Thrill [BNHA]

Chapter Two

"Eleanor, cover those hideous scars." Her mother's voice hissed and she winced as a glass bottle of concealer smacked into the back of her head.

Sixteen year old Nell picked up the bottle of concealer and hurled it at the wall. It shattered splattering pale makeup across the pristine crown molding and all across the marble floors. She let out a soft hiss of pain as a strong hand latched onto her arm, tightening into a painful vice grip. Her mother, a woman who would be considered beautiful if she wasn't constantly wearing an ugly expression of disdain on her face, wrenched her to her feet. Her cold blue eyes froze her in place in a way that only a mother could. Nell braced herself for the poison that was sure to spew from her painted lips.

"I've had it with this attention seeking phase of yours Eleanor. All these trips to the hospital are becoming annoying to cover up, your father is running for office this year, if you were going to burden us with something like this, the least you could do is kill yourself properly so he gets some sympathy votes." The grip on her arm tightened.

Nell let out a gasp of pain as it felt like the blood vessels in her arm had ruptured. "Go to hell." She hissed under her breath and lashed out at her mother. Black thorn covered vines tore from her wrists and Nell felt her blood turn cold as the sound of tearing flesh met her ears before her mother let out a shriek as the thorns carved into her face.

"Eleanor Thorn?" The receptionist at the Guidance Counselor's office called.

Nell flinched, a chill ran down her spine, "...it's Nell..."

"Oh, right, sorry." The receptionist apologized, "you can go in now."

Nell sighed and headed through the door behind the receptionist's desk. It led to a small hallway, she headed down it aimlessly until a voice called to her from one of the open doors.

"Miss Thorn?"

She ducked into the office of the man who'd called out to her and offered him a polite smile. "I got a voicemail that said to come here?" She didn't think this was something that happened in college.

"Ah, yeah." The man offered her a polite smile after he'd recovered from the shock of her appearance. "It's just something we customarily do for students who are here abroad. Just wanted to see how you were settling in."

"Fine." She smiled politely.

"I thought maybe it would be nice for us to have weekly chats about your progress while you're here..." He began.

"And is that also customary for students studying abroad?" She asked.

"...well...more for students who have a history of-...." He trailed off.

"Please finish that sentence." Nell folded her arms across her chest, "I'm curious what your notes say about my history."

He sighed and closed the folder on his desk before setting it aside, "let's start with a clean slate, what's in the past is in the past."

Nell quirked an eyebrow, "it's not really a clean slate if you still want me to report here every week..."

"Ah..."

"Thanks for the offer but I'll pass, I'm settling in just fine and I can manage on my own." Nell got up from the seat and took her leave. "What a load of shit." She muttered under her breath as she exited the small hallway back into the reception room.

"Ah, Eleanor-." The receptionist tried to stop her.

Nell clenched her fists, "it's Nell."

"You shouldn't be finished already." The receptionist frowned.

"I find myself lacking a need for guidance or counseling, so I think my business here is in fact finished." Nell turned and exited the office feeling tense.

Why the hell did she have to think about home? She needed a fun distraction, something to keep her mind off of home, some kind of thrill. Back in the states there were plenty of ways for her to distract herself, she'd get new ink, piercings, go skydiving, bungee jumping, parkour, hop on a motorcycle and find someone to race or free climb. She didn't know her way around yet or where to go for fun.

Feeling that familiar pins and needles feeling in the back of her skull that alerted her she was about to have a panic attack, she dropped onto a nearby stone bench and leaned forward propping her elbows on her knees and catching her head in her hands. She forced herself to stare at the ground blocking everything else out and tried to take deep calming breaths.

"Nell?" a hand gently gripped her shoulder.

Nell took another deep breath before looking up. She spotted the cute boy from her Literature and Biology classes, Natsuo Todoroki. He looked like the kind of guy who played sports and had no trouble making friends, he was probably very popular throughout his academic career. He was muscular, had perfectly mussed spiky white hair, an endearing smile and the gentlest deep grey eyes she'd ever seen. He looked down at her with his worry filled puppy dog eyes causing her heart to stutter in her chest.

"You sure you're not stalking me?" She smirked and was amused when she noticed a tiny blush begin to spread across his cheeks.

"I-I promise, I'm not!" He stammered.

Nell laughed, finally able to calm down. "Teasing."

Natsuo relaxed.

Nell glanced down at her watch before turning her attention back to the cute boy kneeling on the ground in front of her. "I've got two hours before my Physics Class, you wouldn't happen to be free now, would you?"

His cheeks reddened, "I swear I'm not stalking you but I also have Physics in two hours."

Nell couldn't help but smile at the sweet boy before her.

He suddenly realized he hadn't answered her question, "ah, y-yeah, sorry, did you need help with something?"

"I'm still new to the area so I don't really know my way around yet or what fun things are in the area." Nell replied.

Natsuo smiled, a warm smile before offering her his arm, "sure, we got time. Where would you like to go?"

Nell thought for a moment as she lightly placed her hand atop his arm, "how about somewhere you like to go to blow off steam?"

Natsuo pondered her request before nodding, "alright, come on." He tucked her arm in his but paused as his hand brushed over her exposed wrist and he realized the skin there was raised and jagged from old scarring. His gaze flicked down at the demonic cat covering her wrist and he saw the faint outline of a long slashing scar diagonally across the vein in her wrist.

Nell saw where his gaze had shifted to and turned her hand over so she was gripping his arm, hiding the scar. "Where are we off to?"

Video- "Voodoo" By Nyxx Ft Aesthetic Perfection