Enigma

Assumptions

"Ew, Fab! Get off me!" Nico squealed with laughter as Fab tried wrapping her in a hug.

"I'm bidding you farewell!" he protested.

"You smell like puke!" she yelped. "Get off!" Once she escaped from his grip after hugging him back for a brief moment, she ran back up the driveway to her front door. "Goodbye, Fabrizio!"

Fab waved as he got into his friend, Nick's, car. "See 'ya Monday!" he called back to her through the open window.

"Shut up and take a shower!" Nico called back with a smile.

Fab poked his tongue out as he rolled the window back up. His friend peered past him to get a look at Nico. He raised his eyebrows and nodded a little, seeming impressed by what he was seeing. Nico laughed to herself. She'd pretty much just gotten out of bed and was in the same clothes as yesterday. Her hair was all frizzy and her eye makeup sat in dark circles under her tired green eyes. What the hell was this dude staring at? Who was he, anyways? She never saw much of him because he didn't go to their school and they'd never talked to each other, but she knew he'd been Fab's best friend since kindergarten.

Nico continued to stand in the doorway with a smirk until she saw Fab turn to his friend and slap him with a grin, then driving off.

"That was strange." she whispered to herself, walking back inside. "Julian, are you out of the bathroom yet?!" she called as she walked upstairs.

"Yeah!" Julian croaked. The poor thing had been throwing up for the past 15 minutes. He woke up a few times in the night and couldn't get back to sleep, so he chugged the rest of the leftover vodka, resulting in a worse hangover than the other two.

Nico walked into her bedroom to find him sitting on her bed. His hair was stuck to his forehead with sweat and looked quite embarrassed with himself...so much so, that he tried to avoid as much direct eye contact with Nico possible.

Nico walked over to her closet and started to sift through it, looking for something to change into. "Are you feeling better, Julian?"

"Yeah...thanks."

"No need to be embarrassed." she said. "It happens to the best of us."

Julian watched as she picked up a dress and walked over to her mirror. She held it over her torso and her eyebrows knitted together, an inquisitive hum escaping her throat.

"Is this cute?" she asked, turning to Julian. She held up a red and white polka-dotted dress with a sweetheart neckline that would stop just above her knees.

Julian thought she'd look fantastic in it. Come to think of it, he thought she'd look fantastic in anything. "I...I'm, uhh...I'm no good with fashion." he said, awkwardly scratching his neck.

Nico rolled her eyes, turning back to the mirror. "You don't have to be a fashion expert to tell if a dress is cute or not." She then threw the dress back in her closet, pulled out a leather jacket, a Misfits shirt, ripped jeans and some thick-soled boots. Julian widened his eyes. He was wrong once again. Even her wardrobe wasn't so innocent.

"Be right back." she said, before walking into her bathroom and closing the door. Ten minutes later, she walked out looking like she'd just exited a hardcore punk concert. She'd even teased and styled her hair a little, making it look very eighties-esque. 

Once Julian got over the shock of how different and hot she looked, he cleared his throat. "Going somewhere today?"

"I dunno...maybe. I like dressing up sometimes." Nico explained, applying some lipstick and a coat of mascara. "It's kinda my thing."

"That's cool." said Julian with a smile. "Can I smoke in here?"

Nico nodded. "So...you wanna go home yet or something? Do you live around here? I'll walk you."

"Nico!" A voice called from outside. Nico rolled her eyes and walked over to the window to see Tracie calling out from the front yard.

"Ugh. Excuse me for a second." Nico opened the window and stuck her head out.

"Nico!" Tracie yelped again. "I've been knocking for ages!"

"I didn't hear you!" Nico called down to her. "What's up?!"

"Neil wants us down at the carnival tonight!"

"Whaaaaat?!" Nico groaned.

"Carnival?" Julian raised a brow.

Nico turned to him. "We're working at that crappy carnival that's been in town for a couple months."

Julian nodded. "I saw that when I first drove down here."

"Who are you talking to?!" Tracie shouted, interrupting their little conversation.

"Julian's here!" Nico called back down.

Tracie gasped, a mischievous smirk tugging on her lips. "Ooooh! What've you guys been up t-"

"Shut up!" Nico cut her off with a death stare. "Front doors open!"

She watched with a snarl as Tracie snickered and let herself inside.

"Sorry about that." she said to Julian. "Tracie's quite...assertive. She has no filter."

Julian chuckled softly. "It's oka-"

"You talkin' shit?!" Tracie asked, obnoxiously bursting into the room.

Nico sighed. "Hi, Trace."

Tracie pretty much ignored Julian's presence and proceeded to walk about Nico's room, nosily looking through all her stuff like she always did.

Nico could sense Julian's uncomfortableness, so she decided she'd try to get rid of Tracie as soon as possible. "So...why are you here again?"

"Oh, yeah!" Tracie put down Nico's hairbrush and turned around. "Boss wants us in before six tonight."

"Why didn't you just call to tell me?"

"I dunno...I was bored. Rob ditched me to hang out with his friends. Do you not want me here or something?" she rambled, her eyebrows knitted together. "Wait a second...oh! I know what's going on." Her eyes darted to Julian, and then Nico...and then Julian again...and then back to Nico. "Nico, you dirty slut!" she giggled. It didn't help that Julians hair was messy and he was smoking a cigarette.

Julian looked slightly surprised at her assumption, but remained quiet.

"What?!" Nico was confused for a second until she figured out what her dirty-minded friend was hinting at. "Oh, my god! No, Trace!"

"It's okay! I'll leave you two alone." she said with a raised eyebrow and a knowing grin as she backed out of the room. "Just be there at around six, okay?"

Nico rubbed her temples frustratingly after Tracie left. "Why am I friends with her?" she groaned. "Sorry, Julian."