The World Works in Wondrous Ways - on hold -

III

"Nick!" Nick heard a feminine voice all but scream his name. He kept his head down, trying to focus on anything other than the shrill voice calling for him. However, no matter how hard he tried he simply couldn't ignore it. Instead, he centered his attention on trying to figure out how far away Alyssa was from him. "Hey, Nick! Wait up!"

Alyssa caught up to him, placing a hand on Nick's shoulder to steady herself. Nick shrugged away from her touch. "Hey, you heading home now?" Alyssa asked, her words coming out in quick pants.

Well, duh, of course I am. All my classes finished over three hours ago, and so did yours, Nick wanted to tell her, but kept his mouth shut. If he ignored her, she would go away, right?

Wrong.

"I'm going home, too. Hey, maybe we live near each other! We did take the same bus here. Maybe we can hang out someday," The blonde suggested, bouncing on her heels energetically. Her hand somehow found Nick's shoulder once again. Nick slapped her hand off of his sweater. Alyssa snapped her hand back and ran her thumb over the backside of it, staring up at Nick with big blue eyes. "Hey, what was that for? I didn't do anything! At least, I don't think I did... Oh, God, did I do something? I'm so sorry. I mean, that seems to happen a lot. I do something and I don't realize that I do a thing and then I get in trouble for doing the thing I didn't know I was doing. Like, this one time, my mom yelled at me because I was leaning against this fish tank at a party and it fell over. I didn't realize I was leaning against it but then it fell and the glass broke, and all the fish died, and then I had to-"

"Shut up," Nick snapped, beginning to walk away from the girl, though Alyssa just skipped next him, happy as ever despite his previous outburst. He didn't know why she was so happy, so curious about him. He didn't know, and he didn't like not knowing.

"What? Oh, am I rambling again? My dad says I do that a lot. He said sometimes I can get really annoying, but I don't think so. I mean, I think I'm a very interesting, very funny person. Now aren't I, Nick?" She nudged his shoulder. Alyssa was very hands on and Nick didn't like that. She always seemed to be touching him in one way or another.

"No," Nick tried to turn away again, but she tugged him back towards her. The rest of the walk to the bus stop was mostly silent, aside from Alyssa humming to herself. The quiet murmurs of nearby cliques flooded Nick's ears. The high pitched laughter of a girl clinging onto her boyfriend like he was her lifeline. The engine of the black car rolling around the corner.

A low rumble greeted Nick as the bus pulled up, the light of the reflecting off of its metallic coat of paint. The ride back home was uneventful. Nearly the same as the morning's, with Alyssa squishing next to him and silence beneath the two adolescents. Nick got lost in his own thoughts again, his mind drifting back to his childhood, something he had tried so hard to forget. There was one conversation he remembered his parents having. They were talking downstairs and believed he had fallen asleep.

"There is something seriously wrong with him- don't you get it? That's not normal!" Amelia said, keeping her voice hushed yet firm, though she couldn't hide the fear in her eyes. Nick crouched from the top of the staircase, leaning towards his parents to hear their conversation better.

"Hey, hey, Ame. Calm down, okay? It'll be fine. We- we can fix this, yeah?" Liam attempted to calm his wife. He took a step closer and pressed a kiss to Amelia's forehead.

She pushed him away gently. "No, it's not. You saw it, Li. It was horrible- what he did to that animal. He killed it. It was so mutilated you couldn't even identify the animal. I don't think I can live with him anymore. What if he does something worse? What if he hurts something else? What if he hurts someone? What if he hurts us?"

"Amelia, don't say that. Don't you dare say that. That boy is your son! He's still a kid. He's only eleven," Liam tried again, tucking a strand of Amelia's hair behind her ear. Amelia's eyes were shining in the dim light.

"I know. It's just... I'm scared. I'm so scared, Li, and I'm not sure if it's for Nick, or of him," Amelia's voice broke, tears brimming her eyes.

"I know, I know," Liam pulled Amelia's head into his chest, resting his chin on top of her head as he pet down her blonde hair.

"What are we supposed to do? We can't tell anyone- they might tell the police, and then they will take him away. They can't take him away, Li, don't let them. Please," Amelia begged, "He's all we have left. I can't lose another kid, not after Aiden."

"I promise they won't take him away, yeah? I have a plan," Liam offered, and Amelia nodded.

"What about the Salmas? Won't they wonder what happened to Lucy?" Panic began to arise in Amelia's features once again, but Liam calmed her.

"Just let them believe she got lost."

"Nick! Hey, Nick! Niiiiick! Are you alive?" Alyssa poked at his face. He looked up at her, pushing the memory to the back of his mind.

"Yes," Why wouldn't I be? Spontaneous death on a bus, because that makes complete sense. Nick held his tongue. Alyssa crying because of him would be even more annoying than her constant attempts at getting his attention.

"Yeah, well, it's almost our stop. Hey, could I walk with you? This morning you came from the direction my house is in. I just came from the other way because I was staying at a friend's house last night. So, what do you say? Want to walk together?" There she went with the touching again, nudging his side with her shoulder.

"No, not really," Nick was still very confused as to why she hadn't given up on him already.

"Too late. I'm walking with you, and you can't stop me. Unless you run, because I don't run. Though, it doesn't really look like you run either. Not that you're not fit, you are- trust me, you are- it's just that you don't seem like the type to... Engage in physical activity. Oh, God. That sounded rude. Was that rude? I didn't mean it. Sorry," Realizing he couldn't do anything about it, he let her drag him out of the bus by the hand.

The walk was silent until they reached a crossroad about two blocks down. The cars were beeping on one side while cars were zooming past in a blur of motion on the other. Alyssa had let go of his hand earlier, but Nick saw that it had found his wrist. She tugged him to the right, but he stood his ground.

"Nick, what?" Alyssa whined, pouting like a child.

"My house. It's that way," Nick explained, trying to loosen her grip on his wrist.

"So is mine, but I wanted to bring you somewhere," Alyssa said, pulling harder on his arm.

Then, Nick was dragged- literally against his will- on the road opposite his house, with no idea of where he was going.

-

A/N: Sorry for such a long wait ): I had major writer's block and I've been super busy! Sorry!

Thoughts on Nick's memory? His parents?

Thoughts on Alyssa's obnoxiousness? Her dragging him away to an unknown place?

So, I'm going on a holiday for twelve days, starting on Thursday, and I may not have wifi. So, I'm sorry if I don't update. Plus side is, I'll have time to write, so maybe I'll finish a few chapters to upload when I get back!

Super adorable gif of Ashton on the top/side. That's what he looks like in the book (:

Thanks for reading! If you liked it, please vote and comment. It means a lot to me.

ALSO: Song recommendation:: Remembering Sunday by All Time Low

Love you guys and thank you so much (: