Enigma

Jack Daniel's

The school day soon ended and the 3 teenagers met up and found themselves dodging the crowd as they exited the school building.

"So, whose place are we chilling at?" Nico asked, pulling on her backpack. "We could go to mine? My dad's gone all weekend."

"Perfect!" said Fab. Julian said nothing and just nodded.

The two guys followed Nico up to the front school gates and they all got on the bus. Nico didn't want Julian sitting alone again, so she insisted he sat with Fabrizio.

There was no seats left at this point, so Fab pulled her onto his lap and she giggled, hovering her legs over Julian's lap. "May I?"

Julian shrugged. "Whatever."

Nico lay her legs across his lap. She felt him tense up and look away, and she was confused as to why, but Fab quickly distracted her by asking a question.

"I'm guessing Tracie's at Rob's place?" he asked.

Nico rolled her eyes. "Yeah, probably. She's been spending way too much time with him recently."

"Hey, freak!" A voice from a few seats back made us all turn around. The voice belonged to one of Brandon's stupid friends. He pointed to Julian and laughed. "I heard you got kicked outta boarding school for shooting up in the locker rooms!"

Fab and I gasped, and half the people on the bus roared with laughter.

Another kid jumped up to yell. "I heard he trashed his dorm room on a cocaine bender!"

Nico felt rage build up inside her once more. She looked over at Julian, who sat silently with his eyes squeezed shut and his forehead pressed against the window. She admired him so much for not fighting back.

"I heard his dad's super rich and he stole money off him to hire prostitutes 'cos no one wants to fuck him!" shouted out someone else. Wow...creative.

Nico had heard enough. She looked around at everyone laughing and she stood up, flattening her skirt. "Listen up, you thick-skulled sadists!" she called out in her loudest voice, which wasn't very loud.

Nico hadn't raised her voice like that in so long, so it shook Fab to his core. He knew how much she liked to keep to herself.

"You all need to shut the fuck up and mind your own business!" she continued. "Get your nose out of his life and go back to your own pathetic ones! You're just jealous he has more personality than every single one of you here combined!"

The bus quietened down and Nico sat back down on Fab's lap, practically hyperventilating because she was so angry. Julian was staring at her, wide-eyed. Why was she standing up for him?

"Are you okay, Nico?" Fab asked.

Nico said nothing and nodded.

"Thanks, Nico." Julian said softly. "That...that was really cool of you."

Nico still sat silent as she tried to catch her breath. So many things were running through her mind. So much for her low-key high school career. She'd now be known as the girl who stood up for the weirdo. She'd never hear the end of it! But she did a good thing...right? She couldn't just let people do that to poor Julian.

"Our stop." said Fab, snapping her out of her thoughts. Nico hopped off his lap and the three of them stepped off the bus and started their silent walk to her house.

"Just leave your stuff on the table." she said as they walked into the kitchen. Julian and Fab dropped their bags on the kitchen table and followed her up the stairs and into her room.

While Fab went to the bathroom, Nico sat on her bed and motioned for Julian to come over. He awkwardly sat on the edge and twiddled his thumbs, staring down at the floor.

"Are you alright, Julian?" she asked him, she lay down on her side, quite close to him, causing Julian to turn around and face her.

"Yeah." he nodded.

Nico saw through his lie by looking into his sad eyes. "You don't have to lie to me, man."

"I'm not a drug addict." Julian said, swallowing the lump in his throat. He felt like crying, but he couldn't let himself. "I've never hired a prostitute, and I didn't trash my dorm room."

"I knew that was all bullshit." Nico laughed. "God, people are fucking idiots. Where the fuck do they get this shit from? I admire them for their creativity though."

A soft laugh escaped Julian's throat and he looked away once again.

"Why'd you start school on a Friday, Julian?" Nico found herself asking as she absentmindedly ran her fingers through her long, curly dark hair.

"My dad wanted me out of the house." he said with a shrug.

"Oh...okay." Nico leaned over and opened a drawer on her nightstand. She pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniel's and scrunched her freckled nose up with a soft giggle. Julian thought it the cutest thing he'd ever seen...and wow! She's a drinker! He never would've thought.

"Do you drink?" she asked, unscrewing the cap.

Julian nodded as Fab walked back in and closed the door behind him. "Are we partying?" he asked, looking at Nico, who was swallowing a mouthful of whiskey.

"Something like that." she said, winking. She handed the bottle to Julian and watched attentively as he wrapped his lips around it and took a generous swig. He was clearly no stranger to alcohol.

"Put some music on, Fab!" Nico demanded sternly, but giggled afterwards, signalling she was joking.

"Where do you keep your records?" Fab asked, scanning her room. "I've only been in here once before...remember?" That was true. Fab had only been at her house once when they had to work on a music assignment together a few years back. It was the first time they'd hung out together and have been good friends ever since.

"In that box under my desk." Nico replied, pointing to a desk.

"Why are we drinking again?" asked Fab as he flicked through her vinyl collection.

Nico laughed. "Because I just committed social suicide and would like to forget about it for a little while."

"One bottle of Jack isn't gonna do shit." said Julian.

"We can raid my dad's booze cabinet later." Nico said with a smile as she lay down on her bed, kicking her boots off. Her skirt rode up a little as she did so, exposing more of her thighs. Julian couldn't help but to glance over and bite down on his bottom lip. Nico caught him looking and decided to have a little fun. She stretched her arms above her head, her shirt lifting up to expose her hipbones. Julian's widened eyes made her giggle and she sat up, pulled her skirt back down and shook a finger at him. "I'm not an easy catch." she whispered.

Damn. This girl definitely wasn't as innocent as Julian thought. Looks like he wouldn't have to stay away from her after all.