"Scalawag, meet Niko. Niko, this is Scalawag."
He nodded in my direction, "Hey".
"Hey," I said lowly.
Ivy sighed, "You boys and your nervousness. I swear, you'll regret being so childish when you're old and a sexy nurse is handing you pills in one of those plastic cups." She began shaking her head and opened the door to my truck. "Niko, you take the backseat, okay?"
"Yeah, sure."
We all hopped in and I started driving off.
"So, where are you from?" I asked curiously.
"Texas."
"Really, I thought you only had family in Florida, Ivy?"
"We didn't even know he existed until they called my dad at work. Crazy shit."
I stopped talking and tried to think about what's it like to not know anything about your family.
"Okay, your schedule says you have the first two blocks with me and Scally, and then third and fourth on your own, then lunch, and then me and Scalawag for fifth and sixth."
"Scalawag?" He furrowed his brow.
She hugged me tightly, "My beautiful man beast, Cal."
"Our you two dating? "
"Eww." She let go of me. "We've been best friends since the first grade when I threw a baseball at his head. Knocked him unconscious. How could I ever date someone who couldn't take a hit. Well let's get to English, we need to make you a good first impression." And she started skipping down the hallway.
I looked over at Niko. "She's a handful, but she's a really good friend."
He shrugged, "Hopefully I make it through the first week here."
I laughed and we walked, trying to catch up to Ivy.
"Ivy, why are you here so early?" Mrs. Fayod was sitting at her desk, shuffling through essays.
"I wanted you to meet my cousin, Nick Lane. He goes by Niko."
He raised his hand to protest, but just shrugged.
"Well, it's very lovely to meet you...Niko. Ivy is one of my best students, so I'm expecting a lot from her relative."
"Yes ma'am."
"Well, someone with manners in this town. I'm already starting to enjoy you."
"Yeah, he's into cougars." Said Ivy, sitting down at a desk.
Ivy got away with saying a lot. She had an impulsive way about her, and it made a lot of people scared of her. Mostly because they were afraid of what she was capable of.
The bell rang and kids poured into the classroom like zombies, exhausted from their late night decisions.
A group of girls Ivy called the "Tre-hoes" walked in the ring leader, Danielle, stopped and stared at Niko.
She walked over in her sluttiest fashion and put her hand on his arm. "Hi, I'm Danielle, everyone calls me D."
Ivy turned around, "I wonder why."
Danielle glared at Ivy, but quickly focused her attention back to Niko. "What I want to know is who you are?"
Before he could even speak, Ivy shot up from her chair. "That's my cousin, Niko."
Her eyes brightened and she hugged Ivy forcefully. "Why didn't you tell me!"
I saw the far away rage light up in Ivy, so I butted in. "How about you just sit." Pushing them as far apart as possible.
"Oh, what? Are you just jealous no one cares about you anymore?" Her eyebrows raised.
Back in freshman year, I made the mistake of dating Danielle. Ivy refused to talk to me, much less even make eye contact. It ended after a few months because I wouldn't sleep with her. It's not that I didn't want to, just not with her.
"No, but it's his first day, he doesn't need to be bombarded by you."
She huffed at me and walked away, her shoes clicking as she walked.
"Everyone settle down, class is starting, but before we do that, I would like to introduce a new student, Niko." She motioned to him vaguely.
He shyly smirked and waved.
"All right, very well then. I hope you all make him feel welcome. Moving on, pass up yesterday's homework."
Everyone groaned, except for Keith, who stared at Nikon, a fiery blaze in his eyes.
Although Keith had been labeled as "that weird kid", this was a new level for even him. Within a few moments, he realized I had spotted him.
I eyed him carefully, holding my gaze sharply. He stared back, furrowing his brow. What was his problem? Before I could even begin to ponder, he swiftly looked away, almost astonished by my boldness. I made a mental note to be cautious of Keith.
