1 Chapter 1

Nikki layed on her bed on a Tuesday afternoon. Her mood: slow progress, numbness and no fucks. Forever by Labrinth blasted from her earphones as she stared up at the clouds in motion from her bedroom window.

Everyone else was in the living room. The last thing she heard from the outside world was them laughing about something before she closed herself off. It was too socially hyper for her to join in the moment, and she still had to worry about the essay she had to write as homework.

Many thoughts ran through her head, but at the same time, it was all quiet. With her eyes locked to the clouds, there was barely anything that could pull her out of the trance. The clouds moved in sync, making her wish she was up there with them, enjoying the feel of being light and floating about in them. Serenity indeed.

She tried to distract herself from everything around her, thinking of only two things: the movement of the clouds, and the song; how they go so well with each other. 

She saw her bedroom door open and turned towards it to see her cousin standing there talking to her.

"What?" she asked as she took off her earphones.

"I said go wash your dishes. I need to use them to make dinner tonight,"her cousin, Sofia, said.

" I'll wash them in a minute. I'm trying to chill for a while."

"Well, don't take too long," Sofia said as she left.

Nikki placed her earphones back on and continued cloud staring. She lightly smiled as she thought of how layed back her life was. It was all school and home for her, with the occasional annual sports that kinda brought some entertainment, not that she thought her life was dull or anything.

She lived a short 15 minute walk from school, with her three cousins and her brother. Her parents stayed and worked in her home town tirelessly to send their kids to the city for a better education, like every other parent did. The only worry she had to think of was making them proud of her, for which they constantly were.

She had good grades and didn't cause that much trouble. Kind of quiet and reserved. Basically, an introvert with awkward social skills when she had low energy levels. She sometimes had some not so proud moments of her own in her social life that she never mentions.

After 30 more minutes of doing nothing, she finally left her bed to do something that would hopefully lift her mood.

She walked to the kitchen to find her cousin sitting and laughing as she talked on the phone. Sofia was a very social person, and Nikki had always envied that. Sofia could literally walk into a crowd and instantly socialize, while Nikki would stand there for an hour or so, waiting for that one person that would decide to approach this weird quiet kid in the corner.

They were the same age, went to the same high school, both had good grades, and had the same circle of friends. If anyone had to be her best friend, it would be Sofia. They had always been together since they were kids.

Nikki turned to see a mountain high of dishes everyone decided to dump in the sink for her, totally disregarding the dish washing soap that stands mockingly right next to is and the perfectly working tap above it.

The last one completely kills her mood off. There goes production.

'Let's just get it over with,' she thought.

"So, the girls wanted to go out this weekend. We could all like do something before the exams start. What do you think?" Sofia asked her as she began working on the pile of dishes.

Nikki rarely went out, but she liked being with her friends. They all met in grade 8 and learned a lot about each other. She felt most comfortable and at peace with them. And with exams coming up, she really needed that peace and a some laughs. These were the exams before they go to grade 12, the final year of high school. Awesome...

"Sure, let's do it. Where will we go?"

"We're still planning, but Christy suggested we buy chips, bread and a 2 litre cooldrink, and hang out here either on Friday after-school, or on Saturday."

"Mmm... I'm OK with either of them, so you guys decide."

"OK."

She went back to washing the dishes as her brother walked in.

"I need to borrow your charger," he said to Sofia.

"My phone's at 20 percent."

"And mine is off."

"I don't get why you just don't buy a charger. You have money right now."

"But I like borrowing yours."

"But I don't like it."

"You don't have to like it. Just give it."

"No, Peter, it's my charger..."

Nikki placed her earphones back on, and continued washing. Same old arguments everyday.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hurry, we're going to be late," Nikki shouted from the kitchen.

"I'm almost done," Sofia responded from her bedroom.

Nikki rolled her eyes. 'Almost done' never means that with Sofia. You'd think because they live so close to school, that they would never be late, but quite the contrary, they arrive later with every passing day.

"I'm leaving now," Anna, her little cousin said. She was 12 years old and went to a primary school three streets from their house.

"OK, see you later."

"Bye," Anna said as she walked out.

"Even Anna's gone, and we still haven't left," Nikki shouted to Sofia, who still hadn't left her room.

"I'm done now. We can go," Sofia said as she walked into the kitchen.

"Finally. If we reach there in 10 minutes, we'd have 5 minutes to spare. "

They left for school, walking fast as quickly as they can, along with the other schoolmates that were late as well.

"You guys almost didn't make it this time," their friend, Helena said as they arrive just in time for register class period

"I know. We really need to try waking up earlier," Nikki said as she sat down at her seat next to her.

"You know that never works," Sofia said as she sits in front of them.

"True," Nikki says.

"Is Christy not here yet?" Sofia asked.

"She went to the bathroom," Helena answered.

"I'll wait for her to come back then. I want to ask her about what happened yesterday."

"What happened yesterday?" Nikki asked .

"Someone asked her out," Helena smiled enthusiastically.

"Who?" Nikki asked jumping in her seat from excitement.

"James," Sofia answered.

"Who's James?"

"This guy from the B-class. Tall, shaved head, kinda quiet. He's friends with Jackson."

"Who's Jackson?"

Both Sofia and Helena stare at her.

"What?" She asked cluelessly.

"It's just..." Helena started. "Sometimes I try to figure how you go about anywhere. The fact that you don't know people surprises me sometimes."

"It's not like I go around asking for people's names and starting conversations or something."

"Nobody does that, and they still end up knowing people."

"Its OK. That's just the way she is," Sofia ended as Christy walk in the classroom.

"How did it go yesterday?" Sofia asked as Christy sat down.

Just as she was about to start talking, Mrs. Franklin walked into the classroom.

"Settle down everyone," Mrs. Franklin said as she tried to silence the class.

"I'll tell you guys about it later," Christy said and they all turned to face forward to the teacher.

~°~