Toorikosu's The Other
Chapter 2:
Nicole's pen clicked agitatingly against the desk. Her regristration form was spread out in front of her. The ink glittered purple, much to the teacher's dismay. She studied the small text, pondering on what to write. She could sense the middle-aged man's frustration with her rising. Let him be, she thought.
She had arrived thanks to Murray's transportation. The interior had been smoke-filled. Ciggerette stench clung to as as tight as her strapless purple dress. The skirt was almost knee-length, but scrunched around her waist. Her black, knee-high stilettos had already begun to pain her feet. Her toes felt sticky in the intensive heat. Luckily she had a breezy, blue jersey over her dress. The top of her lids were painted a soft gold. The bottom was outlined in navy glitter eyeliner. She had used a clear mascara to make her blonde eyelashes shine brillant gold in the sun.
The man cleared his throat. "Miss Hazen." Nicole looked up. She gently chewed on her purple-colored lips. He leaned against the desk, exhausted with frustration. "Where is your parents' residence?" he asked. He wiped at his sweaty brow. His forehead and nose were sunburned. A whistle around his neck indicated that he was a coach.
Nicole shrugged. Nobody knew but the SLPD and nobody else would. "They could be anywhere. They kicked me out some time ago, I haven't seen them since." Why was it so easy to lie? The coach's face softened. Nicole grimmaced at his pity. "Everything blank is as is. Now I would like my schedule."
She snatched the paper and walked away. Her stilettos snapped the tile floor at a high staccato. It wasn't long before Tymmie had appeared behind her. "Hey, Ditto, want to skip and go grab some coffee?" She smiled. Ditto was her nickname. Tymmie, Murray, and Kelly all called her taht. Karyl had, but now Karyl wouldn't speak to her.
She shook her head. "Nah, It's the first day and I want to check this place out." Tymmie nodded and checked her schedule. He began to lead her to her locker. "You want me to stay?" he asked. She opened her locker and peered inside. Somebody had taken over and filled it full of books and trash. "No. You go ahead. I'll be fine, you said so yourself." She pulled out a sweater which caused a landslide of textbooks and test papers. Nicole let the pile increase. She dumped empty food cartons and gym clothing to the floor.
Tymmie chuckled softly. He caressed her cheek gently, his eyes expressing his desires. She pushed him back. "Go on before you get caught. Class lets out soon." He flashed a grin. "Kick ass, Ditto." He walked away. His shoes scuffled in the empty hallway. Nicole organized her locker neatly. She had many new, never-before-used notebooks. All were blank, just waiting for her to decorate with little doodles and heart-touching poetry. She could hardly wait.
A bell rang overhead. The siren was followed by hundreds of teenage bodies swarming into the hall. The males bustled against each other, talking loudly above the roar of break time. Nicole was smashed into the lockers and pushed into other people. She pushed back. One guy she pushed accidently crushed a blonde who was rather beautiful. "Sorry, Vanessa." he mumbled. She shook her head, even though she held her shoulder.
"Hey!" Nicole stared up. A rather large student was examining the mess of locker contents on the floor. "Hey, Joel, why's your stuff on the floor?" Joel shrugged. "You do this?" He stared at Nicole with brown eyes. He seemed a little out of it, perhaps he was a stoner.
"Yeah. This is my locker." Nicole said matter-of-factly. She wasn't about to let some drug-addict push her around. "Why would some punk bitch clean out my locker?" Joel laughed, as did his friends. How Nicole wished she had her powers. She would love to mess this guy's mind. Instead, she would have to use attitude. "Because you needed to clean your shit out," she paused to let an insolent smirk creep across her face. "Though it seems you need to clean yourself up first."
Joel laughed. It was dry and unamused. "You want to start something?" Nicole's arms crossed over her trait, a trait from her father. Her arms always crossed when she was angry. "I already have. It took you long enough to realize it." Her brow furrowed. Her fists clenched, knuckles cracked. Determination along with confidence was in her eyes. His were murky, clueless.
"What?" He grinned a slow, lazy smile. "New girl wants to pick a fight and gain popularity." Nicole laughed. Her eyes were clear and powerful. Before, she would have enjoyed messing with this guy's mind; to go into his unconscious thoughts and discover what made him tick. She loved it.
"Popularity means nothing to me. It's an empty fame of worthless desireers, not to mention five of the seven sins: lust, envy, gluttony, greed, and the worst, pride. I have no need for such." Nicole grinned. The other two sins were her worst doings: sloth and wrath. She refused to do as told and lashed out at all who opposed her. Her grin darkened. Yvonne would feel her wrath.
"You're full of pride!" Joel's fist slung toward Nicole. She blocked it with her forearm, pushing is arm away so her knee could jam into his gut. "I have no pride in what I've done, only confidence." Suddenly, the blonde from before, Vanessa squeezed between them. "You shouldn't fight in the hallways. You'll get in trouble." A new girl, one with dark hair, two tear tattoos, and a threatening glare pulled Joel back. "You like picking on girls?" she asked. Obviously she hadn't seen Nicole's hit.
Vanessa pulled Nicole through the mass of the student body. Nicole could hear the tough girl back there shouting something in Spanish. Joel was backing off. Nicole quite struggling. She walked alongside Vanessa. They were quiet at they exited the building. Though as the steel doors slammed shut, Vanessa yelled. "What were you thinking?" Nicole stumbled back, suprised at the tone of Vanessa's voice. She stared skyward. She knew this one couldn't read her mind. Though if the mind-reading Daughter came around, Nicole knew how to clamp her mind with an inpenetrable shield.
"Well?" Vanessa asked. Jimena slipped through the door. The two Daughters stared at Nicole. "You didn't have to help. I could have fought him." Jimena sneered. It looked as though she was trying to not laugh.
Nicole studied Jimena. She wore a tube top under a sheer gray T. along with some flared jeans. A moon and star were barely visible under the transparent shirt. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail. The ends were curled and glittered. She was the second Daughter that Nicole had to look out for. Jimena had premonitions, which she could never stop from coming true. Usually the premonitions were about the Daughters, if one of them was to have an encounter with a Follower. Though some times they could be about an innocent victem of a Follower. Nicole wondered if Jimena had ever had a premonition of her, or would. "What are you staring at?" barked Jimena. Nicole smiled. "You seemed to have had it rough." Her words threw them off topic. "I like your tattoos." Jimena was thrown off guard. But she could see the sincere admiration in Nicole's gray-blue eyes. Her lips formed a smile. She pointed proudly at the two tears uner her eye. "I got these when sent to camp, one for each time."
Nicole's smile brightened, but her eyes saddened at an unexpected memory. Her dad had thratened to sent her to a juvinile deliquency after fighting a cop's son. She shook away the memory. "That much have sucked. Was it proffessional or personal job?" Jimena nodded. The yough authority camp had sucked. Jimena would have went a third time after her homegirls had a throw down, but the judge had seen something different in her eyes. She saw that Jimena had changed. She issued community service instead. "Personally done by my amigo Veto."
Nicole smiled, complimenting Veto's work. She looked to Vanessa. "Sorry about before. I'm just a bit touchy. Plus, I'm not used to such a crowded school." Vanessa smiled. She knew what it was like to have to fit in. "Don't worry. You'll be fine. La Brea has some really nice people." Vanessa said happily. She looked excited to have a new student. Jimena added, "But there's also some peligroso punks." She nodded with her head. They looked to see Kelly, Murray, Tymmie, but no Karyl. Another Follower, one Nicole had yet to meet, was with them. It was probably just some new girl that they had crossed over. Nicole waved.
Jimena jerked her hand down. "What are you doing?" she asked. Nicole stared at Jimena, realizing her mistake. "I like the girl's style." she lied. How had it become so natural to lie? "Plus, it's rude to not awknowledge someone when they're obviously staring at you." Nicole told them. She gave a discreet nod of her head. She turned, making her red hair fly from her shoulders. Tymmie nodded and led the group away.
Vanessa walked alongside Nicole. "They're bad people." Nicole said, suprising the two. "I've seen them before on the streets. I guess I pity them." Vanessa shook her head. "They chose to be that way." she whispered. It seemed she didn't want anyone else to hear them. Nicole shrugged. Her eyes focused on the sky above. "Either way, you got to feel sorry for the life they live. Not everyone knows what they are gettings into. Plus, not everyone gets out." She looked at Jimena. Jimena's arms crossed over her chest. "It sounds like you speak from experience. Hacer tu?" she asked. Nicole smiled mysteriously.
Author's Warning: I do not speak Spanish so, more than likely there will be lots of screw-ups in my translatings. I rely on an internet translater which, as you all can guess, is very unreliable. Such as hacer tu? is supposed to mean (for me) "Do you?" Though I was told that it is incorrect. I am truly sorry and will try to point out all the screw-ups that I can't and translate them for you. If not, I would appreciate any help in translating. I do know a few single, simple words such as si, kiate, amigo, enemigo, and peligroso from reading Lynne Ewing's DOTM books as well as having a geography teacher who also taught Spanish. So, please bear with me.
As aforesaid, all comments and advice are appreciated.
For the fans: ObsidianAngel6, thanks for the review! I dedicate this chapter to you since you are my first reviewer. About those grammatical errors, I'll try to fix those. (Though... I should probably learn to pay attention in my English Literature class, no? -- Curse my 14-year-old low attention span. ;;) Lemu? I haven't heard of a Lemu. I'm only on the 7th book, (the reason I specified that this story is after that book since I don't know what happens beyond that volume.) So no, Nicole is not Lemu.
Author's Rant: Sorry, but I have nowhere else to put this. I'm a bit worried about my story. I wrote this before I ever looked at any of the other DOTM fanfiction on this site and guess what, it turns out that my ideal isn't so original after all! Curses! > I only hope ( O mater Lunae ) that this fic doesn't clump together in the mass of crappy fanfiction. YY I'm also trying my hardest to keep Nicole from becoming a Mary-Sue. My friend scolds me for that all the time, though how am I supposed to know? Well... this Nicole is based (almost exactly) upon a real person (who I shall not reveal for her safety as well as Nicole's) so... if it actually happened, it can't be Mary-Sue(ish) right? If my character becomes too predictable, I ask that you let me know so I can fix this. This will be my first DOTM fic ever and I want to get it right. It's quite a change for me since I'm so used to writing about animes, in which anything can happen. So, who knows? Just stick with me and tell me what you think! Reviews are my inspiration of (fic-writing) life!