Falling to Pieces

Chapter Nine

"Nicki..." Christian sighs.

"What?" I say, getting nervous.

Danny nudges his arm. "Nicki, are you sure?"

"I'm okay, Dan."

He puts his arm around me and leans in. "Is something wrong?" He whispers.

"No, I'm fine," I reply.

- Danny's POV -

I look at Christian, who's probably thinking the same thing I am. Last night, after we went home, we texted each other about Nicki. There's something wrong.

There has to be.

"Come with me," I tell her. She looks at me with a weary expression, then stands up. I grab her wrist and walk with her, slowly, around the cafeteria.

"Can you tell me something?"

Her voice is shaky. "Anything."

"What's wrong? Please tell me."

"Nothing," she says quickly. Too quickly.

"Something is. Christian and I are worried about you. Nicolette..." When I say her full name, her eyes widen.

"Listen, Danny, there's nothing wrong. I promise."

She walks back to our table and I follow.

Now I know something is definitely wrong.

- Nicki's POV -

Danny and Christian have been talking about me, apparently. They're worried about me. Great. Now it's going to be harder to hide everything from them.

* * *

I ask Danny if we can walk to his house rather than take the bus, and I tell him it's because it's always crowded. And to save his parents a trip from driving.

But, really, I just want exercise.

I haven't eaten anything since last night, and I threw that all up. Good.

He has his hand around my waist. He's been doing that a lot lately. Is it because he's worried or something?

Christian looks at us with a sour face. What?

When I go inside, his parents aren't happy to see me like they normally are. They're... they're almost acting like I did something wrong.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Phantom," I greet.

Is it because of my parents?

"Nicolette. Hello," Mrs. Phantom replies coldly.

Danny looks irritated. "Mom, Dad, I told you to stop."

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Nothing's wrong, sweet heart," Mrs. Phantom tells me.

Lies.

"We're gonna go upstairs," Danny says.

"To your room?" Mr. Phantom questions.

Danny raises an eyebrow. "Yeah, why?"

"I don't like the idea of that..." Mr. Phantom mutters.

"I'm here. They won't do anything," Christian assures.

Yeah. Like Danny would wanna do that with me. No one would wanna do that with me.

Mr. Phantom shrugs his shoulders. "Alright."

* * *

I sit on his bed and lay back, looking at the ceiling. Christian and Danny sit next to me.

Great. I know what's coming next.

"So you'll tell us now?" Christian asks.

I sigh. "Guys, nothing is wrong."

"Something is," Danny says.

"No. Nothing. Okay? Let's watch TV or something."

"Trying to get off the topic," Christian mumbles.

My stomach grumbles loudly.

"Oh, you sound hungry. You want something?" Danny asks.

He's testing me. They're testing me. They want me to say no so they can say that there's something wrong again.

"Yeah, I could go for some food," I reply with a smile.

Christian and Danny look at each other, confused.

I stay on the bed while they get food, and they come back with a sandwich. I decide that I'll just throw it out later.

But I can't. They watch me, waiting for me to eat it. I quickly finish it then go to his bathroom, so I can throw it up.

"Thanks," I tell them. "It was good."

That should throw them off for a while.

* * *

We go outside eventually and play basketball at Christian's house. More exercise. Good.

I also get to meet Christian's parents and his younger brother for the first time. They're really sweet.

Once it's dark out, Danny's parents make him go home to eat. Christian and I sit outside on his driveway, leaning against the house, and I rest my head on his shoulder.

"Hey. Seriously, what's wrong?" He asks softly.

"The whole thing with my parents hurting Danny... I just feel bad," I say. It's not lying, really. I do feel bad. But I left out the part where I also just really hate myself.

"Don't. It's not your fault," he tries to assure me.

"But now his parents, like, feel different about me."

"In time, they'll get over it. Trust me."

"Okay."

We both simultaneously stand up, slowly. It's hard to see Christian's face clearly because of the darkness, but somehow we end up leaning into each other. And kissing.

I kiss Christian Cass.