Alex's pov
"Um, wait, what do you mean?"
He chuckled, "Like I said, Nicky doesn't like interacting with people, and people tend to ignore nerds. So she dressed up like one and was able to keep to herself. She's not actually a nerd."
Okay, that was a lot of information to take in. She looked like the perfect nerd-quiet, alone, kept her head down, got perfect scores. If her brother hadn't said that, I wouldn't have believed it. In fact, I still had some doubts.
"I want to see..." I mumbled. This guy had good ears.
"Sure you can see. On one condition."
I raised an eyebrow, "Which is?"
He suddenly became serious and narrowed his eyes. "If anyone in school found out the truth behind Nicky's alter ego, you're dead. I don't care if you're the son of my boss, my sister's happiness comes before work."
I raised my hands up in surrender. "My lips are sealed."
He nodded, "Okay then, lo and behold." He pressed the door bell.
The sound of footsteps came from inside, as if someone was coming down the stairs at full speed. The door opened to reveal a beautiful girl, who looked a lot like Nichole, minus the glasses. Her ginger hair was designed in amazing natural curls.
She was beautiful.
"Zac, I can't believe you forgot your keys in the office-" she spotted me-"again."
She looked back at her brother and jerked a finger at me. "What is he doing here?"
"He came here to drop me off, like you asked."
She huffed in exasperation. "Even if he did, you could've waited to ring the bell after he left! Why didn't you-" She studied me for a bit, then she broke into a grin. "Never mind, I know exactly why you did it." She took out her phone and took a picture of me before I could register what was going on. "God, that face is priceless."
That shook me out of my revere. "Hey, delete the picture!"
"Nope," She said. "I'm pretty sure my brother already told you, but my real personality is a secret. You tell anyone at school what you saw today and I'll expose this picture to the public. That might ruin your Mr. Cool Perfect reputation."
I couldn't believe she just said that. "Are you blackmailing me?"
She grinned mischievously, "Yes, I am."
I gaped at her. This could not be the quiet Nichole that is in every one of my classes. Yup, that's right. This isn't real; she's an imposter.
"Well, now that we've got that cleared out of the way, do you want to come inside? It's cold out here."
Well, maybe this is real...Nichole is super kind, after all.
"May I?"I asked, "Come in, I mean."
She rolled her eyes. "I just asked you if you wanted to do that." She opened the door wider and stepped aside. "Come on in."
I went in after her brother. "Pardon the intrusion."
Inside the place looked even more crammed. I didn't go upstairs, but I could tell that the entire house would be the size of my bedroom. Well, my bedroom was the size of an average apartment...
"You hungry?" asked Nichole?
I was. A lot, actually, but "I can't ask that of you."
"Don't worry, kid," said her brother, "this girl loves cooking. You ask her to cook for you, and she'll be happy. So don't hold back."
I looked at her and I could almost see expectancy in her eyes. "Um, okay, then?"
She broke into a grin. "Great, any preferences?"
"I'm okay with anything."
She looked angry, "'Anything' is the last thing a chef wants to hear."
"Okay, then how about...chicken steak?"
"Consider it done!" She went straight into the kitchen, I sat on the sofa, Zac went upstairs to change.
After a while of talking with her brother(Nichole was busy in the kitchen, or she was just purposely ignoring me. I couldn't be sure.) I found out that they were orphans and that my father knew them outside of work too.
"Okay," Nichole came out from the kitchen. "This will take some time to grill."
Man, that girl looked amazing in an apron and a messy bun.
The TV showed us an ad about a perfume making people fall in love. Nichole suddenly jumped at that. "Which reminds me, Zac, your girlfriend called. She said she's gonna come pick you up tomorrow on the way to work. Why didn't you tell her that your car was out of gas?"
He sighed, "Because I trusted that her brother would tell her. Seriously, those two really don't get along well."
Nichole chuckled, "You got that right."
For some reason, I really felt out of place here. This feeling was new to me. I was always the center of attention everywhere I went. But over here, it was like nobody's special. They had this atmosphere here that I didn't have at my house. My house was like a mini castle, I had everything I ever wanted, except for family.
I remember being super lonely because most of the time my parents were out for work. I never once felt my parents didn't love me, but I did feel lonely a lot. That was one of the reasons I started to play around with girls. Not the main reason, but part of it. That's also why I was really happy when Amy was adopted. At least I had someone to talk to. Though everything I said just flew over her head. She's just seven after all. I've only known her for three years, but I felt like I knew her her whole life.
I was so lost in thought, I didn't notice Nichole get up. I snapped out of my thoughts when a delicious aroma filled the room.
"Okay gentlemen," Nichole said, "Dinner's ready."
"Oh boy, oh boy, that smells delicious!" Zac commented.
"I know," I agreed, "My mouth is watering."
"Hehe, eat up, eat up," Nichole beckoned.
The steak she made was more delicious than it smelled. She told me something about a sauce that her mother taught her, that was the key ingredient. I wanted to stay in their house longer, but I knew I had to go back home before Amy came back from her club activities.
In the end, Nichole told me that I was welcome back anytime, as long as I didn't expose the truth about her.