Well! That first chapter went along rather well. Thank you all for the lovely reviews, and I shall fulfill my promise to return the reviews very shortly. But in the meantime, next chapter. Sorry if it seems a bit recycled, but it's all I could come up with.

Chapter 2: Musings on Nikki

For Jen Masterson, showers weren't just another routine in the day, but something to look forward to. In the morning, after the buzz-saw of the alarm clock cut through the blissful cocoon of sleep she got herself into, a cold one helped her greet the day with all the strength and vigor her friends knew from her. At night, a warm, relaxing one helped her wash away the day and settle down for bed.

However, it was also a time for Jen's overly active imagination to wander, sometimes into uncharted territory. It usually started by a chain reaction, one thought leading to another until Jen was so off course she couldn't remember where she started off.

Tonight, it started off with the notion of Coach Halder, being almost as militant as Ron the Rent-A-Cop. The mention of Ron led Jen's mind to Jude, who always seemed to be on Ron's bad side, but always managing never to lose his mellow attitude. The only time she had seen Jude truly display any kind of turbulent emotion was when his pet Fish died in the bag he always carried with him. That thought brought back the funeral in the washroom everyone held for the poor thing. ("Fish would totally have dug that," Jude had said after flushing.) It was there that Nikki and Caitlin had reconciled their differences after a huge fight that caused a bigger rift between them. Jen, Wyatt and Jude had tried to coax them back together by making it seem as if Jen had been seriously injured. But still embroiled in their fight, they accidentally pushed the gurney with Jen still strapped to it down a handy escalator, where she ended up with several cactus spines in her backside, which Jen still had a couple of marks from.

Then, the idea of Nikki brought a memory to Jen's mind. A dream that had occurred just the other night. She and Nikki had been lying on her bed, feeding each other chocolate fondue whilst joking and laughing. Jen labeled herself crazy for thinking so, but there was something inexplicably erotic in the way Nikki licked her lips after Jen inserted a chocolate covered strawberry.

Steam rose from the shower as Jen smiled, remembering how Nikki always edged closer, until they lay side by side, Nikki on her stomach, propped up by her forearms, Jen lying on her back. Somehow, they got onto the subject of dating. After Jen spoke of her last break up, Nikki had said she had found someone. When Jen inquired as to whom it was, Nikki smiled, put a hand on Jen's shoulder and leaned in to kiss her.

In both reality and the dream, Jen's breath was short. As she held onto Nikki, caressing the shoulder length strands of soft purple hair, reality intruded in both cases. When the dream had occurred, it was her freaking alarm clock. Jen had thought at the time just how Jude was able to sleep through his all the time.

Now, it was her mother's yell that snapped her out of dream world.

"Jen! Don't waste the hot water!"

Jen let out a frustrated sigh. Right when she was beginning to enjoy herself…

A thought more jarring than any alarm or mother rattles through her mind. With NIKKI! Jen was no lesbian, nor was she planning on becoming one in the near future. Just think of what would happen! She'd be fired instantly from the Penalty Box, due to Coach Halder's extreme homophobia. Besides him, her mother would FLIP, the entire gang would disown her, and oh god, if Nikki ever found out… well, Jen just preferred not to think of such consequences.

But Jen really couldn't help it if she found Nikki to be so beautiful. Those cunning, almost painfully cute eyebrows which she always cocked before rattling off some sly comment, and were decorated by various piercings that made Nikki not need jewelry to enhance her beauty. Below those cute eyebrows, there were her deep brown and devilish eyes, making her look even more plotting when it was accompanied by that cocky, sly grin Nikki usually wore. Her nose was also so cute and turned up, and the bell of purple hair that hung by the nape of Nikki's neck also added to Jen's attraction.

But it wasn't just her body Jen liked, but the persona, the Nikki everyone knew. Her sly, sarcastic and somewhat cynical realism, with so many quips up her sleeve always seemed to make Jen smile no matter how bad of a mood she was in.

Jen sighed and rinsed out the Head and Shoulders from her auburn hair, smiling as she envisioned Nikki's lovely features…

"JENNIFER!" Her mother yelled again.

"All right, all right!" Jen called back. She sighed exasperated. Not only from her mother, but for the futility of her feelings for Nikki. She could never tell her, could she?

Jen shut the water off and went through the drying ritual that she usually went through. She changed into her pyjamas, and crawled into bed, but not before fishing out a picture of the entire gang from her drawer. She smiled at Nikki, on the end of the bench.

"Goodnight, Nikki." she whispered, before she pulled up the covers.

And thanks to her overly active imagination, one last thought occurred to Jen, a last bit of illogic about that dream.

Nikki hates chocolate.

Jen shrugged it off and was dead to the world for the next eight hours.

End of Chapter.

Well, there you go guys. Another chapter. Thanks for the great reviews last time. Let's keep it going, eh?