2024 Nick
In the morning I wake up next to Mom and Dory. We all slept together in Mom and Dad's bed, which is from now on, I guess, only Mom's. Dad hasn't slept in it for a while I guess anyway. We go through our morning routine without a word.
Getting into school I go to my locker when I meet Debbie and her gang again. They are standing five lockers away from mine and they can't stop grinning. I guess I can say goodbye to my lunch money again, which is really unfair because I haven't got any money from my parents lately as I was being punished, but now in the morning Dad just gave me.
The corridor smells funny and it's even worse as I arrive to my locker. I open it and something disgusting spills on my face and on my shirt. I scream as I'm really frightened. Whatever it is it really smells bad. I should have known it better. Debbie and the guys laugh of course.
" Look little Nicki must have left some food in his locker. We all know what that means. " Debbie teases me.
I just stand there and have no idea what to do.
" Whoa that school counselor of yours must have done a good job. Don't you want to hit us anymore? Yell anymore? "
I know that this is really bad but now I feel like I'm about to cry. I feel the tears burning my eyes. Luckily, I can't believe I thought that it is lucky, but luckily my face is covered so no one can see my expression.
" Oh Nicki, it's so disgusting. "
" Yeah, so gross. "
" Your parents will need nose-clips to go near you. "
That last one really hurts especially now. I know this is the worst thing I can do but I start to sob loudly and tears are rolling down on my face. I sit down on the ground and cover my face with my hands. I expect someone to kick me. But nothing happens I just pathetically cry in front of my classmates on a school corridor. I can hear the schoolbell ringing. Great.
I refuse to open my eyes for minutes. No one touches me. When I finally do and look up I find the corridor empty except the small, blond girl looking at me with wide eyes, sitting face to face with me by the other wall. Debbie.
" What are you doing here? Is it funny? " I ask. I still can't stop crying.
" No, no, of course not. " she says. She seems surprised which is understandable. The last time I cried publicly was when I was about four. One of the first things my parents taught me was never ever to cry in front of your bullies.
" What are you doing here? Isn't this enough already? Go away and leave me, please. " I ask still crying.
" Nick… What's wrong? "
" Go away. " I beg her.
" Nick. Did something happen? "
" Something happen? I am covered with some disgusting shit you put into my locker, everyone hates me at school, everyone hates me at home, my parents are getting divorced and I know it's because of me, but guess what? That doesn't matter anymore because I'm gonna run away and no one will find me ever again. "
" Oh my God, Nick. Uncle Sheldon and Aunt Amy are getting divorced? That's bad. I'm sorry. "
" That's none of your business. I don't know why I told you. "
" Nick, you can't run away. "
" I can and I will. I already have a plan. You can't stop me. "
" Nick, that's stupid. You can't run away. " she says and offers me a tissue.
It's kind of humiliating but I can't see any other option to get rid of the stuff on my face so I accept it.
" Why do you pretend to care? You hate me. " I ask.
" I don't hate you. " she says quietly.
" What? "
" I don't hate you. "
" Come on, Deb, it's just the two of us now. No parents, no teachers. You don't have to act. You bully me ever since I can remember it. "
" I don't hate you, Nick. I just… I can't believe you can't see it. It's so annoying. Everyone adores you and treats you like you were special. You are the little boy genious, the child prodigy. You are the cute little version of your Dad's annoying things. Still nothing you do annoys anyone, but me. My parents are fans of you. Aunt Penny is head over heels for you. Even your sister thinks you are the most amazing damned thing on earth. She protects you behind your back all the time. And Justin? He just follows you like a puppy. Everyone is talking about you, about what you already know, how your skills keep improving. They keep guessing what career you'll choose. And they all want you to choose theirs. They are competing for your attention. No one really cares about me like that. Not even my own parents. Especially since Chloe was born…"
Now I am shocked. I just can't believe that. What is she talking about? Can't she see that this isn't good for me? Can't she see that no one treats me normal? That they are lingering on my mistakes? Can't she see that at school I'm either bullied or punished or bored and my home is literally a living hell? Not to mention my parents didn't even want to have me in the first place.
" Are you saying seriously that YOU are jealous of ME? "
" Maybe. Now ever since we are in school all I can hear is how hard this is for you. They worry about you. All of them. No one worries about me. My parents care about Chloe, like she is so little and cute and needs to take care of. No one does that for me. Everyone thinks I can take care of myself just because I happen to have friends at school. But I'm not cute and little and not a genious like you. I know I'm not dumb, but that's not interesting at all. I feel like I'm no one." Now an count pretty well. I think trying to comfort her would be too much so I offer her the tissue she gave me. Now it's clearly used and smelly, but it's the only thing I feel like doing at the moment.
She accepts it and gives me a slight smile.
" I'm sorry. I mean I grew up with this. I think the first thing my parents ever taught me was to treat you well, because you are so freaking special and different and smart. "
" The first thing my parents taught me was not to cry when I get bullied. " I say. I don't know why am I this nice. I mean this is still the Debbie I hate.
" I guess today we both failed horribly. " she says and now she almost laughs. Okay, I have to admit, that's funny.
" Yes. You should go to class. You must be really late now. " I finally stand up.
" Sure. Why are you this normal to me? " she asks.
" I don't know. You were terrible to me. "
" I know. " she says standing up. She sounds quite serious. " Don't you come? "
I point with my head in the dircetion of my open drawer still filled with that thing.
" I'll take care of that. "
" No, you won't. " she says and before I could have a chance to do or say anything I can feel that she grabs my hand and starts to run. I have no idea what she could be up to and I'm a little scared but more curious so I let her drag myself through the school.
We stop at the principal's office. She knocks on the door.
Principal Alvarez says that we could come in but she is buried behind her monitor. When she stands up we can see that she is grinning.
" What's that smell? Did your teacher send you here? " she asks.
" No, Mrs Alvarez, we've come here on our own. I made a prank on Nick and it turned out to be really bad. I put rotten bananas and vegetables into his locker. " Debbie says. She finally lets go of my hand.
Mrs Alvarez nods then sits down on one of her armchairs facing us.
" How did you open his locker? " she asks Debbie.
" I opened it with hairpins. I learned that from… youtube. " She learned it from his Dad, who is amazing at lockpicking.
" I don't know how to react to that. That sounds and smells awful. I think I should call both of your parents.
" No! I mean, it's not necessary Mrs Alvarez. I'm fine. I have a shirt for gym class I could put on. " I say immediately. I really don't want to see my parents now.
" Are you sure? If you'd like to stay home after that incident, I'd totally understand"
" No. I'm okay. "
" Good to hear that Mr Cooper. Maybe you could go wash yourself and put on that clean shirt of yours. I'll tell Mrs Rhodes you were missing the class for a good reason. "
" Thank you Mrs Alvarez. " I say but I don't go anywhere
" Well, Mr Cooper. I think you should go. "
" What will happen to her? " I can't believe I asked that. Not that I care. I mean Debbie is the worst and she deserves any punishment. I've been punished because of her like for a million times.
" Well, bullying is a serious topic. It's something we clearly can't tolerate these days. I'm afraid we have to call Mr and Mrs Wolowitz in at first. "
" It's Mr and Dr Wolowitz actually. " I say and wink at Debbie before I leave the office.
2024 Sheldon and Amy
knock knock knock "Amy"
knock knock knock "Amy"
knock knock knock "Amy"
Sheldon was standing in front of Amy's laboratory. In the old times he paid visits here in the biology department quite often, they had lunch together or just talked and sometimes not just talked, but ever since his wife won that Nobel and became this successful, he never visited her lab ever again. He wanted to avoid the people telling him how brilliant and amazing Amy was. He knew how brilliant and amazing she was, that's why he got close to her in the first place. He just wanted to avoid being compared to her or being linked to her at all. It was silly because they were married and shared the same last name. Also CalTech wasn't big enough for keeping any secrets. To remind him that it was written on the door: Amy Farrah Cooper PhD. He was wondering whether Amy will go for her old name after their divorce.
" Come in. " Amy's voice said.
She stood behind a microscope in her usual lab coat and glasses. Sheldon wanted to meet her here because this was the best way to avoid another dramatic scene.
" Hello. "
" I'm surprised by your visit. It's been a long time. " she said. She sounded calm.
" Yeah, it's been. Anyway I just wanted to inform you that I've already found an aparment. "
Amy gulped.
" Really? That was fast. "
" Yes. I haven't seen it yet, but it sounds good so far. I've seen pictures and I think it's really suitable for me at least for a while. So I'm gonna go there today afternoon and if there are no bad surprises, I'll sign the contract and I can move out on the weekend. "
" Oh. Where is it? "
" South Oakland Avenue. " Just three miles away from our house.
" That's not far from here at all. " she saids smiling.
" No. I wanted to stay close. You know because of work and the kids… "
" Shall I come with you? "
" Thank you, but I guess I can take care of this. "
" I'm glad you came here. There's something I need to tell you too. Bernadette called half an hour ago. "
" I'm not interested in your chit-chat. "
" There was no chit-chat. She called to tell me that Debbie got suspended for the rest of the
week because she made a prank on Nick. She's been bullying him for a long time. "
" Is Nick okay? "
" Yeah, he's all right. He stayed at school. Debbie begged Bernie not to call me. She said that Nick didn't want us to know. "
Sheldon nodded with a painful expression.
" I'm really sorry, Sheldon. " Amy added.
" For what exactly? "
" For not noticing. For not listening to him or to you. I should have. "
" I guess it's too late now. " he answered.
" For us it is. But not for Nick. You should talk to him. Maybe if you're not so busy this afternoon you could take him somewhere. Not buy him another toy but rather talk to him. Apparently you get this more than I do. I'll take Dorothy home with me so it can be just the two of you. "
" I told you that I will be looking for a new apartment today afternoon. I highly doubt that would cheer him up. "
" Okay. Maybe tomorrow? "
He could see that actually that was not okay for Amy, she just wanted to avoid fighting.
" No, I'll go back and finish work early today. Then I'll have time for both the apartment and Nick. "
" Thanks. I'm appreciating it very much. "
Sheldon nodded. "Well, I'm doing it for my son. "
" Yeah, I know. " She answered
" Then maybe I should get going…"
Amy was smiling slightly. " Bye, Sheldon. "
I know you were all hoping that things will get better on the Shamy part, not on the Debbie part, but hey, it's something! :) Be patient and we'll get there. I still love reviews. Next two chapters are ready, so I think I'll post them this week on a daily basis, but tomorrow I have to get back to work, so for the future I can't promise anything, only that I won't forget about this fic. According to my plan ten chapters are left til the end.