Only One Cup of Coffee

Chapter 4

I jerked my head up to look at my saviour and immediately regretted it. I hissed as the back of my head throbbed with pain. I was pretty sure that the blood wasn't all that visible due to my equally red hair.

Nessalynne's sharp face came into view as I took a glimpse at her bruised knuckles. I gasped a little. I would've laughed in joy if it weren't for the fact that my bruised head was hurting more than ever.

Nessalynne shot me a worried glance before turning back to Vivian.

Mikaela and Annalisia were red in the face with anger. Vivian's eyes flashed with tears but they were fiery. She got up shakily and used annalisia's lanky arm as support, almost pulling her down as well.

She wiped the back of her hand against her jaw and turned to Nessalynne.

She lunged forward, attempting to slap Nessalynne but she dodged. That's when I realised Vivian's plan. As Nessalynne dodged, she ran right into Mikaela's arms who held onto her.

Annalisia made a move to hit Nessalynne but I wasn't just going to sit there and watch it happen. I got up, despite the pain, and pushed Annalisia back. She grunted and fell down against Vivian, taking them both out.

Finally, I peeled Mikaela off Nessalynne who cried out and ran to check whether her two fake bffs were alright.

I laughed lightly and held my hand out for Nessalynne to get up.

"Thanks for the help Nessalynne. I really appreciate it." I said to her, a grin etched on my face.

"Oh that's okay. If you need help you can always ask. By the way, you can call me Nyx." She replied.

--

It was funny how right the next day, I found myself in the principal's office. When everyone should've known that it was Vivian and her friend's faults.

You know what was even funnier? I got detention even though I was only defending myself. I'm pretty sure I'm familiar with what happens when I'm not doing perfectly well in school. My mom gets on my case. And that would definitely not be pretty to watch.

I shuffled out of the principal's office for my 1st period, all grumpy.

As soon as I got to physics, I sat down on my desk and sure enough, mr. Emotisitcal butthole sat next to me.

I don't think that's a word.

Anyways as soon as Harper sat down, he grinned. "In trouble eh, Runa?" He asked me grinning.

I flipped around and stared at him in shock.

"How do you know my nickname?" I asked him.

"I know your brother pretty well, so I guess I would." He replied, shrugging.

I blew him off as I thought about it for the rest of the period. So Harper knew Alex?

Well that was a surprising turn of events.

Lunch came around sooner than I thought it would. I settled for some curry with mashed potatoes and rice. Simplistic.

As soon as I grabbed my tray, I realised that I had no where to sit. I took a quick look around me and realised that I knew no one in the entire cafeteria who liked me.

Of course there were the dorks but recently they had brought up a topic on astronomy that I wasn't particularly interested to hear them drone on about.

Before I could say Hallelujah, a pale arm hooked onto mine and dragged me to a bench in the middle of the cafeteria. Woah there!

Nessalynne's brilliant smile reached her eyes as she set her tray down on the table comfortably, letting go of my hand.

"I saw a damsel in distress," she said casually. "Thought I would help out."

I gave her a 100 watt grin and started to dig into my scrumptious rice.

Next thing I know, Adelaide Rise sets her plate down before me and starts rambling to Nessalynne.

"Okay Nyx so I got the message from Bailey about tonight's party. She said that she'll get the refreshments. I was wondering whether we could do it pot luck style-" she lifted her eyes from the phone and glanced at me for a minute until her lips broke out into a warm smile.

"Caroun! Hey! I never knew you were friends with ms. Emo hardcore here!" She said to me. (Forget what you thought- sozz)

I gave her a shy wave which earned me a hearty laugh from Nessalynne.

"Okay so I don't think I formally introduced myself. I'm Adelaide Rise, but you can call me Della." She said quirkily.

I shot the two of them a smile.

"In that case, you guys can call me Runa." I said, making a mental reminder to ask Alex about Harper.

Just like that, the rest of my day swished past, detention completed, and I realised that I had made two amazing friends. Della and Nyx. They had extremely cute nicknames.

As soon as school was done, I shoved my phone into my pocket and rushed out of class so I could head home and interrogate Alex.

--

I threw the door to Alex's room open and he twisted around from his laptop in surprise.

"Alex!" I said.

"Oh it's you Runa. I got frightened. Ever heard of knocking?" He laughed.

I rolled my eyes in response.

"Hey Alex, this guy in my class says he knows you. He called me by my nickname Runa and you gave me that nickname. Nobody else ever knew."

His eyes widened by a fraction.

"What is his name?" He asked me.

"Harper."

After hearing this, Alex literally jumped out of his chair.

"Harper Demenché?!" He shouted. I could've sworn I heard mom scream for him to keep it down.

"Yeah... Take a chill pill bro. Who is this guy? Your friend?"

After hearing this, he started to laugh and sat down.

"My friend? No Caroun. He was your friend. The one who you used to play with when you were little. You called him Harps. We made the nickname for you together." He said, chuckling at the old memories.

"What?" I whispered.

"You were inseparable until he moved to Toronto. You cried for days and then, eventually, you started to forget. You didn't talk about him ever again." He said softly.

"So what you're trying to say is, Harper Demenché was one of the people who gave me my nickname?" I asked.

"Yup. You were best friends until the 1st grade. He lived right down the street. In fact, I think he might still be living there. You should go ask Laila next door. She's all for gossip." He told me.

I knew I didn't need to be told twice.

I grabbed my vans and my sweater and rushed next door, ringing the bell.

Tina, Laila's mother, came out wearing a thick apron, a batch of cookies in hand.

"Aunty, do you know where Laila is?"

"After school club activities, sweetie."

"Okay so do you know anybody new who came in, about a block down the street?"

"I believe the Demenchés came back." Came her reply.

I spun around on my heel.

"Cookies, dear?" I grabbed one, muttered a thank you and sprinted back to my house to go tell Alex.

So I knew Harper Demenché? Was that why he kept coming back and talking to me?

If he remembered my nickname, why did he ask me what my name was?

Anyone excited to know what happens?
So I know that this book is not popular but I don't really care. I'm still continuing
At least I got 20 views,
So I'm happy.
It may be cliché and lame but I still have spent time to plan and write it so I will continue it.