Big thanks to those of you who were kind enough to leave me a review last chapter. I was so damn nervous. I'm sorry this one took a while to get out. I was busy with a friend's wedding and life in general, plus I hit a bit of a slump. I think you guys will like this chapter, especially you Stiki shippers! Can't wait to crank out the next chapter :]
Her Angel hovered above her, with its magnificent glowing halo. Such a beautiful thing, it's a shame she would never get to touch it. Nikita was laying on her back, feeling nothing from the waist down. The tears welling in her eyes obscuring her vision, how she badly she wanted to see her Angel's face. This nightmare on repeat.
His hand came to stroke a strand of sweat plastered hair out of her face. And he asked…
"Are you scared, Nikita Grace?"
Her eyes opened at the sound of a knock coming at the door.
Nikita was cozy in her own bed, letting her legs stretch beneath her cloud like comforter. It was the same bizarre dream she had been plagued with for the past few nights. She couldn't begin to wrap her mind around it, the hazy mess plaguing her nights. It was hard to tell if she was scared or more likely confused. Her foggy eyes slowly adjusted to the dim morning light. The silver of the sun shining through grey clouds filtered through her bedroom curtains, falling upon her. Nikita stretched her arms above her head, letting out a yawn. Her long and shapely track star legs finally leaving the warmth of her bed, bare feet coming down to feel the cold wooden floor.
"Come in." Her words obstructed by another long yawn. The bandages once wrapped around her head were finally off. Nikita's fingers came to pick at the scabs forming around her sutures there. It was a nasty habit, yet she couldn't seem to stop.
Her door opened a crack, curious mossy eyes peering from the other side.
"Is it safe?"
Nikita rolled her eyes at Walter's hesitance. She walked over to her desk, where a few get well soon cards and flowers rested. Walter came in, carrying breakfast on a tray.
"I made waffles!" He happily chimed. "Brought out the old iron and gave her a go, it's been a while, and I thought why not?"
"Aren't I just the luckiest girl?" Her tone short of any enthusiasm.
Nikita making an effort to hide a delighted smile. Walter used to make her waffles for any and every occasion when she was usually tasted like sawdust, but drowned in syrup and topped with a mountain of whipped cream... you couldn't really tell. Her disappearance must have given him a good scare, because he was trying harder than ever to step up to the plate. While his efforts seemed too little too late, Nikita wasn't going to give him a hard time about it; not now anyways.
"Can't start your first day back on an empty stomach! We both know how you-"
Nikita shooting him a dirty glance, as if to caution him to not finish that sentence. So what if she got snappy whenever she was hungry? Hanger is an actual medical condition, if Walter was such an accomplished Doctor like people claimed him to be, he would have known that by now.
He swallowed thickly. "-Get." Finishing it in a soft voice.
Walter enthusiastically set her breakfast down on the nightstand and began making her bed for her. It was a wildly odd sight to see, but Nikita wasn't going to stop him from cleaning up, whatever made him feel better about himself.
"Thanks, Walter." A half mutter, her attention on the white ceramic piggy bank that sat on the corner of her desk -she still refused to call him 'Dad'.
It was ugly, to put it nicely. An ugly little piggy she attempted to paint orange flowers on at a young tender age at the local Color-me-mine. It was by no means a representation of her artistic capabilities, especially compared to her recent works. She had never used that thing to hold her coins, for the most part it sat there and collected dust….until recently.
Her father went on, talking about how Nikita's first day back at school would be a wonderful occasion. She on the other hand had drowned him out, a talent she had acquired since her return to the dreaded town. Nikita picked up the ceramic piggy bank, bringing it up to her ear giving it a shake. The coins in there rattled and rolled along the walls inside, the same coins she was clutching the night Stiles had found her. There was a complete blank space in Nikita's memory, one where she couldn't connect the dots. How did she fall off the face of Suicide Hill? Where was she those five nights? And where did these coins come from?
Gently she set the piggy bank on her desk, grabbing her phone off the charger and sitting next to Walter on her bed. Nikita scrolled through missed texts, ones from Lydia, Jonesy, Allison, Stiles, and to her surprise Scott asking her how she's doing. Scott had never made much effort in befriending her, even when he and Allison were together. Nikita attributed his awkward behavior towards the fact her father was in a serious relationship with Scott's mother. Neither of them had really sat down to talk about what it meant to them, and what it could possibly turn into further down the line. Nikita wanted to roll her eyes and stuff her face into the pillow just thinking of the possibility of ever having a step brother. The idea of it bothersome to someone who had been an only child all their lives.
Even as she sat in disappointment, she somehow managed to sink even further. While many people had reached out to her, there was one who was missing.
Derek Hale.
There was no mention of him, he hadn't reached out to her once since her 'fall'. His actions confused her, along with his false promises of sticking around. Why would he open the roads to their friendship again when he never meant to put forth the effort? Nikita understood that her and Derek weren't particularly close like her and Cora were, the age gap always made sure of that. But she still had fond memories of him, and grew up believing he was the closest thing she would ever have resembling a brother...and often thought of him as such.
"Maybe you should stay home." Walter, interrupting her thoughts, soft spoken as per usual. It seemed he had picked up on her apprehension and gloominess. "I could write you a doctor's note, you know."
And he gave her a wink-wink-nudge. Nikita, the victim of yet another terrible dad joke that he found far too funny.
Nikita let out a sigh, her fingers struggling to run through knotted chestnut hair.
"I cannot stay another day in bed. I'm getting far too restless."
"I know. I just. I'm worried with how you'll adjust." Walter was leaning back on her bed, admiring the way she had decorated her room, certainly having made it into her safe space.
Nikita knew her father meant how she would adjust since Detective Hirst ruined her public image without even having to use the words 'suicidal". She brought her knees up to her chest, and allowing her head to lean on her father's shoulders. The feel of Walter's shoulders tensing before relaxing again brought a small smile to her face. God, he was so awkward when it came to parenting.
"I'll have to put on my big girl pants and face the people eventually. Plus it's Beacon Hills, i'm sure some scandal will come around and take the spotlight."
The big girl pants were more like opaque black big girl tights. And she was far from fine.
Lydia sat happily in her Volkswagen Beetle, busily reapplying her cherry lip gloss. Nikita on the other hand sat anxiously in the passenger seat, the two of them at the school parking lot. Students were already staring at them from the front steps of the school, whispering to one another. Nikita and Lydia would be the two most notorious girls at school, having both 'uneventful' nights at the Winter Formal. There was also the fact that Nikita and Lydia had patched their friendship, one wouldn't expect either of them to grab for the olive branch after how things went down between them. But they were just two girls, who had gone through a lifetime full of trauma in just a couple of nights. Neither of them caring for who was dating who, silly weightless words that they might have thrown at each other. When looking at the big picture, their fight was so miniscule with what the two of them had recently gone through.
"Let's get this over with." Nikita groaned, opening the car door, not at all ready to face the day.
Perhaps she was overthinking things, she tend to do that often. Nikita looked to Lydia who once again exuded all the world's confidence, walking one perfect suede pink heel in front the other like the world was her runway.
"Just keep walking." Lydia assured her "They're only looking at us because guys want us...girls want us or want to be us."
How far Lydia was from the truth was borderline comical, because the curious stares of their classmates were heavier than a bundle of rocks weighing on Nikita's shoulders. The hallway was full of them, people gawking at her and Lydia, the silence starting to grate at her ears. She wanted sound, noise, even the irritating hiss of static from the old fluorescents. anything was better than this.
Luck seemed to be on her side, Jonesy only a few feet away from her locker. There he was in his white Levi's shirt and denim jacket, his hair much like usual...an unkempt mess that only he could pull off. She wore a matching grin to his, Jonesy's smile always so contagious, he just knew how to brighten a room with little effort. In one hand he held a starbucks coffee, in the other an aster flower, with vibrant lavender petals. He must have plucked it from the front lawn of the school.
Lydia breezed past him -perhaps looking for her boyfriend, Jackson- muttering a quick thank you and grabbing the coffee out of Jonesy's hand. He blinked wide, thrown off guard, shaking his head and even admiring Lydia as she walked off. Nikita approached him, her fingers gripping around the strap of her shoulder bag.
His full lips tugged to the side, slowly shaking his head. "That coffee was actually meant for you, and the flower was meant for Lydia…."
Nikita let out a snort of laughter when Jonesy handed her the flower instead, gladly accepting his gift, not expecting anything in the first place.
"Thanks. You're so sweet." She said with her dimpled smile, placing the flower behind her ear, showing off her new accessory.
"Welcome back, Nikita, you've been missed."
His words sparked a sudden giddiness in Nikita, and she found her arms wrapped around him, pulling him in for a hug, the side of her face resting against his chest. Jonesy gladly hugged Nikita back, holding her there for a moment and letting her take in the embrace. It was then, She decided that tall boys give the best hugs.
"You really missed me?" Her smile had yet to fade even when she pulled away from the hug.
Jonesy nodded. "It's been pretty bleak without you here. Jackson's ego looms over the school like a dark cloud, I think you need to check him again." He nudges her rib with his elbow. "But make sure i'm there to record it, please?"
Without even asking Jonesy grabbed her book bag for her, slinging it over his own shoulder, and the two walked towards her locker. She could still feel the stares on her, but Nikita pretended it was everyone looking at Jonesy, the tallest kid in school holding onto a bag so non-chalantly. He didn't mind at all, his vibrant eyes on Nikita, and not the sneering classmates surrounding them.
She shrugged her shoulders. "Believe it or not i'm not really in the business of punching people anymore. It's the end of an era, my friend." Her fingers going to the back of her head, feeling the rough bumps of her sutures, the urge to sit there and pick at her scabs eating away at her.
Jonesy gently grabbed her hand, forcing her away from the stitches, and ever carefully turned her around so he was facing the back of her head. At first she felt uncomfortable and odd with him wanting to look at her stitches. They made her feel so ugly, insecure, and brought her shame. But of all people, Jonesy was more than likely to understand, and not judge. She could feel his rough fingers -calloused from playing guitar- placed over the back of her neck, so that she was looking down at the floor. An icy chill danced from the base of her neck all the way down her spine when he came to move a part of her hair -which she used carefully to disguise her wound- revealing the stitches. Jonesy let out a hum, inspecting her injuries just like his father Doctor Brody Jones would do.
"Dissolvable stitches."
"My stitches can dissolve?" Nikita impressed with the world of science and medicine, a world which she knew little about.
"They're actually made of a sort of sugar, the enzymes in your body start to break them down when your healing process come to an end. They would dissolve faster if you stopped picking at them." Jonesy warned, letting go of her neck. "This will probably take you a minimum of three weeks."
She let out a puff of air, chestnut hair flying and falling back onto her face, knowing he was right.
"It's just a bad habit."
Jonesy pressed his back against a locker next to hers, one foot against the metal, the other firmly planted onto the ground. He was busy shaking her purse, trying to guess what could possibly make it so heavy.
"So, my band, Lugosi. We're opening for another band at the abandoned distillery next week." Jonesy started while Nikita worked on her locker combination. He sounded rather nervous which was something she had never seen before, Nikita attributing it to the fact that his band was playing a larger venue than they were used to.
"And you know, you have good taste in music. Which is a lot coming from me because i'm what some people would classify as a music snob. Although honestly that's up for debate."
She let out a laugh. " Jonesy, you wrote a heated debate on Brand New versus Taking Back Sunday for English class, when we were asked to write about rivalries found in the books we've-"
Nikita's sentence stopped abruptly, brows met upon opening her locker. Stuffed through the grate of her locker was a blue brochure, perhaps all the students were getting one. She flipped it over to the front to see the image of smiling teenagers holding pots of flowers, all wearing grey uniforms. Splayed across the top were the words "Eichen House, Wellness and Health Facility." Pinpricks of heat rose to the surface of her cheeks, resting just beneath her eyes. She read the front of the brochure over and over again, unsure if she was seeing this correctly. Her stomach was lurching now, nausea brewing in the pit, and her hands began to shake. Nikita turned to look side to side, to see if she could spot the culprit, trying her best to look unbothered. The snickers behind her confirmed her suspicions; a cruel prank that crossed the line.
Jonesy's shadow fell upon her when he grabbed the brochure with impatience, crumbling it within his grips as soon as he read it. The two of them turned to look over their shoulders, four members of the basketball team had gathered. They stood around laughing over the expense of Nikita's hurt. All of them tall, clad in their red Lettermen jackets. However, none was taller than Jonesy.
His fingers ran through his dark hair with impatience, Jonesy looking at their hyena like laughs and the clear hurt on Nikita's face. It had struck a chord within him, his always calm demeanor crashing around everyone's feet.
"Hold this." Jonesy muttered, shoving Nikita's purse back into her hands.
Not only did Nikita's eyes fly open, but so did the group of jocks when Jonesy approached them. He went after the bigger one of the four, shoving him right against the locker.
"What's your problem Jonesy!?" The one pinned against the locker looking red faced and visibly upset. "It was only a joke!"
Jonesy had his shirt bunched up in his grips now, no one in the hall did a thing to intervene. All were like terrified sheep, waiting, watching. Nikita, much like all of them, could only look on from where she stood, completely thrown off by this side of Jonesy; he was always such a gentle giant...no one could have guessed there was any sort of hostility within him.
"I don't think it's funny! And neither does she!"
"Ever stop and think that maybe you're just too sensitive? You've gotten soft, Jonesy. Is that one of the repercussions of-"
Jonesy didn't even let him finish his sentence, not liking where it was going. Nikita watched as her friend quickly lifted the jock by the collar of his shirt and dunked him head first into the garbage can, his legs sticking out and kicking. None of his friends stuck around, all of them scattered at Jonesy's wild display.
Her hands came to cover her mouth, which hung wide open and slowly turned into a giant grin. She had never, in all her life, seen anyone stick up for her like that, nor had she dealt with a situation much like this one. Jonesy stared down every face in the hall, his dark unruly brows coming together to deepen into a frown line, she wasn't even aware he had frown lines to begin with. The morning bell went off right there, and everyone scattered like ants out of their marching line, no one attempting to help the idiot kicking and wailing in the bright blue garbage can. At least he was where he belonged.
Jonesy approached Nikita, looking much calmer now and brushing off his shoulder.
"I'm really sorry for that display of aggression, I didn't mean for you to see me like that, or put you in such an awkward position." His hand coming to rub the back of his neck, his blue eyes swirling with empathy.
Nikita let out a sigh of admiration, if only there were more people like Jonesy out there standing up for those who couldn't stand up for themselves. Nikita knew right then how lucky she was to have a friend like him.
"It's fine, honestly." She tucked a strand of her chestnut hair behind her ear and grabbed her books for first period, it's so terribly difficult to keep a straight face.
His face scrunches at the nose. "I went too far...didn't I." Jonesy feeling rather ashamed, looking like a wounded puppy.
"No, no!" Nikita began, not wanting him to feel sorry, for Jeremy truly deserved it-
At this point Jonesy started to walk back to the trashcan. "Sorry, Jeremy." He mumbled unenthusiastically. With a kick to the can it tipped over, releasing Jeremy who crawled out frantically, his jacket sullied with milk and trash.
Nikita sucks in the air between her teeth, waiting for Jeremy to go off on Jonesy. But instead he took off running down the hall, the squeak of his sneakers echoing throughout. Nikita really wanted to laugh at the moment, but she found herself still deeply wounded. Instead she forced a smile.
Jonesy gave her a wide grin, happy he can get her smiling already. "C'mon, we're going to be late to class!"
-Stiles' POV-
He really wanted to be there for when Nikita got back to school, wanted to carry her bag and her books, make sure everything was going perfectly fine for her. Stiles wanted to give Nikita normalcy more than anything knowing it was lacking in her life. He would give anything to have a normal life again, and knowing Scott all too well...he knows his friend wishes the same.
Things were starting to get bad again.
Derek had turned two students into Werewolves, Erica Reyes and Isaac Lahey. From what he's gathered just by eavesdropping on his father's conversations with the office...Isaac's father was found dead in the middle of the street. Seeing how Isaac was a minor without a guardian, it was impossible to put him in jail. On top of that, there was no evidence of Isaac having anything to do with the death, the detective assuming it was yet...another god-damn animal attack.
The stupidity of Derek was baffling at times, but what was even more baffling was their new Principal...Gerard Argent, the Argent patriarch. He could see the stress wearing Scott thin, as he sat at his desk next to Stiles. There were bite marks all over the Beta's pencil, or perhaps that was a werewolf teething thing, like a puppy chewing on a shoe.
Keeping Isaac and Erica a secret from Gerard was going to be hard.
Keeping Allison and Scott's secret relationship from Gerard was going to be even harder.
Stiles perked up from his seat upon seeing Nikita's gorgeous face. Just seeing her made Stiles forget his stress for a moment. She was a breath of fresh air, the perfect distraction from his chaotic life. Her perfect smile lit up the room like it always did, her smile was directed right at him, Stiles smiled back, how could he not? However it almost dropped as soon as Jonesy entered right behind her. Stiles shook it off as Nikita took the empty seat in front of him, the tall wrestler forced to take a seat on the other side of class. Lydia already in her seat in front of Nikita.
"Hey." Stiles leaning forward so he was close to her shoulder now. From there he could smell the gorgeous scent of her jasmine scented perfume. Warmth spread from his heart to radiate throughout his body, it was like he was getting drunk off her scent alone.
"Hey." Nikita turned sideways so she could look at him, not at all thrown off by how close Stiles was to her. That single dimple he loved so much surfacing for a second before dissolving. He could tell her first day back wasn't easy, he had suspected that much.
"Ever been ice skating before?" Stiles resting his chin casually on his arms, looking up at her. He could feel nerves eating away inside his stomach, he had never asked a girl out before.
Nikita's eyebrows danced up, and the dimple was back."Not since I was a kid, whys that?"
Stiles took in a breath, ready to take the plunge."I was thinking, that maybe...you and I could go? You know, like we can make it a thing? Scott and Allison can join us."
"Hmm, a thing? What kind of a thing?" Her up to no good smile driving Stiles wild in his seat, if only she knew what her smiles did to him.
"Yeah, like...like a-" Stiles was finding it hard to actually say the word. "Like a social and or romantic appointment of sorts, where uhm we enjoy each other's company...socially or romantically. Preferably romantically, because i'm sure we both know I like you...a lot."
"Are you asking me out on a date?" Nikita's voice growing high with her full grin.
Stiles was starting to squirm in his seat with excitement. Her vibrant energy giving him the confidence he needed. Even Scott was watching with a smile.
"Y-Yes…" Stiles started. "Would you be opposed to some..hand holding?"
Nikita's took a moment to think, purposely darting her eyes side to side, teasing Stiles before giving him an answer.
"I think I would like that very much."
"Can we maybe fast forward it to...some kissing? Maybe some heavy petting, perhaps under the shirt?" Stiles sucking in the air between his gritted smile, he knew it was a shot in the dark, but he was willing to take it.
Nikita snorted her laugh, slapping the face of his desk. "Yeah, if only you were so lucky, Stilinski"
"Dammit." He muttered under his breath, accepting his loss. Nikita turning around to face the front, their teacher walking into class.
Scott poked at his arm with the eraser end of his pencil, catching Stiles' attention. "Hey, you're an idiot." His friend giving him a sheepish grin.
Nikita turned around once more to look at Stiles "On second thought...Maybe over the shirt." And with that she turned to the front again.
Scott and Stiles looked to each other with wide eyes and wide mouths, Stiles swore his heart fell out of his butt in that moment. His fingers had curled intensely around Scott's arm, nails digging in, holding onto his buddy like he could possibly steady Stiles from passing out in his seat. Class had started and Stiles couldn't focus for even a second. Instead he sat admiring the back of Nikita's precious head. He decided that he really loved the way her loose waves pointed in different directions, the way she would tuck her hair behind her ears when she was trying to concentrate. Stiles couldn't help but to already daydream about their date. He would make sure to put her foot in his lap and lace her skates, she would find that cute.
His eyes darted past Nikita for a brief moment to notice Lydia. Stiles' eyes narrowed on the redhead's hands, watching as it shook and curled tight over the edge of the seat. Her knuckles were white to the bone, tense head to toe.
Stiles opened his mouth to whisper her name when all the sudden it happened.
It felt like a thousand micro needles scraping along his ear drum when Lydia let out a scream. Everyone in the room quickly brought their hands to cover their ears, including Stiles. He could see Scott, crying out in pain and covering his ears, a flicker of yellow appeared behind his dark eyes. The Beta's senses were so much more intense and fragile, he couldn't bare to be in the classroom.
When it stopped the class was met with absolute silence, everyone much too startled to move. The only thing Stiles could hear was the shrill ring of the aftermath in his ear.
-Nikita's POV-
The silver spoon dug into the carton of triple fudge ice cream as Nikita sunk deeper into the couch. She would sit here for as long as she liked, until the couch began to mold around her ass if that's what it took. There was no way Nikita was going back to Beacon Hills High. School had been rougher than she wanted to admit, with all the judgemental stares, Lydia's horrific meltdown, and that stupid Eichen House Brochure. Even though Stiles was a ray of sunshine on her craptastic cloudy day..it simply wasn't enough. There was nothing she wanted to do, other than mope around and binge watch Top Chef while wearing her favorite oversized blue flannel. She didn't care to take a shower when she got back, even after her track and field practice. She didn't care to brush her hair either as it sat atop her head in birds nest of a bun. Nikita was much too defeated to even care at this point. Even when chocolate ice cream dribbled off the end of her spoon to fall on her sleeve.
Her father sat at the dinner table, stealing glances from the top of the newspaper he was reading. Nikita out of the headlines for once.
"Maybe you should stop assaulting the ice cream? Go out for a bit?" Her father suggested, still trying to sound chipper.
Nikita didn't even bother to respond to him, instead she stabbed her spoon into the ice cream, taking a moment to roll to the side only to pick an unpleasant wedgie.
The doorbell rang, and Nikita narrowed her eyes towards the front of the house, then to land back on Walter.
"What have you done, old man?"
"...I called for reinforcements"
She shook her head in disappointment, her gaze boring into Walter."That's fine, i'm not answering the door-"
"Oh my god, Niki what the hell are you wearing? Is that plaid?"
Danny's voice caused Nikita to almost jump out of her seat, he had sneakily entered through the backdoor without so much of a sound. He walked towards her, his face twisted with slight disgust.
She shot a scowl right back at him, feeling the need to defend her outfit of choice. "What do you have against plaid?"
"Did you find your outfit in the lost and found? Or in Greenberg's closet?"
Nikita would roll her eyes at a comment like that, but she was completely shameless at the moment as she shoved more ice cream in her face and returned her attention to the T.V. The contestants were about to make an amuse bouche out of canned foods and Danny was in the way of that. Her friend let out a sigh as he gave Walter a deeply empathetic look.
"This is worse than I thought, i'm going to need backup." Danny sounding like he was out of the S.W.A.T division.
Nikita pointed threateningly to Danny with her spoon. "I swear if you text Lydia."
He only let out a laugh, finding a Bambi looking girl of 5'5 to be no threat. Danny reached into his pocket, keeping his hand there.
"Are you- Are you texting from your pocket?" Nikita's inquisitive stare glued onto Danny, Walter enjoying this show from where he sat.
"...No."
It took not even a split second for Lydia to text Nikita. Nikita rolled her head back giving the world's most dramatic groan known to man.
"I'm not going to let you feel sorry for yourself, on my way NOW." With a little kissy face emoji, only Lydia used that emoji.
"Thanks, Brutus." Nikita throwing a venomous look towards Danny, disappointed to see she was finally out of ice cream.
"We're going out. And you're getting dressed." Danny declared, grabbing at the ice cream carton, Nikita's foot came to his chest, keeping him away and quickly scooping the last heavenly bit of ice cream.
Danny was right, a little trip to the mall was all she needed for a little pick me up. Getting out of her sweats was a good idea. Although it worried her how Lydia seemed to have brushed off the day, it's like she had forgotten how she had broken down in front of the entire class only a few hours ago. Nikita said nothing about it, Danny didn't even bring it up. It seemed to be a common thing in Beacon Hills, how people always brushed their problems under the rug.
Nikita allowed it all to roll of her shoulders, for now at least. She even bought herself a baby blue Instax polaroid camera, her and Danny having all the world's fun taking selfies while Lydia tried on a hoard of dresses at Forever 21.
"Lyyydia, how much longer?" Danny whined from where they sat, just outside the waiting room.
The two of them started bickering back and forth, Nikita excusing herself to walk around and take pictures. Now that she was a fully committed photographer, she was going to go take as many artsy aesthetic shots as possible. In reality, Nikita was god awful when it came to taking photographs. Everything was off center, the lighting was terrible, thank goodness her talents were in drawing. Nikita wandered out of the store, entering the outside portion of the outdoor mall. Her attention was off, taking photos of planters, mall people, the merry-go-round below her on the first floor.
Nikita's elbows rested against the glass rail guard as she peered below. It was through the camera's lens when she spotted the most peculiar thing. Amongst the sea of shoppers was one man clad in a leather jacket. It was the words that really popped out, the white scribbled letters that formed the word 'HATE'. There was something intriguing about him apart from his jacket, it was the stillness in his body, it was the way only his head would move; to watch the everyday people around him. Everyone went on with their daily business, except for him, he seemed frozen in time, or completely out of place.
He sat on a bench and she could finally see the side of his face.
Carefully she took a picture of him, capturing what little she could see of him. The film rolled out of the camera, Niki held the polaroid between her thumb and index finger as it slowly developed; revealing a handsome man with a contempt expression on his face. His strong jaw structure could rival Derek's, sandy light hair caught between a rare shade of brown and blonde, you don't see on most people. The stranger was pretty handsome, and looked like the kind who knew it. Her gaze remained on the polaroid which was now crisp and clear. Her eyes traveled south to see him staring right at her, she could only stare back like a deer caught in the headlights. There was no way he hadn't caught her taking a photo, judging by the slight smile that tugged the corner of his lips. Nikita turned around at once, completely thrown off and humiliated.
"Who...is that?" Danny had startled her when he snatched the polaroid out of her hand. "Mmm. Now I see why you wanted one of those cameras."
Nikita could feel the heat of a rosy flush sweeping across her cheeks as Danny admired the photo.
Lydia had joined only seconds later with her shopping bags occupying both her hands. "Please tell me he's here." She said upon laying her eyes on the polaroid.
"You have a boyfriend, remember Jackson?"
"Huh." Was all Lydia said as both her and Danny craned their necks over the rail guard to look down below. Nikita didn't need to turn around to know he was still there. She snatched the polaroid back and loosely tucked it in the waistband of her jeans, not even bothering with the pockets.
"We get it, Nikita, you found him first. What a fine piece of art. Hello Mr. Hottie." Danny said in a dreamy like voice, still checking him out.
Nikita didn't even have a moment to protest when Lydia huffed off and went towards the escalators, Danny following suit. Her eyes flew open, the brash redhead was going to approach the handsome man downstairs. Nikita quickly stuffed her camera in her purse and ran after her friends who were already halfway down. He must have moved, for he wasn't where they had last seen him.
The three of them crossed the mall, edging towards where he was only moments ago.
"Niki?"
She turned at the sound of her name to see Jonesy there, smoothie in his hand and hopeful smile on his friendly face.
I'm glad to see you're not feeling down, after what happened today."
Before she could respond an older short blonde woman approached them. Her burnt honey spun hair cascaded in loose curls past her shoulders, modelesque hips swaying side to side in a tight floral print pencil skirt. Her jade eyes widened with delight when they landed on Nikita.
"Oh my GOODNESS! You must be Nikita Grace!" Her whole body shook with excitement and her subtle southern accent took Nikita by surprise, more so than the woman knowing Nikita in the first place.
"I'm Olivia Jones, Jonesy's mother! Look at you, you look just like your father!" Her hands coming to cover her gracious smile, with perfectly manicured nails.
Nikita could hear both Danny and Lydia snickering behind her, she hated being compared to her father in any way.
"Nice to meet you." And it was, Nikita already knowing so much about Olivia just by stepping into her home.
"Wow, you're so stunning." Olivia taking a moment to admire her, her hand flattening any wrinkles from her pencil skirt. She turned to look at Jonesy. "Isn't she?"
Nikita smiled watching Jonesy squirm under the spot, his body shifting side to side, mumbling a barely audible 'yes.'
"You and your father need to come over for dinner some time soon. Let me know what your favorite meal is and I'll be happy to make it!" Olivia's head whipped side to side, clearly looking for someone "Alex, get over here and meet Dr. Jones' daughter!"
Her breath caught in the back of her throat as 'Mr. Hottie' approached them. Suddenly it became clear…'Mr. Hottie' was Jonesy's older brother, the one she had seen childhood photos of. Jonesy always spoke so highly of him, like one admiring their favorite superhero. She felt Lydia's nails digging in her arms, all three of them found him to be even more attractive up close. It was his perfectly structured face, his thick lashes, his pretty boy smile, that sharp jaw line,the sandy brown hair that fell just above the pure blue eyes. He approached them and extended out his hand towards her, the light cobalt shirt he wore beneath his leather jacket matched his eyes so perfectly. ...It was like staring into an arctic lake.
Nikita stood slack jawed as she looked at his hand, still waiting on a shake. A smirk spread across his lips as he arched his right eyebrow, a silent way of asking "are you going to shake my hand?"
She put her hand into his, giving it a much too firm shake. "I'm N-Ni-"
"Nikita Grace?" He interrupted, his lips pulling thin for a moment. "Yeah I've heard of you, I think this entire town has heard of you."
"Great." she thought to herself. "Even he thinks i'm a freak." with that she recoiled her hand out of his.
Olivia's phone went off right then and she excused herself. She seemed like a busy woman running her own business.
"So guys, I have a concert coming up, I hope all of you can come." Jonesy's effort wasn't good enough as Danny, Lydia, and Nikita were still in awe with Alex. It wasn't his good looks that had captivated Nikita, it was his bold confidence. She had never met anyone with so much back bone, and he had only muttered a few words. He exuded dominance, perhaps it was his body language. Alex stood there with his arms crossed, his shoulders square, bored expression painted deeply onto his face.
Jonesy's face suddenly came into Nikita's view, literally standing in front of Alex so all attention was on him. The sudden sight of face, a face much too close and out of nowhere caused her to jump and snap back to reality.
"What the F?" The annoyed younger sibling mouthed as his eyes narrowed on them.
Jonesy looked beyond peeved as he impatiently tugged Alex's arm. "We're gonna go now."
Still the three teenagers looked at Alex like he was a Greek God carved out of gold. His strong brows stitched together. He had grown impatient with the three teenagers gawking shamelessly at him.
Alex approached closer to Nikita, and she could hear Danny squeal with excitement behind her. Never had she heard Danny emit such a sound of excitement, and to be honest it was starting to rub off on her as well. Such an attractive person approaching Nikita was out of the ordinary. She was nothing like Lydia who had gaggles of boys after her, most of the college aged. Nikita's feet felt like they were stuck in cement as he drew near, she didn't dare take a step back, his gaze literally holding her in place.
"I would say take a picture, It'll last longer." He said with a nod of his head, his dimples appearing with a dazzling smile.
Nikita didn't have time to react as he swiftly pulled out the polaroid from her front of her waistband. Humiliation struck her and how she wished it was lightning that struck her instead. Nikita's mouth fell open, making things worse when she couldn't even form a word.
"But it looks like you already have." Alex finished.
Lydia and Danny let out an audible gasp as Nikita's cheeks flushed a beet red.
With a wink he tore the photo to pieces, letting them carelessly litter around Nikita's feet. She could only blink as he began to turn on his heels.
"Take care kids." He said while throwing a lazy wave over his shoulder.
She had been fooled by a pretty face, he was not as angelic as he looked to be. In fact, he was a bit of an asshole. Nikita was still left dumbfounded, in recovery of her utter humiliation, but Alex's shit demeanor had made it so much worse. Humiliation had dissolved into annoyance.
The two brother's left them, as soon as they were out of sight Lydia let go of Nikita's arm with a squeal "He's so fine!"
Nikita stood frozen, still unsure of what happened. "He's kind of condescending…"
"Please take me to that dinner party with you." Lydia begged, the widest grin on her face.
"The Jones brothers can both get it, damn." Danny watching the nice view of Alex walking out of their sights.
"He called us kids...That bastard" Nikita seethed, still in disbelief she was so swept up in how opposite Alex and Jonesy are, like day and night. The younger brother was so full of life and light, while a rain cloud seemed to hang over the older one. Regardless of her thoughts and opinions on Alex Jones, she would hope to not run into him again.
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