Nico Vaughan, the junior class "Nice Girl" wants to be free from her abusive and obsessive ex-boyfriend.
Valen Henford, the school's resident "Rich Guy meets Bad Boy" wants to spend his senior year with the girl he's been in love with for years.
W...
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"...I wasn't born to be the soft and quiet girl... I was born to make the world shake at my fingertips..." (Dolores Lane).
|◁ II ▷|
I sit down at my table, lazily flinging my lunchbox down. Amber is already there, and she's pulling a carrot stick up to her mouth when she sees me and West. Her eyes widen and the carrot stick is lowered.
"Hey, West," she chirps.
West nods back at her and sits beside Sam on the other side of the long rectangle table. There are six open seat, ten seats in total. I always wonder if someone will need a place to sit, but there aren't any people eating alone today.
Sam smiles at me, his blue eyes growing slightly darker as his pupils grow slightly. "Nico. Amber."
We say a few "hi"s, and I can practically see the question "Are you going to the party next Friday?" floating around in Sam's head. I wait for him to ask as I unzip my lunchbox. It seems everybody is obsessed with this party.
"Hey, Nico," a soft voice greets. I turn to see a mop of dark hair, and it slightly rises to reveal Reed's face, a guy in my music class who is phenomenal at writing sheet music for accompaniments.
I smile back at him. "Hey, Reed. You want to sit with us today?"
He shakes his head, his cheeks growing warm. He glances around the lunchroom, his eyes arriving on someone.
"Um, I wanted to ask—well, I wondered wha—what you thought, um, with—I mean—"
"Spit it out, man," Sam snaps, glaring at Reed. Reed, who is two years younger than Sam, looks at me for what I assume is support. I turn my gaze to Sam, feeling annoyance rise. He very rudely rolls his eyes at me.
"Nico," Reed says, determined. "Did Claire seem...distant today? Or sad? Or was it just to me? I'm sorry for bringing you into th—"
"No!" I exclaim. I like to help people, and I like to be in on the drama. What? I'm human.
I think back to music class. Claire kept blinking her eyes and putting her hand over her mouth. She was obviously tired today.
I hum. "She looked tired. You could talk to her, and maybe ask her if she slept well last night. She might be going through something you can help support her with, or she might have stayed up too late doing something she loves. It would be good conversation."
Reed smiles and leaves, saying a quick "Thanks!"
I feel a large presence arrive at the table, much larger than Reed. I look up, expecting either some of the baseball boys, the churchy guys West hangs out with on the weekends, or a guy Amber has on her roster with his friends.
