Never Go Out of Style [#wattys2015]

Chapter 2 || Still into you

Nick's POV

It was the end of sophomore year and Scarlett was at a party with Kaylee and Axel. Kaylee was one of my best friends and to be honest I deemed her as a little odd for my taste, but she was always nice to me and never judged me. Axel was Kaylee's boyfriend and even though he is clearly intellectually inferior to me, he was a good friend when he was not fighting with Kaylee and trying to have sexual intercourse with other girls when Kaylee would break up with him. Then there's Scarlett. Her house is right across mine and I've had these strange feelings towards her for quite some time now, feelings that I can no longer ignore. Perhaps my brain is trying to fix me up with the one girl who could actually be a challenge for me. The perfect intellectual mate! Does it sound weird? Kaylee would think so.

"Can I talk to you, Kay?" I asked.

"Of course, Nicky." She said. Clearly she was intoxicated.

"I need advice from a girl."

"That shirt is hideous and you shouldn't be afraid to come out of the closet." She said.

"Oh. But I'm not inside the closet." I was confused. "Are you being sarcastic?"

"What advice do you need, genius?" She smiled and I felt comforted.

"Do you think a guy like me could get a girl like Scarlett?" I was serious.

"Scarlett loves you but she loves Zane more."

"Why?"

"Because he's fucking hot!" She laughed.

"Does he have a fever?" I laughed.

She smiled. "I see what you did there." She winked and hugged me. "I love you too, Nicky. Sometimes I wish Axel was more like you."

After that Scarlett came in and we talked about something else. That night I decided to ditch space camp and go to Nashville spend my summer with my cousin Matt. He helped me get into shape and his girlfriend Summer took me shopping and gave me tips on how to treat the ladies.

Today school started and Scarlett is dating Zane. What she sees in him is a mystery to me but I guess it's true... you can't judge a book by its cover.

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After my first few classes, I joined Kaylee, Scarlett and their boyfriends for lunch and it was extremely uncomfortable.

"How's your schedule, loser?" Kaylee asked.

"I have all AP classes and PE." I answered. "Apparently I need some PE credits." I looked away.

"Me too." Scarlett smiled.

I was never good with sports but now that I was in shape (phisically) maybe I could get those credits to graduate early. My goal was to get out of highschool before senior year ended.

"How was your summer?" Axel asked.

"It was good. I went to Nashville to visit my cousin Matt and his girlfriend." I smiled.

"Nicky looks good, doesn't he babe?" Kaylee smiled at Axel.

"He actually looks decent." Axel looked at Zane.

"Why don't you try out for the football team?" Zane asked.

Scarlett and Kaylee burst into laughter and Kaylee pretended to fall. "Nick is the worst at sports!" Scarlett said.

"Actually, I would like to try. I believe that football is a matter of physics. If you know science, you can score." I said.

"Man, you can score even without science. If you know what I mean." Zane smirked and winked at Scarlett.

I had no idea what he meant but I nodded and smiled. Summer taught me to be more connected with people instead of being blunt all the time.

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The rest of the day went smoothly and during my Chemistry class I was assigned a lab partner. Her name was Nora Horowitz and she was a transfer student. To be honest, I wanted to work alone but Summer also told me to be more approachable.

"So we're lab partners." She said.

"We are." I looked at my book.

"I'm Nora." She smiled.

"Okay." I said without looking away.

"You're not very nice."

"Excuse me? I'm the nicest person in this school." I was offended.

"You may be the smartest but it doesn't mean you're nice." She said. "What's your name?"

"Nick." I looked at her intrigued.

"Nice to meet you, Nick!" She smiled and stuck her hand out.

I reluctantly shook it and smiled. "Nice to meet you too."

"Is it?"

"Not really. You're in my personal space."

"Basic human contact - the meeting of eyes, the exchanging of words - is to the psyche what oxygen is to the brain." She smiled and looked down at the textbook.

"Did you just quote Martha Beck?" I asked, again intrigued by that little girl in front of me.

"I quote a lot of authors and physicists. I have an eidetic memory." She proudly said.

I smiled. "Me too."

"I don't play Trivial Pursuit anymore because I know all the questions and answers."

"So do I." Nora was interesting. "Do you want to have lunch tomorrow?"

"Well I do have to eat." She answered.

"Would you like my company?"

"Well that depends. Will you ignore me and be rude?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"Not at all." I smiled.

"Then it's a date. Figuratively speaking, of course."

"Of course."

For a moment I forgot about Scarlett and my focus was all in that girl I just met. She was an exquisite creature but Scarlett could never be replaced.