It's made up. If you shouldn't be reading material focusing on two females and their growing relationship, hit the lovely little back button.. ;) otherwise, enjoy, hopefully. Comments welcomed, good or bad.
Nicole flashed a broad smile at a friend as she walked into the highschool cafeteria, sweater and baggy jeans hanging loosely from her body. Many people really weren't able to see her true beauty under the dirty baseball caps and loose fitting shirts, but beneath those tomboy clothes truly was a delicate angel. Even if she didn't let her beauty show, her great personality and sense of humor radiated from her like an aura. She wandered through the crowded room, stopping here and there to talk with people. After she'd finished making her rounds, she made her way back out of the cafeteria. Most likely, she'd return again before the lunch hour was complete. She liked to mingle.
Jen sat in the cafeteria, near the back, as she always did eating her lunch quietly. She wasn't a big people person, really. While she ate, she read. It was rare to find her without a book. Sitting at the table she usually sat at, she read. A few people were at her table, the people that usually were. They too, were quiet. It was a comfortable silence they'd all achieved. All of them managing to ignore the noises around them. Jen mostly prefered to be alone, though it did get to her sometimes.. Her friends left after they were finished eating, without saying goodbye, because she wouldn't hear it anyway. She was quite wrapped up in her reading. Even though the cafeteria isn't the best place to read, it being full of rowdy, noisey kids, Jen managed to block out all of the sounds from them. Who really cared what was going on that night, or who was now dating who? Not Jen.
Finally, she was finished eating, and with a small sigh, she put her book away, and rose to her feet. Putting her garbage into the trash can, she slung her bag over her shoulder, and moved for the exit. Not wanting to draw any attention to herself, her eyes remained on the floor most of the time.. Perhaps that's a bad place for them, because as she was exiting the cafeteria, she slammed into another person.. Stumbling back, she blinked.. then righted herself, shifting her bag a bit.. Muttering an apology, she went to continue on her way. The other person apparently had another idea. A hand reached out, and grasped Jen by her arm, halting her steps. The small girl flinched a little bit, waiting for the harsh words that were sure to come since she wasn't watching where she was going.. But they were never heard.. Jen glanced up, to see the black baseball cap, shadowing the friendly half-grin. The owner of the hand was somewhere around 5'8" tall, and had broad shoulders.
Nicole kept the grin on her face, and tilted her head a little bit.
"Hey, sorry about that. I wasn't watching where I was going."
Jen furrowed her brows a little, and gave a gentle nod of her head, speaking softly.
"It's alright.. I wasn't paying attention.."
"Cool. No harm done. Take it easy, eh?"
And with that, the taller girl released her, and was off down the hall. Jen tipped her head off to the side a little bit, glancing after her...then shook it, and turned to goto her locker. Once there, she got rid of her bag, and grabbed up the books she'd need for her next class; science.
Jen got there without further incident, and took her seat. Science was a class she enjoyed. Today, however, she couldn't quite keep her thoughts where they belonged. Instead, they kept drifting back to her brief encounter with Nicole in the hallway. There was something about the girl, she wasn't like most of the other kids at school. Her thoughts were intrupted by something pelting her in the back of the head.. frowning, she turned to see what it was. A balled up piece of paper layed on the floor.. eyes shifting up to figure out who the tosser was, she then noticed Rachel, sitting a few seats back from her, with a smug grin on her face.
Rachel was a known trouble maker, who loved to pick on Jen. Just because she could. The girl was small and meek, why not, right? Jen sighed, and turned back around to try and focus on her work.. She did a decent job of ignoring Rachel the rest of the class, despite the few other objects thrown at her. When the bell sounded, she gathered up her books and quickly left the classroom. Arriving back at her locker, her books were dropped in it. She picked up her bag, got the homework she was assigned, and closed her locker. She had no class fourth, and so was going to go home. Why stick around? First she had to make a small pit stop in the washroom.
Once her business was finished, she washed her hands, and gazed at herself briefly in the mirror.. With another small sigh, she brushed some brown hair from her eyes, then turned to gather her bag, only to almost run into Rachel. Blinking, she stepped back slightly, then frowned.
"Excuse me.."
Rachel grinned, and stepping into Jen's way when she tried to get around her.
"Going somewhere, Mouse?"
A name she was frequently called because of her quiet manner, Jen frowned a little more, and tried to move around the girl. That wasn't going to happen, Rachel reached out, and gave Jen a sharp shove backwards.. Jen lost her footing, and stumbled backwards, falling, and hitting her head off of the washroom counter. With a small cry of pain, a hand came up to cover the now tender, aching spot on her head.. Tearing eyes shifted up to Rachel as the girl moved forward.
Her steps were interupted by the bathroom door opening, and standing there, observing the scene, was none other than Nicole. she tilted her head off to the side a little bit, a brow arching.
"Is there a problem here?"
It was a well known fact that Nicole had quite the temper. Rachel shrugged, and moved for the door.
"Dunno, she must have slipped or somethin'.."
And, with that, she was gone from the washroom..
Jen wiped at her eyes a little, and moved to get to her feet slowly, still holding her head.. She moved to pick up her bag. Nicole regarded the small girl briefly.
"You okay?"
"Yeah... I'm fine.."
Nicole continued to watch her. "Didn't slip, did ya?"
"No... but don't worry about it, I'm fine.." Still holding her head, she started for the door. Nicole frowned a bit when the girl teetered a bit on her feet, and went to her side, carefully taking her by the elbow.
"Knocked yer head good, didn't ya?" Jen gave the smallest of nods. Nicole nodded a bit.
"Alrighty, I'll give you a ride home, then. I don't have a class next, anyway."
Jen furrowed her brows, and glanced up at the larger girl.. but her head was swimming, so she just nodded again..
Nicole lead the girl from the washroom and down the hall, exiting the school. They noticed Rachel on their way to the parking lot, but gave her nothing more than a passing glance. Nicole helped Jen into the passenger side and then got in herself. Starting the car, she pulled out, and was off. They talked idly on the way to Jen's place. It only took about fifteen minutes to get there, and once there, Nicole helped Jen out. The girl thanked her for the ride, then turned and went into the two story building that was her house.
Nicole watched her walk up the steps, then disappear into the place. She tilted her head a bit, then grinned gently to herself. She made a mental note to try and get to know the girl better. Nodding, she got back into her car, and headed for home.
Despite telling herself she was going to get to know Jen better, to spend more time around her, it was another week before she finally ran into the girl again. It was in the cafeteria. Jen was sitting near the back, as she always did, eating her lunch, and reading. Nicole had just come in, and after conversing with a few of her friends, she spotted Jen near the back. Grinning, she sauntered towards the back of the cafe, hands tucked into her baggy jeans pockets. Pausing at Jen's table, she tilted her head a bit. "Hey there." Startled, Jen glanced up, then let a small smile cross over her features. "Hey." was her soft reply. Nicole shifted, and then sat herself down on the chair across from Jen. Leaning back in her chair, she crossed her arms over her chest, keeping the friendly grin on her face. "How's the head?" Nic asked, arching a brow slightly. Cheeks flushing a soft red, Jen ducked her head down briefly, closing her book after marking the page. "It's fine, thank you.." A gentle grin, Nicole nodded and set her chair down. "Excellent, glad to hear it. And, how are you?" She glanced up, watching Nicole curiously. "Um..I'm fine.. you?" Jen tilted her head a little bit.. It was so weird for someone to be trying to converse with her.. let alone succeeding. Nicole watched the emotions playing across the other girls face, and had to bite back a snicker.. "Oh, I'm peachy. So, what're you up to tonight?" Jen blinked, another new expression gracing her delicate features: surprise. She shifted on her chair a little bit. "Um...studying.." Then she frowned. Studying! Couldn't you have made up something atleast sort of cool? Cheeks again taking on a soft blush, she glanced down again. Nicole almost laughed outright this time. The girl was certainly funny to watch, at the very least. "Ah, I see. Sounds like a good time." Jen just nodded her head gently, the red growing a little darker. Nic cleared her throat softly, and stood up, favoring the girl with a broad grin. "Well, I'll letcha get back to your book. See ya later, Jen." That said, she turned and wandered back out of the cafeteria. Jen watched Nicole leave the cafe.. And only when the girl was out of sight did the blush finally fade from her cheeks. Frowning a bit, she put her book away and stood. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she moved for the exit of the cafeteria, wondering what on earth was the matter with her. Why did she blush like the school girl she was whenever Nicole was around? Perhaps it was simply because the girl was trying to make friends with her, and that was a rare occurance.. Nodding to herself, she decided to write it off as just that. It was easier that way, anyway. She made it through the rest of the day without any trouble. Even in science class, she wasn't at all pestered, by anyone. That made her day a bit brighter, to say the least. Exiting the classroom, she made her way back to her locker to collect her things. Her bag, and any books she'd need for homework. Closing, and locking it back up, she turned and weaved through the sea of humanity that was the school hallway. Finally, outside, she took a deep breath.. Aah.. Fresh air.. Smiling softly to herself, she started the long walk home. She didn't really mind walking. It gave her time to think. Usually her thoughts focused around whatever book she may be reading then, or the homework she had to do. She didn't have a social life, so she didn't have to think about any of that crap.. But today, the majority of her thoughts were centered around Nicole. She was such a nice girl. There weren't many other people who took the time to sit down and just talk to her. sure, some boys had, but they just wanted into her pants.. Nerdy or not, noone could say that Jen wasn't a good looking girl. She sort of did wonder why Nicole had suddenly begun talking to her, though. She wasn't someone to trust people right away. It took time. Girls had acted friendly with her before, but then ended the facade and insulted her. That's how it usually went. She'd be horrified if it happened again, with Nicole.. For some reason, though.. She found herself wanting to give Nicole the benefit of the doubt. She wanted to trust the other girl. Shaking her head, she drew her coat around herself tighter, and ducked her head to the cold wind. She'd just have to wait and see how things turned out. Ten minutes into her walk, she heard a horn behind her causing her to give a slight start. Stepping aside out of reflex, she glanced back, and couldn't help but smile when she saw who it was. The car stopped beside her, and Nicole leaned over to nudge the passenger side door open. Grinning up at Jen, she stayed half leaned over, "Need a ride? It's pretty chilly out." Odd, Jen thought, that Nicole's always managed to show up at the right time. Shrugging the thought away, she ducked down into the car, and closed the door. Setting her bag between her feet, she seat belted herself, and rubbed her hands together. "Thanks a lot.. It is really cold out.." She gave a sheepish grin, shifting a little. Nicole nodded, and put the car into motion again. "Not a problem. Besides..get you home quicker, the sooner you can get to that studying, mm?" She gave a playful grin, causing Jen's cheeks to flush slightly again. "Yeah.. Get it out of the way." She glanced across, noting the grin, and giggled a bit, if a little nervously. They idly chatted on the way to Jen's place, about random and not really interesting things. But it was a start. Jen was starting to relax around Nicole, and was beginning to feel more at ease. Nicole pulled the car to a stop infront of Jen's house, and shifted it into park. She turned a little to regard the girl, then grin at her. "Well, there you go. Safe and sound, and all that." Returning the grin, albeit not as large, she nodded. "Mm-hm.. Thanks again, Nicole." She leaned down and picked her bag up, unbuckling her belt. "Really, you don't need to thank me. It wasn't a problem at all." Nic gave a nod, as if to reaffirm her words, then cleared her throat gently. "Uh, hey." Jen paused, half way out of the car already, and looked back at her. "Yeah?" Nicole pursed her lips a bit. "Do you, um, want to pop over tomorrow, after school?" Noting Jen's blush, she quietly added, "to help me, I mean. With studying. You're good at math, right?" Jen gave a mute nod. Nicole grinned a bit, "Oh, good. Then.. would you mind?" It took Jen a moment to regain some of her composure, but she nodded. "Sure. I'd love to help." Nic grinned again, "Great! I'll see you after school, then." Jen nodded, and stepped the rest of the way out of the car, closing the door. Nicole waved, and drove off. Jen stood there for a long moment, watching the car get smaller as it got farther away. Why had she reacted like that? SHe was just going to help her study.. No big deal, right? Jen wasn't so sure.. Shrugging her bag higher onto her shoulder, she furrowed her brows, and turned to go into her house. Studying and doing her homework took longer than usual that night. Her thoughts kept drifting back to Nicole. She still didn't quite know what to make of her.. How to act around her. She didn't want her to think she was a big idiot, and so far, she'd acted quite like it.. Finally, with her homework out of the way, she decided to go to bed. Tomorrow she had to help Nic with her math.. Best get some rest for that. She had a feeling she was going to need it.