chapter 8

Nic's POV

I boarded the plane and adjusted on my seat. I laid my head on the headrest and sighed in content and relaxation. I glanced at my watch to check how many hours I have before landing. 3 more hours and I'll be back to Phoenix, Arizona.

I looked to my right and saw an old lady, seating next to me. My head backed away to the window. When did she get her?

I stared at her for a long minute until she turned her head to look at me and said "it's rude to stare, sugar." I turned my head and looked straight ahead, my cheeks turned bright pink, embarrassed from being caught. She giggled, which sounded very creepy might I add but she seems like a very nice lady.

I stole glances at her from the corner of my eyes but looked away every time because she kept staring at me. Her eyes were squinted as she seemed to be focusing at something, well in my case someone, who is me.

"Honey, are you a male or a female?" She finally broke the silence and asked. What's with the nicknames? it's creepy. Everything about this woman is creepy. It doesn't help that she looks like a hundred year old grandma who lived with a thousand stray cat her entire life. Well, there's nothing wrong about that, at least the cats got a home to live in.

"A female." I answered, smiling to her politely. She smiled back. "I'm sure the ladies are lining up." She winked at me, I think...I'm not so sure because her eyes look so small that I don't think she can blink. Hey Nicole, that's not so nice I scolded myself, mentally. I felt the plane start to move and I grew excited. I always loved planes because every time we took off, I could feel the blood rushing in my veins. I prepared myself and muttered mentally here we go.

-------------------------------------------

A half hour had gone by and I shook my head repeatedly up and down as if I understood a word the old lady had said. She kept ranting about world war II and how she had witnessed all the unsettling events. Like, how woman??? You're not that old and even if you were, you would be dead by now. I don't know from where these informations came from but it's seems like she's on drugs because all she's saying is nonsense and Bullshit.

"You know, hitler was my bitch. We used to rock that bed." She said, excitedly. My jaw dropped as I broke eye contact and looked at the back of the seat that is in front of me. Images started to circle my mind. " We used ropes, kn-" I shut her out by putting my headphones on. I'm not hearing this shit no more.

--------------------------------------------------

I ran out of the airbridge and fell to the ground, hugging the floor by spreading my arms and legs out. People looked at me and chuckled but I just don't give a fuck. That old lady needs pills and a saint for a husband.

I looked behind me and saw Abigail (the old lady's name) walking ever so slowly with her crutches. She saw me and waved "Hold up muffin, I got to tell you about my midget boyfriend." She said, smiling. My eyes winded OH HELL NO. I stood up with my bag flung on my shoulder and ran as fast as I can, never turning back.

After 15 minutes waiting for my ride, I'm being showered by hugs and kisses from the one and only Rita. Her sloppy kisses covered my cheeks as I tried to push her away.

"Get...off...of me." I struggled to get my words out but she ignored me still, tightening her grip around my neck. I suffocated from her arms, having a hard time to breath. After what felt like half an hour, she FINALLY pulled away and smiled at me. I inhaled a deep breath and let go. I touched my neck, caressing my skin. I looked at her ridiculously. She sniffed, wiping her tears and said "You look old."

"You look fat." I said, irritated from her choking hold that was around my neck awhile ago but snickered when I saw her face. She gave me an unimpressed look and slapped me across my face. Hard. I winced from the strong impact and by instincts I placed my left hand on my throbbing cheek but pulled away when I felt the pain getting worse.

"And what does that mean? Huh? What's wrong in having some extra weight in your body." She asked, glaring, her hands are on her waist. I looked at her ridiculously for the second time today.

"I'm joking, you idiot. And no, there's nothing wrong with having some extra weight in your body. You're the one who got offended when I said the word fat. I never meant it in a bad way." I explained, raising my eyebrows. Her glare never left her face as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Look, what I'm trying to say is that you've gained some weight and you look more beautiful than ever." I continued and smiled. I wasn't lying. She does look pretty amazing. Not when we were in high school; she looked unhealthy which broke my heart. She was skinnier than usual skinny people are. I had to force her to eat a million times but she would slap me across my face every time I cross the line. People thought she was anorexic but she denied all assumptions. And now she looks average; not skinny, nor fat; the perfect weight.

Her frown turned into a big smile when she heard the word 'beautiful'. She linked her arm with mine and dragged me to her car. I sighed, at least she's not mad. I'm not prepared for her huge temper.

---------------------------------------------

"NICOLE MELODY ERICKSON, GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW." I heard a fuming Rita downstairs.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU? IT'S LIKE I'M LIVING WITH A MOTHER." I shouted back, coming from upstairs. It's been a week since I'm here and Rita just can't stop complaining and bossing around. It's like her job to tell me to do  this, to never do that, to never bring this, to remove your clothes from the floor. It was a one article of clothing and she gave me a one hour lecture about it.

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE, IT'S MY HOUSE. NOW YOU GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW BEFORE I RIP YOU TO SHREDS." She stopped screaming when she saw me on the doorway. I crossed my arms and leaned my left shoulder against the door, having a glaring contest with Rita.

And that's when I saw a man sitting on the couch, looking at us with amusement. The man's skin was flawless. He looked like Lee Thompson young but the only difference is, his eyes. The unknown stranger has light green eyes.

Rita saw me gazing at him and turned, meeting his eyes, flashing a smile to him. "James, meet Cole." She introduced me to James. If my eyes could kill, Rita would be dead by now. I told her so many times to never call me Cole but she never listens. "It's Nic or Nicole. Whatever you prefer, just." I stopped, closing my eyes, remembering the awful memories that floated in my head. "Don't call me Cole." I corrected Rita's words while ignoring her glares at me.

I sat on the couch next to James, giving  him a questioning look. I saw Rita sitting on James other side. She must have recognized my confusion of James. "I meet James a few months ago in a coffee shop. He looked hot, so I attempted to flirt with him but unfortunately, I failed miserably since he's gay." She answered and I chuckled, imagining Rita's embarrassing face.

He smiled and turned to me "For a black women, her face looked redder that her period." He commented which made my jaw dropped. James cried tears from his own joke and I laughed along when I saw Rita's face flush like he said. She slapped both of our faces which immediately shut us up. Rita jumped from the couch, taking her laptop from the coffee table and sat down once again next to James.

A moment of silence had passed and  James broke it by complementing my hair. "I like your hair."

I smiled and looked at Rita who seemed to be surfing the internet for a movie to watch. "I like him already. He teases you and complements me. The perfect human."

Rita scoffed "Yeah right. The only thing you liked was him commenting about my face." Rita stated which in conclusion broke us to a fit of giggles. Oh, how I wish I was there to witness her in the coffee shop.

Our giggles died down when Rita asked "What do you guys wanna watch?, I feel like crying over a white movie."

I looked at James and he looked at me. He shrugged, not knowing what movie to settle on. I turned to Rita who was tapping her foot on the ground, waiting impatiently for our answer. "Anything that's not straight."

She gave me a cold look and I felt a hard slap on my cheek as she chose to play titanic and connect the laptop with the t.v. why does she feel the need to slap me every single time? I mean she asked and I answered. Is it wrong for someone to prefer a homosexual movie than a straight one? I heard James laughing besides me. I glared at him which shut him up.

I rubbed my sore cheek and grunted. From all the movies she could have picked, she choose titanic. Now don't get me wrong, I used to love that movie. It's just, I have watched it over and over and over again that I can't help but get sick of it.

Half way through the movie, I yawned loudly, trying to keep my eyes open and It's just 12 pm. You know what, I'm not staying here. I stood up and made up an excuse to leave "Well, I'm gonna go and get some coffee from the cafe nearby." Well, not exactly an excuse since I am going to get some coffee from the cafe.

I waited for a sound but they were so engrossed with the movie that they didn't even think about glancing at me. I flipped them off and took my leather jacket from the hanger, wearing my combat boots and checking my grey hair in the mirror next to the front door.

Few years ago, I decided to cut my hair short which lead people to believe that I'm a guy. Well, I had no problem with that since I do dress like a guy. I just can't help it. Girls clothes like dresses and skirts are not my thing. And just a few months ago, I dyed it grey. My hair is short and combed straight from the back but the top of my hair is longer and goes to the side which bothers me sometimes because it pokes my eye. But it doesn't matter, It looks edgier that way.

Phone, check. Wallet, check. Sexy, check. And we're off.

I walked down the street, smelling the fresh air. I inhale and exhaled, feeling some kind of freedom. I adjusted my glasses and entered the Cafe. I stood behind the line and realized I might be staying here for a while, considering how much people are in here.

I was about to take my glasses off but realized the huge Windows surrounding the cafe were allowing too much sunlight in, so I decided to keep it on. I took my phone out of my pocket and searched for a game to play. All these apps and nothing good to waste your time on. I clicked on Crossy roads, seeing as it's the only decent game to play. I was so engrossed in the game that my phone almost slipped from my hand when I felt someone's body crash on to mine.

Son of a bitch, I was this close to beat my high score. I sighed, locking my phone and turned around to see the person who decided to ruin my day for me. I stopped mid way from turning when I recognized this person very clearly. How can I forget her? That long blonde hair which seems to be longer than before. Her blossomed features that seemed to out grew every beauty from around the world. Her curvy body that seemed to be taller than before. How can I forget her? How can I forget a beautiful creature? How can I forget Lauren Hills? My high school crush...plus bully.

She raised her eyebrow and I removed my glasses, tasting her name in a whisper on my lips. She met my eyes and they grew wide in recognition. She stood frozen, her eyes never leaving mine. I can clearly see I shocked the shit out of her. Her eyes started to travel on my features. My eyes, my eyebrows, my cheekbones, my sharp jawline and then my lips which seemed to linger for a while but then she looked up, meeting my eyes once again. I saw her mixed emotions from her eyes, and that was when she snapped.

"You're here." She whispered, frowning. "Since when?" She asked, frowning at me even more. I was about to answer but was cut off, almost immediately. "Did you even leave? Did you..." She stopped, shaking her head.

She sighed. I can see she's mad but she has no right to. She's not even related to me or my friend.

"I have no right to be mad at you." She said, looking down on the floor. Huh, it's like she read my thoughts.

"Hey, Lauren." I spoke for the first time towards her. She looked up, waiting for my next words. I leaned closer to her face, hearing her breath hitch, moving to her ears "It's nice seeing you." I pulled back, seeing her face turn bright red, blushing and I can't help but smirk. I lied when I said it's nice seeing her because it isn't. Like....look who we're talking to. Lauren hills, ex crush, ex bully and my brother's ex or still his current girlfriend but who cares, who knows. And even though we were civil for my last couple days with my family, that doesn't mean we were friends or anything.

I started walking away, losing my appetite. Even though Lauren looks incredible, I don't want to do anything with her. Like I said, there is a slightest chance that she is still my brother's girlfriend or someone's else or married or what not. And there is a chance for her to still be in contact with my parents because I know how close she was with them and I'm not sure if I want to meet them. My dad specially.

I walked out of the cafe, leaving Lauren behind. I stopped when I heard her voice calling my name. "Where are you going?" She shouted. I turned and saw her standing outside the cafe door with a pleading look on her face. What is she pleading for? Does she want me to stay?

"Home." I shouted back. She frowned and replied back, loudly. "And where is home?"

I watched her silently. I couldn't tell her where I lived, because if I did, hell would break loose. I can't let anyone from my past, with the exception of Rita, enter my life. I can't risk the chance to open the apartment door to find one of my relatives outside.

I didn't realize that she was standing right in front of me until she called my name. "Huh?" I asked, dumbfounded. She giggled "You got carried away in that head of yours." She said, pointing her finger cutely at my head. I smiled, I can clearly see the change in her eyes. In her aura in general. She smiled back.

"You don't want to tell me where you live, do you?" She asked, absolutely amazing me. I was taken aback. How did she know? I shook my head about to deny what she said but decided against it as there was no valid reason to do so.

I shook my head up and down "Yeah." I confirmed and she just smiled at me, showing all her white bright teeth. "It's okay. I understand. You just meet me for the first time in 6 years and I wasn't your friend or anything. You have every reason not to trust me." She said smartly which made me smirk.

"Then, why did you ask?" I asked, my smirk growing wider if that was possible. She shrugged "it was worth a try." She said, pouting, her eyes lying on the pavement under her feet, looking extremely disappointed. I smiled and thought of something absolutely crazy. Something my 5 minutes ago person would never do. Something a sane person would never do.

"Well, would you like to see where I live?" I asked, thinking to myself what the fuck did I just do? I knew that I just broke my 'not to let anyone know where I live' rule, but there was something in my guts that forced me to. Something inside me couldn't handle her pouting like that. She looked up, her eyes wide and smiled. "Sure." She said, happily. Why is she so cheerful? And different? But I can't deny I'm not liking this side of her.

"Well then, come on. It's just down the street." I started to walk away but stopped when I couldn't hear her footsteps. I turned and saw her glaring at someone from afar who looked very familiar. I squinted my eyes, taking my sunglasses off, wearing my prescribed glasses from my leather jacket and realized it was an auburn haired girl with green eyes. It was Ashley. I don't think she recognised me but I can tell that she's growing suspicious when I put my glasses on.

Lauren ignored her and turned around, catching my eyes. She was taken aback when she saw the same glasses I used to wear in high school. Well, they're not exactly the same; the lens were changed from time to time. "Shall we?" She asked, flashing me small smile. I nodded and walked side by side with Lauren towards Rita's apartment.

------------------------------------

A/N

Thank you for your patients and vote and comment whatever you want.