The Big Five

35. Make Up

RRRRIIIIINNNNGGG!

"Finally!" I muttered to myself. "Friday."

I walked through the sea of people and made my way to my locker. Humming, I opened it and stuffed my books inside.

Shoot. I noticed the library book sitting in the shelf. It was overdue. I'd have to go to the office to pay for it again. Ugh. Why was I so forgetful?

I grabbed it and closed the door, grumbling at myself. I was such an idiot.

"Well, well," I groaned internally when I heard Sophie's arrogant voice behind me. Why couldn't she just leave me alone? It wasn't my fault Alex was so persistent.

"What, Sophie?" I asked as I turned around.

She had her arms crossed and she was blowing on her fingernails.

"Um," I was surprised at her response. She always had a great comeback. "You know, Nicole," she said, still very interested in her fingernails, "you're not so bad."

Okay.

"You're actually pretty cool. I, uh, I heard about you quitting. The game, I mean. And I...well, I had a talk with Maggie. It's all good now, so...Um. I-I'm..."

What?

"I...uh," she sighed and looked at me before diverting her eyes to the floor. "I admit I did some bad things to you and I...let's put it past us, shall we?"

I stared at her, trying to understand what she was saying. A smile began to form when I realized what exactly it was that she was saying. Or rather, what she wasn't.

"I forgive you," I said simply. "It's no big deal. You didn't do anything drastic like Caleb did."

She looked me in the eye to see if I was serious. Then she sighed.

"Well, I was the one who told him about you. I told him that you couldn't swim. But I didn't know he would try to kill you, I swear."

"Kill me?" I laughed. "Nah. He was just trying to 'scare' me."

She made a disgusted face. "Eh. Caleb. Just...ugh."

"Yeah. I know."

She then smirked and held out her hand. I looked at it for a moment before slowly bringing mine up.

"So I guess we're okay," I said.

She nodded. "Yeah, but it doesn't mean we're friends."

"Or enemies."

"Let's keep it that way."

"Agreed."

I watched her walk away. She made sure to toss her hair back and sway her hips as she walked. I shook my head and smiled. It didn't annoy me anymore. Sophie was surprisingly nice. Just a little spoilt, is all.

I was surprised to see Alex pop out of a classroom. I pretended I didn't notice, but from Sophie's reaction, I knew Alex was the one who forced her to apologize to me. She playfully hit his shoulder and took his jacket.

Alex grinned and made a grab for it, and Sophie ended up in his arms.

Whelp. Time to leave.

I smiled and ran to the office to give them some privacy. Good for them.

I awkwardly knocked and entered the administration room. The receptionist was there, typing away on her computer.

"Um, miss?" I said. My voice sounded abnormally loud.

She looked up and smiled when she saw me.

"I have an overdue library book," I said, waving my book at her.