Nicole

Chapter: 19

Nicole sat in her room, going over her notes for the test. She had been trying to do so for the whole hour but couldn't concentrate. Her eyes would slip through the words fast but her mind wouldn't comprehend. Many times, she had to reread the whole thing from the start but even then, her mind would get lost in its own world.

Finally, she closed her book and pushed her notes aside, burying her face in her hands. Her head hurt from all the thoughts that were spinning around her mind. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't push them away.

It had been two days since she went out with her siblings but it all seemed so far away. Derek was constantly trying to get to Nathan and Nicole put equal effort into trying to make sure he didn't. But she didn't know how long she could hold it all up.

She hadn't confronted Derek alone, not since he cut her palm. Part of her wanted to pull him into a corner and punch him so hard that his nose broke. But another part pulled her back, telling her that he was strong and that she would get her own bones broken. She knew exactly what parts of her telling her that. Her heart screaming for her to do the former, while her mind telling her to do the latter.

Nicole made an exasperated sound. Barely two weeks ago, her mother died in front of her eyes and she couldn't do anything about it. She'd felt as if the whole world had collapsed on her. She'd come to LA to get rid of that weight but instead, she was granted another.

She hadn't had time to mourn her mother properly. She didn't even sit beside her grave after the funeral. She thought she might go to California to take a break but had to keep herself from breaking even here. She didn't know how long she could last. She wanted to scream.

Before her thoughts completely took over her, she got up from her bed and walked outside her room. She went downstairs, feeling restless, and saw Nathan on the couch with a book in his hand. He was wearing a green T-shirt and jeans and his hair was damp and tousled as if he'd just taken a shower.

Nicole furrowed her eyebrows. She'd never seen him more ready. She walked forward, leaning on the armrest of the couch, peeking over his book, "You going somewhere?"

Nathan looked up with a hint of surprise and nodded, "Basketball practice."

Nicole blinked, "You play basketball?" she didn't think his tiny body could manage to push past people to get a ball into the hoop.

"I do now." Her eyebrows went up. "Dad said I have to. Apparently, I could use it." His eyes narrowed in curiosity and Nicole snickered.

"Alright, Nathan, let's go," Christopher said, coming out of his room. He smiled at Nicole when he saw her and she returned it politely.

"Just a minute," Nathan muttered, his eyes moving through the words of the book. Christopher inhaled and put his hands at his side, tapping his foot on the ground. Nicole's heart pinched when she remembered her mother in the same position the day she agreed to tell her a few things. Nathan glanced up at his father and sighed, "Fine." He put a bookmark on the page and closed the book, putting it aside.

As Nathan got up, Nicole noticed his untied converse over which he almost tripped but Nicole took a hold of his shoulders. "You're not going anywhere like that." She sat him down on the couch and kneeled in front of him to tie his laces.

"Really, Nathan, you couldn't tie your own laces?" Christopher asked, walking toward them.

"They loosen up on their own," Nathan retorted.

"That's why you need to tie them tightly." As Nicole said that, she pulled on the laces and Nathan winced. Then, he got up from the couch joining his father.