When Travis and Nicole meet on a bus for the first time, he thinks she's his ex, Rachel, who broke his heart two years ago. But he doesn't understand why she's pretending to not know him, and his curiosity leads him to keep an eye on her.
It doesn'...
TW: Mentions of accident and death. It's neither graphic nor intense, but I'm probably not the judge of that. Please tread with caution.
Nicole
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On Friday, during lunch break, I stood at my locker, unpacking books. Marilyn materialized out of nowhere, grabbed my hand, and firmly closed my locker. Before I could utter a word of protest, I was being dragged into the cafeteria.
Merlinda, awaiting my arrival, pulled out my seat, and Marilyn shoved me into it. A tray of food was pushed in front of me. A carton of orange juice appeared. Stunned, I watched as a fork was dropped beside my plate on the tray.
"It's about time," Marilyn said as she relaxed back in her own seat. Her expression turned dead serious. "What did we ever do to you?"
"What?"
"You've been avoiding us." She stated. "Why?"
My eyes flickered on their own accord over to where Jahdiel sat with her focus trained intently on her food only. I knew she could feel my eyes on her, but she made no attempt to look up.
Ignoring the stirring beneath my chest, I lifted my eyes back to Marilyn's probing ones. "Nothing," I cleared my throat. "Just um... busy."
"Busy hurling boys against lockers?" Merlinda laughed and cocked her head. "My goodness, Nicole, what is this I'm hearing about you?"
"From what I heard, she lifted Dylan with her pinkie." Marilyn polished off a cookie.
Despite myself, I laughed. "Well, he was saying shit about my friends, so... I couldn't just stand there and do nothing."
Curious, Merlinda leaned forward. God, she looked so perfect and well groomed—not even a strand of hair out of place. "About your friends?" She had a gleam in her eye that was nothing short of awe. "As in, us?" She glanced around at our table.
"You're my only friends." I reminded her. Jahdiel choked on air, reached for her carton of apple juice, and gulped everything down.
"So you went all red fire on him because of us?" Marilyn looked deeply touched. She placed a hand over her breasts. "Wow. I've never had anyone fight for me before. Unless The Savior that is."
Amused, I nodded. "Right."
"And I underestimated your strength."
"It's dance," I shrugged. "I might be small, but I work out a lot, and I know how to control my body."
"Sounds healthy."
"But that wasn't the only thing he said." I proceeded to fill them in about how he humiliated me because I was a virgin, what Colin said, and when I finished, they looked dumbfounded. Well, except Jahdiel, who refused to look at me still.
"That is so nasty." Merlinda dropped her head in her hands. In a typical Merlinda-like manner, she started blaming herself. "Nicole, I'm so sorry. I feel like a slimy something for even encouraging you to go out with him at all."
