Enigma

Charade

By the end of fourth period, the guys made it back to school. They decided to camp outside of the art room to wait for Nico and Fab because lunch was about to begin and they had nowhere else to go. The cafeteria was definitely not an option.

"Look, it's Julian and Albert!" Fab pointed as he nudged Nico.

"They look stoned." she said, taking in the guys' tired appearances. "They are stoned." she spoke again as they approached them.

"We saved you some fries." Albert said slowly as he pulled a scrunched up ball of paper out of his pocket. He unraveled it to reveal several soggy french fries that looked quite unappetising.

"Aw, thanks," Nico giggled and patted Albert on the shoulder. "...but no thanks."

"Suit yourself. More for me!" Albert said through a disgusting mouthful of greasy fries.

Fab pushed past them and pulled a key out of his pocket. Then, he proceeded to unlock the door and step aside to let everyone in.

Nico raised a brow. "A key? Wow, teachers pet!"

"I won't confirm, nor deny that statement." Fab replied, closing the door with an adorable smirk.

"So you guys just chill in here everyday in between classes?" asked Albert as he walked around the room with his hands behind his back.

"I guess so," Fab shrugged, taking a seat at one of the  paint splattered desks. "...no jocks, no adult supervision..."

"Sounds pretty perfect to me." Nico said with a content sigh.

The teenagers' smalltalk came to a hault when there was a frantic knock at the door.

"Julian, cigarette!" Fab snapped at Julian, who quickly put it out and waved the smoke away.

Fab then jumped up and gingerly walked over to the door, where he opened it and sighed relievedly at the site of Tracie.

Tracie pushed past Fab and jogged over to Nico. "Nico!"

"Shit, Trace, what's up?" Nico's brow furrowed. Her friend looked quite panicked.

"I just heard about what you did on the bus!" Tracie shrieked.

Both Julian and Nico shared a glance and tensed up at the mention of it. Fab cleared his throat and leaned into Albert to whisper something. He was probably explaining to him what had happened.

Nico swallowed the lump in her throat. "Umm, from who?"

"Everyone's talking about it." she said. "I heard some people say you did it 'cause you're hooking up with Julian!"

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Nico spat, crossing her arms. "How much more immature can these imbeciles get?!"

Albert looked at Julian and teasingly raised a brow with a wicked grin. Julian quickly shut him down with a subtle kick to the shin.

"You really shoulda stuck to your whole laying low thing, Nico." said Tracie with a shake of her head.

"I know, but I just...couldn't." Nico trailed off, looking down at her feet.

Julian frowned. He felt really guilty, but chose to say nothing as he relit his cigarette.

"You know how to get people to forget shit and like you..?" Albert chimed in once he'd got the gist of the situation.

Nico turned to him with a raised brow once she'd calmed down a little. "I'm listening..."

"You throw a killer party!" he said excitedly.

Nico rolled her eyes. "I'm no longer listening."

"Wait, he could be onto something here!" Fab exclaimed. "You said your dad's away...so, how about this Friday?"

"Yeah, he's got a point." Tracie said, nodding as she looked over at Albert. "Who is this guy, by the way?"

"Albert," said Albert, standing up and walking over to her. "...pleased to make your acquaintance." He was obviously trying to flirt with her. Nico laughed to herself, knowing what was going to happen next.

Tracie looked at him. Her face slightly twinging in disgust. "Ha, gross." She then turned on her heel and walked back over to the door. "Anyways, Nico, you should think about it. I've gotta go meet Rob, my boyfriend," she said with a smirk while staring down Albert. "...so I'll catch you freaks later!"

Albert sat back down with a goofy smile once she'd left the room. "She's so into me. Don't you guys think so? Who was that?"

"Yeah...totally." Fab chuckled.

"I'm not throwing a party." Nico crossed her arms and frowned.

"Why not?" asked Fab with a pout. "We had a pretty good time the other night."

"I don't want my house to get trashed."

"We'd help you clean up afterwards. Right, guys?" he said, looking over at Julian and Albert.

Albert held two thumbs up, still flashing a crooked grin. "Sure thing."

Julian kept up with his broody, quietness and just shrugged.

Nico ignored the other two as she narrowed her eyes on Julian. "Julian, are you okay? You're awful quiet."

"Yeah, I'm just...really stoned." Julian replied, rubbing his bloodshot eyes. "I think I'm gonna go home."

"We have two classes left." Fab informed him.

Julian shrugged once more and stood up. "See 'ya."

"You already skipped today, man." Nico said with a frown. She did not like where this was going. "Don't go, Julian."

Julian stopped at the door and turned to look at her inquisitively.

"Please don't go," she said. "...I don't want you getting into any trouble."

"Wanna come with me then?"

"I don't ditch." she said with a shake if her head.

"You're no fun." Albert chuckled. "I'll go with you, Jules." He then turned to Fab and raised a brow. "You coming, dude?"

Fab looked at Albert, and then to Nico, who was frowning at him. "Uhh..." He wanted to go, but he didn't want to disappoint Nico.

Nico could quite easily tell Fab wanted to go with them, and who was she to tell him not to? "Just go." she sighed. "If you get caught, I'm not bailing you out."

Fab blew her a kiss and picked up his bag, then pranced over to Julian and Albert at the door.

"Come with us, Nico?" Julian spoke nonchalantly, but his eyes were somewhat pleading.

"Niiiicoooo!" Albert sang, wiggling his eyebrows. "You know you want tooooo!"

She rolled her eyes with a frown and huffed.

"Yeah, Nico!" Fab chimed in. "If you don't wanna straight up ditch, just tell someone you're feeling sick. You're a straight-A student whose rarely missed a class, so they'll let you off easy!"

Nico thought about it for a minute. What Fab was saying was right—she was favored among most of the school staff, so pulling a little fake sick charade one time couldn't hurt...right?

Nico held her head in her hands and began groaning as a screwed up expression replaced her frown. "My head! It's killing me!"

The three guys started cheering.

"Was that convincing enough?" she asked, giggling.

Fab applauded. "Yes! Now go reenact that to the nurse and we'll meet you outside."

Nico sighed. "See you in a few minutes then, I guess."