Three short stories: All the kids are 13. Begin!
Universe*
~Normal POV
"Hey Mrs. Ford," Nikki asked looking up at her drama teacher.
"Yes, Miss Quagmire, what do you need?"
"How does this look so far?" Nikki gestured to the painting she was making.
Nikki Quagmire was working on designing the sets for the school musical with her fellow drama students. Since she was the most artistically talented of them, she had been tasked with painting a background for a particular scene. Her friend Drake Hyde was here as well, since he was going to actually be in the production. He wasn't the lead, but he was an important character anyway.
"It looks good so far," Mrs. Ford replied, "When you're done just come find me and I'll see that it gets put in a safe place to dry." Nikki nodded and continued with her work as their teacher left the area.
Elsewhere on the auditorium stage, Drake was reading his script trying to memorize his lines. He was silently thankful that most of the kids were rehearsing elsewhere after school this day. It was rather tiresome to have to listen to two or three other kids talking at once while he was trying to read. Perhaps his friend Lucas was starting to rub off on him. But as he read over his lines for about the fifth or sixth time, he started to hear something unexpected. From the other side of the curtain behind him he heard a female voice start singing. Since he was alone, he got up and went over to the curtain and pulled it back a bit to investigate.
As it turned out, it was his friend Nikki softly singing "Somewhere over the Rainbow" as she worked on her set painting.But what shocked him the most was how absolutely heavenly her voice was. He had never heard her sing before; in the few years of their friendship it had been something that just hadn't happened yet. He smiled at her as she sung; she hadn't noticed him standing there.
It was funny to think that the two of them met under such dire circumstances as being kidnapped and trapped together inside the Mortmain Mountains, and yet they were here now. Safe and over the experience, and best of all, they were all very close friends to this day; and they intended to stay that way for a very long time. But as this young man watched his friend sing and work her artistic talents, he felt something else; a small, warm feeling inside at the thought of his friend Nikki Quagmire. The thought of her long ebony hair, which she always tied back with a ribbon to think or work, her soft pale face, and her wide green eyes.
"You know, in a certain light... Nikki is kind of...pretty."
He was so busy staring he didn't even notice she had finished her song and had turned her attention towards him.
"Uh, hello earth to Drake," Nikki said giving him a confused look.
He snapped out of his trance and went over to her side, "You say something?"
She smiled at him, "What's up with you? You were like a million miles away."
Drake blushed and ran a hand through his messy hair nervously, "Sorry I just... I heard you singing and you have a really great voice."
Nikki blushed, "Oh, you heard that..."
He knelt down beside her, "Yeah, you're really good. I wish you were the lead in the musical. Chloe can sing, but you're so much better."
Nikki laughed, "You just want me as your co-star, don't you?"
"Maybe," He replied, "But it would be more fun if we were both in the show."
"That's true, but my talents are better used backstage. And besides, I'll still be here on opening night to watch you make a complete fool of yourself anyway."
Drake chuckled, "Oh, I see how it is."
"I'm just kidding! You'll do fine."
"Do you mind if I sit here to read my script? It's kind of lonely out on the stage by myself."
"You can stay over here, but don't touch my painting."
Drake nodded and moved into a sitting position a little away from her to go back to reading. Nikki dipped her paintbrush in her bucket and continued her work; only this time her thoughts drifted to the boy sitting beside her. She glanced at him. She had known this boy for a few years now, and they were close friends. But lately she had been thinking about him a lot more. She thought about his messy black hair, his pale features, and his blue eyes that his hair kept falling over somehow. She had once attempted to fix his hair, but got frustrated and gave up. And as she thought about it more, she felt something else; a small, warm feeling inside at the thought of her friend Drake Hyde.
"You know, I never noticed it before... but Drake is kind of... cute."
Nikki tore her gaze away from her friend and returned to her task. She didn't notice him glancing at her every now and then as well. And the two young friends definitely didn't know that they were both thinking the same thing:
Perhaps there might be more to this than friendship.
~...
The school library was a perfect place to read or study and that's exactly what Lizzie Baudelaire and her friend Lucas Shepard came here to do. They had a history test tomorrow and were studying together for it, using their homework. Lizzie knew her cousins were off busy with their own tasks, and her other friends Drake and Lily were most likely with them, so it was just her and Lucas. Under normal circumstances, Lizzie was not allowed to be alone with boys. Her father was very strict about this rule, and Lucas was not any kind of exception. Her mother was more lenient to the idea, but still agreed with her husband's policy. However, in this one instance, it was fine since they were in a very public area, and Lizzie trusted Lucas anyway. They were friends; she knew he wasn't the kind of guy that would hurt anyone.
"Lizzie, what was the quote from page 270? I left my textbook in my locker."
She adjusted her glasses and flipped through her textbook, "Ah, here it is." She turned the page toward him and he quickly wrote down what he was looking for.
"Thank you... I don't know what I'd do without you," Lucas quickly looked down at his homework after pushing his glasses up his nose.
Lizzie chuckled, "You'd probably fail to be honest. You read a lot, but you're not that good at school work."
Lucas gave her an unamused look, "Oh, very funny, Miss-Top-of-the-Class."
"You know I'm only second place," She replied modestly, her cheeks turning pink.
"Still better than most others," Lucas reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small bag of candies. He popped one into his mouth before asking, "Want a peppermint? It helps you think."
"My dad and I are allergic to peppermints. It's a weird Baudelaire thing."
He quickly put the candy away, "Oh, sorry, thank you for warning me."
She shrugged, "Eh, they're not fatal. It's just that our tongues swell up to where you can't understand a word we say. Nikki and my Aunt Violet have it too, but they just break out in hives. My Aunt Sunny gets both reactions so I think I got off easy."
"Heh, those are weird allergic reactions. Though seeing you try to talk with a swollen tongue would be kind of funny."
Lizzie raised a brow at him, "Am I going to have to check my food now to ensure you don't taint it just for a joke?"
"Nah I wouldn't actually do something like that."
The two smiled at each other and went back to their work. Lucas found himself mildly unable to concentrate though. He kept glancing up at his friend several times. He quietly studied her as she diligently worked on her papers. He would likely have never met this girl if it wasn't for the two of them being kidnapped and trapped together in the Mortmain Mountains; but they were friends now and very close friends at that. He had been thinking about his friend often lately. And as he sat here with her next to him he felt something else; a small, warm feeling inside when he subtly looked at his friend Elizabeth Baudelaire. She preferred to go by Lizzie, but he rather liked her full name. He thought of her long black hair that went down over her shoulders gracefully, her soft pale face, and her wide brown eyes covered by her dark blue-rimmed glasses. He had once told her that he thought her glasses were "quite fetching," and she had been rather flattered by the compliment. And this small feeling inside led him to a new thought about his friend.
"Lizzie is... kind of pretty..."
He shyly averted his gaze from her when she looked at him again. He inwardly hoped she hadn't caught him staring.
"Hey, are you going to see the school musical," Lizzie asked, "Nikki is a stagehand and Drake is in it so I was just wondering. I'm going so I can support my cousin."
"I was planning to go actually. After all Drake is one of my best friends."
She smiled, "Do you want to go together?"
Lucas blushed darkly behind his glasses, "Uh... you mean like a... date?"
It was now Lizzie's turn to blush, "Oh no not like that! My dad would kill you... I mean if we just went to see it together. We'll bring Sam and Lily with us of course too since I know they're going. Sam wants to be able to make fun of Drake's stupid costume."
Lucas smiled shyly, "I guess that sounds like a good idea... I'd love to."
She smiled, "Then we'll all go together."
They went back to their work, but Lizzie was quickly interrupted again by something else this time. A small wad of paper hit her in the side of her head and fell into her lap. She glanced to her left to see a group of boys snickering at the two of them. She warily opened the crumpled paper on her skirt.
Nerds in love 3
Lizzie blushed heavily at the teasing note and proceeded to rip it apart. She would throw away the pieces later; she immediately went back to her homework trying to ignore hot her face was. Lucas noticed what had happened and gave her an apologetic smile.
"You want to move to a different table," He asked softly.
Lizzie sighed, "It's fine... I just want to finish my work so I can go home."
"Ok... I'm sorry they do that stuff to you."
"I'm used to it. It's not so bad when Nikki and Sam are around to defend me, but when I'm alone it's basically fair game for them."
Lucas smiled, "You're not alone; you have me."
He then did something unexpected. He gathered up his papers and school bag and moved over to sit on her other side; effectively blocking the rude boys from throwing more paper at her. He then calmly went back to his work as if nothing had happened. Lizzie stared at him in awe. What a kind thing he had done for her.
She went back to her paper with a small smile gracing her lips. But concentrating on her homework now proved to be rather difficult as her eyes kept shifting back to the boy beside her. He was her very dear friend, ever since they met under such strange circumstances, but as she kept subtly staring at him she felt something new; a small warm feeling inside when thinking about her friend Lucas Shepard. She thought about his messy dark brown hair, his pale features, and his green eyes covered by his black-rimmed glasses. His caring, compassionate nature led her to a new thought about her friend.
"You know... Lucas is actually kind of... cute..."
Lizzie tore her gaze away from her friend and returned to her task. She didn't notice him glancing at her every now and then as well. And the two young friends definitely didn't know that they were both thinking the same thing:
Perhaps there might be more to this than friendship.
~...
Sam and Lily were walking back to the Baudelaire/Quagmire estate after school let out. Sam knew that his two cousins and his friends were off doing their own things at this time so it was just them. They didn't mind, he and Lily were close friends, even though she was now much closer to Nikki and Lizzie.
"I don't know how you kept up with our math lesson so easily," Lily said, "I'm pretty sure you fell asleep in class today."
Sam smiled at her, "It's cause I got my mom's brains. Besides the only class I'm terrible in is English."
Lily giggled, "Yes Lucas told me the infamous story of when Samuel Quagmire accidentally spelled 'The' with an 'F' in front of the whole class. Boy am I glad I don't have English with you; I don't have the restraint to not laugh at you for the rest of the day."
Sam chuckled, "It was not my finest hour."
The two continued walking until reaching the front gate of the estate.
"Hey cakesniffers!"
"Oh no..." Sam muttered as he noticed a smug looking boy with red hair came walking towards them. Sam quietly stepped in front of Lily to keep her away from the boy.
"Who's he?"
"That's Cameron Spats; he lives down the street and he's a huge jerk. I guess he got sent home from school early this year, he normally goes to a private school."
Cameron smirked at the two as he reached them, "What's up cakesniffer? Got a little girlfriend now?"
Sam and Lily both shared embarrassed looks at the insinuation.
"Lily isn't my girlfriend," Sam replied through gritted teeth.
"Oh really? That's good to hear because she's pretty hot. And she should most definitely be with a guy like me," He winked at Lily.
Lily gaped at him, "I would never go out with a guy like you."
She and Sam turned to head inside but Cameron grabbed her arm.
"How about you ditch your loser friend and come over to my house instead?"
Sam lost it at this point. He hated to see the people he cared about get disrespected. And whenever Cameron Spats was around it happened quite frequently. So the logical turn of events was for Sam to yank Cameron away from Lily and step in front of her for protection. He was always protective of his two cousins and his friends were no exception.
"Get out of here before you get in trouble with your mom."
Cameron glared at him before muttering a few choice swears under his breath and walking away. Lily smiled gratefully at Sam and he led her through the gate and up to his house.
As they walked Sam found himself glancing at her without her noticing. They had met under dire circumstances, but they were so close now after the past several years. And as he subtly stared at his aspiring veterinarian friend, he felt something new; a small, warm feeling inside at the thought of his friend Lily Taylor. He had been thinking about her a lot lately. He thought about her long dark red hair that she always managed to keep straight, her soft pale face with freckles spread across her cheeks, and her hazel eyes. He had thought she was cute when they met, but now he had a slightly new thought about her.
"Lily is... kind of pretty..."
What he didn't know as he tore his gaze away from her is that Lily had found herself subtly looking at him when he wasn't looking. Being trapped inside the Mortmain Mountains had been a terrible experience, and she was sure she wouldn't have gotten through it without making her new friends. And lately she had been thinking about the friend beside her a lot more. She felt something else; a small, warm feeling inside at the thought of her friend Samuel Quagmire. She thought of his messy black hair, his slightly tan features, and his wide, green eyes. His fun, outgoing, and fiercely loyal to his family and friends nature helped her think something new about him.
"You know... Sam is kind of cute..."
Lily tore her gaze away from her friend as the two went inside his house to begin doing their homework. She didn't notice him glancing at her every now and then as well. And the two young friends definitely didn't know that they were both thinking the same thing:
Perhaps there might be more to this than friendship.
~The End!
Fluff for the win! Yay! Hope you liked the first one shot centered entirely around the kids! Their ship names are: Drikki, Luzzie, and Limuel if you're curious.