Author's Note: Writing this story has totally chanced pudding for me. :3 I ate a cup of pudding to get in the zone for this chapter. For all those who ate pudding after reading my story, HOLLA! And a cookie for MarianneP for getting so close and a giant cookie for Padawan BuddyKanobi for getting it spot on! Lol it was Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things in chapter ten.
Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural.
Chapter Twelve
All week Nicole was on edge looking over her shoulder running late night surveillance on her apartment and around Adams house, keeping tabs on local news. Every morning she showed up early to school to secure it as best she could. No more was she comfortable in the sea of students between classes or in the streets of the town. After leaving a message for her father, he'd called to tell her to be on guard. Gordon had found him and was helping him track a nest of vampires but he had a bad feeling. Number one rule when hunting: trust your instincts. If something doesn't feel right, it's not.
When Adam was around Nicole kept her cool. She laughed at the right times, held his hand, shared pudding at lunch but was constantly aware of her surroundings.
By Saturday, she was exhausted, yawning widely as she pulled into the salon parking lot. She grabbed her large, caffeine- saturated coffee and hauled her butt out the car. Bethany climbed out of a cherry red Firebird already in the lot.
"Hey, Sugar," She called out, "Melba's on her way." As she walked closer, she eyed Nicole. "You ok? I don't mean to be blunt but you're going to have to work on those circles under your eyes if you want to impress this guy. Sleep will do more for you at this point than any dress."
Nicole frowned, "I know, Bethany, but this week has been a little stressful."
Bethany nodded her head in understanding, "Carla."
"Surprisingly, no," Nicole hadn't heard from Carla all week. The girl had been keeping her distance. "It's another problem."
"You're too young to have so many problems," Bethany pulled out a pack of cigarettes and held one between her fingers. "I'm older than you and I've got plenty of problems, like my bum ex-husband who wants to see his kids more and this smoking habit I've been tryin' to kick for years. Usually I do ok if I just hold it, I don't need to smoke it."
Nicole raised an eyebrow, "Bethany, you're smoking it."
Bethany pulled the cigarette from her mouth, "Damn that always seems to happen. I just wanna hold it and before I know it it's gone and I'm hacking up a lung."
Just then Melba came careening around the corner, wiping her Buick into the parking lot at forty miles an hour. She slammed on the breaks just in time to miss running onto the curb.
"I don't think we should let her drive," Bethany muttered to Nicole as she waved to Melba.
As Melba joined them, she straightened her dress and checked her pearls to make sure they were straight, "Sorry I'm late girls, I had to sneak out of the house. My son didn't think I should go on account of I don't have the eye sight I use to. He thinks it's not safe for me to be driving any more but I think that's a bunch of who-ey."
"Actually he might be on to something," Nicole muttered behind her smile.
"Girl! What happened to you?" Melba shrieked when she looked at Nicole.
Nicole sighed, "Let's just get going."
"I'll drive!" Melba shot her hand into the air as Nicole and Bethany both exclaimed, "No!"
"I'll drive," Nicole volunteered and they all ambled over to her truck.
"You know," Melba grunted as she hoisted herself in to the cab and slid to the middle seat. "This isn't really a girl car. I think that's the root of the problem, dear. You need a more feminine touch in your life."
"It's just me and my dad," Nicole explained as she merged into traffic. "And he works out of town a lot so he's not really around. I never knew my mom."
Bethany clicked her tongue, "That's your problem, sugar, not your car or this Carla girl. You need guidance to keep you outta trouble."
"I don't do so bad," Nicole defended. "And I'm not alone all the time, I used to travel around with my dad on business but he decided it would be best for me to stay and finish school. I can take care of myself."
"Take it from me, girls," Melba insisted, "Life isn't always about taking care of yourself. It's nice to say you can but doesn't do you a damn bit of good if you have no one catch you when you fall. We all need someone. Just look at me, I'm sixty five and not ashamed to say I can't always please myself. Friends aren't a bad thing."
Nicole pondered this as she drove. As a hunter, she had ties to no one. If you let emotions in, people got hurt. People could turn against you and burn you in the end. Sure, you had other hunters to call on if Hell was breaking loose, but that was it. Nicole thought of the last several weeks and time she'd spent with Adam. She trusted him. She felt safe with him. In her definition of friend, he fit the bill. She would do whatever she could to keep him safe but she'd also do what she could to be his friend in return which meant she had to make this Homecoming perfect.
"Alright," Nicole's voice was firm and determined, "What do I need to do to make this perfect?"
Bethany smacked her hands together, "Now that's the spirit, girlfriend! Take a left up here, we're going to Harry's."
Harry's Dress Boutique was a large department store in the center of town. A smartly dressed man greeted them at the door and ushered them to the different selections.
"Now, what are we looking for today, ladies?" He asked, standing hands on hips.
Bethany piped up, "This pretty little thing needs a dress for Homecoming. We're thinking something ultra feminine, pink if you have it."
Nicole held up her hands, "Wait, wait, not pink. Adam wants to wear blue."
The salesman, Marcus read his nametag, grinned, "Oh how sweet, you guys are planning matching outfits. I just love when couples match, it brings a much more intimate feel to the relationship, shows you're in sync and all that. Now, what shade of blue are we going for? Cerulean? Navy? Cobalt? Sapphire? Indigo?" He looked expectantly at Nicole.
"Um…" Nicole glanced to Bethany. "I don't know."
Marcus sighed, "My job is never easy. No worries, I've worked with less, though Adam might have to come in later in order to get just the right color to match yours."
Marcus laced his arm in Nicole's and escorted her through the neatly kept aisles until they reached a section full of blue. On the left were dozens of racks of dark blues which then slowly grew lighter until they reached the pale blue section on the right.
"If I were to take a stab at this, I would say stick to the right," Marcus gestured to the lighter blues, "Because if it were me, I'd want to show off those pretty eyes of yours."
Nicole suddenly became excited, "Yeah! That's what we wanted to do! We picked blue because we both have blue eyes!"
Marcus matched her excitement, "Excellent!" He pulled her into the maze of blue and began pulling dresses out, shoving them into her hands and talking animatedly. "And this one would accent your slender figure. This one would frame your build nicely. This one would show off your arms. How do you feel about your arms? Some girls just hate their arms but I find them to be rather nice. Oh! This one would be perfect for your legs and the slit is slightly more mature which could do well if you know how to hold yourself. I think you could pull it off, but then, let's keep looking."
Marcus became so excited, when they headed to the dressing rooms, he followed her in and began helping her into the dresses.
"Marcus!" Nicole snapped.
"Oh, I am so sorry," Marcus let go of the hem of her shirt and excused himself. "I just get so excited sometimes. Just come out when you've got the first dress on and we'll see how it looks."
Nicole went through a dozen dresses over the next forty-five minutes and Marcus found fault with each one. The first was frumpy, the next to smutty. That one was too loud but this one didn't say enough. One made her look pregnant, one made her too blocky. Finally, when she was nearing the end of the pile Marcus had amassed, she slid on a silky dress the color of Adam's eyes. It was spaghetti strap, with a slit up the leg. She felt soft and feminine and yet knew she could move around if anything were to happen and she needed to tap into her hunter-self.
When she stepped out of the dressing room, Marcus, Bethany, and Melba all gasped.
"Girl, you have got it!" Melba exclaimed, "Forty years ago, I would look just as good in that dress. Shoot, I could probably pull it off now if I had to."
Marcus clapped his hands, "You were made for this dress! Let's get it off and boxed up so we don't ruin it before the big day."
As they went through check out, Carla waltzed in the door. Nicole rolled her eyes.
"Hello, Nicole," Carla said without sounding too pleased, "Getting a dress for Homecoming are we?"
"Carla," Nicole plastered a tight smile on her face.
"So this is Carla," Bethany seized her up before whispering loudly to Nicole, "Don't worry, girl. She's got nothing on you."
Carla frowned but ignored the comment, "I assume you'll be going with Adam."
"And I heard you were going with Donnie," Nicole replied curtly.
"Actually, no," Carla stuck up her nose, "I refused him. I couldn't be someone's second choice, especially if their first choice was you."
Nicole just shook her head, Carla never ceased to amaze her. "Who are you going with then?"
"I'm not tell you," Carla marched away without a second glance.
"That girl's a piece of work," Melba said as watched Carla walk away, "But boy, when I was her age, my butt looked that good, too."