Chapter Eighteen – The Talk
The world around Nicolette was silent except for the quiet drumming of the rain. By now, her whole body was soaked from head to toe and she was beginning to shiver slightly. One however, would say that it was almost peaceful if it weren’t for the fact that a hooded figure stood a couple of meters away from her holding a metal baseball bat.
She stared at it, trying to determine if the person was just late for the Halloween party, but her guts were against it. Something about the figure scared her.
The figure stood motionless for a second before it stepped under the dimly lit path.
Nicolette almost gave a huge sigh of relief when she recognized who the figure was. At least it was someone she recognized…
“Jerome… if that’s your name, what are you doing here with a baseball bat?” she demanded.
He stared at her with a bitter expression. “I’m here for Tessa,” he replied sourly.
Nicolette frowned at him; “She’s at the party—”
“I know and right at this moment, she’s talking Devon,” he cut in.
Her jaw dropped, “How do you know—”
“Because I’m not looking for her. I was looking for the person standing in front of me.”
“Why were you looking for me?” demanded Nicolette suspiciously.
Jerome gripped the bat tighter in his hand, trying to stop himself from quivering and backing down on this. He had to do it. “I came here to do one thing and one thing only.” he said calmly, “it’s to get rid of you.”
Nicolette’s eyes widened and her mind sped, trying to think of something to say, anything to stall this process so she can somehow reach into her pocket and call the police. “So Tessa set you up for this?” she asked, slowly slipping her hand into her back pocket and trying to make it look like she was awaiting an answer.
“She didn’t set me up for it. I decided to do it. I love her and all I want to do is to make her happy. How can I do that when you’re always in the way?” he growled. “Always with Devon Shade?”
Her debating skills might come in handy about now… “But she likes someone else, so are you truly doing this just for the fact that you want to make her happy?” she questioned, “when in the end, if you get rid of me, she’s just going to go back to Devon?”
Jerome’s eyes hardened. “I’ll get rid of him as well then.”
“But will that make her happy?” retorted Nicolette just as she took her cell phone out of her pocket and flipped it open behind her back.
“She’ll like me a lot more after this.” he muttered.
Nicolette frowned, trying to figure out how she was going to dial nine-one-one if she couldn’t even see the key pad. “You know ambition is healthy, but obsession is not,” said Nicolette softly while struggling to find a way to dial the right numbers. “You, my friend, are obsessed.”
“Shut up!” he growled, gripping the bat even tighter.
“So is this what you want? To go to jail for a girl who barely acknowledges your existence?”
“You’re lying!” yelled Jerome as he suddenly closed in the space between the two of them and swung the bat as hard as he could.
It was lucky that Nicolette was anticipating this and began to run, but it had just nicked hard against her ribs, causing a few seconds of pain. She only had a bit of a head start, which meant she had enough time to punch in nine-one-one with her numb fingers. Even with a bat at hand however, Jerome managed to catch up with her and swing the bat once more.
This time, the metal bat connected with the back of her knees and she tumbled head first into the murky puddle of water. Nicolette gasped in pain as stars danced around her vision for a few seconds before it threatened to turn disappear under her eyelids. Even though the back of her legs were screaming in pain, Nicolette needed to keep herself awake, just long enough to talk to him.
“You can’t do this.” she said shakily. “You can’t, your whole life would go down the drain if you do. I’ll promise you that.”
Jerome gritted his teeth, the bat still held over his head, ready so strike her, but something had changed in his eyes. “Y…you don’t know that!”
“Oh yes I do, you’re going to regret it.”
“Why aren’t you scared? Why are you still being nice to me?” he demanded, slowly bringing the bat down to his side.
Before Nicolette answer, another figure collided with Jerome and he was thrown off balance.
For a moment, it was silence again, nothing but the soft drumming of the rain. And then the figure spoke,
“If you dare hurt her or anyone else again… I will kill you, but as a friend,” Devon took a deep breath in while glaring at Jerome, “I’ll give you a second chance.” he said, before turning to walk towards Nicolette. She was breathing shallow, but conscious.
“Are you okay?” he demanded.
She closed her eyes for a second, before speaking, “You…you…didn’t need to do that.” she said softly, completely ignoring his question, “I had it under control.”
“Are you CRAZY?! You could have gotten killed if I hadn’t save you!” he yelled.
Nicolette huffed and looked away, “Well I’m sorry to break the news to you hun, but you came a little too late, and therefore you didn’t save me, you merely knocked him to the ground. If you wanted to save me, you should have came five minutes ago. You didn’t, so I saved myself with my quick thinking.”
Devon rolled his eyes, but chuckled, “Alright, alright, can you get up?”
“Of course I—” She stopped in mid-sentence as he suddenly scooped her up. “LET ME DOWN!” she screamed.
“I don’t think so. I don’t know where you got hurt, but I don’t trust your judgment at all.”
“Well, I don’t trust you either!” countered Nicolette, “now, LET ME—”
The last word was muffled by Devon’s lips as he pressed it against hers.
After a few seconds, he broke away, “You got to talk less and kiss more.”
***
“You idiot, I can’t believe you did that for me and failed!” said Tessa, half smiling, half angry.
Jerome rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. “I’m sorry…” he mumbled.
Tessa sighed and sat down on her couch, “Forget it. You’re too wimpy to do anything for me, but I’ll have one last go at it. I’m going to give her one last warning; if she doesn’t get the last one, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
“Tessa…” began Jerome slowly, “I don’t think Devon ever liked you the way you liked him, and right now, this whole situation is proving it further.”
“Nonsense! Whose side are you on? His or mine?” she demanded.
He bowed his head, “Yours…”
“Good, now you’re helping me with this because if I can’t have Devon, nobody can.
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Sorry that it's short, the next chapter will probably be longer!
Another note, I have two stories that I want to write after this story is over, so help me choose by going to my page and reading both plots. Then tell me which one you would rather read first! :)
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The Keys to My Heart
Teen FictionNicolette Sincliar has been through enough breakups that would last her a life time. Decided that she had enough, she vows to never fall in love with a guy again and be crushed by them again. But what happens when her mother send her away to an acad...
