Look At Me {Dricki} ((((HEAVY EDITING))))

Chapter Two

Nicki's mother passed away a long time. She was ten years old when she last saw her, and it was a little hard to believe it'd been seven years already. It'd been seven years since her family had been whole. Seven years since she'd last seen a smile pass her father's face. 

Now, he was always busy with everything, big or small. He spent most of his time testing all the assortments of beers in their fridge until he was woozy and could barely stand. He drank until the white of his eyes turned bright red like blood rushing from an open wound. He drank until he'd lost himself in a fantasy world and reality became nothing but a vague distortion. And when he wasn't too busy with that, he was taking the night shifts at the corner store down the street.

Nicki remembers when she used to be apart of a normal life. That was when her mother hadn't yet been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and was a research associate for the neurological sector of the hospital for the town. 

They were a family then, when her father was still a professor for american literature at the local college. They were a family when her older brother Dante was just a student eight years older than her. Then her mother died, her brother joined the army a week after he turned eighteen, her father began to drink, and she was stuck. 

Or maybe they were both stuck, her and her father stuck with each other until they would legally be allowed to part. So for the time being, they played pretend, allowed themselves to believe that the way they lived was normal. 

But it was hard when they both remembered vividly what things used to be like. At one point, Nick had lived in a big house. A stereotypical home with white paneling and blue shutters with a light brown fence. That was until her Dad couldn't afford to pay off the mortgage any longer. The eviction sign that had hastily been placed onto their front lawn haunted her until this day. 

When the police had shown up at their front door and demanded for them to leave, they moved into a crappy apartment in the city closer to the rougher side of town. Life was just a movie for Nicki now and she unwillingly signed a contract from birth that forced her to act out the scenes.

"Nicki!" Her father yelled from the other room, putting on his 'we have company' voice.

She walked to the door of her bedroom and peeked her head around the corner. She saw Andrea standing in the frame of the doorway and her father told her to be back by ten before heading back to the kitchen. Nicki had to suppress a laugh. 

He didn't care what time she came back in all honesty. But unfortunately, he still had to say something, pretend that the life they were leading was somewhat normal and that he was actually just a regular, caring father. Nicki plays along despite this knowledge though, the lines of her script are perfectly memorized and she shouts an unconvincingly enthusiastic "okay!" to him before leaving the house and following Andrea to the bus stop.

In twenty minutes, they were at Ben's house. They head up the elevator and soon enough they're seated around a dirtied rug in a wrinkled sort of circle with beers and cigarettes strewn amongst the floor. Unsurprisingly, Nicki had a coke instead. She sipped slowly, listening as Ben and Andrea talk about useless garbage like sex and there favorite type of beer to get drunk on at partiest. 

"I'm kind of horny," Ben says suddenly, flicking the embers of his cigarette into an ashtray.

Nicki sighs, not understanding why they had to talk like that in front of her. They acted like she was one of their shadows. Like she really had no significance in being there. Why did Andrea always bring her along with her just to put her through such a thing?

"Have you ever made out with a girl before?" Ben asked to no one in particular. 

And Nick found her thoughts once again interrupted with yet another brilliant question of Ben's. Note the sarcasm. She kept her head lowered, avoiding Andrea's gaze because she didn't know if she wanted to hear the answer. 

"I've made out with all of my girl friends except for Nicki," Andrea said, smirking in her friend's direction as Nicki kept her eyes situated firmly on the ground.

"You guys should kiss," Ben said casually, smiling in Nicki's direction.

She felt the sudden urge to slap him. 

"Sure," Andrea said, leaning in towards her.

Nicki gasped, annoyed that her friend didn't even bother to consult with her first. Why was she even surprised? She knew she was just there for show. She was a well oiled machine that Andrea turned on when she needed something. 

She leaned back, pushing herself away from Andrea's advancing lips. She felt her elbow clip the side of her coke bottle in an instant, sending the brown liquid all over the table and spewing over Andrea's cell phone. Her eyes widened in annoyance.

"Shit, look what you did Nicki!" Andrea hissed.

Nicki apologized emphatically, grabbing her phone and heading to Ben's kitchen to dry it off without another word. Andrea didn't say anything else, and Nicki assumed she and Ben had already moved on and were sprawled on the floor, making out to their hearts content. 

When she reached the kitchen, she searched for a napkin. She found some in a drawer, and pressed a paper towel onto the screen, and it was only a matter of minutes before the mess is cleaned. She walks towards the living room where Ben and Andrea are when she's done, but as she reaches the door, something stops her in her tracks. She ducks her head and re-enters the kitchen on a whim, grinning when no one notices her absence. 

She sat on a stool and began to mess with Andrea's phone. When she pressed the home button she was unsurprised to find it unlocked. Andrea didn't even have a password. Nicki realized a person like her probably didn't even have much to hide. 

"Where is it?" she muttered to herself, scrolling through her extensive list of contacts.

She couldn't find the name she was searching for until she slowed down her scrolling and found a contact labeled, "Fuckboi Drake." She shook her head in disgust. She should have assumed it would be something classless like that. 

She pulled her own cheap flip phone from her pocket and hastily copied the numbers into her own contact list. It felt exhilarating to do so, but why? Was she really this pathetic to already be so infatuated with a boy she didn't even know? 

She dismissed the thoughts instantly, saving the information, and slipping her phone back into her pocket. She closed out the tabs before she dared re-enter the living room. 

"Pass it," Ben said to Andrea.

Nicki didn't look to see what he wanted from her friend. Instead, she sat on the couch behind the two and curled her knees tightly into her chest. The scent of smoke and alcohol filled the room, and it was suffocating, but she was just too tired to care. 

Suddenly she wanted to go home, but with one thought of her father entering her mind, she realized maybe this wasn't too terrible. So instead, she pulled a blanket over herself and fell asleep to the sound of the couples giggles beside her. All the while, the only thing she could think about was that despite the two people next to her, she still felt so alone. 

A/N

This chapter was basically just setting up the background on Nicki. Sorry if the next couple of chapters continue to be a little dull. They have to be that way so that I can set up the plot the way I want to. I hope you liked this chapter. Please vote and comment!

Much appreciated

Aaries_Bbaby