As the crisp September air turned into the frigid air of October, she had continued to flourish in her classes. Post-secondary education was turning out to be better than she thought. Her list of friends continued and had a close confident.
“Nick, Nick, stop it!” She giggled as her close friend poked her. “I tell you one little thing about me and you have to take advantage of it!”
He stopped poking her, and their hands dropped by their chairs. She turned her head to the professor who was droning on about sifting for gold and what to do when encounter fool’s gold, all metaphorical of course. Nick delivered a final attempt to tickle her and she grabbed his hand swiftly to stop it. He melded his hand into hers and she didn’t know what to do. At least they were at the back, where no one could see. After a few awkward silences went by, she dropped her hand and turned back to the professor once more.
“Remember, we have to work on Boleyn’s assignment soon,” she wrote on Nick’s page. “We can just do it in my dorm room.”
Nick smiled and nodded his head. She figured it would be fine, her roommate would be home and they’d actual be able to get work done. She knew that Nick liked her and if they got the assignment done soon, she wouldn’t have to be alone with him for a while until it came time to present.
They arrived back in her dorm and her heart sank, as her roommate was noticeably absent. She looked at Nick and he took it in notice as well. She sat on her bed and he followed. She opened her Mac and began to search Safari. He put his arms down and her inner flirt came out. Maybe she was lonely, or maybe she just liked the fact that she had such control over him. She playfully punched him, as the thought entered her mind, you don’t really want him.
Nick wasn’t good looking at all, which normally is her type. She wasn’t superficial in that way, none her relationships had involved someone who she was originally attracted to. He resembled a puppy dog, she thought in her head. He had a poufy, bowl-cut like hair cut that was parted before his forehead and thick eyebrows. His teeth were weird as well, a bit yellowed and just in general, a really ugly puppy, something she didn’t think was possible.
He pulled her closer and began his stupid tickling method to get her to laugh. She hated being tickled more than anything because it had become an annoyance with Nick. Nick annoyed her for some reason and she couldn’t bring herself to tell him no. She wanted what was best for her, and maybe he was it. Maybe she’d grow to like him, like she grew to like her previous boyfriends. Settling wasn’t what she preferred, but she realized she should be open to anything.
He continued to tickle her, and she couldn’t stop laughing. Suddenly, she wanted him off of her and tried squirming away. She fell off the tiny bed and he feel on top of her.
“Well, this is awkward,” she stated. He rolled off of her and put his arm around her and they laid there on the floor. “How about we move into the bed?”
She couldn’t believe she just said that, to Nick of all people. To her though, cuddling was something you could do with your brother, or guy friend without it meaning a thing. This wasn’t clearly what Nick had in mind though once he got on the bed with her. She was on her stomach, with her shirt slightly rolled up. Nick took notice, and began to stroke her back.
How long had it been since she had sex? Just a little over a year and she was slightly relieved by that. Losing it to Edmund was stupid, indefinitely. For someone who vowed she’d wait at least a year for sex in a relationship, losing it after two months after a workout on August 2nd of the previous year was dumb. She thought she could force herself into love with the boy who worshipped the ground she walked on. In the end, she couldn’t and broke it off at the beginning of September, only to make the bigger mistake of soberly sleeping with him on his birthday later that month. He then decided the best revenge when she “tore out his heart and stomped on it” was to go after her friends. He went through many, all in a matter of weeks, but finally found one who complied. Jill. The amount of drama Jill caused with her wasn’t worth it, and she endured death threats for the rest of the year. She missed the way it felt with a guy’s body wrapped around hers though and Nick was willing to supply that.
Nick’s fingertips grazed her spine and she moved her body closer to his. She could kiss him, but part of her held back. She was sober, and not willing to make a mistake unless she could blame it on the alcohol. Nick was the closest thing she had at the school and she was very aware of her platonic feelings towards him. But still, pushing his limits would be somewhat fun to experiment with. She retracted back a little and Nick took notice. He began to stroke her face and as she opened her eyes, he quickly came towards her with his lips.
“What. The. Hell!” She pushed him off of her as he attempted a second try.
“No?”
“NO!” she yelled. “Nick, you’re my friend, nothing else.”
“Oh,” he said depressively.
“I’m sorry if I misled you, I always do this! I’m really sorry, I just, I’m just a tease I guess.”
“Yeah, it’s okay.” Nick started to get up and grab his jacket off her desk chair.
“I’m really sorry Nick, I’ll talk to you later?”
“Yeah, okay, bye.” He awkwardly spoke as she shut the distressed door behind him.
She crawled into bed and pulled the covers over her head. She shifted around, uncomfortable, finding her phone in between her shoulder blades. Picking it up, she noticed that her friend Samantha had texted her asking about Nick. She sent back the details, making her less of a tease and making him more obsessed. She then drifted to sleep.