The Academy 2

25

Nicola's POV

I think Saturday was the hardest since I was so programmed to be around Alicia. It felt emptier being at her house since she wasn't there. I was forced to deal with the loneliness since Zara and I still had a project to do.

We barely got any work done because all Zara could do was complain about Alicia. She gave me her side of the story by stating she was so tired and bored and just wanted to leave. Her grandmother was asking intrusive questions about me and Ali was being vague, so Zara decided to just state the facts.

She never thought it'd result in her grandmother slapping Ali, pushing for her to go to therapy, her mother defending Ali and her preference for girls (I was shocked at that), and then her father making her attend the camp out of punishment. And to Zara, the worse thing was the punishment she received.

She was grounded, had to pick up trash in the poverty stricken area, and clean graffiti off walls. To make it even worse, her father made her wear an orange jumpsuit like a delinquent. I had to disguise my laugh as a cough when she gave me a glare.

According to Zara, the duration of her punishment depends on the duration of Ali's stay. If Ali decides she can only handle one day, then Zara will only have to do community service for a day. Unfortunately, it looked like Ali was committed to making Zara's life hell since she is still there.

She was so annoyed. She couldn't even sneak out to see her friends or Ryder since security was hired for that exact reason. She was dying over the lack of having her phone, computer, or other electronic device. She claimed her parents had sent her back to the Stone Age.

"How come I'm allowed here since you're grounded?" I asked.

"Because I said it's for school. It's not like we're friends, so my parents didn't question it." She shrugged.

"We aren't friends?" She nodded. "Then why did you rant and confide in me?" I smirked.

"Because who else is there? Gemma's gone. Alicia's gone and I'm certainly not bitching to Tamsin, who will bitch about my behavior during the interview." She groaned and flopped onto her bed. "You're the last resort." I rolled my eyes.

"Thank you, I'm hon- AHHH!" I screamed bloody murder when I saw a massive iguana crawl next to me.

I jumped off Gemma's bed and ran to the other side of the room. Zara was laughing while I was petrified. The animal had to be 7 feet long. Like what the hell! Zara chuckled as she walked over to pick up her pet. She began scratching him as she cooed. It was weird seeing Zara be so soft.

"His name is Coffin." She neared me, but I stepped away. "He's a Cuban rock iguana." She smiled while playing with him. "He's super nice and chill. Come on, hold him." She defied my protests and forced him into my hold.

"This is the ugliest creature I have ever seen." I stiffened as the lizard crawled up my arm. "And he's fat and heavy." Zara chuckled.

"Don't tell Gemma that." She removed him from me. "She'll kill you if you disrespect him." I followed her through an archway in her room.

I gasped at the different toys littered around the room. There was a massive cage in the corner. A tree was even inside since the room had a jungle theme. Zara placed him near the tree, which he happily crawled onto.

"I forgot that Ali told me you two were crazy reptile lovers." I shuddered at the memory of holding that lizard.

"If you think Coffin is bad, wait till you meet Reaper." She shrugged and walked back inside her room.

"Reaper? Who's Reaper?" I followed her.

"Tamsin's pet snake." She turned around with an evil grin. "A boa constrictor. Wanna see him?" I quickly shook my head no. "So what do you wanna do now?" She jumped onto her bed.

"Uh, go back to campus and hang with my friends." I smirked at her.

"Too bad. I'm not in the mood to drive you home yet." I rolled my eyes at her. "Wanna do a puzzle?" She didn't wait for a reply since she dragged me to the game room.

Zara fiddled around the room until she found a packaged puzzle. She removed the saran wrap so that she could open the box. She then dumped the pieces on the table while I grabbed the cover. Huh, so she likes Rick and Morty. Zara said that Ali gave her the puzzle as a surprise gift.

"So are you sad that Ali and you are fighting?" She slapped my hand away when I tried to contribute to the puzzle. I guess I'm supposed to watch her assemble the pieces.

"Hmm... I rather have her as my partner in crime than my enemy." Her eyes were focused on the puzzle board.

"I'm sure you two will make up soon." I attempted to offer her some solace.

She just hummed a response. I was starting to get bored since I was just watching her. I had to admit that she was putting the pieces together really fast. We were 10 minutes in and she had already assembled half of the 1000 piece puzzle. I then thought of something.

"Zara?" She just hummed. "Who's Skye to Ali?" She looked up, amused at my question.

"Why?" I just shrugged. "Her and Ali used to be very close until they had a falling out. Skye then moved back to Monaco, under the guise of having royal duties." She was almost done with the puzzle now.

"Do you know what caused them to have a falling out?"

"You'd have to ask her, Yaz, or Astrid. I have no idea. She didn't tell us." She placed the final piece. "What do you think?" She motioned to the picture.

"It's Rick and Morty trying not to be sucked into another dimension." I laughed. "Are you gonna hang this up?"

"No. Probably something I'll do to practice cutting down my assembling time." She began cleaning up the puzzle. "I do think they had an intimate relationship though." I looked at her. "I figure she's her first ex and they had a nasty breakup or something." She paused. "Gem and I weren't shocked when we found out the two of you were dating." I cocked a brow at her.

"Uh, help clean up." She pointed to the pieces while I rolled my eyes, but I still helped. "One day, Gemzi hid in Ali's closet. She had planned on scaring her or something. Ali came in with Skye and the two jumped on her bed to talk. Gem was ready to make her presence known, but she caught them kissing. Because of that, she didn't move for hours, waiting for them to leave. When they finally left, she rushed into our room and told me. I wasn't happy... not because she was kissing a girl... but because Skye was a renowned player. She had a cheater reputation and something tells me that Ali fell victim to her whims." She put the cover over the box. "Anything else?"

"You knew from day one?"

"Knowing my sister liked girls and her being soft around you... DUH! I'm not stupid." We stood up. "Especially when you'd leave my room to rendezvous with her. It was so annoying." My eyes widened at her revelation. "Ya, I knew. I'd just talk to Ryder during that time. Oh and Gemma and Chico had seen you guys kissing in the car. That confirmed my suspicions."

"But, you guys never said anything."

"It wasn't our place to say. She wasn't comfortable, so why would we pry." She led me to the kitchen. "And it's not like we cared. I mean... we were worried how our parents would take it, but that was it. We just wanted her to be happy and unfortunately she's happiest with you." She gave me a playful smile. "So annoying how she's lovesick." She motioned for me to grab the tacos the chef finished making.

"I love tacos!" I started assembling mine.

"I know." I looked at her, but she averted her gaze and ate.

How about Zara and Nic's unlikely friendship???? Only Zara would inquire about such a minute detail like Nicola's favorite food. She clearly had to ask someone before they left what Nic's fav food was, which means Zara was always planning on inviting Nic over to take her mind off a particular someone leaving for the weekend. She acts just like Ali. Hard like a diamond on the outside and then absolute mush on the inside. Should their ship name be Nara or Zicola lol