CHAPTER 17

Nicole narrowed her eyes, seemingly reading my mind once again. "Oh, you don't get to make a choice, squirt. You're Student Council now. You have to go. Plus, Phil usually has jobs for the lower grades during dances, so you're going."

I sighed. "But I hate dances…"

"Then go with the right girl." Nicole said plainly.

"Can I go with you?" I asked shamelessly.

Nicole's first reaction was to give a small, confused smile and cock her head slightly. "I meant May…" she said slowly, a look of… something in her eyes. She recomposed herself and continued. "I'd love to squirt, but our horny president himself asked me already, and I said yes. He's still waiting for that kiss." she laughed, then continued. "Look, just get a good date, and you'll have fun. I promise you. Just do it."

"But I suck at asking people out." I whined. "Wait, have you blown Phil?"

"That was abrupt too." She winked, but couldn't hold back the disgust from the suggestion. "God no. Phil just has the hots for me. I haven't done anything with him, and that poor bastard has been trying for two years. How's that for an ego boost, eh squirt?"

She carried out the word 'Squirt,' then noticed my blushing. Laughing, she continued. "I'll sweeten the deal. Get a date for the dance, and I'll blow you after. Deal?"

I laughed. "If I got a date, what makes you think I'd need you for that?"

She laughed back. "Yeah, get May to blow you, then call me. She totally seems like the girl to get down on her knees on the first date."

"Point taken." I said chuckling. "Okay, deal!"

"Great." She grinned.

"'Great'? Maybe you should get with Phil. You're starting to sound like him." I winked at her. She looked at me in sarcastic disbelief before diving at me, pinning me easily beneath her.

"You are getting punished for that, squirt." she said menacingly. I knew she was kidding, but damn, she knew how to intimidate. I guess 'getting with Phil' wasn't on the top of her bucket list.

Still pinning me, her expression softened and she leaned in, kissing my neck. The rest of her body deflated from its original position of power and eventually she just ended up spooning with me.

"What's that for?" I asked her.

She lifted her head from my neck. "You didn't ask for a reason the first time I showed you my tits, or blew you. Just roll with it." Her head returned to my neck, nuzzling it.

"You're very cuddly today." I observed.

"Yeah, well. I like cuddling. Suck it up." She retorted. I smiled, and my hand started absent-mindedly stroking her hair. She nuzzled up closer to me in response.

After a while of doing this, I realized I was almost falling asleep and had to get home. "What time is it?" I asked her.

"About 7:03." she answered without pulling her head up from my neck, no hint of tire to her voice. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, and sure enough, 7:03pm.

"How are you always doing things like that?" I asked her.

"Things like what?" her muffled voice answered me.

"Imitating May's voice, reading my mind, knowing everything…" I trailed off.

"I'm magic, squirt." she replied sarcastically.

"So you're not gonna tell me?"

"Oh, I told you. Grade 11. I'll give you two years, then you'll understand."

"I wonder where I'll be in two years…" I wondered aloud.

"Me too, kid." She answered me disinterestedly.

"I wonder if we'll still be friends then…" My mouth spoke before my mind could filter it.

Silence poured into the air. Then I felt another kiss on my neck. "I hope so." Nicole said softly. "But I dunno. But you gotta realize things. We've known each other for three days."

"It feels like a lot longer." I told her.

"I know." she answered softly.

I smiled to myself, then realized I would have to get home soon. I started to get up, and Nicole groaned into my shoulder, wordlessly understanding my intent. She clung to me as I got up, and used me to get on her own two feet.

"Thanks again, Nicole. For pretty much everything you did in the last three days for me." I said to her,

"Hey, what else are friends for?" she asked me, smiling genuinely. She teasingly added, like an afterthought, "Oh, by the way, my parents are always home by seven."

Oh shit. Oh my god. "Why didn't you tell me?!" I asked her frantically as I turned white.

"Because knowing you, you would have clammed up and I wouldn't have gotten to cum twice, that's why." She added, grinning deviously. I groaned and laughed at the same time. Nicole had a way with being honest, I'll give her that.

After realizing that my backpack was still in her car, I made sure I had my phone and checked my pants. All dry. "Take care." I said cheerfully to Nicole as I opened the door to her room, nervous as hell to brave her parents. As I took the first step down the stairs, I felt her hand in mine.

"Don't worry, hotshot. I wasn't gonna make you do this alone." She said warmly. With unexpected enthusiasm, she then led me down the stairs, her hand still in mine. I nearly tripped.

Her kitchen and dining room were merged, so of course that's where her parents would be this time of night, given the time when normal people have their supper. Nicole's mom, identifiable by her long black hair, had her back to me, cooking something on the stove, and her dad was at the table, his head buried in a book. I could make out 'Charles Dickens' on the spine.

Once we were fully down the stairs and ready, Nicole looked at me and gave a small nod. I shrugged in response. Her hand in mine still, she coughed loudly. Her mom and dad, strangely, didn't move.

"Hi mommy, hi daddy." She enthusiastically chirped. "I thought I'd be polite and introduce you to my new friend, Adam Watson."

Nicole's mom turned around to face me, smiling slightly. It was interesting – in her face, she didn't look all that much like Nicole, though it was obvious she got her hair from her mother. She approached me slowly and nodded. "Hello, Adam. It's nice to meet you."

"N-nice to meet you too." I nervously sputtered.

"You seem rather shy." She noted. "I wonder what happened to your earlier boldness, since you're like a deer in headlights now. Did I mention that the walls in this house are paper-thin?" I heard Nicole give a frustrated sigh next to me, and a huge knot built up in my stomach. How long were her parents home?! I examined her eyes for answers. She was smiling at me, but the look her eyes were giving me could kill a man.

"Aaaaa Anyway, thanks mom." Nicole sarcastically said, pulling me away from her. Despite me falling out of her line of sight, her mom's eyes stayed exactly where they were. "Dad, meet Adam Watson. He's my new friend."

"Take a number." came the bitter, low, gravelly voice of her father. He didn't even look up from his book, his graying, brownish hair as monotone as his reaction. This was doing nothing to help my nervousness. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I knew Nicole was, how shall I say, 'experienced,' but I never really thought about her parents and how I would seem to them. Before Nicole and I had our little talk this afternoon, I might have actually been a bit upset at myself. However, all I could do at this point was awkwardly stumble out the door, Nicole in tow.

Once we were outside, I breathed in the cool night air a few times as Nicole plopped a hand on my shoulder. "Um, yeah…" she began. "Sorry about that. My parents kinda know I sleep around."

"You don't say?!" I practically yelled as I tried breathing steadily again, avoiding another panic attack. I used to get them really often.

"They're like this with every guy, but every other guy has given them a reason to dislike them. They may like you, give them a chance."

My stomach was doing backflips. Being caught like that was like no fear I've ever experienced before. I wanted to apologize, I wanted to go back in history and leave earlier, I wanted everything but for what just happened to be real.

Nicole chuckled softly. "You're a real mess, hotshot." she said sympathetically, taking her hand off my shoulder. She went into her car and retrieved my backpack, and slung it over her shoulder. She then walked back to me and scooped my arm over her other shoulder, beginning to walk me back to my place.

"No, it's okay." I managed to say after we were about halfway there and I could calmly speak again. I hoisted myself off of her and took my backpack from her.

"You sure?" she asked me as she handed me my backpack. I quickly nodded. "Okay then. I'm proud of you, squirt." She then kissed me on the cheek, and cheerfully waved as she set out back towards her house. I waved back as I headed home, still exhaling sharply.

When I got home, I dropped my backpack down on the floor, made my way to the living room, and plopped down on the couch, face first, groaning. Dad was in the room, watching the news.

"You're an hour and a half early." he said, looking at me. "If you had wanted, you could have stayed with your friend longer."

"No, that's okay." came my voice, muffled by the couch. "I was really tired, so I decided to come home early."

"I can see that." He said, turning back to the TV. "So who's the friend?"

Aw crap, here it came. The 'Ooh, it's a giiiirl' moment. Unless…

"My name's Nick." I answered flatly. "Grade 11. Photographer. Really cool."

"Guy or girl?" dad asked me.

Crap. I pulled my face out from the couch and looked up at dad. I sighed. "Girl." I said, defeated.

Dad started waving his arms around in the air. "Danger Will Robinson, danger!" He chanted robotically.

"Dad, no offense, but could you start using references after the '80s?" I asked him dryly.

"So, a girl in grade 11, huh? Hey, shoot for the moon." he said. His eyes gleamed. They always did that when he made a particularly good joke. I think it was his version of smiling.

"It's not like that. We're never going to be a couple, dad." I said, sitting up on the couch. "Just friends."

Dad nodded. "Cool. Didn't mean to intrude."

"No worries!" I told him as my phone buzzed. It was Nicole. You made it home safe?

Nope, I died. I replied.

Oh well. I'll give you a beautiful funeral. ;)

As I texted her, I realized I'd been neglecting May, and checked my messages from her. There was one, sent from her about an hour ago. Oops. yeah totally, we're gonna rock :)

I shuddered at her grammar. Thanks, Nicole.