=Nicole's POV=
(Tuesday, 1/2/2018-7:15 am)
(Archian Island, Berk)
(Berkian Academy)
I was beyond happy that Hunter and I were together now. I mean, I sort of felt like this is where we'd end up after admitting that we only liked one another. I guess I was nervous to jump right in, and wanted to make sure it wasn't just some infatuation that I had for him. We got a long great as friends with similar interests and same view opinions, I'd been worried that getting into a relationship would take away from the good that we had. But I was wrong; my feelings for Hunter grew more and now we've been together since December 23, 2017. I still , and couldn't say if I loved Hunter, but that's because I'd never felt what love is outside of what I had for my parents. Hunter assured me that I'd come to see the difference with more time of us dating. I still haven't told my parents that Hunter and I are together; I'm nervous too. And I still haven't told Hunter about my last relationship; I really feel like I should, but when I tried ten days ago; Hunter told me that we didn't need to worry about it right now and to take my time, so I'd be more ready. Hunter was very understanding, and I respected that a lot.
We hung out on the 23rd until about 9:30 pm, and then he took me home; we shared a small kiss in his jeep before I got inside. I took a shower, and then we talked on the phone until 10:30 pm before my parents told me to go to sleep. I didn't; Hunter and I stayed up texting until about 11:15 pm when I finally started to fall asleep. We talk every day, even if it's just a few texts back and forth. The holiday was nice; I spent time with my family, obviously on Christmas Eve and Day. On the 28th, I spent some time with Hunter in the afternoon; we went out to the mall and had dinner there. Much to my surprise, Hunter got me a Christmas gift; it was a few small packs of ear, nose, and eyebrow rings. Like maybe three or four on each pack, and they were all from Hot Topic, which Hunter knew was my go to store for anything I wore. I told him he didn't have to get me anything, but he insisted. Later on, I ended up sneaking off while he took a call from his dad; I told him I was just heading into a store I knew he'd have no interest in. I actually went to one of Hunter's favorite places and got him a little something I knew he had been eyeing up.
It was a new wallet with the symbol for a Night Fury on it; I knew Hunter's was falling apart and I know he mentioned he'd buy it eventually after he saved some money and recovered from the holiday shopping. This wallet was gray with scale-like detailing, there was a chain to hook it to the belt loop on his jeans, and it was made with durable material; guaranteed to last a long time. When we went to dinner, I presented it to him and explained I saw him eyeing it in the store and wanted to get him something. Hunter, like me, said it wasn't necessary to get him anything…But I insisted. We laughed about it and enjoyed our meal. Our friends found out that Hunter and I were together when there was a surprise New Year's party that Spencer and Glenn put together. Hunter and I were relaxing on the 31st in his room, watching a movie together and cuddled up on his couch and sharing a kiss when his bedroom door opened to reveal our friends. Needless to say, we were caught and had to tell them at that point. Sure, we could have continued to hide it, but what point was there? They all knew we'd kissed before at the Halloween dance, and it was clear we liked one another, so it was easier to tell them we are dating.
Hunter was not pleased about them barging into his bedroom. He stressed that even if his father or Glenn told them to go right ahead, t was still his room and for all they knew without knocking; he could have been sleeping, or changing. Everyone apologized, we decided to finish the movie on the next date, and then headed out to join the party that was set up. And in this, we explained we were officially together as of the 23rd. Our friends were half-surprised and half not, but they were happy for us; it made things easier. I didn't want to hide it from them like I still was too my parents; I knew that I had to tell them, but I wanted to talk to Hunter first and let him know why my parents won't be so accepting of me having a boyfriend. I still wasn't sure how I was going to tell Hunter this, but I knew if nothing else that he didn't want me to try and do this before I was ready too. However, that didn't really matter; I couldn't take forever with this and at some point, Hunter might get upset that I keep saying I'll tell him and don't. And if we wanted to have a normal relationship, one where our parents got along; I'd need to tell him why my parents will take some convincing to accept our relationship. So this was kind of a chain reaction thing, as in it needed to happen for other things to happen.
My parents were already suspicious of something going on because they keep wanting to know why Hunter was always inviting me out; we left it at hanging with friends and since he lives the closest to me, he always comes to get me since I can't drive. My parents buy it, but it won't last forever. I'm setting myself a personal goal of telling Hunter about my ex, and then telling my parents that Hunter and I are dating by my eighteenth birthday; that's two months away from yesterday. Vacation was now over and we are back to school, so I made sure not to spend too long talking to Hunter last night or reading my book; I haven't gotten too far in it yet because I've been busy with Hunter, friends, and the holidays. I actually didn't really want to go to school today; I wasn't really feeling it despite getting a good night's sleep. I woke up feeling tired and figured a shower would help, but it didn't. Eating breakfast also didn't do much. Maybe I just wasn't looking forward to returning to school after such a nice break.
Oh well, I'm sure it'll go away as I get my day going more; I'd just arrived at the school, so I guess I'd see my friends and boyfriend, then grab what I needed from my locker and get to class. I stood to get off the bus, waiting to move in the orderly line we were demanded to move in to step off to avoid shoving or tripping. I moved along and hurried over to the C-Hall field where the others were waiting for me.
"Nikki!" Heather beamed, instantly hugging me. I returned it as she stepped back and then got a light hug from Hunter, who kissed my forehead. "You're here later than usual."
"New bus driver; he got lost five times…" I mumbled a bit. "And then the bus being so jammed makes it a pain to actually get off of it."
"I told you I don't mind picking you up when I drive in, babe. It's not like it's out of the way." Hunter smiled, keeping his arms around my shoulders.
"I still have to take the bus home when you have practice or work. It's not a big deal; I can deal with it for a couple more months." I shrugged some, giving a small smile. "Everyone ready to be back at school after the break?" I asked.
"Nope. It sucks." Shane muttered.
"Who actually likes going to school?" Raelyn inquired with obvious sarcasm.
"Um…I like school?" Fisher pointed out.
"I do too." Hunter replied.
"Okay, two of the smartest people in the school aside…Anyone else enjoy school?" Travis wondered.
I put my hand a bit. "I like it too."
"It's not so bad." Mindy informed.
"I guess I don't mind it." Ashley stated.
"Ugh…" Shane, Travis, and Raelyn groaned. I saw Heather giggled a bit while leaning against Fisher.
"It's a nice way to get out of the house and have some freedom before we all graduate and move onto working full time jobs or part time and going to college." Heather giggled some.
"That's what I'm saying." Mindy and Ashely nodded in agreement. Then Hunter, Fisher, and myself did the same.
"Isn't gonna be like this once we get our diplomas." Hunter reminded. "I know I'm going to college, and staying part time at Glenn's."
"We're going to be taking over our parent's design store." Raelyn informed as Travis nodded with a grin.
"It's Thorston Designs. Dad handles outdoor stuff and mom does indoor. They both have their own teams for the stuff," Travis explained.
"That's awesome. I think my parents might have gotten some indoor design from your family business." I smiled.
"I'm going to be a personal trainer." Ashley said proudly.
"Working in Glenn's shop." Shane stated. "Hunter won't be there full time, so he needed an extra body for work. Since I'm not going to college, I don't mind."
"Just do as you're told. Glenn won't think twice about firing you just because you're family…" Hunter rolled his eyes. "Better do good work and be dependable…" he added.
"I will, I will. Calm down, auto boy," Shane remarked. "How come you get a free pass with stuff?"
"Glenn is my unofficial uncle and godfather…Plus, I've been there since I was little. Well, littler," Hunter mumbled, and I knew it was because he'd always been small apparently. "I know everything there is to know about auto stuff, I could run the shop myself if I wanted too. Actually, I think I have…One of the time Glenn went on vacation and he didn't trust anyone else to handle it. I did that last summer, which is why I didn't play any rec league basketball."
"What about you, Fisher?" I inquired.
"College, going for Veterinarian." Fisher admitted.
"Same." Mindy chimed in.
"Haven't decided yet. Tossing it up between a few ideas." Heather said. "How about you, Nikki?"
"No idea. My parents want me to do something in the medical field like them, and while that sounds just…Super…It's just not what I see myself doing, and also…Not really keen on all that extra schooling. It's like…Ten extra years. I really don't wanna be almost thirty by the time I actually get to work in the field." I informed. It was the truth after all. I really didn't know what I wanted to do after high school. I knew I'd have to get a job, but my parents wouldn't make me if I went to college. I was running out of time on deciding what I wanted to do. June was only six months away now.
"Well, there's a lot of stuff you're good at, babe. I'm sure you'll land on something you want to do the rest of your life," Hunter assured as I smiled lightly at him. He was so sweet; very supportive, kind, hard-working, funny, and his sarcasm matched mine. "And I'm right here to help if you get stuck or need me." Hunter added as I laid my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.
"You look comfortable." Ashley remarked.
"And tired." Heather mentioned, as I felt her standing next to me now and looked at her. "You okay?"
"Mmhm. Didn't sleep well last night, couldn't seem to get comfortable." I replied. It wasn't entirely untrue. I did sleep all night, but woke up feeling like I hadn't. I still didn't feel all that great after a shower and breakfast. The longer I'm here; the more tired I'm feeling.
"Guess you need an early night's sleep tonight. I promise not to keep you up late." Hunter joked. I laughed some.
"It's fine. You didn't keep me up, Hunter. I had trouble sleeping after we said good night to one another." I revealed with a yawn to follow it.
"Still. Maybe miss my practice tonight and get home to take a nap or something." Hunter offered. Even when he didn't have a game, or we weren't doing a date or movie night; I sat at his practices to watch because I enjoyed it. And it kept me from being home by myself, because that got lonely fast. I wish I could have people over my house, but my parents don't like busy, I guess would be the word. They like quiet and simple, so parties aren't big with my family, unless of course, it's something big. Like me graduating high school, or college. Maybe when I turned eighteen, since I had friends now; I can get them to agree to let me have that. It's two months away, so I've got time to work on it.
"I'll see how I feel later on." I stated gently. Most of this week was just review for midterms, which would take place the following week after this one. Then we'd move into second semester for the rest of the year. The warning bell sounded as I sighed a little. "Guess we better get to class." I mentioned to the others. I really didn't want to leave where I was; I was comfortable against Hiccup. Begrudgingly, I got off his shoulder and adjusted my side bag's strap on my shoulder. Hiccup smiled, taking my hand as we headed off with Fisher to our first class of the day.
. . .
=Normal POV=
(11:30 am)
The first half of the morning had been slow and as the students had figured, all review for midterms next week. Going over previous material learned, asking for extra help in certain parts if they didn't understand it, working on a couple problems from the study guide provided. It was all pretty easy for Nicole, she didn't struggle much with subjects except for math; her grade wasn't awful, but it was good either. Nicole had a C average, which was passing, but her parents preferred A's and B's like the rest of her grades. So Nicole was really relying on her midterm grade to bring up the C to a B; that should make her parents happy and if she did, that could help convince them to let her have her eighteenth birthday party at the house and invite her friends. Nicole already knew there'd be a graduation party at Hunter's, apparently that had been planned at the start of senior year. Nicole looked forward to it, and her parents would be able to come too since parents were invited to join the festivities with the Spencer and Glenn, so it was expected to be a good time.
Nicole, unfortunately, wasn't feeling much better than this morning like she'd hoped she would once the day got going along. The subject that got her feeling miserable was gym, but how would it not when it was the only physical class they had. All the movement made her slightly nauseous, and at this point; she was considering to miss Hunter's practice to go home and rest more. At the same time; she felt bad enough to go home now, but knew she had no way to get there because both of her parents were working until 5:30 pm. Right now, though; she had to get through then rest of the day and currently, she was at lunch with her friends.
"How are you feeling, little more awake after gym?" Hunter asked her once he sat down with his school lunch beside her. Nicole shook her head a few times, not really touching her food and laying her head on Hiccup's shoulder tiredly. Nicole's eyes closed as Hunter kissed his forehead gently and took notice that she was kind of warm. "You sure you're not getting sick, babe?" Hunter inquired softly. "You feel like you have a slight fever." He added.
"Do I?" Nicole wondered. Hunter brought his hand to her forehead, flipping it over to feel with the back, and then did the same motions on her cheek.
"You do to me. Want to go to the nurse?" Hunter questioned.
"Yeah, you should go, Nikki. Maybe she'll send you home because you don't look good at all." Heather suggested, supporting Hunter's idea.
"No point…I have no way to get home even if she deemed I should. I can't drive, and both my parents are working…" Nicole sighed some.
"I could take you home, and be back here before the bell rang." Hiccup offered. "It's not like we live far away, and I'm sure I could get a late pass. But you shouldn't be here trying to tough out the day. We can all see how tired you are, coupled with possibly have a fever; you could be sick."
Nicole considered her choices; she did want to go home and rest and with what Hunter said about being warm, she very well could be sick. Nicole hadn't even mentioned the nausea she felt in gym, and it was still lingering which is why she chose not to eat. "Okay, I'll go to the nurse…" Nicole gave in as she packed up her things and stood up.
"Text me if you end up getting sent home? Seriously, babe…I don't mind taking you." Hunter reminded. Nicole gave him a light kiss on the cheek before waving to the others with a small smile and then heading off to see Nurse Allision or Ally; she didn't care which was used. Nicole left the cafeteria with a heavy sigh as she made her way down the A-Hall, past the office, and dean's office before reaching the clinic. The door was always open, so Nicole strolled herself inside to find Miss. Mayden at the desk on her computer.
Upon noticing someone had come into her office, Allison Mayden looked over with a gentle smile and gave her full attention. "Hello, dear. What can I do for you?" Allison inquired.
"I'm not feeling well…" Nicole admitted. There was no reason not to tell the truth if she decided to come here; it was pointless to lie.
Allison smiled sweetly and motioned her hand to the bed by her desk. "Alright, have a seat there. We're just gonna get your file pulled up and then you can tell me what's wrong, okay?" Nicole nodded to her, moving to the bed and sitting down. Nicole set her bag beside her as Allison clicked a few things on her computer. Nicole just sighed tiredly, still feeling nauseous and now a headache was forming too. Nicole only prayed that the nurse could give her something to help, or get sent home if she was indeed sick; the next few moments would confirm or deny if she was.
