close [nick robinson au]

「00」 A Word Like "Duck"

Nick was in no rush to get to class; the bell rang loud and shrill into his ears and he didn't so much as bat an eye. Tardiness wasn't a problem for him, he had a permanent pass and he took full advantage of it. Plus it was fun to see the look on his classmates faces when he walked in many minutes late and didn't get reprimanded. 

Usually the hallways were empty within thirty seconds of the bells going off,  but today there was another straggler a few feet in front of him. Nick had barely begun to notice the bounce of his curly brown hair when his ears were assaulted by an extremely loud rendition of a word shockingly similar to duck. 

Without thinking too much about it, he let out a low whistle of appreciation, and the boy whipped around so fast he was surprised he didn't snap his neck in the process.

"What?"

Nick shrugged off her provoking tone, slightly affronted. "Nothing, I just didn't expect to hear that on my way to Bio. Is the rest of your vocabulary that colorful?"

He narrowed his eyes at him, a flicker of recognition passing through them before he looked away. "Whatever Nick, I don't have time for this."

Nick's forehead crinkled when his name fell from the boy's lips, but he didn't have time to do anything about it. H had already disappeared into one of the many rooms lining the hallway, which would've left it empty if he wasn't still standing dumbfounded in the middle of it.

That was the first time he really noticed him, and for some reason he was determined to make sure it wasn't the last.