A/N: Heyy. Sorry I missed my update yesterday. It's my first year in college and I'm already getting work thrown onto me. XD Not to mention I still haven't figured out how to tell my parents I'm engaged... Any ideas? Lol. Kay, so last chapter was probably confusing, but don't you worry. Iggy gets his nickname in this one, and I suppose Nudge already has hers...
Just read and I'll bring some light on some things either next chapter or Chapter 13. Thanks for reading! TELL YOUR FRIENDS! Review! Pleeeeeazzzze!
Chapter Eleven
"Wow, that's some weird shit," Monique said unhelpfully.
I sent her a pointed "no duh?!" look, but she didn't seem to really notice. We were sitting at a two-person table, drinking Coke and watching the people skate and bowl. She was looking for James in the crowd of people, of course, but she was still listening to the constant buzzing beside her ear that is me talking. I explained to her what I could about the scene I saw back in that room; she was pretty freaked. At least she didn't have to actually witness tough and scary Nick beating the crap out of built but weak Sam. It was like Nick overpowered him with just a simple twitch of his fingers; it was so weird.
"What does it mean, though?" I asked her even though I knew she was just as clueless as I was.
"Go ask him."
"Go ask who what?"
"Go ask Nick what all of that was about."
I stare at her for a few seconds, "That was the worst plan I have ever heard in my life. If I want to know what's going on, I'm going to have to get some background information. And to get some background information, I need to get close to the person that knows Nick the best."
Monique grins, "Well, that won't be hard. All you have to do is contact Maya."
"Who's Maya?"
"She's Nick's ex-girlfriend. They went out from, like, seventh grade to sophomore year, but then something happened. One day they were walking together in the hallway, holding hands and looking like they were married. Then, the next day, Maya and Nick just stopped talking and Nick started wearing darker clothes and he stopped talking like he used to. Rumor has it that Maya caught Nick with another girl, but no one in school really believes the rumor. Nick used to be the captain of the basketball team, and he was nice to everyone; Nick wouldn't be capable of cheating on someone he'd been with for four years."
I furrowed my eyebrows, "Well, what happened to this Maya?"
"She transferred schools last year," Monique said, thinking back. "Apparently, she was knocked up with Nick's kid, and she didn't want him to be in its life. However, everyone knows that the whole pregnancy was a rumor; there were tons of those centered on Nick and Maya. They were that couple you thought would go to college together, get married straight out of college, and then live in the suburbs with two kids. Anyway, she transferred to that private school, Mullview Academy, in the next town over. No one's really talked to her since the whole transfer thing."
"You sure know a lot about something that doesn't include you," I tap my fingers on the tabletop.
She shrugs, "Maya and I hung out sometimes at parties. We were friends in, like, third grade, but that ended like a lot of friendships tend to do around here. I know a lot about it because my mom knows Maya's mom and I listen to them gossip with each other over the phone."
I nod slowly, "So you think I should contact this Maya girl?"
Monique bites her bottom lip, "I guess it's worth a shot. But, don't get your hopes too high because I doubt Maya will want to talk about Nick after two years of trying to forget him. Don't be straightforward with her, either, like asking about how Nick got pot. That's just stupid, first of all, and would probably end in Nick getting thrown into jail."
"All of these tips are useless because I know them all," I roll my eyes.
She shrugged, "I'm just saying."
"Do you want to come visit this Maya girl with me, too? Or are you going to let me go on my own this time?"
"I could come with you. You don't know what Maya even looks like, anyway, and she doesn't know you. I wouldn't like it if some random girl I had never seen in my life came up to me and asked me about one of my ex-boyfriends."
"Too bad for her then."
"You're so considerate," she said sardonically.
"I know… it's a gift," I smirked.
"There he is!" she suddenly exclaimed loudly, earning us a few looks. I face-palm and then drop my forehead to the table while Monique blushes, yet continues to watch James.
When I peek up, I see he's not that far away from us. Ella would spot him soon if he didn't manage to disappear somewhere; the guy was really tall. I nudged Monique, "Why don't you close your mouth before you catch flies and go talk to him?" I tried. She looked at me as if I had grown two wings, a tail, devil horns, and maybe some fur patches.
"Are you being serious?" she gaped.
"Yeah, he's just a person. Besides, I think I'm about to go home. You're going to need someone else to talk with for the rest of the night."
She pouted, "But, I'm too nervous…" she mumbled.
I slid my jacket back on; it had gotten really hot in here. Maybe it was because Monique had insisted we sit away from everyone else in the darkest and hottest corner of the place. All these bodies were making the air stifling; I'm extremely claustrophobic after what happened with my dad and I. Anyway, the last thing I wanted to do was stay in this place when Monique wasn't telling me that I had to stay. Before, every time I tried to leave she would tell me I had to stay longer or I technically didn't "party". I also don't want to waste my time trying to convince someone else to do something when I could go to sleep.
"Fine, then don't talk to him; walk me to the door instead," I insist. She stands up reluctantly and grabs her purse and her jacket before weaving with me into the crowd. Once we're close enough, I shove Monique straight into James, who catches her with this startled look. I smirk, "See you later!" I waggle my fingers over my shoulder, shoving open the door to the building and starting my walk home.
"Miss Martinez, lovely you could join us on this fine day!" Mr. Gregory exclaimed sarcastically.
"It's too early for a teacher to use sarcasm with me," I waved my hand in his general direction. This morning I had literally rolled out of bed, threw my hair up, and left the house. I was still in my black and maroon plaid pajama pants and black tank top; I had thrown on some black flip-flops on my way out.
He looked me over disapprovingly, "What are you wearing?"
I smirked as I took a seat around the back of classroom, three away from Nick. "Pajamas because I should still be sleeping right now," I shrugged.
"Here, here!" James cheered half-heartedly.
You know it's too early when James sounds tired.
After a few more muttered words about my appearance, he went back to his clipboard. This Saturday detention had a newcomer; James was sitting around the middle area. He was texting someone under the desk, his lips curved upwards in a permanent grin-smirk. Holden was gone, as was Star; a girl with curly red hair sat in Star's place beside Sam, who took Holden's place. Ratchet was back with Nick and I since he had done that middle-school prank where you stick ketchup packets under the toilet seat. He did it in the guys' bathroom, so you can imagine how freaked a few guys were when they saw "blood" dripping down the toilet.
"Pst," Ratchet poked my bicep, "Maaaaax," he whined.
I sighed, "You drawing out my name like that is probably the most annoying thing ever."
He pouted, "Really? You don't find it cute or adorable?" he fluttered his dark eyes. I looked back at him impassively; I swear he and Iggy were long lost twins.
"Nope, just annoying."
"Fine then, I was just going to ask you if you were at the party last night. I didn't leave until really late, but I never saw you around," he frowned.
I pick at a loose thread in my pajama bottoms, "Yeah I was there. I left early because…" my eyes flitted over to Nick, who was openly listening to our conversation. "Because parties aren't really my thing; especially ones that could be for a fourteen-year-old," I finish. His mouth makes a small "o" shape as he nods; I'm just glad I managed to get that out of my mouth without stuttering and saying something stupid. I turned to Nick, "Did you go to the party, Nick?"
He looked back at me, eyes blocked from any emotion. "Yeah, for a bit," he says shortly.
Mr. Gregory finally left the room and the six of us were left alone once again. Sam's jaw was a dark purple bruise that stuck out from the rest of his normal face. He was literally sitting as far away from Nick as possible; I smirked a little to myself. James had set his phone aside ten minutes after Mr. Gregory left just to start messing with something. It looked kind of like the mini-bomb Gazzy was making in the living room a couple days ago. Ratchet was trying to get Nick to talk, but Nick remained standing with his one-word answers, shrugs, and short nods.
"Max," James plopped down in the open seat in front of me.
I sighed, forcing my eyes from my desk to his face, "What?" I moan.
"You want to help me set this up?" he asks eagerly, showing me what he had been working on earlier.
The box was almost as big as my hand if not smaller. It had wires sticking out of it and only three buttons were on the silver surface. One was green, one was red, and one was probably the brightest and most sickening color of yellow I had ever seen.
"What is that?" I sighed, crossing my arms and resting them on my desktop.
He grins, "It's a stink bomb, silly! Look, all you have to do is press the green button and it'll give you five minutes before it goes off. The red is an emergency shut down because I'm not sure if it'll work; I've only ever made one working stink bomb before. And the yellow is to increase the stink to the point you want to rip off your nose and hide yourself in your bed!" he exclaimed excitedly.
"That sounds lovely," I deadpan sarcastically.
He pouts, "You aren't going to help?"
"Go ignite your bomb elsewhere, Igniter," I wave him away aimlessly.
"Wait, what'd you call me?"
"Um… Igniter?" I stated although it came out as more of a question.
"I like that!" he exclaims, clapping his hands. "My new nickname can be Igniter Man!" he jumped up onto the desk in front of me. I covered my face with my hands, refusing to look up him as he started to loudly sing the Batman theme song.
The girl with really curly red hair, however, looked back at us. "That's too long and nerdy."
James cracks up laughing, "Just like Ratchet's di-"
"DON'T SAY IT!" the redhead and I yell, quickly cutting him off. James bursts into a fit of giggles; Nick looked quite amused and Sam was fighting the urge to burst out laughing.
Nick spoke- surprisingly all of us, "How would you know if it was long, Iggy?"
I laughed while James scowled down at the desk he was still standing on. Then, he suddenly perked up, "Iggy! That's it! I like that nickname. Now, I'm Iggy and Monique is Nudge!" he claps and jumps back off of the desk. "Now that it's settled," he continued before anyone could say something about his new "nickname", "who wants to help me set the bomb?"
Sam got up along with Ratchet, "I'll help," they said together.
"Alright, then! All aboard the Ja- Iggy train! Whoop, whoop!" he made his own honking train noise.
I rubbed my temples as the redhead got out of her desk. "Where do you want to set it up?"
"Somewhere within connecting distance of my remote control," Jam- I mean, Iggy said. "Which may or may not work," he mumbled.
They went around the room, pin-pointing which places Mr. Gregory went closest to. They settled on the top corner of the room that was close behind me. Since they decided to put it so close, I was forced to move a few seats down- closer to Nick. It wasn't that it bothered me to sit by Nick since he definitely won't end up trying to strike up conversation, but still. Jame- Iggy, I mean (that's going to get some taking used to. Just like Nudge will) was happy with his bomb. He picked up a tiny remote from his desk and made sure he would be able to sit down and control the bomb. This is going to end up in disaster. We all know it.