Nikki and I had planned to go to the mall after working at Fuzzy Friends. I had seen a sketch set for her I knew she would have liked. Before we left though, we were going over the walls with some paint. Then we would head home to clean up and spend the rest of our day together.
There was a not-so-slight change of plans.
Jessica walked through the door to Fuzzy Friends, and I knew right away that it was her who sent me those creepy texts. The slimy smirk on her face showed it all. MacKenzie had to have put her up to this. Out of all of the kids at school, why me?
"Brandon, Nikki," she greeted. "Hello."
Nikki looked almost offended that Jessica walked through the doors. She raised an eyebrow at me like I knew why she showed up. I shrugged.
"Hey, Jess, what's up?" I asked tentatively.
She nonchalantly examined her nails as if she were going on about the weather. "Nothing much, just wondering if you thought about the texts I sent you."
I didn't want to, but I took a glance at Nikki. Both of her eyebrows raised, her lips slightly parted in shock. Then she shut them, and her eyebrows drew together.
She was pissed.
"Yeah, about that—" I replied.
"Look, Brandon," she interrupted. "I'm going make some things very clear. I'm interested in whatever it is that keeps everyone coming back to you. I'm sure I couldn't be that hard to think of considering how low your standards are with this one." Her eyes point to Nikki.
"Seriously, Jessica? Aren't you and MacKenzie tired of the same old feud?"
"MacKenzie doesn't even know I'm here. I don't care about whatever fight has happened between her and Nikki. I came here for you."
Nikki was seething. I was confused. And not to completely desensitize the situation, but just how many girls have a crush on me?
"Well, that's reassuring... Can I get back to you on that?" I asked.
She flinched; she tried not to make it obvious, but she was shocked. She replaced her sudden confusion with another surly smirk. "Sure. A kiss before I go?"
Nikki looked about ready to burst. She threw her paintbrush into a bucket. She took a fistful of my shirt, tugged me to her chest, and smashed her lips against mine. It was a hard, suffocating kiss. I was pretty sure my lips were purple when she finally let me go. "There," she breathed, "A kiss. Goodbye, Jessica."
Jessica sent Nikki a solid glare before turning and sashaying out. I wonder what MacKenzie would say to her walking in here declaring her love and then stealing her signature. Her sashay.
Nikki was still staring at me with an annoyed look. "Don't look at me that way, Nikki. You know how I feel about you."
Her eyes softened, but her mouth was still set in a hard line.
"Nikki, nothing happened. Nothing will ever happen. You want my phone? You can read all of my texts. Hell, you can keep it if you want."
The corners of her mouth twitched upwards, and I knew she wasn't mad at me anymore. She finally let out a chuckle, but she sighed sadly at the end of it.
"We can never catch a damn break," she muttered. I wrapped my arms around her. "Why can't they go fight over someone else? Why do you have to be so freaking irresistible?"
"So now it's my fault?"
"It's always been your fault," she laughed.
I kissed the top of her forehead and released her. "I think we've done enough today. Let's close up."
Her eyes lit up, and she gave me a gentle kiss on the lips. About an hour later we were heading out of the shelter and on our way to her new sketchbook.