The Academy 2

33

Nicola's POV

I was letting out my final sniffles. Rosé was rubbing my back while Hailey was handing me tissues. Cher and Taylor had just arrived with food and Leon picked out the movie we'd be watching. My friends knew I didn't want to talk about it yet, so they didn't push me. Instead, we sat in silence while watching Titanic (maybe not the best movie to lift your spirits).

"Yasmine told me that I didn't deserve Alicia." I suddenly said. Taylor quickly paused the movie so that I could continue. "She made a valuable point though." I whispered. "I cheated on Alicia, so she doesn't trust me." I mumbled.

"It still isn't her place to be a bitch." Leon spat.

"I agree." Hailey wrapped an arm around me. "Just because she feels that way doesn't mean she can just freely insult you."

"Plus, you and Alicia worked things out." Cher pointed out. "So she should respect and support her friend. Not go behind her friend's back to sabotage her relationship."

"I know I fucked up, but I'm trying to prove to Ali everyday that she's the only girl I want." Tears were streaming down my face. "But, it's clearly not enough." I whispered. "Everything is just so hard." I sounded defeated.

"Nothing about dating a McAllister is easy, sweetheart." Leon sympathetically told me. "There will always be constant scrutiny. Are you prepared for that?" The girls shot daggers at him. "I'm on her side!" He quickly defended himself. "But it's true! Only the people at school know about their relationship. What happens when their relationship is made public and paparazzi hound her?!"

"Don't think about that." Rosé quickly butt in. "And never doubt your worth. You deserve endless happiness, and if that's Alicia... then you deserve her." She gave me a tight squeeze.

"Who are we beating up?!" The boys swung open the door.

"Yasmine Nader." Taylor stated.

"That sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen." Hyde brushed past the boys and wrapped an arm around me.

"We need to cheer her up." Shawn stated.

"How about you dye our hair crazy colors?" KJ suggested, causing Justin to fist bump him.

We all gave them a devious look. My sadness was forgotten as we ran to the store to pick up hair dye. We came back and dyed the boys' hair crazy colors. Shawn's hair was green like the joker's. KJ had half green, half pink hair. He looked like a watermelon. Justin's had neon yellow and orange hair. We tried to touch Leon's hair, but he held his hands up ready to fight us.

The boys then said that they wanted their eyebrows dyed as well. It was hysterical since we made sure that their hair and eyebrows didn't match. The boys, Leon included, said that tomorrow they would wear the girl's uniform to get me to smile. We loudly laughed and told them we expected for them to roll the skirt up, so that we could see their luscious, hairy legs.

The next day, the student body was hysterical. My guy friends see strutting around like they were on a runway. They decided to remove the vest so that it was just the white button down. We then twisted their shirts up so they looked like the school girls in the Britney Spears music video. The guys then played Britney Spears music and tried dancing in a feminine manner.

It was such a hit that Chico and Ryder joined in. Gemma thought it was funny while Zara wasn't amused. Zara had a look of annoyance, but I spotted a small smile on her face. I saw the glare Tamsin gave everyone who found the antics to be amusing. I locked eyes with Ali. She quickly walked to me, ignoring the show the boys were putting on. She took my hand and guided me to a secluded area.

"How are you holding up?" Her eyes were filled with concern.

"I'm holding." I whispered while avoiding her eyes.

"Hey." She tilted my face so that our eyes were meeting. "I'm so, so sorry you had to endure that." Her face was racked with guilt. "I specifically asked for them to look after you. If I had known that she'd take advantage-"

"Hey! It's not your fault. You didn't know." I gripped her hands. "It's just... what if she's right." I whispered as a tear escaped my eye.

"Shh." She wiped my tear. "Please, do not listen to anyone who talks negatively about our relationship. I love you and only you." She gazed deeply into my eyes. "I only want you."

"I only want you too." I whispered. "I just wish your friends would like me." I mumbled.

"The ones that matter do... and I'm not friends with Yasmine anymore."

"What?! Why?!" She was confused by my outburst.

"Because she hurt you." She slowly said.

"No! No! You shouldn't just cut her off. I'm sure she had her reasons, although I don't agree with her, but you shouldn't just stop being friends." I pleaded with her. "Sit down and talk to her when you're not emotional. And when you're rational, you can make that decision." I muttered. "I'm sure you're hurting from the friendship breakup."

"You truly do have a heart of gold." She dryly chuckled. "What did I ever do to deserve you?" She mused aloud.

"I think we're late to class." I checked the time to see that class had started 30 minutes ago.

"Well, might as well skip the rest of the day then." I rose a brow at her. "Come on, I've missed you." I couldn't help but blush when she pecked my lips. "How does an impromptu date sound?"