DISCLAIMER: No, my dears, the newsies in this story don't belong to me unfortunately. I mean, c'mon now, I'd be doing better things with them if they did. *snickers* Anywho, Nicollet belongs to me if you really care that much. So here's my disclaimer, please don't sue me. Taco Bell and Chik-fil- a are not mine either, and neither is Wendy's. Quite frankly, none of the food chains mentioned in this story belong to me. Enjoy the show.

A.N.: A Great Big Thanks to: Angel, Hella Good, Ember, FatBottomGirl, bl33ding p03t, DarkSilentWhispers, Ice Renegade, Seraph, TechnicolorDreamgirl, bittersweet, kew, Trek, Apollonia, newsietomboy!!! You goils rock my socks! Thanks soooo MUCH for reviewing!!! Sorry this update took a while but I had other things to tend to. Ya know how it is, lol. Well, enjoy Chapter 3!

*Confessions*

That year's prom was held in the school's gymnasium despite the student body's countless protests claiming it was an injustice to the seniors who had been waiting all year long to celebrate the most important formal dance of their lives as teenagers in a place that didn't stink of basketball rubber and polished hardwood floors. Needless to say, ticket sales weren't at their highest this time around. Nicollet pitied the soon to be graduates, but she was only a junior so it didn't have as great an affect on her. Besides, she wouldn't have even gone to prom had Race not asked her.

The two decided to go as the best friends that they were, both pledging to not overdo the expenses no matter what. Race simply borrowed a tuxedo from one of his older brothers and Nicollet ended up wearing a halter top red dress she had worn for last year's homecoming. As far as hair went, the girl wouldn't have either bothered combing her chocolate- colored strands if it weren't for the incessant whining of her mother who urged Nicollet that she would later regret not making the best of her junior prom. She wasn't too sure about that, but in the end, her mother won the dispute and she had agreed to have her hair done in some expensive, over-elaborate French twist that made her look as if she had suddenly come into money.

Race was gentleman enough to buy her a corsage, though Nicollet demanded that he do no such thing, and this only caused the girl's mother to coo and ogle at the couple as she took at least seven snapshots of them at her doorstep, encircled in one another's arms with the most miserable looks on their faces.

At last, they were bid farewell from the parental unit and left to their own devices. They arrived at the school around half past eight; a fashionably late coming. Upon entering the gymnasium they were taken aback at how gorgeous it looked, nothing like the courts and bleachers they were use to seeing on a day to day basis. Everything was so...beautiful. The theme was 'Enchanted Garden' and Nicollet couldn't deny the fact that she actually felt entrapped in the mysterious forests of some magical land. A dark green carpet spread across the floor like a bed of grass and from the ceiling hung sparkling vines, tree branches, and flowers of every imaginable color-all made of paper of course, but with a specialty that made them come to life. Onto the walls were hung murals of fabled creatures like unicorns and kelpies, castles, princesses and their knights. It was remarkable.

"Heya, there's Jacky-boy. Let's go sit with him." Race pointed to their older friend and led the way over to his table, which was clothed with a green velvet fabric upon which sat a centerpiece of three ceramic pixie faeries looking into a bowl of floating candles.

Jack smiled at the two. "Heya Race, Nikki. You two had me thinking you weren't coming. The dance started over an hour ago!"

"You wanted me to come on time?" Nicollet gnarled her face as if he were asking a miracle from her. "And what, barf at all the lovey-dovey couples making out on the dance floor? Nah, I think I'll pass." They laughed at her joke and watched the night unfold.

"You guys won't believe this, but just a few minutes ago, I saw Specs getting his groove on with some chick."

Nicollet's eyes widened. "Specs has a girl!?" She buried her face in her arms in an effort to quiet her hysterical laughter.

Race was having a hard time believing the statement as well. "Who is it? How come we didn't know nothing about it? I can't believe this! I knew Specs was a player deep down inside!" He shook his head with a laugh. "Man oh man, you just wait 'til I see him. That bastard!"

The three friends decided their times was better spent merely chatting the hours away, though the guys would occasionally dance with a doll when asked, only if they couldn't lie their way out of it. On like times, they'd rely on Nicollet to start a cat fight of some sort and tell the inquiring girl to back off her man. She'd only look at Race and Jack with an amused expression.

It happened that later in the night, perhaps around ten or so, she was greeted by Mush who shyly approached her as if he were a puppy caught in the act of doing something wrong. "Mushy! I didn't know you were coming to prom."

"I wasn't," he admitted, blush creeping up his face. "But then Natasha Halls asked me if I would go with her." He smiled at her and she gave him a hug in congratulations. "Thanks, Nikki, for hooking us up. Even though it was like, the most embarrassing moment of my life up to date, I still owe it to you."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh please, you don't owe me nothing. That's what friends are for, right?" As he nodded, she couldn't get over the fact that Mush had worked up enough courage to go on a date with the girl of his dreams. It was enough to make her believe in miracles again! "Well, ya better get back to Natasha." He gave her one last hug and then went off on his way.

Nicollet looked after him with a sigh. Deciding she was thirsty, she made a trip to the food table situated between the huge trunks of two paper trees and laughed at what she saw. Blink and Snitch, both dateless, were busying themselves with spiking the fruit punch at the table's center. High school just wasn't the same without a couple of class clowns.

Snitch waved her over. "Nikki, stand in the front and make this easier, huh?"

"No thanks, boys," she laughed as she passed them by and headed back to the table. Race had already returned from his dance with some cheerleading broad and pulled her onto his lap before she could object.

"Looking for Merryll, sweety?" She brought her hand up to lightly smack him on the lips but he caught her fingers before she could make the attack. "I haven't seen him all night, actually. I didn't think he'd pass up a chance to bed Amanda Riley, but it turns out he's a no-show."

Nicollet crossed her arms and glared at him, silently warning him that if he did not shut his mouth, she'd be more than happy to do it for him. "It's more likely that he's screwing her right now," she said bitterly, the words escaping from her lips in a hiss. "Not like I give a damn, though. Let him do whatever the hell he wants."

"Nikki, admit it already. I mean, I've known you for five years now. I know you better than you know yourself. You like him; that's all there is to it. You like him but you're too scared to tell him 'cause you think he won't feel the same way." She shot him a menacing look but he ignored her. "If ya ask me, I think he's got something going for you too. You guys are practically going out already! You sure as hell got the fighting down."

"Well I didn't ask you, did I?" she snapped at him, sliding off his lap to stand to her feet. She snatched her purse from the table top and started off. "I'm leaving, this damn prom reeks." Yet as she hurried to the parking lot while realizing she would have to walk home, she crossed Spot's path. It turned out he was all along seated at a table mere yards away from hers. He waved at her with what seemed desperation and excusing himself from the giggling girls that surrounded him, jogged up to Nicollet and grinned.

"Holy crap, you have no idea how glad I am to see you! Those girls are killing me! I feel like I'm in hell or something!" He laughed and took her hands in his. "I wasn't even with Amanda for one hour before she started annoying me and so I decided I would sit with you and the boys, but I couldn't find either of you anywhere. And then, everywhere I went, the damn girl would follow me! I felt like strangling her!"

Nicollet had to smile. Spot rarely experienced misfortunes, but when he did, they were always humorous ones. Relaxing in his hold, her gaze turned to something past him and with a grin she nodded off to where he had earlier been. "One of your fans is coming this way, and from the looks of it, I think she wants the last dance."

"Shit..." he grumbled as he turned around and greeted Amanda. "Hey sexy, what's up?"

Amanda crossed her arms. "Merryll! The DJ just announced the last dance, couples only! Are you coming or what?"

"Actually, I was saving it for my best friend Nikki here."

Amanda didn't look too pleased. "So what, you're dumping me or something?"

"Pretty much," he shrugged, and without another word, he pulled Nikki onto the dance floor alongside him. The song was a favorite among the masses of teenagers. "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias. The melody was slow enough for a final embrace with one's date, and the words deep enough to keep one thinking about the moment for months to come. "Here we go," he said with a smile as he rested his hands on Nikki's waist.

But the girl pushed him away. "Spot, this is bull. I'm not going to be your little rescue every time you run into a girl you can't deal with. Is that the only reason you wanted the last dance to be with me? So that it wouldn't have to be with Amanda? Screw you!"

"You need to get your facts straight before you start talking shit like that, sweetheart," he threw back at her sarcastically. "For your information, whether I liked that damn girl or not, I was still counting on saving the last dance for you, but since you're obviously in a bitchy mood, forget about it!"

They turned away from each other at the same time and stormed off in opposite directions. Spot heading to the parking lot to drive home early, and Nicollet retreating back to Race, who had seen the whole argument.

"Admit it!" he smiled at her. "You like him. You know you do. Be in denial all you want, but I can already tell. You like Spot!" He threw his head back to laugh.

Nicollet watched him much as she would watch a drunkard dallying about in the streets screaming revelations of the world's end, with disgust. She leaned forward, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and pulled him so that there faces were less than an inch apart. "OKAY! I like him. Are you friggin' happy? But a word from the wise, you let this get out in any way and I will hunt you down until you're dead!!"

Race held his hands up in surrender, yet couldn't stifle the laugh that soon after exploded from his mouth.

~*~*~*~*~

"So Merryll, just between us, whad'dya think about Nikki?" Race soaked the front of his shirt with water from the bottle he had brought to the basketball game and then poured the cool liquid into the caverns of his mouth. Every Saturday, he, Spot, Jack, and Blink would head off to the neighborhood courts to shoot a few hoops. Today had been a particular scorching hot day, though, and he suddenly felt the need to submerge himself in some Arctic waters.

Spot looked at him as if he were insane. "What?"

"Ya know, do you...like her?" So he wasn't suppose to say anything, but the delicate matter was just too tempting! And if he could hook the two best friends up, it would be worth a lifetime of good deeds. That way he wouldn't feel half as guilty whenever he gambled. "Like, do you ever think about, oh I don't know, going out with her?"

"Not really." Spot took off the shirt that was plastered to his body like a second skin and debated over whether he should take his white tank top off as well. It wasn't any less sweaty, but he feared getting a sun burn on his long walk back home. He left it on. "Why?"

"Ah, c'mon, Spot! She's good-looking, really fiery. She'd probably be a better match for you then the girls you're use to going out with. On top of that, you guys have known each other for ever and you're already a couple practically! You just gotta make it official."

Jack and Blink joined the two after grabbing some cheeseburgers from a nearby Wendy's and presented the paper bags to their proper owners. Race had no intention of prying an answer out of Spot in front of the others, but his plan backfired when Spot himself began to continue the conversation.

"Do you think we'd be good together, though? Somehow, I don't get those vibes off her that she wants to hook up."

Jack took a bite out of his food and mumbled a "what are you talking about?" before swallowing it down.

"Racey here is telling me I should ask Nikki out," replied Spot. The other three shared a knowing look that he wasn't able to read. Did they know something he didn't? He immediately felt he was at liberty to know! "Heya, what's the deal? Is this some kinda joke?"

Blink draped an arm over his friend's shoulders and grinned. "Are you blind or something? That girl, as much as she won't admit it, is falling harder for you by the day!"

"Actually," piped in Race, "she did admit it to me at Prom!"

"Woo! Way to go, Conlon!" Blink patted him on the back and congratulated the others on their success at the game of matchmaking.

Spot held up his hands to silence them. This was completely unreal. Nicollet, his best friend, the only girl that drove him crazy, the only one he could confide in, that eccentric eleven-year old he had befriended back in sixth grade, wanted more from their relationship? He had to be honest, it was quite a shock. Nikki was the last person he'd expect such a thing from. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's get a few things straight before I make a jackass of myself in front of her. She actually said she wanted to get with me?"

Jack groaned in annoyance. How much more assurance did it take before Spot and Nikki would become a couple? It was taking too much time as it was, time that could be better spent between the couple in 'getting to know each other better'. "Spotty, if you don't get your sorry ass over that girl's house right now and ask her out, I'm going to beat the crap outta you!"

Together with Race and Blink, he grabbed the boy by the arms and proceeded to shove him down the sidewalks to where Nicollet's house stood. "Alright! Alright!" Spot shook himself out of their grasp laughing. "Can't a guy have his lunch before getting a girl?"

~*~*~*~*~

Nicollet still couldn't believe she had argued with Spot like that at Prom. Why did she have to be so difficult, always jumping to conclusions and assuming the boy did everything for his own selfish reasons?

Sitting on the tire swing of her front yard, she pressed her ear against the black rubber in efforts to shut off the screaming coming from within her house. Her parents were at it again, the topic of today's fighting round: someone had misplaced the TV's remote control. She swore, the worse of their arguments evolved from petty matters of the like. Once they had bickered and cursed each other out for hours, eventually forgetting that the reason for their hatred was something as stupid as her father forgetting to clean off his dinner plate before putting it into the sink.

Which is why she wasn't in the mood to argue when she saw Spot coming her way with his hands in his pockets and that lop-sided grin of his adorning his face. She straightened herself up and drew from her subconscious a sense of pride. Hopefully, they'd get past their apologies soon enough so she'd be able to talk with him about more important matters.

"Hey," he greeted her as he closed the distance between them in a few strides. She offered him a small smile and waited for him to continue. He kicked the dirt at his feet and then raised his eyes to meet her own. Motioning towards her house with a nod of his head, he said "did I catch ya at a bad time?"

She bit her bottom lip. "I bet you could hear them from a block away."

"No, only half a block." They laughed and he was glad that he could brighten her moods, even if only for the slightest moment. He grabbed her hand and yanked her from the tire swing so that she nearly slammed into his body from the force.

"Any harder and I would've knocked ya over!" she boasted, shoving him away with a smile. She combed her hair behind her ears and looked at the house before her as the sound of a shattering vase rose into the air. She could only hope it wasn't anything from her room. Her parents could destroy whatever objects they wanted to so long as they steered clear of her dominion. When she turned back to Spot, he was staring at her with an indecipherable expression in his eyes. "What?"

He shrugged. "Nikki, can I ask ya a question?"

"You just did," she teased him, walking up to the boy to pinch his nose like she use to back in eighth grade. He smiled at the simple action but took hold of her before she could step away and held her close.

"D'ya ever think about going out?" he asked, almost in a whisper. "With me? We've been best friends for the longest time now, but we never stopped to consider where our friendship was leading to. Race, Jack, and Blink were telling me how you thought...thought we should, I don't know. They thought I should ask you out."

Her eyes narrowed with a burning curiosity. How many nights had she sat in bed overhearing her parents yelling at each other like primeval rivals and wish that Spot was there to hold her and comfort her and kiss her until she feel asleep? How many hours had she spent daydreaming over the time when Spot would come to his senses and realize the best girlfriend he could ever have had been right beside him for five long years? How many of her thoughts consisted of Spot telling her that he wanted her, that he needed her?

Yet now as her only wishes were reaching a peak of truth, she found that a fit of terror dawned on her. This was a relationship she was embarking on...a relationship! And with Spot! She shook the thoughts out of her head; it couldn't happen! They were best friends, nothing more. Even if they wanted to go further, she knew it would never work out. Now that she had everything she had ever wanted, she found that it was no longer one of her desires.

"Nikki?"

She looked up at him and without thinking burst out laughing. "Oh my god! That's the most hilarious thing you've ever told me! I can't believe they actually said that! Those bastards, I'm going to have to soak them next Monday!" She purposely fell to the ground in a feigned bit of hysteria and giggled like a four-year old who was receiving a visit from Mr. Tickles. "That is great, Spot! Super great! And you actually believed them?!"

Spot looked at her, half confused, half hurt. Race wouldn't lie to him about something Nikki had said, that was for sure. Neither would Jack or Blink. Was it some kind of late April fool's joke? It sure was a cruel one. As if he couldn't feel any more like an idiot, he had actually got to convincing himself that maybe it was possible for Nikki to see him as more than an older brother. And the way she now took it! As if he were an ignorant pig for thinking anything could ever happen between the two!

"Come off it, Nikki," he snapped at her. "I was only going to ask ya if it was true." It was a lie, but Spot Conlon had his pride too and he wasn't about to sacrifice it.

"I'm sorry, it's just that..." she choked on a bout of chuckles and sat up to cough it out. "Oh god, that's so hilarious! And then you...believed them? Ha-ha!" She fell back onto the grass.

Spot rolled his eyes. "I should get going, I'll c-ya around." He turned from her without waiting for a reply and marched off in a bad mood, ready to kill his friends for having deceived him.

Nikki's laughter instantly died down and as she watched her best friend cross a street, a lone tear traveled down her cheek. What had she just done?

~*~*~*~*~ You goils, please keep those reviews rolling in! I love to hear back from you all! Thanks so much! And happy Easter! ^_^ Review Time! Please?!