The Luna's Nerd

~Chapter 2~

"Hey bro." Titus asks as I put my drawing down lightning speed. "What's that?" He's attempting to grab my sketchbook but I toss it in my backpack and put it up.

"N-Nothing! It's-"

"Whatever man. Are you staying for practice?" I shrug in response. "I'll take that as a yes." He looks around him. "I need to go check on Nicki." He smirks, "I think there's some chemistry growing between us if you know what I mean." He laughs walking away before I could reply.

I sigh deeply and pull out a book to read. There's a faint smell in the distance growing nearer and nearer. I can barely smell it, but it's coming from Nicole. She and Rose are heading towards the bleachers. I drop my eyes to my book again and continue to read.

I hear Rose sobbing alone on the bleachers and shake my head. I don't see how Nicole can still be friends with her after what she did. Unless no one ever told Nicole.

"Hey Ty." A familiar voice calls. Startled, I find myself dropping my book and my eyes expanding. It's Nicole.

"Hi Nicole. I-I mean N-Nicki." God, I hate stuttering so much. Why is it suddenly happening now when I'm around Nicki? I don't have much time to ponder on it.

She sits beside me, leaving a reasonable space between us. "Whatcha' doing down here?" She begins to play with her fingers.

"T-Titus has practice... he's my ride home." I gulp, finding I'm not tripping over every word I say.

"Your scent is different. Do you have a wolf?" Nicki asks suddenly. I tilt my head and my eyebrows draw together.

"A w-what?" I questiom. What the hell is she talking about? A wolf? My scent? It honestly makes no sense to me.

Nicki's arm is yanked and she's pulled away from me by my brother who gives me a 'don't interrupt' look. Yet, he's just interrupted my conversation with Nicki. How come everything that applies to me never applies to Titus? Sure, he's older, but that doesn't mean he has to treat me like I'm 5.

Their talk isn't long, and Titus seems to be doing the most talking. I can only pick up a few words, including, "He doesn't know about us?" I'm sure what that meant exactly, but I'm assuming Titus and Nicki have a thing. She'd rejected him so many times previously it both hurts and saddens me to hear they are together.

I pretend to be clueless and continue drawing.

~•••~

"Ty!" Titus barges in my room searching through all my stuff.

"Come in, Titus." I hiss sarcastically.

He narrows his eyes at me for a split second before continuing his search. "Where's my shorts? The fancy looking ones."

I shrug, "How should I know? I never wear your stuff." He growls in frustration.

"Thanks for the help." I roll my eyes and continue to sketch. Meanwhile, Titus raids all of my drawers until all of my clothes are on the ground.

"You're picking that up." I tell him without looking up.

"Yeah, yeah." He grumbles. It's useless to ask Titus to do things for me since he doesn't even try his best. I can hear him grumbling as he shoves my clothes in my drawers. I'll have to reorganize them later.

"Where are you going?" I ask him as he finishes filling my drawers like a 2 year old coloring everywhere but inside the lines. I finally look up at Titus who runs an exhausted hand through his hair.

He sighs, "A meeting." I don't interrogate further. The last time I did he blew up on me and left me dumbfounded. It's likely he'll do it again. He leaves afterward and I continue my sketch. I hear Titus yell that he's found them and more rustling around the house and I know I can't get any peace and quiet whatsoever with him in the same house as me.

I get off my bed and put on a jacket. Maybe I can get something done in the school library before school starts. I didn't like being late for school and Titus usually drops me off later whenever he has a meeting. "I'm walking to school." I shout slinging my backpack over my shoulder and allowing the cold air to run through my hair and blow it out of place. Titus leaves the door open all the time because he forgets to close it. I don't expect any threats to draw near a house that's nearly smack dab in the middle of the woods.

I enter the trees and continued straight forward. Ever since yesterday I can't get my mind off of Nicole. Maybe Rose did tell her, and she's using me as her own target. But Nicki is so nice and so... adorable. She seems way too perfect to want to hurt anyone. I exhale and stuff my hands in my pockets. I wish I can escape my thoughts sometimes. Our minds can bring us to our own self destruction.

When I reach school I see the clouds are greyer than usual. The sun was just melting everyone like a popsicle, but now it's freezing us like ice. I carry my pencil in my hand and walk into the doors. The draft of air greets me and I feel comfortable and relaxed. The library is the only open doors available so I walk in. No one is here yet, and I don't expect anyone to be either. I don't know anyone besides myself who likes to go to school early. I slam my sketchbook on one of the tables and feel a lot more at ease without worrying about Titus and Rose. Instead, as I draw, my mind wanders to Nicole. The beautiful shape of her eyes and how they always sparkle when she smiles. Her lips that are so pink and-

Suddenly, I hear a loud thud and my attention turns to the floor where Nicki has fallen. My eyes widen and I run over to help her instantly. "Are you okay?" I ask offering her my hand in which she takes. Her hand is so small in mine but the warmth she sends me makes me want to soar into the sky with glee. "L-Let me help you." Again with my stuttering. I thought I'd scare it off by now. I shake my head and feel tingling in my hand making me instinctively let go of Nicole. She fell back down and I feel terrible. Why am I such an idiot?

"I'm so sorry!" I help her up again but I ignore the tingling this time. I really need to get over myself. I could've hurt her. The thought makes me feel ashamed of myself. "It's just I-I-It was an a-accident." I try to explain. Nicki gives me a cute smile as if she wants to giggle at me. Did my stuttering make her laugh? I feel how rigid she is and lightly brush my hand against her arm.  "Y-you're really cold. D-did you walk all the way here?" She hardly covered herself. I take off my jacket and wrap it around her instead. She needs it a lot more than I do.

Nicki's grin falls slightly and she chattered, "Yesss." I lead her to the library table where she sits.

"It's really cold outside. You could g-get sick." Screw my stutter. She really can get sick and I don't want anything bad to happen to her. She's so small and only reaches to my chest. Her eyes widen like a lost puppy, but she waves off my statement.

"I'll be fine." Her eyes draw to our hands that are still interlocked and I feel even more idiotic. "S-Sorry." My face feels warm and I want to slap myself repeatedly for looking like a moron. I drop her hand, but something about it feels wrong. I don't say anything about it, though. Her beautiful eyes peek over my shoulder to my drawing. "What's that?" She asks squinting her eyes to get a better look.

I immediately feel embarrassed and shut my sketchbook and shove it into my bag. "N-Nothing." I hurry out. She looks a little irritated but it washes away very quickly.

My phone buzzes on the table and I grab it. It's a text from Titus and I can see the urgency through his words. I quickly throw my backpack over my shoulder forgetting Nicki was there. "I-I gotta g-go. See you a-around Nicki." I hurry out of the library and continue to run. I reach the woods outside of school and I slow down as I see our house in the distance. Titus rushes out with his toothbrush in hand, and the fancy shorts he'd been looking for earlier and a shirt that is unbuttoned.

"What is it?" I ask panting with my hands on my knees.

He pulls out two ties, one of which is mine. "Which color?"