carmen
"Come on, please." Nila begged me using her best puppy dog eyes and pout, walking round my front and tugging on my hands.
I didn't resist, letting my hands shake with hers. "I don't know, the more I think about it, the less of a good idea it seems."
"But you were so up for it a few days ago, what changed?" She asked.
"I have too much homework." I lied, facing away from her eyes because she could always tell when I wasn't speaking the truth.
Nila's face twirled in repulsion. "But..it's a fair. You're really going going to miss out on going to your first fair for...homework?"
"When you put it like that, then it does sound a bit silly. But, I've got too much of it." Also another lie, I'm always caught up on my homework. I just don't feel like going to a fair on Valentines Day where the place is going to be surrounded by happy lovey-dovey couples. Normally, I would smile at cute moments like that; but now- I hate it.
She groaned, looking up to the ceiling and shutting her eyes. "You can't leave me alone with Zane, Eli and Adrian for more than two hours by myself. They have half a brain cell combined."
I snorted, amused at the insult for our friends. "With you with them, they'll have more. See? It won't be too bad."
"But, you can be my date for the fair, we're both single, so it makes sense. Even though you're not really single."
"Shut up."
"Fine, forget Damian. How's Nik?"
"Gone." I said.
"What? Where?"
"I don't know. He's just disappeared. I haven't seen him on campus and I think he blocked my number." When I finally thought I met a nice guy, it turns out I was extremely wrong.
She hummed, deep in thought. "Well, maybe, you'll see him at the fair."
"I'm not going to the fair."
"But you've never been to one, before."
"And..?"
Nila was too stubborn for this and I knew she wouldn't give up. "I'll keep begging until you say yes."
Did I have the time and energy to argue with Nila? Short answer, no. Nila could answer with an ant if she wanted to. I pray for whoever ends up falling in love with her.
So, to make her happy, I agreed. "Fine. I'll come. But only for a bit."
Her eyes lit up and she squealed, jumping and hugging me. "I love you, I love you, I love you!" Nila kissed my cheek repeatedly but I pushed her off when I noticed a couple of students staring at us like we were psychos.
"Yeah, love you too. I've gotta go to my next class so I'll see you later."
————
"Haven't seen you in a while, Carmen." A deep voice rumbled, forcing my head to look up.
A recognizable eyebrow piercing stared straight into my eyes, with alluring green eyes doing the same. Nik stood before me as I walked out of the classroom, with a cheesy smile plastered onto his face.
Not the person I was hoping for.
My eyes dropped in sadness and I waved hi, walking with him. "Where have you been?"
Nik faltered, stuttering as he figured out what to say. "I was ill. I haven't been to school."
I wasn't stupid. "You could've come up with a better excuse."
Did Damian actually threaten him? I mean, I thought we were simply joking around and he said that in the heat of the moment. Not actually do it. Why am I not surprised?
"Come get lunch with me." He urged, ignoring my response.
"You shouldn't have ignored me." I replied.
"Let me make it up to you."
"Only if you buy me the nice pasta boxes the cafeteria sells." I offered.
"Deal."
Walking with Nik was different. It was weird. No one really noticed he was even there. It was like he wasn't a student. No one bothered clearing their path for him as we walked, or stopped to say hi and discuss football or whatever. They just pretended he was like any other regular student, making their way to their next stop.
Nothing like Damian.
"So have you been? I haven't spoken to you in a while." We reached the start of the long queue and turned to look at each other.
"I'm alright, I'm being dragged to some fair on the weekend, though."
"The Valentine's one?" He asked.
"Yeah."
He inched closer to me, our arms now touching. "It's like a pretty big deal around here. Everyone goes for hours until they kick us out because they need to shut. It's fun, you'll enjoy it."
"Are you going to go?" I asked him.
"Now that I know you are, maybe I'll make an appearance." Nik smirked and slung his arm over my shoulder, making me tense up and move away a littlt. He noticed, so he removed his arm and changed the topic which I was grateful for.
"So, how's your brother and your 'boyfriend'?" He mocked the last word slightly and I let out a hesitant breath.
Why is he so interested in those two?
"I'm starting to think you only want to talk to me because of Maikel and Damian." I joked, although a part of me was being serious.
"I couldn't give two shits about them." Nik paid for my pasta and a pizza slice for himself, and we left the line, sitting down at an empty table.
"You don't like them?" I furrowed my brows, everyone liked Kai and Damian, well, maybe more afraid of the two.
He took a bite of his slice and waited until he finished chewing. "I don't know them, but I think they need to be humbled is all."
Did I agree? Yes. My brother has one of the biggest egos known to mankind and thought he was perfect. I had even told him this fact numerous times on multiple occasions. But, hearing someoene else talk crappy on my brother doesn't feel right. Only I was allowed to make fun of my brother, since we were siblings.
"They're confident, which isn't a bad thing, but could sometimes be intimidating to others." That was the best way to put it, without sounding like I was siding with him.
He nodded. "You and Maikel seem close."
"We've done everything together since we were babies. Aside from Nila, he's my best friend."
"And Damian?" He pushed further.
"What about him?"
"How did you and him get together or whatever you did?"
How the heck was I supposed to tell him we agreed on him teaching me about sex? This was a sticky situation. I looked around the busy room as I mustered on a response. "We met one day in a class that we have together and got along but we never realized who one another were until Kai introduced us."
"And he was fine with it?" Nik pressed. Jesus, he asked a lot of questions.
"A bit unsure at first, but was eventually okay with the fact." That was good enough, I hope. He looked into my eyes for any sign of untruth and I smiled weakly, crinkling my eyes so much he couldn't even look into them. Sometimes, I really hated being a horrible liar.
No one spoke, and the conversation fell quiet as we both tried to find a suitable topic to speak about but the words weren't flowing as they should be. It wasn't easy as it was with Damian, or even freaking Adam for God's sake.
"So, are you going to come to the fair, then?" Please say no.
"If you're going, then I can't miss out on an opportunity to see your pretty face again, can I?" Nik took another bite of his slice while upholding eye contact with me and I could see his jaw flex as his teeth grinded against the pizza. If I didn't have a single clue who Damian was, perhaps I would find that attractive, but now, it's gross.
I miss him.
We finished our lunch in an uncomfortable silence until I decided to call it a day and make some silly excuse about how Nila was needing my help with something. He seemed reluctant at first to let me go until I got Nila to fake cry and call me.
Nik rose from his seat and walked over to my side, reaching in to hug me, but I backed away and instead gave him an awkward high five. "I'll see you at the fair, then?"
"You know it, maybe I'll even win you a teddy if I'm feeling nice." I already had a teddy from Adam before I threw it out in the trash.
"Bye, Nik."
"Bye, Carmen."
a/n
SORRY THIS CHAPTER WAS KINDA SHORT BUT THE NEXT CHAPTER IS WHAT WE ALL WANT
tt concinnityy_
love you all❤️