The 29 Days (Kendall Schmidt AU)

Chapter Three - Day 2

Nicole

It's that time of the day where shit's being served to us on a silver tray and we're forced to eat it. "We'd be malnourished", they say. More like, "we'd be puking the whole day", I say. Lunch. The period right after World History. The period right after Kendall Knight sat behind me just to kick my chair and say hi whenever I turned around to scold him.

"I have a fun fact, Mr. Henderson!" I raise my hand up high and wave it to catch his attention. He was in the middle of a discussion, but I just had to show my eagerness for the subject.

Kissing up to his ass, check.

Annoying the other students in class, double check.

"Africa's also known as 'The Black Continent' because during the time of discovery, many parts could not be explored thoroughly!" I shot straight up, standing in pride.

"Really? If I recall, it was called 'The Dark Continent.'"

I hear someone snap back at my trivia and I turn around to see Kendall right behind me, trying to hold his laughter.

"Get your facts straight, Nicole!" He mocks in a girly tone.

The whole class bursts into laughter and stand in shame. I take my seat slowly and cover my face with the many books on my table.

Get humiliated by Kendall fucking Schmidt in History class, triple check.

I scan the crowded area and I'm relieved to find Rain sitting alone in a table, saving me a seat in front of her.

I find my way to the table and set my tray on the small, grey table. At least I have Rain, my best friend since first grade, by my side. I'm so glad she's not one to insult and make me feel useless.

"Hey, Rain." I smile as I slide into the seat.

"Give me the scoop. Now. And don't you dare leave out any of the juicy details."

I'm greeted by Rain's widened eyes and devilish grin. Gee, nice to see you too. I straighten my back, still a bit lost.

"Scoop on what, exactly?" I ask. I get some antibacterial wet tissue and wipe the cafeteria's utensils. Just making sure.

"You and Kendall Schmidt, dummy!" She playfully punches my shoulder. 

Dummy? How old is she? Eight? 

"Everybody knows, Nicole!" She rolls her eyes as if what Kendall and I have is so obvious.

Rain takes the eyeglasses from the top of her hair down to the bridge of her nose. With her eyes still fixated on me, she props her elbows on the table. This is how I know she's expecting some amazing story from me.

If she's hoping for a sappy love story about  the most feared boy in school and the dorkiest girl in school, she's not getting one. My story with Kendall is nothing close to a fairy tale. It's a total nightmare.

"Well, he's--"

Before I could even begin to tell my story, I see him from a short distance.

Kendall Schmidt passes by our table and gives me a nod. The smirk on his lips just leads me into a state of 'what the hell is happening.'

"Uhm, Nicole?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah!" I shake my head back to reality. "He's just my ride home, that's all."

"Really?" She stifles a laugh, poking at her half-cooked lasagna. "I hope 'that's all' because honestly, as much as I like seeing you hang out with people that aren't conscious of their IQ, he's nothing but bad news."

I smile at how concerned she is for me, patting her shoulder lightly.

"I promise, he's nothing but my ride home." I assure her.

She smiles back at me and we spend the rest of our lunch period scowling at our disgusting half-cooked lasagnas. I hate our lunch food as much as I hate this damn cafeteria.

Kendall

There she is right beside me. We're both in my car again, and surprisingly, this time I didn't complain.

Nicole smelled like an odd mix of strawberries and vanilla. It's weird of me to notice all this, considering that I hate female cologne. Perhaps, Mitz made me believe that all girls smell like smoke and strong perfume.

"You smell nice," I blurt out. 

She turns to face me and I notice her cheeks flush. That's when I also notice how pale she is, it's obvious when she's blushing.

"If you're expecting me to compliment you back..."

"I'm just trying to be nice, calm down." I chuckle. Is she really that nervous?

"I am calm!" She tries to defend herself. "I just don't know if you meant it or you were trying to make fun of--"

"No, no! I'm just--" I sigh in defeat. The perplexed look on her face makes me wish I hadn't said anything in the first place.

"I was just trying to be nice."

"That's all?" She raises a brow.

"Yup, that's all. I'm not up to no good, I promise!" I raise both of my hands in sign of defeat.

"Put your hands back on the steering wheel before I die, Schmidt!" she screams.

It took me time to realize what she meant when a car comes our way and honks at us. I put my hands back on the wheel and move the vehicle to another lane. 

A car crash would have happened if I didn't move the car to another lane sooner. This is supposed to be a one-way road! Who in the right mind would even do that?!

Nicole's screaming pierced my ears the whole time I was trying to save our lives. My heart is pounding faster than ever, and I know she's scared as hell.

I stop the car and put it on hazard just to check up on her. I hold her hand to feel her pulse. Her heart's racing two times faster that it should. 

"Are you okay?!" I ask.

Nicole doesn't look at me. She looks out the window, trying to catch her breath. I don't let go of her hand. 

After she collects herself, she forcefully lets go of my soft grip.

"You don't do that again, okay?!" She demands. "You can't just keep trying to scare me like that!"

Tears begin to well up in her eyes, and I can see the disappointment in her features.

I didn't even mean to scare her at all! Why do I always have to be the guy with the bad intentions around here?

"Why would you think I'm trying to scare you?!" I use the same tone she gave me. "You knew the other car was at fault here, and you still manage to put the blame on me?"

We're both trying to catch our breath at this point. Our eyes locked into a stare. No one dares to move. 

She's the first to turn away. I'm the first to speak up.

"If you don't appreciate my driving, then just get out of my car." 

Nicole looks back at me, then shakes her head in disappointment. I don't regret anything I've said though. She proceeds to unfasten her seatbelt and seconds later, she's out of my car.

Nicole Sanders doesn't even dare look back at me.

A/N: It's been forever, but I'm back! Hope you liked how I tweaked the story a bit. :) Stay tuned!