Cool Kids [p. parker] || SLOW UPDATES

TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY
( ATTACK ON THE CITY )

"DON'T WORRY, I WON'T TELL."

"What?" Nick looked up at his uncle, shocked. They had just gotten out of the office where the man had been talking to the principal about Nick getting detention, and after a minutes of silence between the two, Ryan finally spoke up, admitted that he wouldn't tell his brother and sister-in-law. It surprised Nick greatly; he surely thought he would. A few students that were still in the hallway were staring the two down either because of the different skin color, or the fact that Ryan was dressed in his cop uniform.

Ryan shrugged. "Your mom would flip, and your dad wouldn't be too happy, either," he said. "But, you're still going to tell them that you got in a fight. Okay? They'll still be upset, though."

Nick grumbled out, "Fine," despite wanting to protest.

The two walked to Ryan's car in silence after that, and left to go pick up Valery from her school since she was staying with her dad for a week. It was a long ride because of all of the traffic, so Nick took that opportunity to make different playlists on his phone while listening to whatever old band's CD Ryan had playing. He texted his friends a bit, too, but stopped once Valery got into the car, knowing full and well the little girl would want to keep a conversation with him going.

"...and then we had to read quietly by ourselves, but I already finished the book so I snuck out my comic and read all of it. Speaking of, Daddy, I need the next Wonder Woman comic." Valery spoke fast, and Nick almost couldn't keep up but he did his best. It was clear her ADHD medication was wearing off. She was bouncing in her seat as she talked excitedly about her day, eyes going from looking outside to looking at her dad and cousin up front constantly; one hand fiddled with a bracelet on her other wrist, and she changed the topic of whatever she was talking about faster than Nick could process.

Ryan looked in the rearview mirror to look at his daughter. With raised eyebrows he asked, "Do you have the money?"

"I'm nine."

"Touché. Alright, there's this comic and record store coming up, we can stop there and see if they have it. Okay?"

"They should if its the one where Peter got it from," Nick said.

"Who's Peter?" Valery asked.

Nick shifted in the passenger's seat some. He had hoped that Valery wouldn't ask, but it was inevitable; she always asked who someone was when a name she didn't recognize or hear often popped up in conversation. "My friend who gave you the Wonder Woman comic," he said.

"Ooh, that cute boy who gave you the record?"

Ryan nearly choked and almost slammed on the breaks, and Nick whipped around in his seat to stare wide eyed at his little cousin. Both were surprised at hearing Valery causally call a boy cute; usually she was complaining about how gross and annoying they were. It wasn't expected.