Cool Kids [p. parker] || SLOW UPDATES

ELEVEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN
( DEATH BY POWERPOINT )

THE FIRST WEEK FOR Nick was terrible. Not having his phone to talk to his friends and not having a laptop or the TV to watch his shows had him bored out of his mind. He got his homework done earlier than usual, though, but that had to be the only good outcome. He couldn't even hang out with his friends, which he thought was complete bullshit, but he understood since they were there when James did his hair. Sharon and Dan also somehow got him to agree that he would grow his natural color back out and not dye it anymore unless he had permission. Though, Nick was pretty sure his mom would never give him permission. On the other hand, his dad didn't seem to mind too much.

The Midtown soccer team won the Tuesday game, no one trying to injure Nick the few times he played. It was a close game; neither team scored until the final quarter and it almost went into overtime. Marty scored the second point at the last second and won the game for everyone. Because of that, some pressure of being the best soccer player left Nick. But it quickly came back by Friday rolled around, another game that afternoon where Nick scored the winning point.

By the time the second week came and went, he was slowly getting used to not having his phone at all times. It frustrated him, actually, that he was getting used to it. He didn't want to get used to it. But he was. Though, the boy was getting frustrated about not being able to hang out with his friends or talk to them whenever he wanted, and that he couldn't listen to music. But then Dan gave Nick an old record player from the attic and a few records as well once realizing that Nick acted as if he was slowly dying from not being able to listen to music. From there on out, Nick used the record player from dawn to dusk.

"You could probably sell it for a shit load of money depending on how old it is," Olivia Green said, Anita humming in agreement. The blonde had joined their table for the day. Gwen and her got into a fight about something, and Harry was out sick. Not wanting to cause an awkward atmosphere with Peter, Ned and Gwen, Olivia sat with Nick, Anita, and Marty.

Nick looked at her, shocked. "I'm not selling it!" He exclaimed. "Are you crazy? I'm keeping it, it's the only thing keeping my sanity from disappearing! Plus it looks cool."

"Dammit, I was going to get you one for your birthday," Marty groaned. His head fell onto the table, barely missing his lunch tray.

"Fuck, yeah, I was going to pitch in some money," Anita said, realizing now that she had no birthday present for her best friend.

Nick grinned, loving how well Marty and Anita knew him. "Well there are plenty of other things that I want, so..."

Olivia frowned and with furrowed brows. "Wait, when's your birthday?" She asked.

"February twenty-sixth, three more weeks. It's on a Friday this year."

"He also shares it with his little cousin, Valery, which by the way is adorable," Anita said.

"Aw," the blonde cooed. "She was like your birthday present one year, huh?"

Grinning wider, Nick nodded. He adored his little cousin. Valery was probably his favorite person in the world, and not just because they shared a birthday. Despite the six year age gap, they got along pretty well. It probably helped that they didn't live together and weren't siblings, because Nick was pretty sure if that was the case then he'd be annoyed with Valery 24/7.

Lunch soon ended after that, and then the rest of the day went by rather quickly for Nick. Up until science class, that is. His last period of the day and it felt like death by PowerPoint. One slide after the next, never ending with the occasional pause so the teacher could use the dry erase board to explain something better. Nick looked to the wall to find the clock, and nearly slammed his head against his desk at seeing that twenty minutes have passed by. Not an hour, but twenty minutes. He groaned under his breath and slouched farther in his seat, dropping his pen on the desk. He was done taking notes. He couldn't do it any more or else he might just implode. The teenager attempted to listen, but it was hard to as he looked around the room to keep himself awake.

Nick jumped slightly, making Flash laugh quietly beside him, as Mrs. Wellington spoke up a bit louder than before, "Alright! For the rest of the class I want you guys to answer questions one through thirty at the end of the chapter. I want you guys to work in pairs, the same person you worked with for the previous project. Start now."

"Shut up," Nick hissed at Flash as he sat up and gather his things together, though he was smiling slightly. He ignored whatever Flash said back, and went to sit by Peter, plopping down in the free seat and letting his bag fall to the floor. His book made a soft thud as it hit the top of the desk. Peter glanced at him from being hunched over a piece of paper, and Nick raised an eyebrow. He leaned forward to look at what Peter was doing. "What is that?" He asked, seeing the scientific symbols and equations.

Peter immediately covered up the paper with his arms and gave an innocent look. "What's what? This? Nothing, just a uh- a hobby. A boring one, you don't need to know about it."

Nick's lips parted slightly in confusion, brows knitted together. He gave a slow nod. "Okay. Aren't hobbies supposed to be, um... Fun?"

"Yeah, it is fun! To me, but it might not be to you. Hey, I tried texting you earlier this week, is everything okay? Usually you don't ignore texts. I guess, I dunno, we don't know each other that well-."

"I'm grounded, Peter," Nick quickly interrupted the rambling boy.

His mouth made an 'o' shape, and he nodded. "What for?" At that question, Nick made a motion to his hair as he opened his text book to the right page, and then pulled out a sheet of notebook paper and his pen. "Oh. Did you not tell your parents?"

"No," he laughed slightly. "I didn't. For not flunking the project, my friend James decided bleaching and dying my hair would be fun. I agreed, and tried to hide it from my parents. It worked until dinner. You can text me during school, though, if you want. It's the only time I have my phone, plus when I'm going and leaving home." Nick bit his lip, keeping his head low and eyes on the questions as he inwardly freaked out about Peter wanting to talk to him even when the project was done and over with.

"Did you not think before doing it?"

"...Not really, no."

Peter let out an amused snort of laughter and put the piece of paper he had been writing on in his backpack, pulling out his textbook and paper like Nick had done. The conversation about his hair was over then, the two of them silently working on the questions and occasionally asking the other for an answer they couldn't find. They got done pretty fast, and ended up being the first ones finished with ten minutes left of class, and talked about the upcoming test until class was over.

The moment the bell rang, Nick shot up from his seat and slung his backpack over his shoulder as Peter did the same. They walked together until they parted ways for their lockers, but not before Peter gave Nick a compliment on his hair, making the boy wear a dopey smile for the rest of the day.

***

A/N— wow this suCKS. It's just a tiny filler chapter & I tried to make it longer but I felt like I would have dragged this chapter along if I did, so it's staying this short length w/ a terrible end. bUt Peter & Nick interacted so that's always good, I guess. There's literally no importance of this other than the mention of Nick's bday and how his grounding is going. Ummm that's all, hope you liked this chapter! xx