"My hero!"
Thunk.
This was the second time that day that Nicky found herself lying on the ground, vision swimming and very confused. And it was only lunchtime.
"Oh my, are you alright? I'm so sorry, I was sure you'd catch me but I guess you're not as strong as I thought-"
Finally, her head stopped spinning and Nicky managed to see who had attacked her. She immediately recognized the beautiful blonde girl from yesterday.
"..But that only makes you more admirable! Even though you're physically weak, you still came to my rescue when I was at my enemies' mercy, oh the bravery!"
And before she knew it she was being hugged by the beautiful blonde girl. Looking around, Nicky realized that everyone in her class were looking at her, as well as Oliver, who until a few moments ago, had been eating lunch with her.
She shot him a questioning look but he only raised his shoulders, clearly not having any clue either as to what the hell was going on. You would have thought that the girl would be swooning over the brunette instead of Nicky because, obviously, Oliver had been the more heroic one at yesterday's incident.
"Kyaah!"
Now, Nicky was not one to scream girlishly. Ever. But there were instances like when she is suddenly being groped that she couldn't resist the girly reflex.
Scurrying away from the blonde girl, Nicky tried her best to glare, but it was very hard when your face was beet red and you were honestly too god damn confused to really be angry.
"You don't look like you have much on you, but you're surprisingly squeezy."
Nicky only managed to stare as the girl made grabbing movements with her hands. She felt like her face was going to explode from the heat. Quickly looking around, she noticed that most, if not all her classmates were blushing as well. This was positively the most embarrassing experience she had ever gone through in her life. And that was saying a lot in her case, a small reminder that only yesterday she had gotten herself stuck in a pet door.
"My name is Amy. Amy Sanders." Apparently, the girl thought this was the perfect time to introduce herself. "I'm in second year, class 3," She raised three fingers to emphasize, "and I'm in love with you." She blushed cutely, but Nicky wasn't fooled. The girl had a loose screw at best, and was most probably a sadist.
Nicky wasn't sure how much time passed before she realized she had yet to say something. She had meant to make more friends, but it certainly hadn't been her intentions to make one of the most beautiful girls of school fall in love with her. How was she even supposed to reply to that confession?
Before she managed to come up with an answer, the school bell rang, indicating that the lunch break was over. The blonde girl -Amy, was it?- blew her a kiss before turning around and leaving the classroom.
A few more seconds passed before the teacher came back and told her to get into her seat, and for Oliver to get his ass back to his own classroom.
O.O.O.O
"Did you know that in a group of 23 people, at least two have the same birthday with the probability greater than ½."
"Can't say I did. Not that I care. Pass the vanilla drops."
Nicky sighed and passed her friend the small bottle. They were currently in the school's culinary facility- the place where Oliver was having his club activities. Since she had nothing better to do, she had decided to wait for him which left her sitting on his counter and trying to uphold a conversation while the brunette was making some kind of cookie dough.
"Hey, why don't you put barbeque sauce in it?"
"Because 1: that sounds disgusting, and 2: the cookies wouldn't work out with extra liquid in them. They wouldn't bake correctly." If Nicky didn't know better she would have thought he was in a bad mood, but actually, whenever he was concentrating on something, his personality would take a flip and he became very blunt and usually mean.
"Hello, Nicky."
Nicky looked up to see the raven haired upperclassman who had addressed her. Her name was Julia Picket and she was something like the president of the culinary club. She was incredibly nice to everyone and everyone loved her for it.
"I see you're here again; why don't you just join the club?" She smiled expectantly at Nicky, hazel eyes sparkling with innocence and youth. Nicky resisted the urge to pat her head.
"You wouldn't want her to join, her taste buds are whacked up. You'd be doing yourself- and everyone else here- a favor by not accepting her."
Who needed best friends anyway?
Julia, however, must have thought Oliver was joking because she giggled cutely and looked back at Nicky, apparently still waiting for an answer. Bless her beautiful heart.
"Ah, actually, I'm too lazy to be in club activities," Nicky laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head "I'd like to have the choice to go straight home after school if I want to, and I couldn't do that if I have any afterschool activities."
"Ah, I see," Julia smiled "but you're welcome any time, in case you change your mind."
"Thanks, Julia. I appreciate it." Nicky tried her best to smile as sweetly as her upperclassmen seemed to find so easy to do, but it was hard to compete with a saint.
"Pass the flour."
Nick glared at Oliver. He had just made a complete fool out of her and even insulted her taste buds and he still had the nerve to boss her around.
"Sure." She replied in an overly sweet tone before sticking her hand in the flour bag and pulling a fistful up. Before Oliver could even register what was taking so long, his face was covered in the white substance and he froze.
Nicky snorted in a very unladylike manner when Oliver blinked dumbly at her. That seemed to give his gears a start because he suddenly had a mixing spoon in his hand, eyeing Nicky dangerously.
A second later, they were running around the school, Nicky trying her best to run for her life while keeping control of her laughing fit and Oliver chasing her with a raised mixing spoon, yelling bloody murder.
A couple of minutes passed before Oliver finally caught up to her, successfully tackling her to the floor, himself landing on top of her.
"Surrender!" He yelled as he pinned her hands to the floor. When had he even gotten rid of the spoon?
"Never!"
"Then face my fury!" Before she knew it, Oliver held her hands in place with only one hand while his other began tickling her.
Laughing and struggling to get away and breathe, Nicky still couldn't get it out of her head how ridiculous Oliver looked with his face covered in white powder. Which only made her laugh more.
"Mercy! Mercy!" She finally reached her breaking point.
"Then surrender!" Oliver had always been very stubborn.
"No!" Then again, she was the same.
Without giving her an answer in words, he kept tickling her. Nicky was pretty sure she would soon explode if she didn't get any air in her lungs soon and therefore did the only thing she could, pride be damned.
"I give up!"
As soon as she said it, Oliver stopped. Her hands were still pinned to the ground, but she was hardly aware of it as she struggled to breathe.
A few moments later she was still breathing heavily but it seemed like she would make it alive. Although that might be a bit soon to say, because she still didn't know what her punishment was.
It was an old rule with the two of them that whenever one of them surrendered, the other one would think of a punishment. That usually involved some disgusting drinks, or a terrifying dare.
"Name my doom." She grinned up at her childhood friend.
His response was to grin back, but too soon, his amused look disappeared, replaced by one she had rarely seen before. It was surprisingly similar to his embarrassed face, but of course that didn't make much sense.
"Come to the movies with me tonight."
A few seconds passed in silence while he looked almost nervously at her, bright green eyes staring intensely in her own.
The silence, however, was soon disrupted by Nicky's laughter. "That's hardly a punishment."
He seemed to have regained his confidence at that, "you'll be paying."
He smirked as she let out a groan. It was low to attack one's wallet.
"You're a monster." She told him half-jokingly. He only chuckled in response.
They were suddenly interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Looking to the direction the sound had come from, Nicky was surprised to see three guys standing there, two looking embarrassed, and the other with an unreadable expression.
"You," The stern looking one pointed at Nicky who by then had scrambled back on her feet, looking extremely embarrassed at the position she had been found in. She didn't dare look at Oliver and see how he was holding up.
"Leader wants to talk to you."
A few seconds passed before Nicky pointed at herself, a questioning look on her face. Did he really have the right person? And Leader? He couldn't be talking about the leader, could he?
"What does he want to talk to her about?" Oliver talked for her since she was having trouble voicing her own thoughts.
"It does not concern you. Back off."
"Like hell it doesn't," Nicky finally looked at Oliver. He seemed angry, or maybe just very defensive. She was grateful for that. He also seemed to have wiped the flour off his face, which made him look much more intimidating.
"We're just here to get the girl, so back the fuck off or we're gonna have to make you."
This was getting ugly real fast. Everyone, besides Nicky, had taken up battle stances. She hated fights, down to the very core. She hated when people purposely hurt other people, she hated blood and most of all, she hated the angry feelings bursting out everywhere. They scared her.
"I'll go."
She wasn't aware she had said it until after it had been said. Noticing Oliver giving her a shocked, if not a bit hurt expression made her almost take it back, but she held her tongue. Actually, she forcibly bit down on it to keep herself from saying anything more.
Reaching out to touch Oliver's tense shoulder, she tried to give him her most reassuring smiles. She wasn't sure if it looked more like a smile or a grimace, but hey, at least she tried. She then walked over to the three guys waiting for her.
"Nicky, wait."
She turned around and half-laughed at her best friend, "Oliver, please. We're high schoolers. What's the worst thing that could happen?"
O.O.O.O
"Please take over the group, miss Austin!"
The redhead was actually bowing to her. It scared the crap out of her.
"Wha- What the hell are you talking about?"
The delinquent raised his head to look at her, face flushed for some unknown reason, but amber eyes flaming with passion. "My subordinates have treated you unspeakably crudely and I cannot apologize enough for their behavior,"
He raised his stature back to a full standing one, "Therefore, as an apology and as a token of my gratitude for not telling the authorities-"
Nicky took the liberty to assume that the authorities was the school principal, since she doubted the police would even listen to her story without laughing in her face,
"… I am giving the leadership over to you. I couldn't imagine any person more worthy than yourself and I would be honored if you would agree to look over my boys. They are a rowdy bunch, but good sports, all of them."
Nicky waited for a while to make sure that the guy definitely had nothing more to say. Then she waited a while longer because she had no idea how to reply to that. Take over the group of delinquents? Was the guy crazy? Well, the rumors certainly said he was crazy, but this! This was a whole new level of crazy.
"…What?"
"please take over-"
"Yeah, no, I got that. I meant what?"
The redhead looked confused. She would welcome him to the club if she would have been able to see the humor in this situation.
"…Please take over the group…?" This time you could hear evident confusion in his voice.
"No."
As soon as she had declined, she realized how rude it had sounded and immediately tried to explain. Hopefully she would be able to pound some god damn sense into the guy while she was at it,
"What I mean is that I hate violence. I'm a coward, if you want to put it that way. Which is why you most definitely should not make me the leader of your… your… group."
There was a brief pause in which Nicky hoped that the guy would see how ridiculous his request was and would change his mind. She just hoped he wouldn't get mad for having somehow been disillusioned about her abilities.
"You are… very honest."
He was taking this better than she thought he would.
"I admire that. Indeed, you are the only one compatible enough to take over my position as a leader."
Nicky would have facepalmed if she wasn't too scared of the redhead wacko in front of her.
"Listen, I'm flattered. Really, I am, but I have to decline, I can't be the leader." Good job Nicky, polite but determined, she complimented herself.
"I must insist!"
Goddamn that guy, he was more stubborn than Oliver and herself combined.
"I refuse."
"I refuse your refusal."
Nicky blinked at that. "I refuse your refusing of my refusal."
"I refuse your refusal of my refusing your refusal."
"I…" Her head was spinning. She was good at math but mind games were not her strong suit, "I really think you would do a lot better job than I would ever manage. Why can't you just do it?"
"The boys no longer listen to my orders and therefore I am unfit to be their leader."
Now, that was a surprise. But certainly not enough to make her lose her focus. "And you think they would listen to me more; a first year girl who's terrified of violence?"
"I think you would be a great role model for them and a great influence for them to take a wiser path in life. And if they refuse to follow your orders, then I will order them to follow them."
"…"
You idiot, you just said they no longer listened to you!
It took all she had not to pull at her hair. Talking to this guy was like a chasing your own shadow. You could run for miles but still not get any closer to your goal.
"I don't want to do it."
"I'm not letting you out of this room until you agree."
Speaking of which, how did the delinquents get a whole classroom all to themselves? They weren't even an official club.
But this might really become a problem. Nicky wasn't sure how long she had been in there but she was sure the time was around five in the afternoon when she had left to talk to Kyle. She wanted to quickly go home, meet Tyler and then get ready for the evening, physically and mentally, because going to the movies was expensive! And she was paying for two, damn it!
"I can't even lead my own life correctly, how am I supposed to lead a whole group?"
The bastard only crossed his hands, mouth set in a firm line.
"I don't… Oh, to hell with it- alright, already!"
"Really? I mean, great!" He looked so happy, Nicky almost thought her acceptance was worth it. Almost.
"But on one condition."
His cheerful face was immediately replaced by an apprehensive one.
"You will be my right hand man and manage the bunch for me." Why hadn't she thought of this before? This was genius! This way, things would appear as nothing had changed; she wouldn't have to have anything to do with the group and Kyle would leave her alone.
The redhead rubbed his index finger under his nose, looking a bit tearful. But he couldn't be. After all, he was Kyle Arch. The number one ruthless badass of the whole school.
"If that is what you wish, then I would be honored to comply. I will be your most loyal subordinate," He actually saluted, "If there is anything you ever need my help with, you let me know and I'll come running, day or night!"
Nicky must have been getting tired, because right then, she was touched by his words and the honesty in them. He seemed like an alright guy. Sure, he was stubborn as hell, but so were a lot of people. She could live with stubbornness.
"Alright, then. I'll trust you to keep them in line…. Uh…" She just remembered that so far she hadn't called him anything out loud yet, and therefore had no idea how to address him. Thankfully, the redhead caught on, "Just call me Kyle, please."
She smiled at him "Then, please call me Nicky."
He grinned brightly and nodded.
Taking that as her cue to leave, Nicky turned around and headed for the door, calling a 'see you' behind her shoulder before she was completely aware of it.
A couple of seconds later she was out of the room and breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't realized how tense she had been until then.
"Nicky!" She raised her head and was surprised to see Oliver being held off by two delinquent looking guys. He must have been so worried and Nicky almost felt bad for not having been in any danger. Then again, how was she supposed to know that Kyle really only wanted to talk?
"Are you okay? What happened?" He sounded so frantic and worried it warmed her heart seeing that he cared so much.
"I'm fine" she said as she walked past the guys who were with Oliver, grabbing her friend's arm and pulling him along with her as she headed for the school exit. She had had enough of this building for the time being. Good thing it was Friday and so she could have the whole weekend to get over the day's incidents.
She didn't stop until they were on the school grounds and that's when she let go of Oliver's arm so he could unlock his bike and they could get the hell out of there. She noticed from the corner of her eye that her best friend was about to say something but for some reason- and thank God- he closed his mouth and turned to unlock his bicycle.
A few minutes later they were speeding through the neighborhood in a comfortable silence. Nicky let herself relax and rested her head on Oliver's back. She was exhausted.
A few moments later, Nicky deemed them far enough away from school and relatively safe from any redheaded, delinquent wackos.
"He told me to take over his group."
"What?"
"Kyle. He said I should take over his group. Or more like demanded it."
The bike screeched to a halt and Nicky would have flown off if she hadn't been quick enough to grab onto Oliver. Whoever invented instinctive reflexes had her thanks.
"He what?!" Oliver hissed out and Nicky was surprised to see the fury in his eyes."Why?"
Nicky carefully let go of him and stepped off the bicycle. It didn't seem like he was going to go any further until he got the full story.
"I've no idea. Something about an apology and token of gratitude or whatnot. He was confusing to talk to."
"You declined, right?"
Nicky looked away nervously, finding it hard to stay under that intense gaze, "He was… Rather insistent."
Oliver gawked at her. He looked so stupid like that, Nicky would have laughed if she didn't know he was as angry as he was. "You accepted?!"
"What the hell was I supposed to do?!"
"Decline! Say no! Refuse! Or, I don't know, call for help?!" He sounded so furious.
She wasn't sure when Oliver had stepped off the bike as well and neither did she care because Oliver wasn't being very understanding at the moment and she was too confused and irritated to notice small details.
"He wasn't being rude or violent so I didn't want to be either!"
"So you just agreed to take over a group of delinquents? Now that's fucking genius!"
Nicky stared in shock at her childhood friend. He hadn't cussed in years, at least not in her presence. She didn't understand why he was so angry, either.
"I didn't just agree to it without arguing about it, he simply wouldn't let it go! He wouldn't let me leave and I wanted to go home already!
Besides, I gave the management over to him, so it's basically off my hands."
That shut him up. That was, until he blew up
"So you not only took over his group, you also decided to trust him enough with managing it? Since when did you become such great buddies?"
She had just about had enough. "That's it! You're impossible to talk to!" She turned around and began walking down the street.
"Where the hell are you going?"
She turned back to him, "I'm walking home! And you can go to the movies alone, you jerk!"
"Like I'd want to go with you anyway!"
She would like to say that she gave out a frustrated growl but it came out more like a shriek. She then turned around once again and stormed off.
O.O.O.O
The door slammed shut behind her. She was furious! She didn't do anything wrong and Oliver had been completely unfair! Just thinking about it made her growl in annoyance.
"Hello?" She called in a rather irritated tone of voice, remembering her nanny. The door had been unlocked so he should be at home, unless he was afraid she might have forgotten her keys again and therefore left it unlocked.
"Tyler?" She searched the first floor until she was convinced that he really wasn't there before heading upstairs to change out of her school uniform.
Once she had changed into comfortable grey sweatpants and a navy blue, long sleeve shirt, she opened her bedroom door and headed for the kitchen. Once there, she began the process of making eggplant salad with cheese and ketchup. Although it was delicious, she was still in a bad mood once she was finished.
After cleaning up after her meal, Nicky decided to watch a movie to get her mind off all annoying thoughts. There weren't many things that topped a cozy Friday afternoon when watching a movie on the couch under a blanket.
Already feeling better at the thought, she jogged upstairs again to pick a movie from her collection that she kept in her shelf which was initially meant for books. Since she never really did much reading, it quickly turned into a movie collection.
Once she made it to the top of the stairs, however, she was interrupted from her thoughts by a small clatter coming from the direction of the guest room.
She was startled at first but then realized that she had never checked the upper floor earlier, which was pretty stupid, especially seeing as the guestroom Tyler was currently staying at was there. He must have been taking an afternoon nap and then fallen out of bed. Snickering at the thought, Nicky bounced over to the room at the farthest end of the hallway.
She knocked a few times on the door and waited for a reply.
A few seconds passed but there was no reply. Growing slightly worried, she reached for the doorknob.
"Tyler?"
She slowly opened the door, hesitant because she didn't want to intrude but she still had to be sure that her nanny was okay.
Once the door had been opened far enough for her to view the whole room, Nicky froze.
It took her a while to register what she was seeing because no matter what images had crossed through her mind before opening the door, nothing had been quite as disturbing as what she now saw.
The whole room was in complete chaos. The bed lay on its side at the opposite wall of where it used to be, like it had been picked up and thrown across the room. The window opposite of where Nicky was standing was broken, glass shattered all around the floor.
The purple, tattered curtains flew inside the room, as if in a tug of war with the wind and the curtain rod that held onto them. They flung around from the pressure of the wind which Nicky hadn't realized had become so fierce, appearing like they were in a desperate struggle to escape.
Nicky shuddered. Whether it was from the thought or the wind, she wasn't sure.
She hadn't realized she had walked into the room until she heard the sound of something breaking. Looking down from where she had heard the sound, she noticed she had stepped on a piece of broken glass which had shattered from her weight.
As she was in much shock, the pain didn't register but the sight of blood slowly covering the floor around her got her attention in check.
Before she knew it she was panicking. Breath came in short gasps and her eyes darted around the room in complete helplessness.
What should she do? What happened? How should she stop her bleeding? Where was Tyler? Why hadn't she heard anything until now?
Her thoughts were a mess and her worry for Tyler only rose the more she thought about it.
A few more seconds passed before she got most of her thoughts under control, deciding on calling her mom with the emergency phone number she had given her. Hopefully she would know what to do.
As soon as she spun around, however, a startled yelp escaped her lips.
In front of her stood a man dressed in black from top to bottom, his clothes including a tuxedo, fedora hat, dress shoes and leather gloves.
Yet again, Nicky found herself frozen in place and watched in horror as the man slowly closed the door, olive green eyes locked on her while doing so.
It was so eerily quiet while Nicky fought to control her heart beat back to a healthy speed. It wasn't until the door clicked shut and the man took a step forward that she realized the danger she was in and that she needed to get out of there.
But there was nowhere for her to run.
A/N: This chapter was no joke to write.
Well, sometimes it was. But anyway, I had to erase so much content so many times because I wasn't happy with the outcome until I finally decided on this.
Tada!
Hope you guys enjoyed reading it and I would really appreciate your feedback; I know I can improve on so many things but I can't do it unless I know what it is.
By the way, one of the first thing that was supposed to be revealed about Nicky's character was her damaged taste buds, but recently I've been thinking that I'm not getting it through. When you think about it, a sandwich with cheese, jam and bananas sounds pretty okay. I could go without the chicken, though.
Anyway, if you have any suggestions for horrible food combinations that you would like to see Nicky eat, please tell me about it and I might include it in one of the chapters.
I think that's about it. Thanks for reading!
Fun fact of the day (There already is one in this chapter, but for the sake of tradition): Over 1,000 birds a year die from smashing into windows.
-Rexx