r i c o c h e t
nick.&.stella

:)
by kathryn

I LOVE YOU NICK/STELLA. seriously. super amazing couple.

so you may have noticed that "stop the world" is gone and there's a reason for that. I HATE IT. a rewrite will come eventually, but i'm much too lazy to be bothered with it at this point.

and...this my 150th story! :D woo dance party.

–

"Get out. Of my. Room."

Nicholas Lucas uttered these five words darkly, the sound slightly muffled by his pillow. It was six-thirty on a Monday morning and he was in no mood to be awoken by his obnoxious older brother Joseph. No, scratch that. He wasn't in a mood to be awoken by Joe ANY morning.

"Sorry, Nick-o. School days!" Joe said cheerfully as he bit into an apple, then proceeded to spit it out. "Gross!! It's rotten!! KEVIN!!"

Nick looked at Joe, groaning loudly. "Get out of my room. Any sane person is still asleep."

"Which is why you should be out of bed."

Nick's eyes narrowed. He was not amused.

After reluctantly getting out of bed and dressed (due to a considerable amount of coaxing from his mom), Nick grabbed an apple that wasn't rotten and then his school bag.

The walk to Kevin's car was long, and the whole time all Nick could think about was how he couldn't wait to get home. He was three points of shy of genius! Was the whole "school" thing really necessary?

"Cheer up, little bro. Think of it this way! You only have two more years!" Kevin said brightly.

"How is that supposed to make me feel better?" Nick looked at Kevin. "Joe only has one and you're graduating this year. And I'm smarter than both of you put together. Karma hates me."

"Who's Karma?" Kevin asked, confused.

Nick blinked and turned to look out the window. He listened to Joe and Kevin banter back and forth for a while before sighing in relief when they reached the school. He walked through the doors, looking around for someone he knew that would be a distraction from Kevin and Joe.

"Hey, Nick," Stella Malone said and walked up to his locker. "I have some sketches for you to look at. And PUH-LEEZE don't reject them all right away because personally I think they could be a good look for you."

The curly-haired boy looked at Stella and rolled his eyes. "Morning to you, too, Stells. I have to go to class."

"No you don't. You have to come to the girls' room so I can do some measurements for you," Stella said simply. "You can just say you had...I don't know, use your imagination."

Nick groaned, realizing that he really didn't have a choice. Stella was going to strip him of his clothes (and probably his dignity), too. And measure him.

Yeah.

That's right.

MEASURE HIM.

Stella pulled him into the GIRLS' restroom and looked at him. "So what's up with the frownyface, Nick? Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

Nick mumbled a response and shrugged off his shirt. "I don't know. I'm sick of school."

Stella made an 'mmm' sound and nodded as she pulled out a tape measure. "Turn right."

Nick did as he was told and turned to the right, not even feeling ashamed that he was standing in the girls' bathroom. He'd been in there about a hundred times since the beginning of the school year anyways.

When Stella's fingers ran down his arms, Nick bit his lower lip. Goosebumps appeared on his flesh, and he willed them to go away. It was no secret that Stella Malone was attractive. Nick just wasn't as immune to her attractiveness as he wanted to be.

"Relax, Nicky," Stella laughed easily and patted his arm. "It's not like we've never done this before."

Nick nodded numbly before glancing down at his feet.

His day wasn't improving much with Stella's hands running over his arms and undershirt, and he really just wanted to escape to class.

Stella set the tape down when she was finished and looked at him. "Come here," she said and held her arms out to him. "You look like you need a hug."

No I most definitely DO NOT need a hug, Nick mused as he tried not to wince.

Stella wrapped her arms around him anyways and pressed a kiss to his cheek, leaving a cherry-flavored lip gloss stain (not that Nick knew what kind of lip gloss she wore or anything (Bath and Body Works Luscious Lips Cherry Scented made with really cherry extract)). He could feel her hands pressing to his shirt and her hair kept brushing against his cheek. It was the sweetest kind of torture, and Nick had always been somewhat of a masochist. Don't you remember Flenny – er, PENNY?

Nick hugged her back unconsciously, burying his face in her neck like he'd seen Joe do before. "Thanks," he mumbled as he breathed in the smell of pina colada shampoo and her apple cinnamon body splash.

Stella pulled back to look at him, her cheeks stained a light shade of pink. "Nicky, are you done smelling me?"

Nick blushed profusely and rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh...yeah...sorry..."

Stella flashed him a smile. "Relax, Nicky," she said and kissed him chastely without realizing what she was doing.

Nick froze and looked up at her with stunned brown eyes. His lips parted, and for a moment he almost forgot how to breathe. "Stell."

Stella slid her right index finger under his chin. "Our secret," she leaned in to whisper into his ear. "Meet me here for lunch? I'll make it better."

Nick nodded profusely as his motor skills kicked back in. Stella wanted to meet him here for "lunch".

"Go to class, Nicky," Stella said and ruffled his hair as she grabbed her tape measure and walked out.

Nick willed himself not to pass out.

–

okay this literally took me a WEEK to finish. and i effing hate it. i'm really frustrated about my writing lately. ):

please review with more than "so cute" or "i loved it," thanks. i'd appreciate it.