Crossroads → Nicholas Scratch [CAOS]

iii. moving pictures

MOVING PICTURES
CHAPTER THREE

The sun had long disappeared over the horizon, replaced by infinite stars dotting the night sky. The moon hovered over them, attenuated and radiating pure white light onto the movie theatre as they walked out. Dani covered her shoulders with her jacket when the cold gust of wind that rustled the leaves blew past them, sending chills down her spine.

"That was kind of the worst movie I've ever seen," Roz admitted, laughing as they walked down the stairs from the entrance, stopping by a tall tree to talk. The movie was pretty bad. It was one of those poorly produced thrillers that were hard to follow– kind of like every other thriller or horror movie out there. Though she had to admit it was a really frightening movie. Dani tried not to show that she minded too much and just focused on enjoying the night with everyone. Being with Theo, Sabrina, Harvey, Nick and Roz almost made her feel like she was back in Riverdale with all the friends she had to leave behind. But being in Greendale seemed to feel more like home than Riverdale ever had and despite knowing the five for less than a week, she found them to be kindred spirits and was sure they'd only grow fonder of each other as time progressed.

"This is the kind of stuff you mort-" Nick began to complain with an unimpressed tone, but cut himself off, "... you people waste your time doing?"

"It wasn't that bad," Sabrina responded nonchalantly.

"Of course you'd say that; you love scary things." Theo laughed, shaking his head.

"I think you've found yourself a horror buddy, Sabrina," Nicholas added, looking between Sabrina and Dani. "Dani seemed to love the movie."

Dani rolled her eyes at the teasing smirk that was planted on his face. "Trust me, Nick," she began, shaking her head, "after living in Riverdale, nothing is really scary anymore," she said, although the jump scares in the film did raise a few hairs on the back of her neck.

"So what happened over there that was so intense? You never told us," Roz asked, raising everyone's curiosity.

"Riverdale's pretty much a death town," she explained in short, not wanting to get into the details of everything that had happened last summer. She was sure they'd heard about Jason Blossom's murder on the news and the dozen other unexplained deaths that followed. She was far from eager to relive the details of some of the darkest days of her life with them. It wasn't exactly a pleasant conversation.

"If your goal was to get away from danger then I don't think that moving to Greendale was the best choice," Nick stated, folding his arms over his chest. Nicholas seemed to have a bitter taste in his mouth when it came to Greendale, but she laughed along, not thinking much of it. That was until Harvey suddenly got defensive. "Dude, why'd you have to be so shady?" His usually gentle tone sounded frustrated and he looked Nick dead in the eyes.

"What do you mean, Nick?" Dani asked, ignoring Harvey as she turned to Nicholas in curiosity.

"He was just kidding, Dani," Harvey answered for him, brushing off Nick's comment with an almost lethargic voice. He faced Nick with a glare, attempting to be intimidating but Dani found it rather funny. "Right, Nick?"

"Right, Harry," Nick said snidely, smirking with malicious amusement at Harvey's dagger-shooting eyes. Dani's eyes darted from Nick to Harvey suspiciously, trying to make sense of what was going on, but they both just smiled at her as if she'd completely imagined the exchange. She wasn't dumb enough to believe that.

"Does anyone need a ride home?" Harvey awkwardly changed the subject. Roz, Sabrina and Theo nodded gratefully. "Dani?"

"It's fine, I can walk. My place is only a few minutes away."

"Are you sure?" Sabrina asked, looking down the darkened street as if assessing how far she'd have to walk alone. Dani nodded, not wanting Harvey to have to drive around town dropping everyone off one by one when she was perfectly able to walk. They watched as Sabrina, Harvey, Roz and Theo waved goodbye, entering Harvey's truck.

"I'll walk you home," Nicholas offered, nodding in the direction she'd been about to head.

"You really don't have to, Nick." Dani chuckled lightly. "I know it may not seem like it, but I'm fully capable of walking home on my own."

"Was it before or after the movie that you got lost on your way to the restrooms?" Nick satirized. He held a hand to his chin and looked up, pretending to be in thought. She rolled her eyes for what felt like the thousandth time since she'd met him.

"That's not fair! I've never been to this movie theatre before," she said with indignation, though she was smiling.

"Neither have I, but you didn't see me walking into the ladies' room, did you?" He sniggered when she groaned. A few seconds later, after deciding that he had poked enough fun at her, he said, "let me walk you home."

"Thanks." Deciding to give in, Dani started walking in the direction of her house and Nick followed.

"What's up with you and Harvey, by the way?" Raising an eyebrow, she waited for him to respond. What did the two of them have against each other?

"He's just a moron." Nick shrugged nonchalantly, stuffing his hands into the front pockets of his beige pants. He didn't elaborate on the subject.

"Harvey's not a moron, Nick. He's really nice," she defended, laughing at his bluntness. "Why don't you like him?"

It frustrated Dani a little bit that he chose not to respond. She couldn't stop wondering whether her guess that maybe Sabrina and Harvey used to have something together is why Nick has such a distaste toward Harvey– maybe Nick liked Sabrina? What Dani knew for a fact, though, was that every time Sabrina looked at Harvey or the two of them talked– Nick's body would very noticeably stiffen and his hands clenched into fists. In fact, every time Harvey did anything, Nick would show annoyance. Her curiosity regarding Nick's dislike of Harvey was killing her, but she decided to stay quiet and respect the fact that Nick didn't want to talk about it. Nick was strangely a really straightforward and blunt guy but concurrently happened to be very closed off as well. It was tough to figure him out.

"So, tell me, Dani... you're not really one of those people who spends their free time watching moving pictures, are you?"

"Moving pictures? What? Are you from the 1800s or something?" she scoffed in mockery. Then, answering more seriously, she said, "I prefer books. How about you? You've made it really clear you found the movie dumb and you don't really seem to be that close to anyone but Sabrina so why did you come?"

He shrugged. "You're new here— I couldn't leave you alone to get corrupted by these weirdos." So dramatic.

"Sabrina's a weirdo?"

"You know I meant Harvey." He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I know," Dani snickered, biting her bottom lip. Her smile grew wider as Nick rubbed his neck and looked away in annoyance. It was fun being the one doing the teasing, but she chose to leave it at that. Getting clear, serious answers from Nick seemed almost impossible, so she doubted that she'd get a realistic response. "Regret offering to walk me home yet?" He pursed his lips furrowed his eyebrows as though thinking deeply.

"Definitely..." Dani's mouth dropped in shock and she hit his arm playfully at the fact that he had to even think about an answer. He held his hands up in surrender, making her laugh, but then his smile turned into a more sincere one— possibly the most sincere she'd ever seen this assertive boy be. Then, putting a big grin on Dani's lips, he added, "not."

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→ author's note

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