Opposites Attract

Nicki's POV

"This is shit." My little brother, Jason, says as he walks into the kitchen on this dreadful Monday morning. And, to be fair, I completely understand him.

It's our first day of school; he's a freshman, and I'm a senior. So you can imagine how happy we both are to start the school year.

"The day hasn't even started." Rosa, our maid/ex-babysitter/ex-nanny says as she moves around the kitchen to pack our lunches. Because if there is one thing I learned from my past three years in public school, it's that the cafeteria food is definitely not safe. And since I always get an earful every time I go out somewhere to eat during our lunch break, I decided to ask Rosa to make us lunch this year.

"Yeah, but it's already shit." Jason complains and sits down across from me at the table. "Pure shit. I've never woken up at fuckin' seven in the morning since...ever."

"Well, our school starts at nine, so you better get your shit together, because I don't want to wait in the queue for my schedule. Also, your private school days are over." I tell him and he rolls his eyes.

I moved to a public school in ninth grade because I got kicked out from the private school I was attending for, as they had put it, 'misbehavior'. Oh, like it's a crime to smoke a cigarette in an all-girl's catholic school bathroom (apparently it was, because I got kicked out and my parents sent me to a public high school). My brother had to pick between a really bad private school or my public school (because he isn't that smart), and he chose my school, because he was apparently fed up with all the 'rich snobs'.

"I won't make it through the week Nicole." He whines and starts eating his cereal.

I roll my eyes at him because he just used my full name, and he only does that when he's pissed at me. "Just hurry up, because I have to pick up Jake and Sophia as well, and I want to get a good parking spot."

He sadly nods into his bowl and I stand up from the table to go fill up my coffee flask.

"Morning."

I turn around to see my father come into the kitchen with a briefcase in hand, which he places on the counter. "I've got a meeting in Manchester today, so I'll be home tomorrow. I'll leave some money for the two of you, but I think your mother comes back tonight."

Oh, yeah. My "mother". And I'm not putting quotes because she's my stepmother; I'm putting quotes because she's rarely home due to her profession. She's starred in a lot of movies and is sort of a big deal in England. In fact, such a big deal, that she's flown to Hollywood to an audition for a blockbuster.

I check the watch on my wrist, and my eyes bulge out of my head. "Shit, Jason. Come on already, we're going to be late."

Rosa hands us our lunch packs as I grab my bag, phone, and the keys to my white Range Rover Evoque, before I head for the hallway. I slip into my black Vans as my brother opens the door and says goodbye Rosa over his shoulder.

I have fifteen minutes to get to Jake's and Sophia's houses in Chelsea, before we have to get to school. Which means that I'll have to bend some basic laws to get there in time, but oh well.

"Can you slow down?" Jason asks when I step on the gas as soon as our front gate opens.

"No. We're late already." I say and take a left turn.

Jake's already waiting for me in front of his house with an annoyed look on his face, so I stop a few meters in front of him, just to annoy him.

"You're late bitch." Is how he greets me as he climbs in the back and closes the door.

"Good morning to you too." I say and speed down the road towards Sophia's house. "Where's your brother?"

"Zayn's not feeling it today. He's meeting up with his soon to be girlfriend." Jake tells me and leans over between the two seats in the front. "Jasmine Harrison."

"What? No way. She's so...innocent. There's no way she's got a thing with Zayn."

"Well, she does. You know, bad boy, good girl. That kind of shit." Then he turns to Jason. "Are you excited to start your first day of high school?" he asks my brother, who's not really feeling it as he stares out the window.

"Very." Jason sarcastically answers. "If I don't see any fit birds in my classes today, I'm dropping out."

"Same." Jake laughs and high fives him.

"You're gay." I try to remind him as I stop to pick up Sophia.

"So? I can appreciate the way a girl dresses and does her makeup, can't I?" Jake asks and scoots over to give Sophia some space.

"Hii." She says and kisses me on the cheek. "Thank God you were late today, I had to redo my eyeliner like, two times."

"See?" I ask and look at Jake through the rearview mirror. "Someone is thankful for what I do."

Jake shows me the middle finger and then goes on to judge Sophia's outfit.

"What's wrong with my snapback?" she asks.

"Are you trying to impress a certain someone?" Jake smirks. "Like, say, a certain football player whose name starts with 'K' and ends in 'yle Payne?"

Sophia pouts. "Maybe."

There's a long queue in front of our school because everyone apparently got their driver's license over the summer and now drive to school.

"Fuck this shit, no one is taking my spot." I say and pull out from the queue, only to drive past the line of cars waiting to enter the parking lot and squeeze between the first car and the curb.

A lot of people start honking but I flip them off through the window, before I speed to my parking space. It's not actually my parking space, but I've been parking there ever since I got my license a year ago.

"I don't feel safe with you in the car." Jake tells me as he gets out and closes the door.

"Well, you can walk to school then. Or maybe even take the bus." I say as I grab my Hermès bag from the floor and slam the door.

"Why are you so angry? Has Jasper been lousy in bed lately?" Jake retorts and makes a face.

I roll my eyes. "He's been in Paris with his parents for the past two weeks, so I wouldn't know how he's been in bed lately."

"When is he coming back?" Jason asks, but there's a strain in his voice.

I don't know why, but he's never gotten along with Jasper. He's been my boyfriend for eleven months now (turning a year on October 10th), but Jason has never liked him for some reason. Whenever I ask what his problem is, he just shrugs and changes the subject. I guess that's just how brothers are with the guy who fucks their sister, right? But if said guy makes their sister happy, the brother should be happy too, shouldn't he?

"If we get Mr. Andrews this year in English as well, I will shit my pants." Jake says as we walk up the stairs, towards the dreadful double doors that feels sort of like the gates of hell. Or like the gates of a maximum security prison. Same shit.

Mr. Andews is our favorite teacher by far. He's the funniest person I know, and he's absolutely ruthless and doesn't take shit from any student. Last year he made a girl cry because she didn't hand in her homework on time.

"Just remember this moment little bro." I say as I place my hand on the door handle. "Because you're never going to walk out of here alive."

"Jesus, is it really that bad?" he asks and I open the door, only to reveal a crowded hallway filled with students talking and laughing.

"See for yourself."

He walks me to my locker, which is conveniently placed next to Jake's and Sophia's. That's actually how we became friends.

"Do you need help with your schedule or to find classes?" I ask him after I place my bag inside and we start walking towards the secretary's office.

"Probably."

The line isn't that long, and we get our schedules in less than five minutes, which is the first good thing that happened today.

"We have English, Psychology, and P.E. together." I say as I look at Sophia's and Jake's classes.

"P.E.? I didn't sign up for any physical education for fuck's sake!" Jake whines. "I'm done with sweating like a ballsack one every two days. I'm going to sue."

"Just chill out." I say and place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Look at the good part. You're going to look at guys in shorts for three hours a week. And besides, that's an easy A."

Jake sighs. "I guess you're right."

I let him talk to Sophia about Kyle and maybe trying out for the football team this year, so I can look over at Jason's schedule for the day.

"Ooh, history with Mr. Grey. That's going to be tough. But it's right next to our English class, let's go."

Jake and Sophia follow me as they argue about who's hotter; Kyle or Louis.

"Nicki? Just tell us who's hotter. You're always the tie breaker." Jake pleads as we stop in front of Mr. Grey's classroom.

"Between Kyle and Louis? Louis, definitely." I say and turn around to face Jason. "Here you go. But beware, Mr. Grey doesn't tolerate phones during class, so if he catches you using it, he'll give you two hours detention after school. Also, don't ask to go to the bathroom during geography class, because Ms. Smith will kick you out for good. Oh, and make sure you get a seat in the very back during Sex Ed, unless you want Mr. Rodgers to pick you as a volunteer to put a condom on a cucumber."

Jason nods, and he already looks like he's done with high school. I shoot him a sympathetic look before I send him off to get a good seat.

"I feel like my baby is going to college." Jake dramatically sighs as we look at Jason walking towards an empty seat.

I roll my eyes and look away from the classroom. "Oh, don't be so dramatic. He'll be fine."

"Yeah, but if he's anything like his sister, he'll get two weeks worth of detention by the end of the day."

It's true; I got two weeks worth of detention on the first day from three different teachers last year, because I was either talking to Jake, texting Jasper, or painting my nails.

We walk over to our first period, which is English, so seeing Mr. Andrews will be the second good thing that will happen today.

Jake, Sophia, and I find three desks right next to each other in the middle, so we sit down.

"Let's just hope we don't have to read anything this year." Jake mumbles as he takes out a pen and his notebook.

"Jake, it's English literature." Sophia says and shakes her head.

"Why are you against me today? Honestly, first the Kyle and Louis thing, now this?"

Sophia and I exchange annoying glances, because Jake's always been way too dramatic than needed.

I'm about to tell them to stop arguing, when I see Niall Harrison walk through the door, followed by Louis. My nose twitches and I feel like I'm about to throw up.

"Oh God." I whisper, looking at Jake. "What is he doing here?"

"He's in our grade, Nicki." Jake whispers back.

"Didn't he like...fail a class? Or three? So he had to repeat last year?"

Jake shakes his head. "He went to summer school. But come on, he's fit."

"No he's not. I feel like I'm about to throw up in my mouth every time I see him."

I've never liked Niall Harrison. Never have, never will. It started back in ninth grade, when I transferred to this school. It happened during lunch on my first day. I was in line to get some water from the cafeteria (I didn't know that the food wasn't safe back then) but I asked for a straw and opened the bottle because I had a new Mac lipstick that day and didn't want to ruin it – everyone can understand that.

So I placed the opened bottle on the tray and turned around to walk towards a table, when Niall Harrison bumped into me and spilled everything on himself. Then he started yelling at me, like it was my fault that he's got two left chicken legs and doesn't look where he's going. He complained about the cold water and the yoghurt that I spilled and basically made a scene out of nothing, like the little brat he is. Then he called me spoiled and a 'rich bitch', which just did it for me. I've never really crossed paths with him after that incident (except during classes or occasionally at parties-we're not in the same 'group'), and I'm thankful for that every day.

I watch him as he sits down a row behind me, right across the room, and then I make eye contact with Louis, so I smile and wave. I'm really good friends with him because he used to come to dance class with Sophia and I until a few months ago, when Danielle (our dancing coach) told us that we'll be an official dance group, and everyone who can't commit should leave. And because Louis wanted to pursue football instead of dancing, he quit.

"Wait a minute." Jake says and look at Louis, then back at me. "Is he gay?"

I frown. "Uh, I don't know. I've never seen him with someone, why?" I ask.

"Do you know Chris?"

I nod. "Vaguely. Isn't he the tall guy with the weird hair that takes care of our school magazine?"

"That's him. He's always had a crush on Louis but it's sort of an unrequited love situation."

"So?" I ask, unsure of where he's going with this.

"Sooo...if you know Louis, and if he's gay, we should set them up."

"Jake." I sigh. "Just because two people are gay doesn't mean they have to get together. Also, I really don't know if he swings that way."

"Well, I'm getting a gay vibe from him right now."

"That's a bit homophobic, not to mention stereo-"

Jake stops me. "I know my shit Nicki. Find out. You have sources."

I roll my eyes. "Fine. I will. But I swear to God, if you want to do this for yourself-"

"Louis' not my type. Chris is."

"So you are doing this for yourself." I say.

"Not...really. Why are you judging me? I didn't judge you when you made out with Niall two years ago!"

Oh. Right. I also made out with Niall in tenth grade at Louis' birthday party. In my defense, I was incredibly drunk and he smelled really good. But I couldn't really remember anything and neither did he, until our friends told us the next day and I had to bleach my tongue for two weeks after that.

"We shall never speak of that." I whisper.

"Bitch please, I will bring it up at your wedding, and at your funeral."

"Shut up." I warn, and give him my deadliest stare. It's the stare that I give my mother every time she wants to 'hang out' with me and spend quality time, to make up for the time she lost while she was filming a movie.

And Jake listens, but not because of my death stare (he's the queen of death stares actually), but because Mr. Andrews enters the room with a look on his face that just says he's as done as we are with school, and it hasn't even started.

"Good morning everyone. Or should I just say morning because judging by everyone's face it's not good at all." Mr. Andrews says and claps his hands together. "Well then. You all know me by now; I'm Mr. Andrews, and I'll be your English teacher this dreadful year. I will not tolerate you ditching homework because of other activities unless it's justified, and this year we will work in pairs for each assignment, because, to be honest with you, I'm done with reading twenty-something essays, so I'll be cutting that number in half."

I look over at Jake, who's already texting someone on his phone. Great, no annoyed-glances-exchange then.

"This year, we'll be reading and analyzing Dickens' "Great Expectations". Does anyone have any idea what the book is about?"

Sophia, surprisingly, raises her hand. Mr. Andrews points at her.

"It's about a poor boy who falls for a rich girl."

"Yes, Ms. Sawyer. That's right. Now, I'll be randomly drawing names out of a hat, and I'll pair you up with someone. We'll be reading a chapter in each class, and as we reach the end of the book, you and your partner will have to write a three page essay about the book and what it symbolizes, and what it meant to you based on real life experiences maybe."

Everyone groans. It's the first period, and we're already assigned to do work. Isn't this school system at its finest?

"Now, if anyone would do me the honor of giving me their cap?" Mr. Andrews asks and looks at Louis, who takes off his snapback and hands it over.

Mr. Andrews empties a small cup of paper cutouts in the hat, before he picks out a small piece. "Nicole Palmer. With..."

I bite my lip, praying to the Gods that he won't pick Niall.

"Louis Jeffries."

I sigh, relieved. And I swear I also see Niall smiling and his shoulder relax. Fucking idiot.

"Jake Kennedy and...Niall Harrison. Oh this should be good." Mr. Andrews mutters as he keeps digging through the hat.

My heart aches for Jake.

"RIP." I whisper and he rolls his eyes.

"Zayn Kennedy with...Jade Palmer." Mr. Andrews looks through the classroom. "Apparently, neither decided to come to school today. I bet their essay will be just delightful to read." He sarcastically adds.

I look around, just to notice that my cousin is indeed not here. Then I remember that she's still on holiday in Germany with my aunt.

He pairs up the rest of people in the classroom I really don't care about, before he tells us to each buy a copy and maybe watch the movie that was made in the 90s, just to get an idea on what the book is about.

The bell rings ten minutes later, and it's like a breath of fresh air. My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I check it to see a message from my brother.

Jase: cig in the parking lot?

Nicki: sure, give me 3 mins I turn to Jake and Sophia. "I'm going outside for a cigarette with me brother."

They follow me outside, and I see Jason leaning against my car, looking like he could punch someone.

"What's wrong? That bad huh?" I say as I pull out my cigarette pack from my bag and light it up.

"There's this girl." He starts as he blows out smoke.

"Oh shit." Jake says and crosses his arms.

"So there's this blonde girl in my class who started making fun of my shirt. I forgot her name when we introduced ourselves, but honestly, what's wrong with my polo?" he asks, looking down at it. "Nothing. But she called me a rich prick just because I was on my phone during class-which, by the way, just got me detention today so if you could pick me up at five, that would be amazing. Anyway, I asked what her problem was and she said that she just hates rich guys who think they're better than everyone, and I literally didn't even say anything!"

I nod. "Well, she's a bitch. Just point her out to me when you see her."

"I see her right now. Look." He says and nods towards a girl with blonde hair dressed in black, whose headed behind the school where the usual smokers hang out.

"Don't know her, sorry. But I'll find out who she is and she won't hear the end of it, I promise."

"No, don't. The last thing I need is people saying that my big sister has to fight my battles for me. I can handle it. I'll just make her fall in love with me and then break her heart." He jokes, before he dumps the cigarette on the ground and steps on it.

"You do that." I smile, and then pull him in for a kiss on the cheek. He squirms of course, and pulls away in disgust.

"Jesus Nicki, no PDA."

I roll my eyes and drop my cigarette as well, before we head back inside. I have two more periods before the one-hour lunch, and if I get out of it alive, I will definitely eat everything Rosa made us for lunch.

***

Louis sits down next to me at lunch. Sophia, Jake, and I are sitting at our usual table, chatting about Jake's tryout tomorrow after school.

"Hey partner." Louis smiles and puts an arm around my shoulder.

Jake pulls his phone out and I know he's texting Chris, telling him to move his ass over here.

"Hi Louis." I say and he looks at the bag next to me.

"Is that the limited edition Hermès bag?" he asks, his eyes going wide.

I try to ignore Jake's obvious, insistent glances. "Yeah. My mother sent it over from Italy last week."

"My sister keeps bugging me mum about it but it's like, fifteen thousand pounds and my mum barely makes that in a year. She'll faint if she sees it." he smiles. "Anyway. About that project. How do you want to do it?"

I shrug. "I think we should start working on it after the third chapter or so. My place, if you want."

"Sure." He nods. "Where do you live?"

"Kensington in W8. I'll drive us one day after school." I say, and try to ignore his raised brows. I always get this reaction when I tell people where I live. Just because it's apparently the most expensive neighborhood in Great Britain, that doesn't mean people can judge me based on that.

"Alright then. I'll get back to my table. You've got my number, right?"

I nod and she smiles, before he stands up and leaves, just to bump into a very clumsy Chris, who goes red.

"Sorry." He mutters and Louis waves it off, before he keeps walking towards his table. He's sitting with Kyle, Niall, and Poppy Edwards (a good friend of mine who's also on my dance and cheerleading team).

Chris sits down and looks at Jake. "Came too late."

"Well, better than coming early, isn't it?" Jake asks and Chris bursts out laughing. And for the hundredth time today, I roll my eyes. Because I was right; Jake is trying to make a move on Chris.

Jason slams his phone on the table as he sits down next to me. "I am so done."

"Jesus, what happened now?" I ask and scoot over so he can fit in next to me.

"That girl just spilled her coke on my shirt. On purpose." He says, and points to his stained shirt.

"Are you serious?" I frown. "Where is she right now?"

He points towards a girl sitting with a bunch of other girls, one of them being Louis' sister Lottie, who I remember from that one time she came with Louis to dance class.

"Hold on a minute." I tell Jason, before I stand up and walk over.

"Excuse me." I start, placing a hand on my hip as I look down at her. "I hear you're being rude to my brother, and I don't appreciate it."

The girl looks up at me with her blue eyes, and okay, she's really pretty. Too bad she has an attitude problem.

"So what's the problem?" she asks, crossing her arms over her chest. Her voice is raspy, and one of her brows is raised. How can a freshman be so rude? Honestly.

"Do you have a weird crush on my brother or something? Just leave him alone."

She snorts. "First of all, your brother is the furthest thing from being attractive, and second of all, who are you, his keeper?"

"Is there a problem?"

I feel every single hair on the back of my neck standing up as I turn my head in disgust, to face Niall. I look up at him. "Who called you here?"

"It seems like you have a problem with my little sister." He says.

Oh.

OH.

"Well, now it all makes sense." I say.

Niall looks at his sister. "Lilly, what's going on?"

"I made fun of her little brother and she's really cute trying to defend him." Lilly laughs. "It's nothing."

"Are you serious?" Niall snorts. "Can't your brother stand up for himself? Should've figured. You should call your daddy and ask him to come pick him up before he starts crying."

I want to slap him, but I refrain myself. "Listen. I'm not going to argue with two people who have two neurons put together, okay? Just keep your smartass comments to yourselves and stop picking on my brother for no reason, or we're going to have a problem. And trust me, you don't want to have a problem with me."

Niall laughs at that, and his sister looks a bit terrified to be honest, so my job is done.

I shoot her a fake smile, before I turn around and walk back to my table.

"What happened? What did you say?" Jason asks.

"Nothing important. But the problem is, there's not just one horrible, immature, self-centered brat in this school. There are two now."

Nicki’s POV

“Oh fuck.” I say as soon as I park my car in our driveway, and see my mum’s black Bentley in front of the garage.

Jason looks at it. “Shit. Shouldn’t she be home later tonight? Oh God, we did not prepare for this.”

Don’t get us wrong; we love our mum…to a certain extent. It’s just that sometimes she tries too hard because she knows she doesn’t spend as much time with us as she should, and she tries to make up for that by being way too intrusive and buying us designer clothes and whatnot.

Well, that’s not that bad, but no money and no presents could ever make up for the time lost. We basically grew up with Rosa as our mother and our father. She’s 2 in 1, that’s why my mother was offended when I asked Rosa to go to the Parent-Teacher meeting instead of her in tenth grade.

“I’m not mentally prepared for this.” Jason sighs as we get out of the car.

I press the button on the key to lock it, but I contemplate whether I should climb back in and just to for a ride until my mother falls asleep. Oh well, too late now, because she’s just opened the door and is looking at the two of us with a big smile on her face.

“My babies!” she exclaims, and my ears hurt already.

She hugs us both at once, and I nearly choke on her strong perfume.

“I’ve brought preseeents.” She sings and doesn’t even wait for us to take off our shoes before she waltzes down the hallway towards the living room.

Jason and I exchange glances, and we follow her towards the living room. There couch is filled with bags from different brands, like Zanotti, Moschino, Armani, Ralph Lauren, Burberry, Michael Kors, Hermès, Chanel, Gucci, D&G, and of course, her personal favorite, Alexander Wang.

“You forgot Louis Vuitton!” I sarcastically exclaim, and cross my arms. I know I’m being really ungrateful right now, because who wouldn’t want a mom who goes shopping and gets all the brand new stuff each month? But to be fair, I just want a normal mom, who I can gossip about boys with, and do all that normal stuff I don’t even know about.

“Yeah…shit. Well, Alexander has this new fall line coming out soon, and he said he’ll send over a bag for you.”

I nod, not really impressed. Yes, I like having nice bags and nice shoes, but this is too much. Especially because she’s trying to make up for the lost time. That’s bribing; sort of.

“Jason, yours are the bags on the left side. Nicole, the rest are for you. Oh, and this one.” She says, picking a Saint Laurent bag out of the bunch. “This one is for Jasper.”

I raise my brows, because I was never aware of the fact that my mother knew my boyfriend’s name. One time he came over for dinner and she happened to be home, she called him Jake.

She calls Rosa to help us with the bags upstairs, and then she tells me that she’ll get her closet organizer to come over and help us put everything in place.

Jason shakes his head when she’s not looking, but takes the bags anyway and follows me upstairs. I drop the bags I could carry on my bed, and then sit down next to them. If I’m being honest, I’m a bit excited about the Zanotti boxes, because I absolutely love their sneakers, even though they’re way too expensive to be fair. I’d never pay for a pair with my own money. 900 dollars for a pair of shoes? No thank you. I’d rather stick to Vans.

But the craziest thing by far is the Hermès bags. They’re terribly expensive and don’t even look that different from a normal handbag. Once, when I was out shopping with my mother, I asked her why she wouldn’t just buy me a bag from Forever 21 or Hollister, because they’re a thousand times cheaper, and she yelled at me about designer brands and stuff like that. I never questioned her again.

Rosa helps me arrange the new stuff in my walk-in closet, before she asks me about school, but my mother interrupts us by walking into the room.

“Rosa? Shouldn’t you be starting on dinner soon?” she asks and Rosa nods, excusing herself before she walks out.

“Stop being rude to her, she’s here to help.” I say and walk over to my desk, where I place my bag.

“So how was your first day of being a senior?” she asks, sitting down at the edge of my bed. She looks uncomfortable, and sort of forced.

“Do you really care? Or are you trying to be a good mother?”

She sighs. “I care Nicole.”

“Fine. It was shit, okay? I don’t want to thing about my final exams and the fact that I have to study for the next nine months, or the fact that some people attending are plain annoying. That good enough for you?”

“Who’s annoying? Are you having problems with someone?” she asks, and I roll my eyes. Well she got me there.

“It’s this guy I can’t stand since the ninth grade. You don’t know him.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Maybe I know his parents. Try me.”

“Niall Harrison.” I shrug. “I don’t think you know him. I think he lives in Newham.”

I kind of hate the way her nose scrunches. I know she knows that Newham is one of the poorest boroughs in London, and that the poverty rate there is one of the highest in the country, but there’s no need for her to make that disgusted face.

“Harrison? That-isn’t that a family with three kids?”

I shrug. “Why do you know that?”

“Doesn’t matter. Just be nice to him, okay?”

I’m surprised to hear those words coming out of her mouth. Since when does my mother care about who I’m nice to?

“Anything else?” she pushes, and I sit down at my desk, as far away from her as possible.

“No, not really mom. Thanks for the presents, but I think I’ll start on my homework now.” I lie. We didn’t get any homework today (thank God), but I still have to buy that book Mr. Andrews assigned us, because I’m not planning on being on the verge of failing in any subject this year. I almost failed Economics last year, and I don’t want to be that stressed again.

I look at her, wondering whether she caught on my attempt to make her leave, but of course, she hasn’t.

“I think I’m going to go to the mall and buy a book I have to read in English.” I say and stand up from the desk and walk towards the bathroom to take a shower. Whether she stays or goes, I’m taking a shower either way.

Once I come out of the shower, I walk into my closet and pick out a random white Ramones shirt, my favorite black ripped skinny jeans, a pair of crocodile leather Zanotti sneakers, and a black bomber jacket to go with my bag.

I call Jake up, because there’s no way I’m going to go alone, and when he picks up and tells me that he’s already dressed, I smile. That’s one of the reasons I love him; he’s always there for me when I need him.

“Where are you going? Are you leaving me here alone?” Jason whispers when he sees me walking out of my room.

“I’m going to the mall. You want anything?”

“Uh?! To get out of the house, sure?” he obviously says. “Give me one minute to put on a shirt.”

I wait for him to get dressed, and then we’re down the stairs and out the door. Our mother doesn’t even bother to ask when we’ll be back, because she’s too busy phoning her personal stylist to come over tomorrow.

I climb into my car and let out a relieved sigh as soon as the door closes. Jason connects his phone to the car’s Bluetooth and starts blasting his techno music, so I turn on the engine and pull out of the driveway.

Jake is waiting for me in front of his house and gets inside with a giant smile. “You have no idea how much a shopping therapy session is going to help right now.”

“What happened now?” Jason asks, looking at him through the rearview mirror.

“So I told Chris that Louis might be gay, and that’s all he talks about now. I kind of wish I hadn’t.”

“Wait. Louis as in Louis Jeffries?” Jason asks. “He’s gay?”

“Might be.” Jake and I answer at the same time.

“We don’t know for sure.” I add.

Jake rolls his eyes. “Bitch, he knew your bag was Hermès. I didn’t know your bag was Hermès.”

“Oh will you stop with the bag already? Let’s just drop the subject. We can’t judge him based on what he knows and how he acts. If he’ll say he’s gay, then he’s gay.” I say and stop the car at a stop before I step on the gas once again.

Westfield London mall is about ten minutes from my house, but twenty minutes from Jake’s house, due to the traffic in London. It would be way easier to just get there by foot, but lazy idiots surround me and I like driving way too much.

I park in the underground parking lot and don’t bother paying for a ticket, so we head towards the elevators.

“So where are we shopping today?” Jake asks me excitedly.

I forgot to mention that by ‘shopping therapy’, Jake doesn’t mean that he’ll shop. He means that I’ll shop and he’ll criticize absolutely everything I get to he’ll feel better about himself, and then bully me into buying him some comfort food from the food court once we’re done.

“Well, first of all, I’m going to buy that book Mr. Andrews told us about. That’s the reason we’re here actually.” I tell him and he almost trips over himself in shock.

“We’re here for a book?” he gasps, placing a hand over his heart. Then he looks at my brother. “Jason, do you hear your sister? Or am I going insane?”

“No, she’s really saying this. I don’t know, I just wanted to get out of the house.” He shrugs and follows me out of the elevator.

Of course though; before we get to the bookstore on the second floor, we go through Calvin Klein, Gucci, H&M, Miss Sixty, Top Shop, and Nike.

Jake and Jason struggle to handle my bags as well as their own bags, and I guess a little ‘shopping therapy’, as Jake puts it, never hurts.

We enter the bookstore one and a half hour later than we were supposed to, but everything is better now.

“Excuse me, where can I find Great Expectations?” I ask a lady behind the desk who looks up from her computer.

“Right over there, in the English Literature section under Dickens.”

I nod and thank her, before I walk over there and spot the book right away.

“Now that we’re here, I actually have to get this book about this bird-“ Jason says.

“To Kill a Mockingbird.” Jake says and points him to the book. “Boring as fuck.”

Jason takes it and turns his head, before he does a double take.

“Nicki.” He says and I turn my head to look at him.

“What?”

“Look.”

Jake and I follow his line of vision, just to see Niall and his sister entering the store.

“What are they doing here?” I ask Jake. “This is my turf.”

“Easy there mama bear.” Jake laughs.

“Don’t they live in Newham?” I continue, trying not to stare in order to not accidentally kill them with my looks and go to jail young.

“They do, but Jesus, let a man shop.”

I bite my lip. “The bookstore though? Honestly.”

Jason turns away from them and tries to hide himself, but it’s a bit too late, because Lilly spots him and nudges Niall to look at us.

Our eyes meet, and then his fall on the bags I’m currently carrying, and his eyes roll to the back of his head.

Now, I’m not usually a religious person, but I pray to God that he gets stuck like that some day.

And what a good day that will be.

“Let’s just go to check out.” Jason tells me. “I’m not ready for another one of your sessions.”

“Sessions?” I ask. “Excuse me, what I did in the cafeteria was for you.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t ask you to do that for me.” He retorts, and buries his face in the book. “It was so embarrassing.”

I look at him, offended. “Well, sorry for caring about you. I’ll stop then.”

Jason rolls his eyes. “Stop being so dramatic. C’mon, do you have your book?”

I nod and follow him towards the checkout. We wait in line for a few minutes, and then I smell something familiar-it’s that smell that makes my insides turn and my throat convulse. I try not to look back, but Jake does it anyway and greets Niall with a smile and a handshake.

Once Niall greets Jake, he looks at my brother and I, but he doesn’t say anything. How fucking rude.

“So you plan on actually doing the assignment Andrews gave us?” Niall asks, looking down at Jake’s book.

Jake is about to say something, when I interrupt him. “Excuse me? My friend is not going to get a bad grade just because you’re a lazy piece of-“

“Whoa, easy there princess.” Niall laughs, speaking the last word in a mocking manner. “I was about to ask him where I could get the book. Don’t get your panties in a twist.”

I see Jason grit his teeth, but not saying anything, which means he’s getting angry, but not to an extent where he’d start throwing punches. Not yet, anyway.

Jake tells Niall where he can find the book, and his sister asks him about her own English assignment, before they’re off with a wave in Jake’s direction.

“Ughh.” I exhale, trying to calm down. “I swear to God, if I have high blood pressure when I’m older because of him, I’m going to sue.”

***

Rosa wakes me up the next morning, telling me I have one hour until I have to get to school.

Three months have passed since I’ve been a senior and I hated every single minute of it.

Oh wait. No.

One day has passed and I’m already done with school on my last second day.

I put on a Grey top, jeans, my favorite white Zanottis, and a white leather jacket my mother got me yesterday.

As I put my stuff in my bag, I spot the two new Hermès bags on the table in the walk-in closet. There’s a light pink one, and a white one. Without thinking too much about it, I walk over to the white one and place it back in the shopping bag it came in.

Jason is already done with breakfast by the time I walk into the kitchen, so I grab an apple and what Rosa made us for the day, before we’re out the door.

We get to school on time with a couple of minutes to spare, so I tell Sophia I’ll see her in Economics, before I’m off looking for Louis. I probably look like a total snob carrying a Hermès bag in one hand, and a Hermès shopping bag containing a bag in the other.

I find Louis outside behind the building, smoking with Niall and Zayn.

“Uh…hi.” I say and weirdly smile at Louis, because I’m trying my best not to make eye contact with Niall.

“Hi.” Louis trails off, looking at me like he’s trying to find out what I want.

“So uh… my mother came back from America yesterday, and she brought me some stuff. And I’d really like for you to give this bag to your sister.” I say, showing him the white Hermès bag.

His eyes go wide and his mouth falls. “Oh my God. Are you serious?” he asks.

“Yeah. And please don’t view it as charity or anything, but I really don’t need another bag. And since your sister really wishes she had one, you can have it. As a present.”

“Well it was her birthday a month ago and I didn’t get her anything.” Louis smiles, taking the bag from me, and then hugs me tightly. “Thank you so much.”

I smile and pull away from him, just in time to see Niall rolling his eyes at me. I refrain myself from properly hitting him in the face, and instead choose to walk away with a smile on my face and my head held high.

“What did you do?” Sophia asks me when I sit down next to her in our Economics class.

“I gave Louis a white bag my mother brought me yesterday to give to his sister.”

Sophia looks surprised. “Really? That’s nice of you.”

I smile and shrug, just as the teacher steps inside and closes the door.

***

Louis’ sister comes over to my table during lunch, hugging me and thanking me for the bag, and asks how she could ever repay me.

“Just stay in school and be nice to your brother.” I tell her, before she’s off, back to her friends’ table.

“You’re unusually nice today.” Jake observes and takes a sip from his soda. “Is Jasper coming back today by any chance?”

I think about it for a second. “Actually, fuck. But it hasn’t occurred to me until now. Oh fuck, I’m going to have to shave again.” I sigh.

Even though Jasper and I are way past the shaving-before-we-have-sex stage of our relationship, I still like to feel like a baby down there.

“Is he coming to school today?” he continues and I frown. I know he landed last night at Heathrow but he hasn’t said anything about school. Knowing his parents though, they’ll probably make him come to school today. It’s weird, because I haven’t seen him in any classes yet, but there are still two more periods to go.

“I think so.” I nod and take a sip of my lemonade.

“Speak of the devil.” Sophia says in a singing voice and nods over to the double doors of the cafeteria.

And there he is, of course. My boyfriend of eleven months, Jasper Christ. His hair is messy as per usual (probably because he didn’t have time to comb it before his mother forced him to school), and he’s wearing one of his many band shirts with black skinny jeans and converse.

I smile instantly when we make eye contact, and get up from the table to run towards him. He picks me up and spins me around once before kissing me on the lips and letting me down.

“I missed you.” I say and smile against his lips.

“I’ve only been gone fifteen days babe.” He smirks and takes my hand so we can walk towards our table.

I smile. “I knooow, but still.”

He shakes hands with Jake and my reluctant brother, and then kisses Sophia on the cheek before he sits down in his usual spot next to me.

“How come you’re at school today? Especially since there are two classes left?” Sophia asks.

I try not to look at Jason’s annoyed face as Jasper explains her that his mother made him come to school, and that the football tryouts are today, and he wants to be there for the new guys; getting to know them and everything.

“Oh shit, I’ve got cheerleading tryouts as well.” I tell Sophia, who nods.

“At three in the gym.” She adds and I roll my eyes.

Changing into my cheerleading uniform and watching people bounce around for an hour is the last thing I want to be doing after school today to be honest. But I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to take over the co-captain position last year before Emily, the head cheerleader left, putting Jade and I in charge. And since my lovely cousin is on vacation until this weekend, I’ll have to overlook the tryouts and pick out three girls out of thirty. Thank God I’ll have Poppy there to help.

Once we finish discussing football and cheerleading, I proceed to question Jasper about his vacation, but I don’t really get the time because the bell rings, which means it’s time to return to class.

***

Nicki’s cheerleading outfit:

“I’m done with this. I resign.” I sigh at four pm later that day, when tryouts are over, and now Poppy and I have to decide whom to pick so we can hang up the list tomorrow.

It’s not that hard; watching girls do a three-minute routine and give them marks from 1 to 10, but I’d rather be watching my boyfriend play football than sit in a smelly gym wearing a short skirt and a matching crop top.

“You can’t resign, it’s not a paid job.”

I roll my eyes. “Fine then, I officially quit.”

“Nicki Palmer isn’t a quitter, come on. Besides, the choices are obvious. Lottie, Hannah, and Olive.”

“Olive? No way. She’s not coordinated at all. I’d say Jasmine.” I tell her. “She’s graceful and she learns fast.”

Poppy scrunches her nose is disgust. “Well, I didn’t like her.”

“Is it because of the Zayn thing?” I ask, throwing her a knowing look.

“No.”

It’s obvious that it is.

Poppy and Zayn had a thing half a year ago, when they dated for a few months until Zayn dumped her for unknown reasons (aka a new girl aka Jasmine probably), which left a really heartbroken Poppy for me to look after to make sure she doesn’t do something stupid.

“Look, I know you have a grudge against her and I don’t blame you, but I also don’t blame her. If anyone should be blamed, it should be Zayn, who was a dickhead. Let’s not take it out on her.”

She sighs. “You’re right. Besides, I’m over him now.”

I raise a brow. “What? When did that happen?”

“Right before summer started. I’m uh…sort of seeing someone else now.”

“What?” I ask, shocked. “What does ‘sort of’ mean? And who is someone else?”

“Well I’m not dating them per se, but we’re fucking occasionally. Like, twice a week or so.”

I dramatically place a hand on my forehead, as if I felt like fainting.

“Who is it?”

She looks hesitant to tell me. “I don’t think you’ll want to hear who it is.”

“Oh, come on. Does he go at our school?” My eyes widen and the corners of my mouth turn into a smile. “Is it a she?”

“No.” she laughs, shaking her head. “I mean, no it isn’t a girl. But yes he goes at our school.”

“Well come on, no one’s that bad. Unless it’s Niall, which would be-“ I stop when I see the expression on her face. “No.” I gasp.

She nods. I place a hand over my heart.

“No.” I repeat, this time louder. “You can’t. No. This-I’m going to be sick.”

“Oh, come on Nicki. Niall’s actually really nice. And there’s a lot to talk about with him. He’s never boring.”

My ears are on fire. My vision goes blank. My throat is filled with the lunch I ate three hours ago.

“Niall Harrison is not boring? He has a brain? I don’t follow.” I say, crossing my arms. “How and when and why?”

“Well, it happened at that party you missed that the seniors threw after exams. You know, you were in Bali with your family-“

I nod. “Yeah, I do remember.”

“Well, we got drunk and we had sex, and then we sort of met at another party a week later, and things escalated from there.”

“And now you’re friends with benefits.” I state, still hoping that it isn’t true, and that it’s sort of a pre-April Fools prank.

“Yeah, we are.”

“Did Jake put you up to this? Tell me honestly.” I plead.

She shakes her head. “Come on Nicki. I just wanted you to know, in case people find out. He’s really not that bad, honestly. I don’t get why you hate him. I mean yes, he’s sarcastic and witty and annoying sometimes, but he’s actually funny and nice when he wants to.”

“I’m sorry. I’m happy for you, obviously, but I can’t associate ‘funny’ and ‘nice’ with Niall Harrison. And this is the first and only time I will be using those words with his name in a sentence.”

She laughs it off. “It’s fine. I get it.”

After a few moments of silence, we decide on Jasmine instead of Olive, and then get up to walk towards the football field.

I turn my head towards her as we enter the girl’s locker room.

“Tell me one thing though.” I say.

“Hm?”

“Is his dick game strong at least?”