Scared To Be Lonely

Chapter 4: Smoothie And Spaghetti

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"Nick! Nick, Nick!"

Was the first thing that hit the girl's ears when she walked into school the next day, and she was immediately met by Harry Osborn - who had wide eyes and a really forced smile as he blocked her from moving down the hallway. She looked at him weirdly, nervously chuckling. "What's up, Harry?"

"N- Nothing." He shrugged while crossing his arms over his chest, but still made sure she couldn't move passed him. "What... What are you up to?"

Nick raised an eyebrow but couldn't help the small amused smile, "You know, just trying to get to my locker." She then moved around him, only for Harry to quickly grab her shoulders and turn her around - which made her smile drop as she watched him. "Harry, what's going on?"

"Uh... mmm." He struggled to word it as he briefly glanced over her shoulder, before looking back at her. "I just don't want you getting expelled again."

Nick was confused at that, "What?"

"Promise to not go all nuclear Nick." He told her, earning a bewildered look. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Just..." He nervously gulped, nervously glancing over her shoulder again. "Just don't get yourself expelled again." 

Then he let go of her arms and gently turned her around, letting Nick finally walk down the hallway, but as she approached her locker, she saw that Peyton and her new crew was standing there. Peyton actually leaning against Nick's locker... with a poster next to her head. 

"Kings." Nick spoke up, already upset - and it definitely showed in her face and voice, as she stepped in front of blonde that was the same height of her. "What the hell is this?"

"Oh, didn't you hear?" She pointed her free hand to the poster, as her other one was holding a strawberry smoothie. "There's some lost pup here. Can't figure out if she was abandoned or..." She looked over Nick with a sneer, "No, definitely abandoned. I mean, who would ever want you." She stepped up to Nick, lowering her voice with a menacing tone. "Once a street rat, always a street rat."

By now, they had definitely gotten an audience, and Nick knew that this was just Peyton trying to get a rise out of her. But as she glanced at the poster, which had her face taped over one of a ratty dog on the side walk - which to her was actually cute, but she also got the gist of the insult. 

Nick clenched her jaw, glaring up at Peyton as she felt her hands clenched into fists - tight enough that her nails were digging into her palms, but she just tried to breathe through it. Really not wanting her powers to go haywire in the school hallway. 

The brunette took a deep shaky breath, before looking up at Peyton and tilting her head again, giving a bitter sweet smile. "At least I know what happened to my mother. Can you say the same thing? I mean, did she just think you weren't good enough and left you with your father - Oh! Who also doesn't seem to think you're good enough, at least, isn't that why he left you in an orphanage home for more than a couple months? Because he just didn't want to deal with you?"

There were definitely some 'ooh!'s but there were also held breaths amongst the crowd, as Peyton's smile dropped and she glared at the brunette. 

"Hey, what's going on?" Ned asked as he and Peter managed to move through the crowd that had formed, and stepped beside Harry - who grimaced. "Peyton again."

The boys definitely knew what that meant as they then turned to watch Nick have a face off with Peyton Kings, but then Peyton seemed to whisper something to Nick that made her definitely look like she was about to punch the blonde, which made Peter move without thinking. 

He quickly moved behind Nick, grabbing her clenched hand and pulling her back a bit - heart racing as he stopped the girl from getting into a fight... and because he felt her immediately relax at his touch, her hand even unclenching and their fingers intertwining their fingers. "Nick, let's get going."

Nick briefly glanced to Peter, kind of shocked by the reaction her body seemed to have to him, before she then glanced to Peyton... and slowly nodded, letting Peter pull her back and the two began moving down the hallway as the crowd split to let them. 

But then Peyton spoke up, "Wow. Didn't realize how soft you went, and with Penius Parker? Really?"

Peter looked back at Nick when she stopped moving and let go of his hand, but then she nodded at him. "I'll be right back." 

And she turned around, walking back to Peyton - who had a smirk on her face, thinking that she had gotten the girl. But Nick didn't say anything as she grabbed the strawberry smoothie and opened the lid, before pouring it over Peyton's head - earning gasps and laughs. Then Nick shoved the cup into one of her friends's hands, before she grabbed the poster and ripped it to pieces as she walked back to Peter. 

The two began walking down the hallway silently as Nick threw that paper into the trash, as Harry and Ned quickly caught up with them.

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Nick definitely wasn't naive enough to think that that was going to be the last time she saw Peyton, but she really didn't think the blonde was going to retaliate the same day. 

It was now lunch and after what had happened, Nick had ended up sitting in the cafeteria with her friends... but regretted the choice when Peyton had walked passed at some point - now wearing new clothes - and spilt her tray of spaghetti and salad on Nick. 

The young brunette had shot out of her seat with a gasp, the spaghetti definitely ruining the light colored shirt she was wearing, and it definitely wasn't cold. And that, along with the ranch that was now all over her jeans and shirt, definitely made her skin so confused on the opposite temperatures they had been. 

"Sorry, didn't see you." Peyton said with a tilt of her head, but grinned as she began walking away - but Nick wasn't going to let that happen. She turned around and picked up her tray of sloppy Joe, and the opened chocolate milk carton, before stepping away from the table. "Hey, Peyton. I forgive you, truly."

"What?" Peyton scoffed as she turned around, but the moment she turned around, Nick had shoved the tray at her - causing the blonde to gasp as her clothes were once again ruined. Then Nick took the tray back and stepped back with a shake of her head, "Don't start a battle if you can't win."

Then she turned around and headed out of the lunchroom, placing the tray down at the table, before walking out. 

She headed to the bathroom first and cringed at the mess that Peyton had made, beginning to pull spaghetti out of her long hair and shirt, and threw it into the trash. Then she moved on and turned on one of the sinks, silently cursing in Spanish as she tried her best to clean up. But her shirt and jeans were definitely ruined, and she was struggling to wash the sauce from her hair as she bent over the sink. 

"That looks frustrating." A new voice made Nick look up, and as Liz Allan walked over and passed her some paper towels. "You okay?"

"Uh.." Nick sighed as she began dabbing as her soaked hair, "Yeah. It's nothing new."

Liz, who was an upperclassman that Nick hardly talked to, just gave the girl a small smile and nodded over. "Come on. I've got some extra clothes in my car. They're workout clothes, but-"

"That's better than wearing spaghetti." Nick cracked a small smile, before gratefully following her out of the bathroom.