SCARLETT. fear street (1994, 1978, 1666 )

five. get out

warnings
heavy topics such as implied racism

"WHAT THE HELL ZIGGY?" this time, Niki covered herself with a pillow despite being fully clothed. Her cheeks were tinted red from embarrassment, and somewhere behind the bed, Cardan was hiding. "Get out. Oh my god."

As if it wasn't embarrassing enough, the fact that Ziggy was with Nick made it ten times worse. The older boy stood by the door, a slightly amused look on his face, as Ziggy started to talk. "I just really wanted to say that I'm sorry about—"

"It's okay!" Niki replied in a rush, just wanting the two of them to leave. Her argument with her best friend was at the back of her mind now. "Just leave. Apology accepted. It's okay."

"Are you—"

"Ziggy."

"Yep. Alright. Sorry." The redhead mumbled in a rush, about to shut the cabin door once again before she backed a bit. "Also, don't go to the bathroom. We locked Shiela up in there."

Then, she walked away with the boy. It took a few seconds for Niki to fathom what had just happened. When Cardan emerged from the floor, she had her head buried in her arms, still embarrassed of everything that had occurred in the past few minutes.

Niki sighs, heart racing. "We got caught." She says, looking back up at Cardan before flicking his forehead. She was supposed to be stressed right now, but she knew that Ziggy wouldn't tell a soul and that Nick minded his own business. But, still. It was embarrassing.

Cardan laughs, staring down at her, unmoving from his position. "You pushed me off the bed."

"I got caught off guard," Niki mumbled, unable to help the chuckle that escapes her lips, forcing herself to look away from the boy before she loses her whole composure. It was like a thousand emotions were going through at her at once; she felt embarrassed, and now extremely giddy.

The two sit in comfortable silence for a while. Niki was never used to feeling this still, especially at Shadyside where everything and nothing seemed to be happening at the same time. Ziggy always told her that they were all cursed, all doomed for eternity, and the thought haunted her at every passing second.

She's only felt this safe twice: the day her brother promised her he'd get her out of Shadyside with his wife and his kid, and now.

"There's always one thing I wondered the most about you." Cardan started once again, examining her facial features. In comparison to his blue ones, her eyes were the darkest shade of black, and just by looking into them, he felt like he was being thrown into a pit. "Why are you so... kind?"

The girl sighed, leaning against the bed. Why was she kind? Everyone had been asking the same thing her whole life: but there shouldn't be a reason for everything, right?

"I don't know..." she mumbled truthfully, feeling a bit shy from his intense gaze. "People always thought that people like me and my brother are a bunch of homogeneous, robotic, diligent math nerds programmed to become doctors. Maybe it's because I know how it feels to be treated like absolute shit for no reason. For the way I look like."

The girl looked at him, staring at him back. "I could easily be an asshole, especially with how people treated me. But why would I? It costs me no more to be kind. I could easily ruin someone else's day but why would I do that? It doesn't make me feel better about me." she took a breath to regain her words. "I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I feel like I can sense when people are hurting, I always go out of my way to be particularly nice to them... y'know?"

Cardan is at a loss of words.

And not in a bad way, of course. He is at a loss for words because he isn't sure how a soul as pure as hers has survived this long in this world. Niki's not only soft hearted, but she's tough enough to stay that way. That takes a kind of bravery that that he's still trying to process, hence the silence.