Lionheart

Chapter 11

                On the afternoon of that very same day, Seth accompanies Nick to the school's entrance. As they walk together in silence amongst the customarily chaotic hallways, Nick is mildly pleased to find out that his headaches have significantly decreased because of his constant exposure to Seth and Mallory's (mostly Mallory's) antics. Of course, it certainly isn't good to be accustomed to the recent mayhem in his life, but there is nothing more he can do at this point in time.

However, Mallory still grates at Nick's nerves as much as before, if not more. In fact, as of the moment, he is looking at her standing next to some random student's locker and grinning at him and Seth like the shit she is. The only thing amusing about the situation is the food stuck between her incisors. It was the skin of the half-eaten apple she currently has in her hand.

Nick notices Seth stop walking, and the sudden halt in movement earns them both frowns and light pushes from passing students. They ease up when Nick narrows his eyes at them threateningly. He isn't inclined to wait for Seth, and is ready to leave until Seth regards him with a conflicted frown on his face.

"What?" Nick impatiently asks. He has things to do.

"Should I tell her?"

Nick has half a mind to tell Mallory about the food stuck between her teeth in a voice loud enough for anyone within earshot to pick up.

But he has better things to do in his life. For example, he needs to get the groceries to save his mother the trouble.

"Whatever. I'm going home."

"Okay, I'll tell her. Wait here!"

Really, since when did Seth ever listen?

Nick sighs and approaches Seth and Mallory with slight trepidation. It has been a while since Mallory last pissed him off directly, and he isn't ready to have his day butchered.

He watches Seth lean down to whisper into Mallory's ear, and oddly enough, Mallory blushes and turns around to probably lick the apple skin off her teeth. Nick is thankful she doesn't use her finger to do it; the thought alone makes him cringe.

When Mallory turns back around, she snorts and actually begins to look sheepish. Nick raises an eyebrow at that.

"Woops... hehe. Thanks, Seth."

Seth nods and smiles kindly. "No problem," and in no time at all, his smile turns apologetic. He raises a placating hand at the girl. Unsurprisingly, Mallory is standing on her toes, looking almost expectantly up at Seth. Despite her small stature, she and her almost obsessive fixation on Seth bother Nick immensely; it's almost amazing. "Sorry, Mallory. I'm walking with Nick today. I'll talk to you later?" Perhaps it's even more amazing—though a little bit predictable—that Seth and Mallory would be in constant correspondence with each other.

Mallory swats Seth's arm and pushes him in Nick's direction. "Don't worry about it!" Nick notes that she's still pretty much bouncing on her feet. She turns her head to give Nick the hairy eyeball. "Hey, don't do anything stupid," she warns.

Nick feels Seth begin to panic next to him. "Go hit the books, moron," he quips back instead and waves her off. He and Seth resume their walk to the exit.

"Oh yeah," Seth mutters offhandedly. "Quarterly exams are coming up soon, aren't they? Time sure flies..." Nick side-eyes the black-haired teen. He looks oddly troubled, judging by the way he scowls deeply and combs some of his hair behind his left ear. Seth falls silent next to Nick, and because Nick can admit to himself that he has always been curious about Seth's academic performance, he asks, "What's with exams? We have them all the time."