Thanks for the heads up! We'll make sure to bring all of those in the five-man party – that is, if Chandra can make it.
Voix: I hope she can attend. I don't want to hear Kurt sulking about how "he lost a woman he once loved" again. He tends to imitate the actions of the wretched Gollum pining for a dangerous goldren ring. I have added a gif of Gollum as a reference in case you are unaware who he is.
"My precious!" the gif said. Of course I know who Gollum is!
HautaCoutoure: Isn't Gollum that guy from Game of Thrones? Ugh, tell me about it later. For now, I gtg. Ted's about to burst flames from his mouth and nostrils. See ya soon?
Voix: Goodness! We should brush up on your book selection. I wish you luck in your endeavor, my favorite dragon tamer. PS. Thanks for the USB laptop charm. I was planning to accessorize my laptop and I didn't know where to start. It's actually a very thoughtful gift.
Man, he tends to type faster than the speed of Wonderman. I can't keep up! Oh, and he thanked me for the laptop charm! I'm so glad that he's using it! He should, since it costs around three lunches in the cafeteria. Then again, he got me a nice dress from Ye Olde Faire the other day - so I guess we're even.
I put on a little smile as I glance up again to see Ted with his face all scrunched up and his hands folded in his chest.
"Okay, I'm good." I said, putting my phone back into my pocket.
He clicked his tongue. "About darn time."
I sipped my cola, still maintaining eye contact. "What is it that you wanted to talk about?"
He puts the small, thick book that he was holding the other day on the table. I recall that book. That's the book he got from the Office of Student Affairs the other day. It's a fat list of all the available clubs our school offers. Several weird clubs like the Aardvark Worship club and the Zombie Apocalypse Prevention Club have their names and contact numbers listed in this book.
"All these clubs are boring." Ted said.
"Wh-what?" I gasped, grabbing the book and flipped the pages. "But I thought you signed us up for the Dance Club?"
"Don't bet your britches on it." Ted snapped. "Ain't got no time to practice for an audition."
"But you're the dancing king! A disco legend! You even got the moves like Jagger."
"Dancin-disco-jagger- what are you talking about?!"
I smiled. Ted is an exceptional dancer. He's probably better than the president of the Dance Club herself. His dad, Ron, set us up on a date before. That night, Ted and I were busy making preparations for the block party (that miserably failed). That's when his dad called the store and invited the both of us to the disco club. We arrived there only to find out that Ron couldn't make it – and well, you could say that it was our first date. A sort-of date, rather.
It started rather awkward but it turned out fine. At first he was like, "ugh Nicole I don't want to dance with you because I'm super uptight so go dance alone." but I told him that he's the only guy I wanted to dance with – and so he danced. I had been twirled, swung, and even dipped at some point – but it was worth seeing uptight Ted getting lost in the music.
"Um, does that mean we still have to audition?" I asked tentatively.
"No – you have to audition."
I blinked. "Wait-what?"
"Naturally," Ted grinned, placing both of his fingers on his cheeks. "I'm a shoo-in."
That's not fair! "W-why must I still audition?" I yelled.
"Here I was thinkin' I was the one who's supposed to be yelly." Ted said, crossing his arms. "Like you said, I got the moves like Jagger."
I chewed on my lip. I guess I'm a really sucky dancer. Not that I care – but whatever. I guess Ted didn't want us to join the club because he knows I'm not a very good dancer. Sure, I can cheerlead, but cheerleaders only do series of flips and acrobatic stuff – and even I am not capable of that. Ted's more of a ballroom dancer, slow yet swift. Graceful.
"Aw, don't gimme that look." Ted continued, sighing. "At least we're not gonna join the dang club anyways. Besides, if you did, I think you're gonna give 'em a show that'll make their gun shot go off."
Oh-em-gee. I smiled a little. "Gun shot go off?"
He went into a series of stuttering after realizing that I took his phrase the wrong way. "I didn't- I mean- whatever! Now git."
"Aw, I know you don't want me to." I said, rushing over to his side in order to give him a little side hug.
"You… have… class!" He insisted, slowly pushing me away from his body.
I snuggled him anyway. "I still have twenty minutes. Let me hug youuu."
"No!" Ted yelled, checking his watch. He noticed I was right but still decided to defend his point. You see, Ted hates PDA with so much passion.
I whispered to his ear. "You like it anyway."
His face turned really bright red. "No I don't- Fine! Maybe I do… but you're gonna get dragged to your classroom after five minutes!"
I laughed. Now it feels nice to make Ted blush like that. I love the way he's making cute tsundere faces. Ah! So cute! I'll probably take sneak shots and post them in my blog later.
He hugged me, ultimately resigning to the strong powers of his cute girlfriend. Thank goodness I don't feel like I'm dating an old man anymore!
"Love you…" he mumbled.
I blushed a bit. His statement caught me off guard. It was something he wouldn't usually say - and I rarely hear him say it. I guess today's one of these rare occasions when I get him to say something I want to hear.
"Aww!" I said, pulling him into a hug. "I love you too!"
He leaned in for a kiss, but just before our lips touched, we were interrupted by a raven-haired girl carrying a heavy tray filled with assorted food from the buffet table.
"Aww, you lovebirds!" Chandra exclaims, setting her tray in front of us. I felt Ted shift uncomfortably – probably because he found it embarrassing to be called a lovebird, but he still kept me in his bear hug anyway.
This girl is Chandra, my ultra-sexy roommate. She's a cheerleader, just like me. But unlike me, she's very dedicated and has plans on becoming the head cheerleader one day. She likes fashion, boys, and cheerleader movies – so I guess we have plenty of things in common. Oh, and we love sweet things too (which explains most of the dessert on her tray).
"Chandra! Are you up for Saturday night?" I asked.
"Sure!" she said, taking a big bite out of the sandwich she's having. "I could use a break. Besides, I don't really have a lot of friends in the cheerleading team."
"Are they being nasty again?" I asked.
She moved both of her brows in affirmation. "Bitches don't know when to stop stealing shoes from a poor girl like me." she remarked, then drank from her glass of cold chocolate.
"That's 'cause you're hot." Ted informed her.
She spat the drink out of her mouth. "Th-that's not something you can say bluntly! M-most especially when you're hugging your girlfriend!" she yelled.
"Nicole's cuter than you are though." Ted said, hugging me tighter. "She has fats I can squeeze."
I frowned at Ted's remark, but Chandra countered in my behalf. "She does not!" Thanks Chandra.
"With all the junk food ya'll been eating for breakfast, I find it a miracle you still fit in your skinny jeans." He says, sighing. "Can't you spend your cash buying healthy food instead?"
"We don't have a lot of money." Chandra admitted.
"And you allow poor Nicole to accumulate all these unhealthy fat…?" he says, squeezing the fats on my belly.
"Hey!" I retorted, swatting Ted's hands off my belly.
Chandra sighed. Her shoulders slumped a little. "It's not my fault she doesn't exercise. I keep inviting her to join the cheerleading team but she prefers to hide in that creepy little shrine full of pictures of your sleeping face."
Ted cocked a questioning brow at me. I turned beet red. Ted wasn't supposed to know about that!
"I'm too busy with cheerleading that I don't have time to find work." Chandra continued, staring at her food. "And I spend too much money buying sweets and… gym shoes."
"Poor you. I wish we had the same shoe size. I could have shared my gym shoes with you." Ted said.
Chandra shrugged. "I'm not sure if I want to borrow shoes from a guy. Boys seem to have smelly feet."
"You don't have much of a choice since you're broke." Ted replied. Chandra sighed louder.
"You can always write articles online." I offered. "There are sites that pay you to write about things you like. Darren writes for a blog and gets paid big. Maybe he can help you find work."
"You can do that!?" Chandra shrieked. "I can write about clothes, make up and beauty tips and get paid for it?!"
Ted and I were taken aback at Chandra's sudden energy recharge. We watched her laugh sinisterly while eating her lunch. It was a weird but an impressive sight. Not very elegant, though. Ted didn't seem to mind.
"Think of all the wonderful things I could buy. Hehehe~"
Ted checked his watch then tugged my arm. "We gotta skedaddle Chandra." He told her, but she was too busy thinking about all the junk food and the clothes she could buy.
"I think we should leave her alone for a while." I said.
"Right you are. She's still happy as a puppy with two peckers."
We left the cafeteria and decided to stroll in the campus grounds to kill ten minutes. The wind slightly blew on our faces, making our hair dance with the wind.
"Now," Ted said, pulling me closer. "I gotta kiss you, else I'll go crazy."
I tiptoed, giving him a slight peck on the lips. Ted dislikes PDA, so I try to make kisses short in public. It's probably okay to hold hands now, since he's not afraid to hug me in public anymore.
Ted put his arm around my shoulders and led me to the Bio Building. I still find it difficult to go there because it reminds me of Jeff a lot, but I guess I'm not that traumatized. Ted's been keeping a close eye on me ever since that incident so I guess that explains why he's not that reluctant to show his affections everywhere we go.
"Ted?" I asked.
"Hmm?"
"About the club…"
Ted shifted uneasily, like he was unsure about something. "Since I'm not really a big fan of the clubs here, I'm hankerin' to make my own."
I didn't understand why he's so unsure about it, but I really like the idea – even though I have no clue what the club is going to be. So I decided to ask.
"What's the club going to be?"
"Now, hold your horses. I haven't given it much thought yet." Ted said, scratching the back of his head. "But, I've been watching those cartoons you said-"
"You mean anime, right?"
"Ani-ugh, whatever. Yeah, that." Ted said, wincing a little. He hates to be interrupted, and the face he makes is so cute. I wish I could take a photo and post it on my shri- I mean, desk!
"Leastways," he continued. "I reckon we should make our own club that investigates stuff. We inspect school mysteries and stuff as well as catch petty thieves that steal gym shoes…"
"Ooh, like Hyouka!" I happily clapped my hands together.
"Stuff like that, yeah." He said, giving me a sheepish grin. I'm not sure if he's embarrassed about his idea, or the fact that he got the idea from an anime.
"I think it's a great idea!" I said.
"Now don't get all fired up yet! I ain't even sure about this club yet. We ain't got a place yet…"
"Have you tried asking the Office of Student Affairs if they could spare you a room?" I asked.
"I wanted to consult you first before doin' it. I hate to mention it, but you did have a bad experience after a failed attempt to solve mysteries on your own."
Aw, so that's why he looked worried for a while. It's nice to know that he's so considerate about my feelings. I, Nicole Grave, have an epic boyfriend right here. He's right, though. Then again, I love mysteries. I love solving them even more. Plus, I don't have to audition in order to get in. So I shrugged and said "Why not?"
"You're the best, Nicole." Ted said, giving me a little kiss on the cheek.
"That class was so tiring!"
"Ugh, you said it." Lillie muttered. Lillie is my new lab partner. I couldn't help but feel happy that Mr. Garver partnered me with a nice person this time. She's shorter than I am though, but she's quite attractive and gets plenty of boys asking her out on dates.
"Bio, like, sucks. Bigtime." She whined.
I slowly massaged my head with my fingers. "Couldn't agree with you more."
Bio's one of the subjects I really dislike. Honestly, everything about Bio reminded me of Jeff. In fact, everywhere I look, I see things that remind me of pharmacology and alchemy – well, it's a miracle I can still live and breathe in this room.
"Anyway, don't forget to acquire the turtle for our terrarium." She said, motioning at the big aquarium with turtles in it. "We're supposed to get lots of sand too so I'm going to the beach today. Wanna come with?"
It took me a while to realize that Lillie invited me to go to the beach with her.
"Nah, I gotta go work."
"Okay, maybe I'll swing by and get some ice cream later."
"Discounts for you if you do that."
"Suh-weet. See ya."
I watched her leave the room in a carefree fashion. Lillie and I follow each other in Rollr. That means she is a cool person. Which reminds me… I should send her a friend request in Spacebook.
As I take out my phone, I noticed a new message notification. I instantly opened it.
madryisabutthead: HOW DO YOU CHANGE THE USERNAME?! DARREN WON'T TELL ME :(
LOL. It's Kurt Madry! He's one of the people I couldn't stand at first, but once you get to know him, he's actually a fun person to be with. Plus, he's friends and roommates with Darren, so I guess that makes him my friend too. We like to tease him a lot because he doesn't know how the Internet works – hence the username.
HautaCoutoure: I don't wanna tell you. ;)
madryisabutthead: THEN HOW DO I MAKE A NEW ACCOUNT
HautaCoutoure: It's easy, but you have to figure out how to turn the caps lock off.
madryisabutthead: i know how
HautaCoutoure: good!
madryisabutthead: what now
HautaCoutoure: aw. it's no fun if I tell you. I gtg. See you Saturday. TC. ;)
madryisabutthead: not fair :sad face;
Did he just try to make an emoticon?! I need to teach Kurt that we copy-paste links of memes or upload photos of gifs instead! That's reserved for another time, though. I'm gonna be late for work!
Not a lot of customers today. Lillie presented a bucket of sand for our bio project and bought two ice cream sandwiches (taking advantage of her discount). A kid and his dad tried our banana split contest. So far, they couldn't take it and had to pay for it. I secretly handed them consolation prizes in the form of ice cream sandwiches since they're like, our most loyal customers (and that the ice cream sandwiches will expire in about two weeks).
Now I have plenty of time to Rollr.
I scrolled down my dash. Darren had another interesting post! This is awesome! I continued to scroll down through the post. "Sh#t, My Roommate Says!"
That must mean Kurt. Nice title though. Finally, I get the reference. Haha.
My roommate is an amazing person.
One time, he sat in front of a chess board for hours, saying nothing, doing nothing. He looked up at me and said, "I think this game goes a lot faster with two players.
Pure gold! I could blackmail Kurt with this! Hahaha!
I continued reading Darren's post but was interrupted with a loud ding.
"Ah, good work today Nicole!" Lawrence cheerfully said. He's my boss, and he's very nice. His friends are pretty nice too, and are regulars of the ice cream parlor. I met one of his friends, but she only works in the morning. Her name is Amy and she's very sweet. She regularly visits her boyfriend in the hospital. He's probably sick or something. I didn't get to know her much, but it seems Lawrence cares so much about her.
"Thank you Lawrence!"
"Oh, is Ted picking you up today?" he asked, setting a large bag of small cakes in the counter.
"Yup, he is."
"Well, take a cake then. I used to buy lots of supplies from his convenience store. Consider it as a gift of gratitude for helping my business stay afloat."
"One more thing, though."
Lawrence handed me a key. "I figured you'll need that. I saw Ted earlier, and he mentioned you needed a room for your club, right?"
"Oh wow, a key?" I exclaimed, pulling the key into a tight hug (which Lawrence probably found weird, but I don't care. This is one awesome key). "This is amazing!"
"Nice. It's a key to my old dorm. Now that that... Jeff…"
"Thank you so much!" I happily said, giving Lawrence a quick hug before he starts crying. "Say no more, Lawrence. We all know that it was who Jeff ignited your fear of spiders. He's gone now."
Lawrence vehemently blushed. "I… you're welcome." He pointed at the cakes. "Please pick a cake before things get awkward." He shyly said.
"Oh right! Sorry about that."
"I-it's fine, really." He muttered, tipping his glasses up on his nose while clearing his throat. "Please display the rest of the cakes after you choose." He said, before going at the back.
I took the cakes out from the bag and lined all of them in a tray. "I wonder if Ted likes mocha? It's close to coffee." I said to myself. Ted likes coffee.
I carefully picked the mocha cake, placed it in a plastic container, and set it aside. I put the rest on display. I was about to check Rollr again when Ted sauntered in.
"Ah, I'm hungry!" he said, sitting on the stool in front of me. He lazily rested his chin on his right hand as he looked at me.
"You're in luck!" I exclaimed, "you are our 100th customer! You get free cake!"
He gave me an incredulous look. "Dang. Are you serious?"
I stuck out my tongue and handed him the mocha cake with a fork. "I know you're not into sweet things, but I picked the mocha cake especially for you. It's closer to coffee."
"Aw shucks." He muttered, giving me a little smile. I feel like taking his photo right now! Aww! I carefully took my phone out.
"No pictures."
I pouted.
"Feed me instead."
My mouth fell open. Did he seriously ask that?
"Don't just stand there, gawking with your yapper open. A fly could come in." He said, gently pushing my jaw.
"Or is that uniform restricting you from work?" he asked, noticing the ruffles and frills on my dress and apron. "That uniform defeats the purpose since it's supposed to make the employee move effortlessly and efficient-"
I shut him up with cake. "Does this taste good?" I asked.
He nodded. "Grugh-slahpin goo."
I had no idea what he just said, but I'm pretty sure it was positive.
"Still looking for a club room?" I asked.
"Yeah, but after while, you just give up." He muttered, reaching for the fork in my hand and sliced the cake himself. "Ahmagin that, the only room available is the janitor's closet."
"Bubba the Janitor will be pleased to share his office," I joked.
"I hate to break it to ya, but you best not bother Bubba in his workspace. He does pretty disturbin' things." He shuddered. "I still can't erase that awful song number he did."
I nodded. "I agree. We weren't supposed to see that."
"We weren't even supposed to be there anyway." He playfully said, giving me a little wink.
I laughed. "No, we weren't."
He laughed and waved his hand back and forth – as if to swat the thought away.
"By the way," I jiggled the keys to Lawrence's old room. "Look what I got."
Ted squinted and moved closer to get a better look. "That strangely looks like a key to a dorm room."
"Yeah, Lawrence gave it to me earlier." I said. "It's a key to his old dorm room."
Ted looked confused, then angry. "Are you even aware that Jeff-"
"Yeah. Jeff used to be Lawrence's roommate. I get it." I said, "but think about it. Jeff didn't even have time to take out his stuff. We could smash all of his belongings while he's in jail."
Ted blew a low whistle. "I guess that could work."
I pumped my fist. "Perfect! We set the club room there!"
"After we throw Jeff's stuff out the window." Ted added.
"Yes," I said, giving him a small wink. "After we throw Jeff's stuff out of the window."
A/N: END of the chapter! Thanks for reading the story!