Nicole dreaded just walking into school the next day, knowing it was her first day as Seth's very own little "minion", to say the least. She had no idea what could be waiting for her, what he could possibly tell her to do. She had spent the entire night reading his ridiculous contract—which as a result, took away many hours of sleep that were now weighing on her. To say she was cranky this morning, would be a severe understatement.
"What's going on?" Serena asked, approaching Nicole's locker.
"I'm tired."
"No shit—I'm saying what's new." Serena raised her eyebrows impatiently, waiting for Nicole to elaborate on anything. "I feel like we've hardly spoken—and what's with you and Seth Lee all of a sudden being pals? I saw you guys leaving the cafeteria at lunch yesterday. What was that—"
"It's none of your God damned business, Serena!" Nicole snapped, abruptly turning to face the blonde. She was far too tired to hear all these questions this early in the morning, not to mention hearing Seth's name right now, was the last thing Nicole needed. She hadn't meant to snap at her friend. She was just overwhelmed and couldn't help it.
Serena's jaw clenched momentarily. "You're going to put some guy you hate above me? Above your best friend?"
"Good God, Serena." Nicole pinched the bridge of her nose, already feeling a headache forming. "I don't know what to tell you. There's nothing fucking going on. Why can't you just let it go?"
"You're my friend, I'm just looking out for you."
"There's nothing to fucking look out for!"
"Well, maybe if you—"
"Alright, alright! Cut it out, ladies—it's far too fucking early for this."
Nicole closed her eyes, exhaling a small breath of relief once hearing the voice belonging to a familiar football player.
Chase looked at Serena, tossing a flat look. "You're going to be late to class, princess. Wouldn't want to mess up that perfect attendance record, would you?"
Squinting at Chase, Serena scowled before in fact scampering off.
"Thank you, Chase." Nicole offered a faint smile before pulling open her locker and gathering the rest of her books. "I can't tell you how badly I needed that."
"It's been a while," Chase said, grinning, as he leaned against the neighbouring locker. He peered at Nicole, noticing the lack of sleep she wore. "What is it with you and Serena anyway?"
Nicole shook her head tiredly, unable to explain it herself. "She just—asks a lot of questions."
The two walked to class together, getting lost in conversation. Eventually, Nicole was again turned sour when she got to her seat which happened to be beside Jason's. Just her luck.
"Chase?" Jason asked, scoffing when Nicole sat down.
Nicole turned to look at him, eyes narrowed questioningly. "Problem?"
"Did I say there is?"
"Then why are you asking?"
"Oh, sue me, Palmer." Jason rolled his eyes. He was seemingly cranky himself this morning. "I was just—"
"Just what?" Nicole laughed dryly. "Prying into business that isn't yours? A talent of yours, I see."
Jason scowled at her. "You're insufferable, you know that. I can't say a bloody word without you—fucking mauling my head off for it."
"Maybe you should try—"
"Mister Pearson!" The teacher called out loudly, casting a silence upon the whole room. "And Miss Palmer, of course. My best and worst student."
Nicole sucked in a sharp breath as she sunk down in her chair—all while Jason snickered at the fact that Nicole was called out far more embarrassingly than he was.
"A bit of an exaggeration, sir," Nicole muttered quietly.
"I don't think so," the teacher spoke matter-of-a-factly. "Since you two seem so engaged in what I'm assuming, must be an enlightening conversation, why don't you, Jason, tutor your friend? She is failing this class, as I'm sure you know."
Nicole grimaced as the diabolical teacher continued to embarrass her. "I think I'll pass, with all due respect."
"It wasn't a suggestion," the teacher bit back sharply. "Unless you both would like to serve detention for the remainder of the month—I'm offering this alternative."
"Detention? We didn't even—"
"I've had plenty of your interruptions in my classroom, Miss Palmer." He then glanced at Jason, shooting the same disapproving look. "That goes for you as well, Mister Pearson. What'll it be?"
Nicole and Jason shared a look.
"Detention it is," Nicole grumbled.
"Sounds like a great alternative, sir," Jason muttered grimly.
"There we have it." The teacher grinned faintly as he turned back towards his desk. "I expect your average to be raised to at least a seventy percent, Miss Palmer. That's a long road to go."
Nicole cursed under her breath as quiet snickers floated around the room.
Jason slowly turned his head to look at Nicole. He snickered himself, an eyebrow quirked. "I guess I'll be seeing you after school."
Twirling her pencil between her fingers, Nicole's head rested in the palm of her hand as she read over her notes in third period. She was feeling much calmer—all until she felt a nagging presence shadowing over her. She lifted her head, sighing softly when she locked eyes with Seth. Of course, smirking down at her. "Darling." "Don't call me that." "Don't tell me what I can and can't call you, darling." He lifted an eyebrow, challengingly. "God, just—shut up." She dropped her head back in her palm and figured it be best to ignore his presence. Leave me be, for the love of God. Seth sucked in a sharp breath, dramatizing. "Don't tell me to shut up." "I can do whatever—" Nicole cut herself off, wincing faintly. She actually could not do whatever she pleased. She had to do what he pleased. "Ah, she's learning quickly." Nicole tossed a flat look. "Excuse me?" "Our little agreeme—" "Ah—" Nicole held up her finger. "Page four, second article. You cannot bring up the topic whenever
Nicole leaned against her locker at the end of the day, entirely zoned out. She blankly watched the students filled in the hallway; loud chatter, lockers slamming, bustling feet scurrying out of the place. It was like she could see a bunch of mouths moving but not a sound was making its way through her ears. She was tired. Mentally. A hand on her shoulder jerked her back into reality as she spun abruptly. "What do you want?" Her eyebrows knitted together when she looked at Parker, the last person she expected to approach her. "I just—uh—saw you here and thought I'd say hey." The boy rubbed the side of his neck, evidently unsure of himself. He wasn't quite sure what he was doing here. Nicole's eyes narrowed; suddenly everything seemed suspicious, with this truce she had going on with Seth. She could never be too sure what any of them whatever. "Right. Of course. That makes absolute sense," she muttered, sarcasm between her words. Parker slightly leaned against the neighbouring loc
"How'd the tutoring go?""We made progress," Nicole shrugged. She was not in the mood to talk about Jason or any of his friends."That's good," Chase nodded, giving her a small smile.Nicole and Chase leaned against some lockers, waiting for the warning bell to ring so they could head to class."Hey Chase!" A voice called out. Chase and Nicole both glanced over to see a guy jogging over to them before he greeted Chase. "Are you coming out with the team tonight?""Uh, I was actually going t-"Chase was cut off by the guy. "You can bring your girlfriend along, I'm pretty sure some of the other guys are bringing their girls too." He was beaming, smiling and in an ecstatic mood.Nicole's cheeks heated up at the comment, causing her to look down at her feet to avoid both their gazes.Chase awkwardly coughed, blushing himself. "She's not my girlfriend, Zylen... but I'll let you know later. I should be getting to first period soon."Zylen nodded, sending Chase a grin. "Okay man, and it was n
"- And then, he basically started crying!" Zylen chuckled, as he told the group of friends a story about when they pranked some kid in one of his classes."Guys are always so harsh," Celia shook her head as she took a sip of her Coca-cola."Girls are pretty confusing too," Chase piped in."Are not!" Nicole retorted."Are too!" Asher smirked."How?" Nicole raised an eyebrow."Well, why is it necessary for you guys to always wear makeup?" Asher asked."I don't," Nicole shrugged."You sure need it... Though it probably won't help," Emma muttered, taking a sip of her salad.Nicole had gotten a ride with Chase after school as all of them met up at the pizza shop, basically the plan that Chase had mentioned to Nicole earlier in the morning. Nicole had started to like his friends and they all liked Nicole too, minus Emma who had a problem with her for some reason which Nicole was unaware and confused about but she tried not to let it get to her head otherwise she would think too deep about i
"How do you figure out if someone's the right person?""Uh, what?"Nicole spun around to see none other than Jason. She slowly shook her head, sighing. "I thought you were someone else," she told him, which was true. Celia had texted her earlier this morning telling her she would meet her by her locker later at school today so she assumed it was Celia behind her, not Jason.Parker's words repeated in her mind all night after he had left the park and the more she thought about it, the more confused she got. Not only about what he said, but about everything, about how he may have meant it, how she should take it, how she feels."Well, okay," Jason shrugged, little confused still about what Nicole had just said but he decided that it was probably something stupid as he shrugged it off though he knew it would be stuck at the back of his mind. "Am I tutoring you again?" He asked."Why are you asking me?""Because ... You're the one that needs to be tutored.." He muttered, confused."I know
"So, uh.. What did Emma say to you?" Jason asked, hesitantly and not sure if it was a good idea to ask but his curiosity got the best of him."Huh?" Nicole gave him an utterly lost look."At lunch, when Chase came over." Jason reminded her."Oh," Nicole nodded in realization. "Nothing much, just basically told me that I'm ugly ya know," she shrugged her shoulders, not making it a big deal. She wasn't in the mood to beat around the bush and also knew Jason would keep asking until she answered."What? Why would she do that?" Jason's eyebrows pulled together in confusion."She doesn't exactly like me," Nicole shrugged as she looked up from her math textbook that was sprawled in front of her on Jason's room floor. "Anyways, I think I'm kinda getting the hang of this, it's just that Mr Willow sucks at explaining anything."Jason nodded. "I know what you mean. It's more about paying attention to watching him show how to do it rather then listen to him speak since that part makes no sense.""
"Okay muffin," Aidan chuckled as he grabbed Nicole off the table so she was hanging off his shoulder like Santa's sac. "I think you've preformed enough," he told her as he placed her on the ground.Nicole frowned. "It was only one song,""More like 7 in counting.. And these guys are getting more drunk by the second,""Aw!" Nicole cooed as she pinched Aidan's cheeks. "Is my little muffin being all protective?""No." He muttered, his cheeks tinging pink.Nicole grabbed a cup from the table and just as Aidan was about to grab it, she drowned it down."Okay, that's enough for you," he grabbed the cup out of her hands and shook his head."You're no fun," she pouted."You'll be glad when you wake up," he mumbled.❀"Where is she?""What the hell?" Jason muttered."Where the hell did she go?" Asher growled."Woah, man chill. Who are you even talking about?" Seth asked."Nicole!""What?""What?""Where is she?" Asher muttered."How am I suppose to know!?" Jason growled. "She was with Parker a
"Are we going on an adventure?" Nicole slurred, grinning like a cheshire cat. The alcohol was making her mind spin, not seeing anything clearly."We're going home," Jason muttered dryly, not amused by her drunk state.The five of them walked out of the party, Nicole leaning against Logan as he helped her get to the car since she couldn't walk straight."But what about my favourite rocket ship?" She frowned, not even sure what she was saying."It's getting repaired," Logan replied grimly, grinning a little because he hadn't seen Nicole drunk like this before."Foreal man?" Jason asked in disbelief, giving him an odd look."You never crush a drunk girls dreams," Logan shrugged casually.Jason scoffed."But I can't go home!" Nicole exclaimed. "Mommy's going to cut my arm into ten pieces and eat it and daddy's going to kill you!" She pointed to Jason. Her eyes widened with fear as she thought about how her mother would react to seeing her this drunk."Why me?" Jason asked with his eyebrow