Double Life: Surprises

The next day a pair of loud shoes woke Nichole up.

“Can´t you wear normal shoes, Nat?” she growled.

“These are normal shoes, Nichole. And yes, I´m glad to see you too”

Natasha put a bandage and a pair of long black silk gloves over Nichole´s bed. She sighed and sat up feeling a sharp pain and some dizziness. She started to take off her pajamas as Natasha put some pants and long sleeved shirt next to her. The bandage and the gloves were the first things she wore. Natasha motioned to help her but she made a stop sign with her hands.

“We don´t know if my whole skin has its ability back” Nic said when Natasha didn´t stop

“You´re awake now, your hands are the only ones deadly, well, your right hand only” Natasha replied confident.

“You can´t be one hundred percent sure” Nichole insisted causing Natasha to smile.

“Thanks for your concern –Natasha said as she helped Nic with her shirt- but I´m a hundred percent sure” Nichole´s eyes were questioning “You´re a good girl” Natasha touched the tip of Nic´s nose. Nic quickly moved away from her. Natasha hid a smile and Nichole glared as she stood.

They walked in silence out of the room and the rest of the way through the empty halls. This time the driver was waiting at the entrance of the dorms. The building supervisor got the permission and they drove off.

“Hey! I thought you wouldn´t come until Monday” Josh greeted her walking faster to get to her. Nichole didn´t remove her eyes from the window. He smiled shaking his head not offended at all.

“I like this view” she said and he heard the humor in her voice.

“I´ve noticed” he sat on the desk next to hers “So, how are you doing?”

She turned to see him as she produced a small white box that he hadn´t noticed. He was surprised. She was giving him a gift. He opened the box and saw a squared piece of cake.

“Mii was upset that she was taken away the day of your party and somehow she found out I was at the house and made her way to me. She brought cake. She sent you that one”

“Wow” was all that he managed to say remembering that day she had been very sad when he found her staring at the road, now it made sense.

“mmh” she turned back to look at the window.

“So, it helped you to get better to have Mii there?” he had noticed how happy she seemed to get when Camille was around, even now she looked happy. She huffed.

“On the contrary” she tried to sound irritated. Josh raised his eyebrows and she chuckled softly “she kept trying to get me out of bed by jumping on it”

“Didn´t you tell her it hurt you?”

“I went home because I had a cold” her tone serious

“oh, a bad cold…”

“I´m asthmatic” she said solemn, his eyes widened as she shook her head slightly. His mouth made an O shape as she half smiled. They were silent.

“Will you eat that or not?” she asked breaking the silence between them. She looked him straight to the eye.

“Yeah” he quickly took a piece of it with the small fork that was inside the box. He thought it was strange to eat cake so early in the morning but somehow it seemed important for her that he eat it.

During the break she stayed in her seat, he went out after asking her if she was coming. She was still there when he came back; he guessed she was still feeling pain, after all he remembered how painful it had been for him when he had been wounded.

At lunch time, as always, she grabbed her things and walked away from the crowds of students except that she walked slower than usual to the cafeteria line. Josh was only a person behind her on the line. She paid but took her time putting away the change the cafeteria lady gave her. When Josh paid she started to walk to the gardens, Josh followed. The sat on a table under a tree.

“Take some” she said taking a fry when she noticed Josh had been glancing at her fries. He was a little startled at the offering

“Take what you want from my plate” Josh offered finally taking a fry

“I don´t like pasta” she simply said.

“I wanted fries buy I really wanted pasta” he took another fry. She chuckled

“So what? You should´ve ordered both”

“Pasta and fries?”

“yeah… I´m eating fries and smashed potatoes” she pointed out

“mmhh you’re the only girl I know that would mix two sources of calories like that”

 “ psshhh I couldn´t care less about that” she rolled her eyes

“Well you do lots of exercise to compensate”

“Who says that?” she lifted an eyebrow. He furrowed his eyebrows a little. He hadn´t really seen her doing any w0rkout and she didn´t play sports, she stayed back in p.e but he was sure that to be able to jump out of a window of a two story building she had to be strong… and to easily climb up too and to walk on wall edges too. He saw her smirk a little and he wondered if he had made a face.

“Maybe I just have a very fast metabolism”

“Do you?”

“I swim” she said going back to eat her food.

“I´ve never seen you” he said remembering that there was a class in the indoor pool of the school that Aaron attended to

!” I took the art class instead” she provided guessing that he meant he hadn´t seen her in the swimming class.

“Then…”

“I got permission to go there in my spare time” she said nonchalantly but he could see her cheeks coloring a shade darker of pink. His eye brows shot up. ”wow, how nice of your family to get you that special permission” he said sincerely recalling what he knew of her father and his ways towards her. She scoffed.

“I had to pay for that” she said as if it was the most obvious thing

“What?” he gasped and before he could ask anything more a voice interrupted

“So, when´s the next movie night?” Aaron sat on the seat between Josh and Nichole.

“You´re not invited” Nichole answered and the corners of her mouth twitched a up a little. Aaron was silent for a little bit.

“Then I´m telling that you have a TV… and maybe some more”

She raised both her eyebrows “Go tell”  her voice calm.

“I wouldn´t do that to a friend” he said smiling charmingly. Her expression was bored.

“Did you take accurate notes?” she asked Josh completely ignoring Aaron

“Yeah, not once I got caught off guard”

“Great, ´cause I need them”

Aaron looked their exchange with curiosity “Have you been absent?” He asked to Nic but looked his brother. She grabbed Josh notebooks

“I´ll take this to my room” she informed Josh, they had the art class next. Ignoring Aaron Josh nodded

“I´ll help you” Aaron grabbed the notebooks. She glared. He hadn´t touched her but he was too close for her liking

“Aaron…” Josh started.

“It´s ok…”  She said despite herself. Josh was evidently taken aback. Aaron smirked and she wondered if she should´ve just gone but the bag with books was heavy and her wounds and bruises thought better weren’t exactly gone.  Walk with the books, Josh’s notebooks and her other things was too much for her to carry all the way to her room. She hated that it was Aaron who offered and that she needed help at all but Natasha had warned her and reminded her that it was worst to let herself be too strained and then faint leaving no way for her to control herself than to ask for a little help though she had suggested the dorm supervisor but she was a big no no on that.

Aaron grabbed her messenger bad leaving his own with Josh. She started to walk and Aaron was next to her still with a smirk on his face.