I dare you to read this whole thing without either (a) licking your lips, (b) blinking or (c) both. If you're dangerous enough.
Game On.
It had been six weeks, three days, five hours and two (and a half) minutes since Macy lasted freaked out or called him 'Nick Of JONAS'.
He had counted.
Because Nick likes to count things.
He doesn't like Math much but counting is great.
He needs to know how to count so he can count how many times he's beat Kevin at Ping Pong.
Twenty Eight.
He needs to know how to count so he can count how many times he's beat Joe at Poker.
Nine Hundred and Eleven. (The World Tour lasted a long time.)
He needs to know how to count so he can count how many times he's beat Stella at Crazy Golf.
Five.
She's a quitter.
He needs to know how to count so he can count how many times he's beat Frankie at Chess.
Seventeen.
Frankie plays with Kevin now.
So being able to count comes in handy.
And counting the days Macy has been 'normal' around him is simply him setting a goal.
It has nothing to do with the slight crush he's managed to develop on her since he went to her Dodge ball game. (Apparently she can hit people who aren't members of JONAS and actually get points for it.)
Nick never realised how dangerous competitiveness was until the fourth minute of the fifth hour of the third day of the sixth week.
"Where'd you get that?" Nick asked as Macy bit into a Twix.
"I won it. I'm officially the best in school at staring contests." She shrugged. "Want half?"
Nick gave her his half smile and nodded. "Thanks."
She handed him the other half of the Twix.
Sharing had kinda become their thing in the last few weeks.
Macy would always give Nick half of her bar because he couldn't eat more than half and she never wanted more than half.
And then he would give her half his Diet Coke.
They also shared DVD's, CD's, books, opinions.
It was a good system.
"I think I could beat you in a staring contest." Nick told her, biting into the Twix.
"I can beat my Dad in a staring contest and he's pretty good."
"Is that a challenge?" Macy asked as she crumpled the wrapper and threw it in a trash can.
"I guess it is…" Nick trailed. "Unless you're chicken."
Macy laughed dryly. "Game on Lucas."
"What are they doing?" Joe asked, taking a moment to watch as Nick and Macy stared intently at each other.
"Aw, they're in love." Kevin cooed, his face practically pressed against the glass of the atrium.
Stella rolled her eyes.
"Kevin, you know, sometimes boys and girls can be just friends."
"Pfft." Kevin scoffed. "Cause you and Joe pull that off so well." He finished, muttering.
He shook his head and walked away. (But not before beaming at the glare he received from Joe. Annoying Joe is fun. Annoying Nick is better.)
"They're having a staring contest." Van Dyke walked up beside Stella, who batted her eyelids at his very presence. Joe folded his arms.
"She beat me in one earlier…took my Twix too…anyway, she proclaimed that officially made her the best starer in the school and I guess Nick decided to challenge that." Van Dyke shrugged.
"Sounds like Nick." Joe nodded.
"Hi…" Stella breathed, dreamily.
If there had ever been a time Joe had wanted to projectile vomit now was pretty much that time.
He went to say something to break up the little love fest between his best friend and the Captain of the football team when Macy's voice cut across him.
"Ha! You blinked! You so lose!"
Swiftly followed by Nick's.
"You blew into my face, that's cheating!"
"I had to breath!"
"You didn't have to breath so damn hard!"
Joe was confused.
Nick was always mad when he lost but usually he was angry mad.
Right now he was being playfully mad.
Maybe Kevin was right.
Maybe Nick did love Macy.
Joe pondered that for a second.
Nick and Macy?
Pfft.
Nah.
"Rematch." Nick cocked an eyebrow.
"How about I challenge you to something else?" Macy smiled.
"What do you have in mind?" Nick asked, as the two sat at their usual lunch table.
"Arm wrestle."
Nick half laughed until he realised she was serious.
"Macy, I can't do that. Mom says I'm not allowed hurt a girl."
Macy rolled her eyes.
"Chicken." She muttered.
"Am not."
"Arm wrestle?"
"Fine."
Nick got up and moved to the other side of the table.
"Bring it Misa."
He held up his hand.
"Consider it brought." She gabbed his hand.
Both ignored the bolt of energy that ran from their finger tips right up to their brains and focused on winning the match.
"Nick better not break her. She's fragile you know." Stella told Joe as they sat at a different table, so as not to interrupt the athletes.
"And not in the arm wrestling sense." Kevin interjected as he walked passed with -was that a duck?
Stella blinked.
"He'll be careful. Mom always told us not to-"
"OUCH!" Macy's squeal penetrated the halls, so that everyone turned and looked.
Joe winced and Stella threw him a look that could kill.
"I win." Nick said, smugly.
"That so wasn't fair, you squished the life out of my fingers!" Macy shoved her hand into his face, so he could inspect the damage.
"All's fair in love and war." He shrugged.
"Fix them." She told him, not removing her hand.
"C'mon. I'll get a can from the vending machine and we can hold it to your wounded pride."
He took the hand in question and lead her from the cafeteria.
She blushed slightly at his more tender touch.
Joe shook his head.
Nick may not have noticed but he saw that blush.
Macy in love with Nick?
So not.
That would mean Kevin was right.
Kevin.
Haha.
"Any better?" Nick asked.
The two were sitting in the atrium again and Macy was holding her fingers around a can of Diet Coke.
"No." She pretend huffed.
Nick pulled up her fingers.
"Mom said I have magic kisses." He told her and pressed them against his lips.
Macy tired to remember to breath.
And Nick tired to ignore the zinging feeling and the urge to switch her fingers with her lips.
"Better now?" He asked.
Macy knew the only way she'd be able to answer him would be if she switched into competitive mode again.
"Best two out of three." She told him.
He was a little disappointed with her reaction to his gesture.
"Fine. What's next?"
"Really?" Stella arched an eyebrow as herself and Joe peeked in the window of the gym.
"Hula hoops?"
Joe shrugged.
"Nick won the last one. And he sucks at hula hooping. What's his deal?"
"He's in love…" Kevin said in a sing-song voice, walking passed again. This time carrying a bag of …water?
Ah. With a goldfish inside.
Makes sense.
Not.
"I so got to a hundred first." Macy folded her arms.
"Pfft." Nick scoffed. "Only because you hit me in the head with the hoop." He told her, putting his hand to his throbbing forehead.
"Yeah, sorry about that." Macy winced. "But now we're even. Here, lemme see." She pulled his hand from his head and tried not to make a face when noticing that there was, in fact, a little gash.
"Want the can?" She asked him.
"It's probably gone flat by now."
"I meant for your head silly. Man, how hard did I hit you?"
He pretend scowled. "Pretty damn hard."
"Well, my Mom says I have magic kisses too." She told him, before stretching on her tip-toes and kissing the gash.
Nick had to count (see, told ya it was useful) to remain standing.
"Rock, paper, scissors?" Macy asked.
Nick nodded.
"Phew. Something that isn't potentially harmful."
"Tell me," Stella started handing icepacks to both Nick and Macy as they sprawled out on the Lucas's sofa, in some serious pain.
"How did you manage to practically maim yourselves while playing rock, paper, scissors?"
"Love hurts." Kevin shrugged, walking down the stairs with a …goat? Sheep? Whatever.
"We fell down the stairs." Nick grimaced as he tried to move to take the icepack.
"It was only five steps but there was two of us so it hurt like ten." Macy held her icepack to her shoulder.
Later that evening Nick and Macy sat, alone, in the firehouse. (Due to the fact that everyone was sick of their competitiveness and decided to go out for a while seeing as Nick and Macy couldn't.)
Well, Kevin wasn't sick of their competitiveness.
In fact, he found it quite romantic.
But he had to pick up the iguana before the store closed.
They had played sixteen games of cards. Four games of Monopoly. And even a game of 'guess the celebrity' and they were both still tied.
"Bet I can stand up before you can." Macy narrowed her eyes.
"Bring it on."
"It was on before you even knew it."
Both tried to stand up.
It wasn't such a good idea because Macy tripped over one of the board games and, in order to stop her from falling, Nick grabbed her and they both went careening onto the floor with a thud.
"Owww." Nick groaned.
"Nick?" Macy asked.
"What?"
"Could you be so kind as to get of my hair?"
Nick glanced down and noticed his hand was pinning Macy's hair down and tugging it from her head.
"Oops," He quickly removed the hand. "Sorry."
Nick pushed himself up and sat against the sofa.
He held out a hand for Macy and then pulled her up next to him.
He pulled her a little too hard though and her forehead ended up connecting with his.
"Ouch." The both sighed tiredly at the new pain.
Macy giggled and Nick smiled -a proper smile.
She moved her head away and the locked eyes.
She'd never really noticed before but Nick had countless amounts of shades in his eyes. Why hadn't she noticed during the staring contest?
Why had the atmosphere suddenly become a lot more climactic?
Why was she still staring at him?
Oh God! She was still staring at him!
She quickly averted her gaze and said the first thing that came to mind.
"I'll bet I can hold my breath longer than you can."
She sucked in a breath.
Nick arched an eyebrow.
"I'll bet I have a better way of testing that theory." He told her before crashing his lips onto hers.
Kevin turned to the many animals who, like himself, were spying through the window.
"The End." He smiled.
Heh. Insomnia. What can you do?
It's currently one am, I have school at seven and I'm about to go to homework.
I'm good at procrastinating. I fail at homework.
Later Dudes. :)