Pigment (Millard Nullings X Reader)

(Y/N) the Third Wheel

Hey there, friends. So, uh, I just finished writing an angsty chapter of this book, and now coming back to edit this chapter is super weird. Just know that this chapter is like Pandora's box, and now that it's posted, hell's gonna brake loose. So watch out for the chapter called Heatherophobia, which should be out sooner or later. Love you all!

Life tip: Don't play football against Fiona if you want a fair match.

I easily made that mistake today, after finding a football in the garden shed. I rolled up my pants, and got a couple people to play, unbeknownst to me that Fiona and Hugh were not people to be trifled with.

Not to brag, of course, but I wasn't too shabby at football back at school, so I expected this to be an easy game. And it was, until Fiona kept messing with the shrubbery to start tripping me. That, and she would have flowers grow over her goal, and trees bend over to dodge my kicks.

Because of this, I knew that I had to make it equal somehow. I mean, Miss Peregrine had urged me to use my talent whenever I could. So making the ball disappear when Hugh would kick it wasn't cheating, if they started it, right?

"Oi, that's bogue!" Hugh retorted as I stole the ball from him.

I immediately stopped in my tracks to cringe. It didn't matter that Fiona took the ball back, because I needed to make a mental note to kill Heather later. She made the horrible mistake of teaching everyone slang, and I would always hate her for that.

"Please don't ever say that again as long as I'm alive," I complained. But quickly, I went on with the game.

I quickly got the ball back, tripping a player from the other team. The ball was passed from one of my teammates to another, and then back to me. There was so much going on, that I didn't see Heather walk into the game when I kicked the ball at her. The ball whistled in the air at Heather, and Fiona called out at her to duck.

Heather, looking up, saw the ball and screamed. Right before it could hit her in the face, she slammed her fist into it, making it then go the opposite direction. Luckily, someone caught it and restarted the game. I opted out, and made my way towards my cousin.

"You're not busy right now, are you?" Heather asked, as if totally forgetting the football incident.

I was going to apologize to her, but then simply decided to ignore the fact that I could have killed her thirty seconds ago. I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well shoot, I was just playing a game, but I guess they don't need me," I said. "What's up?"

"Victor said he wanted to show me around town, and I was wondering if you wanted to come," Heather said, quite cheerfully. "We really haven't been out of the house since we arrived here, and how long has it been since then? A month?"

"Six weeks, actually."

I compared the idea of spending time as a third wheel for Heather and Victor out of town, to if I were to third wheel Fiona and Hugh while playing football.

"Okay," I finally decided. "I'll come. I mean, I don't have anything else to do, so may as well."

* * *

Heather grabbed the rest of her cash from our little holiday, and met me and Victor at the house's front steps. She seemed excitedly dressed for the occasion in a cherry red skirt, a simple white shirt with a pretty cut, and shiny black Mary Janes. With Victor in his normally decent clothes, and Heather being all dressed, I suddenly felt underdressed in my sweater and jeans.

"So, where are we going first?" Heather asked cheerfully.

"Well, I was thinking about visiting the older stores, just to show you what we have here." Victor replied.