Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

No matter how hard she tries, Nicole can’t help herself from watching Jecka twirl her cigarette between her fingers. It’s a simple motion that really shouldn’t be this mesmerising; she’s seen every stupid party trick from horny guys before, and Jecka had only begun learning it to look sexier for the older guys who show up uninvited to Kelly’s parties, and that arrangement had only lasted until one of them got arrested for possession. They don’t even go to Kelly’s parties anymore, and yet Jecka still spins it deftly, lit end never daring to touch her skin and fingers in full control. As if she wasn’t a poser who’d only started smoking a year ago. As if the only audience for it wasn't Nicole. 

Sure, Nicole had only started watching because she’d needed a laugh at someone else’s expense, and what was funnier than seeing an idiot burn themselves? The novelty had worn off far quicker than she’d hoped, though – Jecka’s in-pain face was sadder than she’d expected, and her odd resilience for the skill had been… weird to watch. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to congratulate her for burning herself less or laugh at how proud she got when she did a trick right.

Now Jecka’s hands remain perfectly unscathed, she still gets that cute smile, and Nicole still watches. The thought of turning away crosses her mind occasionally, but it’s always dashed within an instant. She can’t look away at this point. It’s embarrassing.

Jecka finally brings the dart up to her mouth. It’s only when she breathes out a hazy cloud of smoke that floats slowly to the roof of Nicole’s room that the odd grip the motion has on her leaves, and she’s able to be herself again.

“You can be such a bitch, you know that?” Nicole sneers.

Jecka doesn’t even bother looking her way. “I’m not sharing, Nicole. I paid for this shit with my own money.”

“As if. You haven’t paid full price for anything in months.”

Jecka shrugs, moving the pack of cigarettes away from Nicole. “There’s too many barriers at the gas station for flirting to really work. I’m only a 10 from like, right up close.”

“Whatever,” Nicole scoffs.

Jecka exhales another cloud of smoke, mercifully close to her so Nicole can inhale some second-hand smoke. It’s barely enough for her head to spin, and she hopes that Jecka can see how pissed the edging is making her.

“Besides,” Jecka says as she taps the cigarette against Nicole’s windowsill, leaving a pile of ash on the wood. “I’m still mad at you for today.”

“The fuck? Why?”

“You can’t make up rumours about your ex who you abused. It’s like, a party foul, or something.”

“Yeah well, you put a stop to that, so does it even matter?”

Jecka glares at her. Nicole stares back, undaunted. Eventually, Jecka concedes.

“Why do you even care? I thought you were back to being straight.”

Nicole shrugs, ignoring the odd feeling in her chest that rises at her words. She really needs a proper smoke. “It’s the principle behind it. She can’t just parade her new boyfriend around like that. People are gonna think she won the breakup and I am not letting a bitch one-up me like that.”

“She doesn’t even like guys, Nicole.”

“So? As if you haven’t done worse to your exes.”

Jecka glares again, intense enough to burn a hole in the side of her head. Nicole doesn’t try to contest her this time. “Ari’s different and you know it. One of my exes is working as a fucking security guard now.”

“At a club? What, is he one of those freaks who only lets girls in if they give him an eyeful or something?”

“Nah, he does it if he cops a feel.”

Nicole groans. “Gross.”

“Yeah, and Ari isn’t like that. You could lay off her at least a bit.”

“I mean, you don’t know-“

“Nicole!”

“Fine, whatever. I’ll leave her alone. Happy?”

Jecka takes a moment to pretend to think about it before she smiles and shuffles onto the bed. “Happy enough, I guess.”

She pulls the remains of the cigarettes up to her lips, eyes fixated on Nicole’s as she moves. Before Nicole can comment on it, Jecka takes a drag.

Then she leans down close to Nicole. Her subsequent exhale is targeted, eyes never leaving Nicole’s as she breathes out, the smoke tickling Nicole’s lips. It crawls down her throat and bleeds into her lungs, drowning her in the sensation. She almost thinks she can taste Jecka’s chap stick – cherry flavour, she knows – and then she shudders.

She lets out a sigh as her head spins. It’s not enough to distract her from the sight of Jecka’s red cheeks, or from her own thoughts about wanting to see them way more often, but it’s easy to pretend it does.

“So, is this some psycho-sexual conditioning shit? You’re rewarding me for good behaviour?”

“Just take what you can get, whore.”

“Because, just so you know, you’d be the pet, not me.”

And sure, now it’s impossible to ignore the deep flush that overtakes Jecka’s complexion after that. It’s a worthy sacrifice though, considering the overwhelming rush that runs through her chest at the sight.

-

Nicole sighs. Lunch might be one of her least hated periods, but at this school, it’s like comparing her favourite sports. Some of them are funnier than others, especially when there’s potential for gruesome injury to narcissistic meatheads, but at the end of the day, they all make her want to kill herself.

“Nicole,” Jecka’s voice breaks through the fog in her brain, and suddenly she’s subjected to a horrific noise.

Crispin is sitting in front of her, droning on with that shitty lazy tone that he thinks makes him look cool. He’s been sitting there for a while, considering how Jecka looks like she’s about to rip off her ears, and already Nicole is sick of how he drones on. “Yeah, so like, I just think it’s really cool that you guys are eating. I heard about eating disorders and I was like, god, why would you do this to our women, you know?” He smiles at the sky, like it’s some profound revelation.

“Crispin, why the fuck are you still here? Do you have a fetish for being ignored, or something?”

“What do you mean, Nicole? We’re just hanging out, aren’t we?”

“I would rather hang myself than spend any time with you by choice, you disgusting fuck.”

Crispin laughs and mutters something about ‘funny chicks,’ before strolling off.

Nicole turns to Jecka. “Hey, I’ve been getting better at tuning him out lately. Maybe someday I’ll never have to hear him again.”

“So fucking happy for you, but if I had to deal with weed breath and reality show-host personality for any longer I think I might’ve choked him.”

“Hot. Why didn’t you?”

Jecka rolls her eyes. “The law, or something.”

“Boring.”

“Right? But being a prison slut would not suit me. Nepotism celebrity sounds much better.”

“Your family is famous?”

“No, but my husband will be. I’ll just leech off his fame.”

Nicole raises an eyebrow. “I feel like you’re underestimating how rapey famous men are. Do you seriously want to deal with, like, white men who get dick injections to keep it up?”

“That’s what the adopted fans are for.”

“They won’t defend you, Jecka. They’ll just call you an attention-seeking whore when shit starts coming out about him. It always happens.”

Jecka hums. “Maybe. Should I find some sorta-gay celeb- Oh god. Megan’s coming this way.”

Nicole turns around just as Jecka straightens up in her seat. She sees Megan, looking like somebody’d just taken a shit in her food. She glares at Nicole, and she’d be happy to return it if she wasn’t surprised by the person trailing behind her – Ari, who’s pointedly ignoring her.

“Hey, guys,” Jecka waves.

“Hey, Jecka. You want to come to a party Sunday night?” Ari smiles.

“Oh, sure. Who’s hosting?” 

“Me. Just come by at like 7, okay?”

“Okay.”

“What, is it some sort of fucking power move for you to invite my friend and not me?” Nicole interjects.

Instead of Ari responding, Megan steps up. “If you call not wanting you there a power move, then sure. You’d just sulk in the corner anyway.”

“Oh, and what, you hire a guard dog too? Can’t even speak for yourself, Ari?”

“No, she’s right. I just don’t want you there. You’re kind of awful, Nicole,” Ari shrugs. “I just want to have fun.”

Nicole puts on a faux-sweet voice. “I can be fun.”

Ari colours. “Shut up.”

“Your party’s gonna be shit anyway. Maybe if you can stop Kelly trying to ride every dude there you might have some fun with the cleanup-“

“We’re leaving,” Megan interrupts, grabbing Ari’s arm and muttering, "fucking bitch." She drags her away without a second glance, leaving Jecka and Nicole alone.

“Can you believe this? Or, what, am I still not allowed to hate her guts?”

“I mean, she’s not exactly wrong, is she?”

Nicole almost responds without thinking, but then she catches a glimpse of Jecka’s face. Nicole scans her, taking note of her cautiously averted eyes, how her hands are fidgeting, how her voice has raised in tone.

“Oh my fucking god, you’re going to go, you traitor.”

“It’s a party and I need to get fucked up, you know how shitty this week has been.”

“You don’t even like half those girls. You hate Megan.” Nicole points out.

“Well, yeah. So?”

Nicole sighs. “Fair point. But I’m not forgetting this, snake.”

“It’s not snaking if I’m just there to steal their drinks and pills, Nicole.”

“No, it still is,” Nicole snarks, and she can tell by Jecka’s wavering voice that the guilt trip is working. “You owe me.”

“Owe you what, bitch? I’ll split whatever I take from there with you.”

“You would’ve done that anyway. Nah, something else.”

“Are you serious? The fuck do you want?”

“What’s the best part about house parties?”

Jecka takes a moment to ponder the question. “Turning the stove on high before leaving and not telling anybody?”

Nicole smiles. “No, but that’s evil. I’m impressed.”

“I was thinking from your perspective,” Jecka says, looking almost imperceivably pink. Nicole decides to ignore it. “What’s the actual answer?”

“It’s all the free shit you can take when people aren’t looking. If she’s inviting people like Kelly and you-” Jecka raises an eyebrow. Nicole ignores it and continues, “her family’s definitely not home. It’s hunting season, and you’re a fat old man with a micropenis.”

“What does that even-“ Jecka’s eyes widen. “You want me to rob Ari?”

“Robbery is when you point a gun, Jecka. You’re just taking shit. It’s no big deal.”

“I don’t know. Stealing’s kinda your thing.”

“That’s the fun part about friendship. You’re bound to have learned something from me.”

“Pretty much all you’ve taught me is that most men are pedophiles.”

Nicole shrugs. “Not that I had to teach you that, but whatever. It’ll work, bitch. Just do it.”

“Fine. What do you want?”

“Something expensive.”

Jecka sighs. “Whatever. If Ari puts me in some girl scout headlock because of this, I will kill you.”

“She won’t. And if she does, I’ll get Emily to send me photos.”

“Fuck you,” Jecka says, but when she turns to face Nicole, she sees a faint smile on her face, directed at her. The feeling in her chest – the one that feels like there’s a balloon in her ribcage, slowly floating up – returns, and Nicole forces herself to strangle the feeling.

When it’s throttled and dead, Nicole sees that Jecka’s no longer looking at her. The smile’s still there, though, and even though a strand of her hair has fallen in front of it, she’s still beautiful.

Nicole almost reaches forward to brush the hair to the side, but she catches herself just in time.

And then she realises something might be horribly wrong with her.

Shit.

-

The night of the party is simple. Nicole looks through the dresses Jecka messages her photos of, chooses the second sexiest, and suggests that for the night. Jecka sends one more photo – of herself dressed up – and by the time Nicole’s gotten the …thing in her chest under control and sent back a thumbs up emoji, Jecka’s already left.

Nicole goes through her Mom’s medicine cabinet, picks out the most fucked combination of pills she can think of without putting her in a coma, crushes them up, and within a few moments, she’s gone to the world.

It’s hours later, when her room has finally morphed back into her room and some of the cotton clogging her ears has fallen out, when her phone begins buzzing. She’s still coming down, so she thinks she might be hallucinating just a bit when she sees the contact calling her phone - Arri (gay one).

“What?” She answers.

Nicole is greeted by a much too familiar moan.

“N-Nicole,” Ari giggles. “You a-actually answered.” She moans again, and Nicole swears she had sorted her whole gay crisis out. This shouldn’t be kind of hot, right?

“Are you seriously calling me during a hookup? God, and they call me petty. I don’t give a fuck that you’re getting mediocre dick, Ari.”

“I’m not,” Ari breathes, and then she giggles again. There’s another voice in the background, muttering something, but the cotton’s still in her ears. “I just wanted to hear your reaction. Jecka?”

Nicole goes cold. Suddenly, she can hear everything, and she can hear it all too well. There’s another wet sound – a kiss, Nicole thinks venomously – before it stops. “Hey, Nicole.”

“Jecka, what the fuck? You slut, you’re fucking my ex?”

“Ew, no. We’re just hooking up.” Nicole hates how breathless she sounds. She hates that she can’t be there to teach fucking Ari not to mess with her-

“Why, bitch?”

Jecka lowers her voice. “I’m doing what you asked.”

“I told you to rob her, not fuck her.”

“I’m not! How else was I going to get into her room?”

“Are you fucking with me?”

“No! She’s a girl scout! Even when she’s drunk, she’s fucking paranoid.”

From the background, Ari asks, “are you guys speaking in code?”

“Do we look like bitches who use code?” Jecka responds. “Trust me, Nicole. I’m not doing this to fuck you over.”

Nicole isn’t sure what’s happening in her chest now, but she knows it feels aflame – and god she wishes she could light that whole fucking house on fire. But she’s not used to this. She was angry when she was shot, sure, but this is different. It’s…

“You better get me some real expensive shit,” she growls.

“R-really?” Jecka sounds genuinely relieved.

“Yes. And you’re giving me your Xanax.”

“Bitch I was only doing in the first place for you.” Jecka’s voice becomes light again, and the fire is extinguished.  

Nicole sighs. “Fine.” She hangs up.

Then she puts her head down on the table, counting out what she has leftover before deciding, fuck it, and diving right in. Simple.

-

It’s only a little awkward when she sees Jecka in the morning, and it doesn’t come from where she expects. Truly, she doesn’t care about Ari – she never had, and that’s likely why it’s so easy to forget. Sure, Ari’s scars were hot, and it was fun having a codependent, masochist girlfriend to bully around, but she’d never actually cared about her.

The problem was that she did care that it was Jecka. Which… no, she’s not thinking about that.

Since she's not thinking about it, everything goes relatively well. They meet in Jecka’s smoking spot before school. Nicole watches as Jecka twirls her cigarette as usual, asks her, “so, you’re lesbian now?” And then things are good again.

She only even thinks about revenge when she takes her seat next to Jecka in math class, and Ari gives her a fucking ugly smirk from the front like she’d done something impressive and not been robbed. She takes about one second to debate on insulting her in front of the class, before she remembers the last text Ari had sent her.

She walks out of class without a glance at the teacher, finds a suitably empty girls’ bathroom, and presses ‘call,’ on Ari’s contact.

-

Nicole leaves the bathroom a few steps after Ari, despite their agreement to return to class at different times. She stalks behind her, watching as her steps slowly even out and she composes herself. Just when she reaches the door to their classroom, Nicole grabs her wrist and shoves her up against the wall.

“Nicole, wha-“ Nicole grins at her, letting her gaze wander. She leans in, leering at Ari, ghosting her fingers over her sides. It's honestly kind of pathetic how quickly Ari gives in, pushing her lips up to meet Nicole's, and soon they're out in the hallway, resuming what they’d been doing in the bathroom. Nicole grips the back of her neck as Ari reaches around her, and her tongue probes deeper and deeper until Ari’s knees buckle. Nicole only relents then, feeling Ari’s breaths come fast and heavy on her lips.

Nicole smirks. “Couldn’t wait for more?”

Ari darkens. “You call me out to the bathroom, fuck me in a stall, and now this? Nicole, what are you doing?”

Nicole narrows her eyes at Ari. She approaches her like a predator, focusing on a tense point on her neck. She licks it, bites it, and then sucks on the point. Ari stifles a moan with her palms.

“Just making sure,” she kisses the point as it throbs, tasting blood. “That next time you call me, it’s for something important. Like this.”

She hasn’t gotten mileage out of her sexy voice in a while, but evidently, she’s not out of practice. When she lets Ari go, she all but stumbles back into class, wobbly and unfocused and face dyed a harsh red, makeup ruined and hickey on display for all to see.

Nicole follows her in, smirking.

All eyes are on the two of them, but there’s only one person’s reaction she’s concerned with. She heads to her seat at the back, taking her sweet time as she goes.

Jecka’s pointedly not looking at Nicole. Her cheeks are flushed pink and her eyebrows are drawn tight. Most noticeably, she’s twirling her pen in her fingers like a cigarette, though her fingers are shaking, and… there it is. Her pen leaves a line of ink on her hand.

Nicole smiles.

Oh, revenge always tastes so sweet.

Chapter Text

Jecka doesn’t look at her on the walk back to her car. She strides two paces ahead of her, fingers twitching as she plays with the lit cigarette in her hands. She takes a drag, drops the dart under her boot, and lights another.

“Someone piss you off?” Nicole asks.

Jecka glares at her. She lets out a puff of smoke that tickles Nicole’s cheek. “Fucking in the school bathroom is a little low, even for you.”

“Wow, bitch. And slut-shaming isn’t low for you?”

Jecka leans up against her car door. She gestures with her cigarette in the direction of another car, pointing out Hunter and Ari having a very heated discussion.

Nicole smirks. “What?”

“Nicole.”

There’s a harsh screeching sound of tyres against asphalt, and then Hunter’s car speeds out of the parking lot. Ari remains behind, middle finger raised at him.

“I told you to leave her alone,” Jecka sighs.

“Did I do that?”

Jecka frowns. She blows a cloud of smoke high into the air, and for just an instant, Nicole debates chasing after it. “Whatever. Get in.”

Nicole grimaces. She follows her into the back of the car where Jecka takes the opposite side and places her bag in between them.

The first item she pulls out is a baggie. “Your half of the pills.”

“What’d you get?”

Jecka shrugs. “Xanax, Percs, Oxy… Emily had some anti-psychotics, or something? I thought it could be fun, so they’re in there.”

Nicole nods. “Good haul. You thought about doing this professionally? It’s easy to rob a guy when he’s staring at your tits, and with yours-”

“Shut up,” Jecka rolls her eyes and grins. She reaches under a seat in her car and pulls out a half empty bottle of red liquid, topped with a cork.

“Wine? Seriously?”

“It’s all I could get, Nicole. Nobody left the spirits alone, and I’m not fat enough to drink beer.”

Nicole shrugs. “At least it’s not white wine.”

“Could you imagine?” Jecka giggles. “Maybe if we were in prison and needed practice drinking piss.”

Nicole smiles. That odd, dangerous feeling in her chest rises again, but when she looks at Jecka, laughing at her with her cigarette hanging freely from her fingertips, Nicole almost wants to let it linger. See how large it can grow.

“You liked the gossip today, at least.”

Jecka rolls her eyes playfully. “I’ll always shit talk an obvious breakup. Especially when the guy smells like that.”

“God, he’s so fucking ugly too, right?”

Jecka laughs again, and Nicole can’t help but imagine the… thing in her chest flying with the sound. Jecka’s always had a pretty laugh.

“Stealing’s kinda fun, Nicole.”

“What, worried you’ll get addicted?”

“Yeah, the rush is like…” Jecka pauses. Instead of vocalising anything, she takes another drag. The smoke she exhales surrounds Nicole, and she takes it in greedily. “You know?”

“Oh yeah,” Nicole responds, staring.

There’s a moment, slow and padding, where Nicole thinks she may have been too obvious. Where whatever she… feels is coming through a little too strongly.

But then Jecka drops the cigarette out of her window, gives her a sly look with pink dusting her face, and whispers, “one more thing.” And Nicole finds she doesn’t really care if it does.

Jecka pulls a silver bracelet from her bag. It’s a little scuffed and looks like it hasn’t been used for a while, but Nicole thinks she could still get it to sell for a good price – that is, until she recognises it.

“Oh shit. I bought this for Ari.”

Jecka’s face drops. “You… what?”

“Yeah. I mean, she said it was cute and I was like ‘sure,’ and then she asked if I’d buy it for her and I said ‘no,’ so she bought it and said I got it for her.”

Jecka’s face has tightened. Her fingers are shaking again, like they’re searching for something to play with. “Seriously, Nicole?”

“Yeah. I mean, as if I was spending my money-“

She’s cut off by Jecka jumping into the front seat. She reaches into the glove box, pulls out a cigarette, and lights it.

“So, are you guys like, a thing, again?” Jecka asks, in a tone that Nicole has never heard before.

“No. It’s just sex.”

“’Kay.”

She doesn’t say anything else.

“Sooo, you wanna hang out today?”

“Can’t. I’ve got shit to do.”

“Alright.” Nicole gathers her things and steps out of the car. “I’ll see you-“

“Bye.” She speeds off without a second look.

Nicole stares after the car, bewildered. What the fuck did she even do?

It’s hard to think like this, when she’s stuck running through the conversation in her head, but she knows the thing in her chest has dropped to the floor of her stomach and weighs a million tonnes. Her throat feels heavy.

This is why she gave up on this shit.

She’s about to shove it all down and start heading home when a voice from behind her asks, “you okay?”

Honestly? Emily’s probably the one person she trusts herself talking to. She may feel like she’s losing it, but it could always be worse, right?

Nicole scoffs. “Yeah, great. I just got ditched by my friend, but it’s whatever, I guess.”

“She looked pissed, too. Did you fuck her ex, or something?”

“Gross, half her exes are in jail. Other way around, actually.”

Emily raises her eyebrow. “She fucked yours?”

“Not really? They just hooked up. I fucked my ex, and now she’s mad.”

“Oh,” Emily frowns. “Who’s the ex?”

“Ari.”

Emily backs away with her hands up. “Yeah, I’m not getting involved. Gay people drama is way too extra when you’re sober.”

“We’re not-“ Nicole stops and considers. She did fuck her ex-girlfriend in a not-very discreet way all to make her (girl) best friend jealous. And it worked a little too well. And she has no idea what she’s feeling or-

Maybe it was a little early to call it quits on the gay crisis shit. “Okay. Whatever,” Nicole concedes.

“My boyfriend always gives the same advice to his friends when they have ‘girl trouble.’ Do you want to hear it?”

“Not really.”

“He says, ‘bitches are crazy,’ and then they get fucked up at a park.”

“Wow. How old is your boyfriend?”

“Twenty-five.”

“Honestly? This answers a lot of my questions about adult men. Does it work?”

“Dunno. They usually just send a dick pic to her at the end of the night, and they’re either fucking or done after that.”

Nicole smirks. “Your boyfriend and his friends are so intelligent.”

“Are you talking down to me?” Emily glares at her.

“Uh. No?”

“Oh. Well, you’re wrong. He’s a fucking idiot and every time he visits I get this rush when I think about slipping him some shit to kill him.”

Nicole nods. “That’s cool.”

“Are you-“

“No, I’m being honest.”

Emily smiles. “Cool. You want to get fucked up?”

“Totally.”

-

Jecka’s in her usual smoking spot the next morning, lit dart immobile in her hand. It’s her second in five minutes, and she’s likely already considering her third, on account of the fucking pedo counsellor harassing her.

Normally, Nicole wouldn’t debate on going over there and telling him to fuck off herself. She’d just do it.

But he has leverage, and a boss who enables his predatory behaviour, and more importantly, it’s awkward now between her and Jecka.

Which sucks. She didn’t think it’d be like… well, like this. Jecka hadn’t even answered her call last night, which meant she’d had nobody to rant and gossip with while she was high. More importantly, it means that she still doesn’t really know why she’s mad, and it means her daily routine of smoking with Jecka has been ruined. So, she watches from afar, discreetly as she can and running over the events in her head.

Like, obviously Jecka’s mad about Nicole and Ari fucking, and maybe the bracelet was too much too soon, but still. Why?

Then a horrid thought crosses her mind. Sounds she’s desperately tried to forget, an image she’d rather gouge her eyes out than imagine, all because Ari and Jecka hooked up. Did she-

No, no. If Jecka liked a girl, it wouldn’t be Ari. No way.

Nicole shakes her head. God, she just wishes it was her-

Nicole forces herself to watch as the dickhead counsellor points out something on Jecka’s dress. She looks away, and he takes the opportunity to gaze down her shirt.

Nicole’s chest burns, and god she wants to rip off his head, stab him, recreate all of the fantasies Emily told her about, leverage be damned.

But she can’t. This is the real world, and you only get away with murder if you’re rich and white, and Nicole is only one of those.

She takes a look around. Before long, she spots easy prey.

“Hey, ugly fuck!” She calls.

Jeffrey turns. At least she trained him well. “Wh- Nicole? What’s up?”

“Give me your glasses.” She holds an expectant hand out for them.

“Why d-do you need them? They’re r-really only for proper-”

Nicole sighs. Sexy voice it is. “Jeffrey, baby, do you really want to disappoint me?”

Jeffrey colours, and Nicole can’t help but let her disgust show on her face. Not that he cares. He takes his glasses off and places them gently in her hand.

Nicole grins. In one motion, she drops the glasses on the concrete and stomps on them viciously. It’s a little cathartic, sure, but she still has a job to do.

“N-Nicole! Why would you-“

Nicole grabs him by the collar and points him in the counselor’s direction. “If you don’t run for help right fucking now, I’m going to do that to all of your consoles and your stupid fucking cartoons, you worthless piece of shit,” she growls.

Jeffrey lets out a whiny shriek before sprinting off, screaming for help and flailing his arms around.  Without his glasses, he ends up more on the road than anything, and soon the counsellor is stuck trying to wrangle him away from the cars like a particularly suicidal, socially inept dog.

Nicole isn’t exactly a believer, but for now, she prays to any god she can think of, that they’d let one of the cars swerve the wrong way. Just for the chance to see the disgusting fucking counsellor splattered on the floor like a broken egg. Maybe if she’s lucky, they could hit Jeffrey too.

Reluctantly, she turns away from the scene. She risks a single quick glance in Jecka’s direction.

She’s staring at her. Her cheeks are pink, her eyebrows are raised, and she’s twirling the cigarette like she knows what it does to Nicole. The sunrise reflects off her hair and makes her so fucking pretty-

Nicole turns away. She can’t go up to her like this.

It’s too fucking awkward.

-

She doesn’t see Jecka at lunch either. She spends her entire lunch period in the back of Ari’s car with her fingers buried inside of her, because the bitch can’t get over her breakup alone and needed some ‘stress relief,’ and Nicole has gotten used to not thinking about her problems. She takes Ari’s offer for what it is – a distraction.

It doesn’t exactly work, because the entire time, she’s thinking about Jecka.

Ari kisses her, and Nicole wishes desperately it tasted like cherry. The sun reflects on her hair, and she can’t help but see it as blonde when she closes her eyes. She moans, and Nicole thinks of the phone call and what Jecka sounded like. Ari tears her shirt off, and when Nicole grabs her tits, she wishes they were bigger-

Hm. Being a boobs girl is like, super basic, isn’t it?

Now she kind of wants to kill herself. This is so embarrassing.

“Why are you still here?” Ari startles her. They’re both half clothed again, and Ari’s doing that thing where she gets all fidgety after sex. This is why they didn’t work out.

“God we’re not thirty yet, gimme a sec.”

“Uh, have you forgotten the part where I hate your guts?”

Nicole sighs. “You called me here, remember?”

“Because hate sex is so much more cathartic than normal sex. Don’t get attached, Nicole.”

“As if,” Nicole scoffs.

There’s a beat where Ari looks like she wants to kill Nicole. Nicole doesn’t move. Ari sighs and removes one of the jackets covering the car windows. “Put on a shirt,” she tells Nicole, before rolling down a window and pulling out a pack of cigarettes.

Great. As if Nicole needed another reminder.

“I’m not sharing, so don’t even ask,” Ari says. She sticks the dart out of the window as she lights it. Faintly, Nicole misses the taste of second-hand smoke.

“Wasn’t going to,” she grumbles.

Ari takes a drag, blowing out facing away from her. “You know,” she drawls, “hooking up with Jecka reminded me that girls aren’t all bad.”

The ugly, weighty feeling returns to her chest. “I thought I ruined girls for you.”

“Oh, you did. But it was so much fun with her, and being with Hunter was like, the worst. You know that smell is from his dick?”

“Ew.”

Ari looks away to breathe out the window. Nicole is reminded of Jecka, and how-

“Right? But Jecka was like, so cute. And I thought, hm. Maybe there’s other girls who’d be down?”

Nicole wants to bash her head into the glass. The urge to bring up all the shit she has on Ari rears its head – but she remains quiet.

Ari continues after a moment. “I mean, girls who aren’t you. If you were the only other lesbian here, I might’ve killed myself.”

“You’re a real bitch.”

“Not denying it?”

Nicole sighs. She’s had a little too many gay thoughts in her head to bother denying it. She can’t even think of sex with a guy anymore without being a little… disappointed. Like she’s missing out on something really important. “No,” is all she says.

“I don’t actually care. I was just trying to give you a crisis,” Ari sighs.

“Fuck you.”

“Whatever. Point is, I’m done letting you ruin girls for me. I love them way too much to let a bitch like you interfere, even if I’m just doing it out of spite.” Ari faces Nicole, letting the venom hit her right in the face. She’d almost be impressed if the whole Jecka… thing wasn’t mentioned.

Nicole sneers. Time to take a bitch down a peg. “You seriously think Jecka hooked up with you because she liked you?” Nicole reaches into her bag, pulling out and dangling the bracelet in front of her. Ari’s eyes widen. “She was doing it to rob you, bitch.”

Nicole sits back, satisfied. She loves this part, getting to watch as reality dawns on them. Ari keeps staring at the bracelet, and Nicole feels better and better – until she doesn’t.

Ari tilts her head and smiles. “I’m not an idiot, Nicole.”

“What?”

“I mean, sure, she needed an excuse to get in my room, but unless she’s the greatest actor ever, well… you know.”

“Ari what the fuck are you talking about?”

Ari takes one last drag before dropping the cigarette out of her window. When she turns back, she does so with a shitty grin, like she’s won – and Nicole wants nothing more to wipe it off her face, but something in her chest feels dull, and her cheeks feel hot, and this isn’t usually how it goes. She’s not used to this.

“I kinda feel bad for you, but my therapist said that’s what abusers do, so I’m ignoring it.” She shakes her head. “Listen, Nicole. I’m going to ask Kelly out, because she’s sweet and fucking hot and she actually shows me love, unlike you ever did. If she says yes, I don’t ever want to talk to you again. If she says no, well,” Ari giggles. “If you keep acting like this, and Jecka ever wants to… experiment again, you let me know.”

Nicole feels lost. Everything feels far away. The weight in her chest is crushing.

“Keep the bracelet and get the fuck out of my car.”

Nicole stumbles out of the car. It’d be easy enough to plot revenge on Ari – getting Kelly to cheat would be like convincing a frat boy to drink – but for some reason, she can’t bring herself to. She feels… hollow.

She looks around the car park to steady herself. Instead, her heart gets crushed.

Because Jecka is already there, cigarette in hand. She glares at the car Nicole just exited, briefly and impassively makes eye contact with Nicole, and then turns away.

She leaves without another look in her direction, dropping the cigarette as she goes.  

Fuck.

Chapter Text

Ari’s words echo through her brain for what feels like an hour. That Jecka had been lying isn’t really a shock – her skill at lying is like, half the reason they became friends in the first place.

It’s the fact that she had done her experiments with fucking Ari, her ex who she despises. Like, obviously Ari had never mattered to her, but still. It’s the principle behind it.

And then Nicole remembers that phone call, those fucking moans, and she thinks she knows the real reason her chest starts to feel so heavy when she thinks about it. Because she’s hot, and she’s pretty, and she knows Jecka better than any of those bitches, so why didn’t she want her-

She wonders idly if they’d let her hang herself outside of the school. Obviously, she’d have to make it quick – If the counsellor or, fuck, the gym teacher found her, who knows what they’d do? She’d rather be dead before it comes to that. On the other hand, if she’s going to die, may as well get some perverted fucks fired for it, right?

Nicole gags. She fucking hates this school.

But no, she can’t die yet. She needs to at least… try for Jecka. God, how long has it been since she’d tried for anything? She had at least tried to try for Ari, but that barely counts. Lesbianism had been a novelty at that point.

No, Jecka deserves better. The thought alone kind of makes her sick, but whatever. All she knows is that light feeling in her chest when she sees Jecka makes her feel a little insane, but not in the way that meetings with the principal do. A good kind of insane that she’s grown used to ignoring. 

Nicole drops the bracelet in the dirt and makes up her mind.

She remembers another part of Ari’s words – how Kelly ‘showed her love,’ or something.

God, what a fucking idiot. They’ll break up in a week, maximum.

-

She finds herself at Jecka’s door a few hours later, carrying an MSI band t-shirt and CD in her arms from the mall. Which, in hindsight, isn’t exactly the most tactful thing to bring – she’d only realised after the hole in her leg had started aching and her ears had started ringing, but this could be triggering for Jecka’s PTSD, right?

It’s the thought that counts, Nicole reasons. Jecka loves getting free shit, especially when she doesn’t have to do anything for it. It’s just missing something…

Nicole hums. She tucks a few pills into the shirt.

Satisfied, she rings the doorbell.

To her horror, Jecka’s dad answers it. He takes one disgusted look at her, leers at her chest, and frowns. “Jecka didn’t mention you’d be coming, Nicole.”

Now she remembers why they usually go to Nicole’s house. At least the sex offender in her house stays in the basement. “As if she ever talks to you, you fucking pedo.”

And then Nicole grimaces. Maybe not the best tactic to get inside.

“Pedo?” His eyebrows tighten in anger.

“Just some new slang, you know kids,” she tries.

“Do you think I’m an idiot, Nicole?”

Nicole’s saved from answering a very easy question when Jecka peeks out of her room, dressed for bed and looking pissed. Probably should’ve called ahead.

“Nicole?”

“Hey. Remember that… project we had tonight?”

Jecka frowns. She glares a hole in Nicole’s head, then eyes the stuff she bought. After a moment looking confused, her face locks in disdain.

“I thought you were working on that with Ari?” She gives her an innocent smile.

Nicole gawks. “You fucking-“

“Out, Nicole,” Jecka’s pervert dad says.

“Don’t talk to me, you piece of shit,” Nicole snarks as she stalks out.

Well, now what? She came all this way, actually tried, just to get kicked out like a fucking ex?  

No, Nicole is not exerting this much energy to not even get Jecka to talk to her. She huffs, wraps the CD up in the t-shirt, tucks them both into her bag, and ducks under the living room window. She pads through the grass, mumbling to herself about how she was going to kill Jecka for making her do this.

She rounds the corner of her house, only standing when she sees Jecka has her curtains pulled. She debates her options – knock, call her, or break the window.

On one hand, breaking things is fun, but not exactly the most discreet method of entry.

Calling her means she could get hung up on, and Nicole refuses to suffer that embarrassment.

Knocking means eventually annoying her into at least hearing her out. None are good, but one is clearly better than the others.

Nicole knocks on the glass. Then she knocks again. And again. And-

The curtains are pulled, and the window is shoved open. “God, what the fuck do you want, Nicole?” Jecka peeks her head out. She looks… frustrated.

Nicole waves. “You… watching Mythbusters?”

Jecka scoffs. “Seriously?”

“I mean… Look, I brought some things.”

“Things for me?” Jecka tilts her head.

Nicole hums. She pulls out the CD and t-shirt and hands them through the window. When the pills fall out of the shirt, she grins, though it disappears as quickly as it had come.

“Did you steal these?”

Nicole nods.

“In the same trip?”

“Do you know of any other fucking malls here, Jecka?”

Jecka laughs softly, dissipating some of the thick fog around them. It’s a relief to breathe a little clearer again. “Fine,” she lets out.

She steps out of the way, letting Nicole into the room.

“You couldn’t have texted?” Jecka complains as soon as they’re in her room.

“Honestly? I had my hands full.” She gestures at the merchandise.

Jecka groans. “What are you, a guy?”

“Fuck off. As if you would’ve responded.”

For a moment, Jecka softens. She’s back to impassive almost immediately. “I would’ve seen it, at least,” she grumbles. “So, is this supposed to be an apology?”

“As if. I can’t be the bitch who lost her only friend in senior year. That’s so fucking embarrassing.” It lacks some of Nicole’s typical bite, but Jecka still glares at her.

“You’re the worst,” Jecka whispers, and when Nicole looks at her, she’s smiling softly. Weird.

That feeling in her chest is back, but enveloped by a soothing relief, it feels more satisfying than she could’ve imagined. She hadn’t realised how nervous she had been on the way here until she’d seen Jecka’s smile, and it had all faded away.

God, she’s a corny lesbian.

Jecka sighs. “You didn’t really have to apologise for anything, Nicole. I mean, you’re still a bitch who harassed somebody who didn’t deserve it, but that’s not exactly new.”

Nicole can’t help but notice the obvious. “What about-“

“I was just being an idiot.” Jecka sighs. Nicole pauses for a moment, then remembers she doesn’t really care, as long as they’re still talking.  Whatever.

“Is this like, gay crisis idiocy, or just regular you being a dumbass?”  

Jecka’s eyes darken for a moment. Instead of turning away this time, she sits on the bed, patting the spot next to her. “You talked to Ari?”

Nicole hums in confirmation. She sits next to Jecka, and it becomes incredibly obvious immediately how much she’s missed this proximity. Even dressed down, tired, and sober, Jecka is gorgeous.

Nicole nods. “I did.”

Jecka’s fingers begin to twitch. She pulls out a new pack of cigarettes, from her bag and starts twirling the first dart she pulls out. “My parents would kill me if I lit up in here,” she explains. Not that Nicole needed an explanation – she’s already fucking hypnotised by the movement. “But yeah. I dunno, Nicole. I thought I was gonna start hooking up with girls in college. If you do it in high school, it feels like it means more, you know?”

Nicole smirks. “Right. Like nobody’s experimenting after 4 years, you’re either married or full-on gay at that point.”

“Exactly. But then I was like, enjoying it way too much. Not even the hooking up, but like the flirting, and all that.” Jecka does a really hot little flourish with her fingers. Nicole almost swoons, but she’s able to catch herself just in time. “So, yeah. I may have taken a bit of all… that out on you.” She colours.  

Nicole shrugs. “Whatever. So, how’re we gonna manage being gay best friends?” She ignores the pit that opens up in her stomach when she says it. She’s still not thinking about any of that.

Jecka flinches. “I’m not ready for all that, bitch. I only just had my first makeout, I’m not ready to rewrite my whole life plan. I mean, how many famous lesbians even are there?”

“Damn. Good point.”

Jecka groans. She drops her head onto the bed, raising her hand up to the roof. After a moment, Nicole lays back with her. “But… you’re all figured out?”

“Yeah. Mom’s gonna kill me. I was her one hope for grandchildren with two adult parents.”

“She’s fucking delusional if she thinks you were having kids.”

“I know. But ‘dead before 30,’ doesn’t really compute in her brain, so she’d just start yelling whenever I told her those were my plans. Lesbian’s a much more feasible fear for her.”

Jecka sighs. She twirls the dart a little faster and turns her head away from Nicole. When Nicole goes to look, she sees her cheeks are tinged pink and her eyebrows are drawn tight. “The sex was that good, huh?”

Nicole scoffs. “As if. Ari’s less coordinated than a relapsing crackhead. It’s more the other girls I was thinking about-“ Nicole chokes. There is no way she almost admitted to Jecka she’d been imagining her while fucking Ari. What the fuck is wrong with her lately?

Jecka coughs. “Didn’t think you could even do that, honestly.”

“Whatever.”

Jecka scoffs. She lifts the unlit cigarette in between them.

Jecka’s smiling, she realises. It’s cute.

Nicole settles into her spot on the bed, watching as Jecka does her tricks in silence. The whole time, she’s conscious of the feeling in her chest blooming, rising.

An alarm from Jecka’s clock rings, startling them both. “Shit, that’s my PTSD alarm.”

Nicole raises an eyebrow.

“Every night, Mom comes into my room and tries to get me to talk about it, and whatever. It fucking sucks.”

“I thought you liked the attention.”

“Yeah, at school. I don’t need my bitch mom pretending she cares every other night. It’s so annoying,” Jecka groans. “You should probably go. She’ll probably try and ask you how school’s going and what your plans are for the future and other dumb shit like that.”

“Right. I’ll see you-“

“In the morning?”

Nicole nods. They share a smile that lingers just a little too long for Nicole, but oddly enough, she doesn’t want to hit Jecka for it. If it was anybody else, maybe. For her, though? She almost wishes it could’ve lasted longer.

-

Things are almost back to normal. Jecka gives her a tired wave from her smoking spot when she sees her and complains about her mom, and Nicole says, “wow, what a bitch,” and threatens Megan as she passes them, and it’s nice for a while.

But then Ari walks past them, and Jecka gets this faraway look in her eyes that reminds Nicole that, oh yeah, Jecka could be crushing on this bitch.

They’re silent for a while. Jecka twirls the cigarette, Nicole watches, and the sinking feeling in her chest refuses to leave.

Jecka starts complaining about her therapist once Ari’s out of sight – who, shocker, is also a fucking creep – and as she does so, she breathes out a cloud of smoke torturously just out of reach of Nicole.

Without thinking, Nicole follows it. When she inhales, Jecka makes a choking sound that, honestly, should not be attractive, so why-

Jecka bumps their shoulders together. When she moves back, Nicole misses the contact. Jecka blows another puff of smoke, but this one is directed at Nicole, who inhales it. They share a smile – and sure, maybe Jecka’s just doing this because she can’t approach her real crush – but fuck it feels amazing.

It’s a good enough feeling that later, when Emily waves as she passes them with a knowing grin on her face, Nicole doesn’t even get mad that she’s letting the psycho murderer girl know her business.

“She’s kind of pretty,” Jecka muses.

“Like Avril Lavigne, right?”

-

Nicole thinks she might be addicted to this feeling. It’s maddening, but every time Jecka pulls out a dart, Nicole’s brain is tugged on a leash. She can’t keep her eyes away from her fingers and how they move, from the look she makes when the head spins hit her, from the shape her mouth makes when she exhales, from the smell and the taste and the heady fucking thoughts spinning in her head.

She breathes in deep, tasting cherry in the smoke though knowing it isn’t there, and when she opens her eyes, Jecka’s face is a glossy pink.

“You’re really pretty like this,” she whispers, like it’s just the two of them in the world and they’re not halfway through skipping maths in the courtyard.

“Like what?” Nicole prods.

Jecka giggles, and maybe it’s the tobacco in her lungs, but it feels like she swoons. Ugh. “Like a pet,” Jecka says, twirling the cigarette around her fingers. “Guess my conditioning worked, huh?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Nicole growls, but she knows the red in her cheeks speaks louder than anything else.

“I’m not blind, Nicole,” Jecka laughs again, letting out another puff of smoke into Nicole’s face.

Before Nicole can breathe it in, they hear heavy footsteps behind them.

“Sup, bitches.” Kyler’s stupid voice sounds extra annoying when he’s just interrupted… whatever was just happening. Nicole glares at him, but instead of being cowed, he just raises his hands. “Sorry. Sup, gay bitches.”

“What the fuck?”

“What? It’s obvious. You two haven’t fucked any guys in a while, and then I see that shit right in front of me.”

“…Can your brain even get turned to mush playing lacrosse?” Nicole feels her palms heating up.

“Nicole.”

Kyler paces. “Nicole’s the real one, but Jecka… you just doing it for attention, or what, slut?”

“What do you want, Kyler? A perc?” Jecka asks quietly, and Nicole can’t stand the way she seems to shrink.

“Fuck off. I don’t need some shit from pussies like you. This is where I skip. Us straight people need a real space to ourselves, and I can’t have anybody fucking it up. Especially not the emo gay bitch and the pretender who can’t even make up her fucking mind. I swear, JFK was kinda gay once and now the country’s falling apart.”

“Nicole, what the fuck do we do?” Jecka whispers to her, but Nicole barely hears her. Her chest feels like an inferno, her arms feel possessed, and all she can hear is that same dumbass phrase Ari told her – show her love.

If there’s one thing she loves, it’s hurting people.

Nicole stands up. “What did you say to her?”

Kyler grins. It’s a disgusting, pathetic look on him. “I said-“ As he lets his guard down, Nicole winds her leg up, and swings it as hard as she can into his balls.

He lets out an obnoxious squeak as he crumples, and Nicole uses the opportunity to spit in his face. “Bitch!” She yells, before tugging on Jecka’s arm and screaming, “fucking run!”

The two of them sprint back into the school, where classes are just ending. Students pile into the hallway, blocking their path out of the school.

Behind her, Jecka screams. Footsteps approach, and Nicole turns to where the kids in front of her are pointing.

The last thing she sees is a fist flying at her face. There’s an impact, a crash, and then nothing.

-

When she wakes, the world is a lot blurrier than she remembers. She blinks a few times, until she can finally tell where she is – the back of a car, it looks like. Jecka’s car.

“What the fuck,” she groans.

There’s another crash, and for a second, Nicole braces herself – but then Jecka’s face appears above her.

“Oh, thank god you’re alright,” Jecka sighs in relief. “You don’t know how long I’ve been sitting here worrying about you, you bitch.”

It takes Nicole a moment to process that the cold feeling on her cheek is an ice pack. It takes her another to realise that Jecka’s face hovering above her means she’s lying in her lap, and that her other hand is currently stroking her hair.

Her face colours. “Sorry?”

“You fucking should be, Nicole. You know, normally when there’s a violent, weird man harassing you, you get the fuck out of there immediately, not attack him.”

“We would’ve! If class hadn’t ended right then we would’ve been fine.”

“You seriously think we could’ve outrun him? He plays lacrosse, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you even think about coming to gym class, and I dress for good grades. We were fucked anyway.”

Nicole sighs. “Whatever. He was pissing me off, okay?”

Jecka exhales slowly. The hand stroking her hair disappears, only to reappear in front of her, holding a cigarette. “Me too. Fuck, I… thank you, Nicole.”

“For getting punched?”

“…Yeah.”

She doesn’t make eye contact while she’s lighting the cigarette, but Nicole can see the small smile growing on her face and the pink on her cheeks decorating it. Nicole wouldn’t take a punch for many people, but this…

“Why are we here?”

“Emily helped me get you out before a teacher came. She’s pretty cool. She filmed the punch, too. Said she’ll show it to the principal later.”

“As if white athletes haven’t gotten away with worse.”

Jecka blows a cloud of smoke into the roof of her car. “It was either that or leave you alone with the school nurse while we talked to her, bitch.”

Nicole concedes with a nod. “Fine. If I can avoid being unconscious with somebody employed by this school, I’ll fucking take it.”

Jecka takes another drag. Her fingers are shaking, Nicole notices. “I really was scared, Nicole. You just… dropped.”

“Chill, it’s fine. Like half the school has dirt on Kyler, we’ll just-“

“Nicole, I don’t give a fuck about that.”

She starts playing with the cigarette, but it’s slower and less coordinated than usual. She fumbles once, then again, and then she drops the dart out the window with a yelp.

“Shit,” Jecka curses, nursing a burn on one of her fingers. She shakes it off quickly. “Look, just… don’t do that again. There had to be a way out without you getting hurt.”

Jecka turns to her then, with her eyes glossy and her cheeks red and her hair matted with sweat. Her makeup’s kind of ruined, and her hair’s fallen out of the bun she keeps it in, and maybe it’s the concussion, but Nicole thinks she might be the prettiest thing she’s ever seen.

That feeling in her chest rises and takes control. Without thinking, she takes the hand Jecka had just burned in her own. She runs her fingers over the skin, cradling her hand. She pushes forward and presses a chaste kiss to the wound, savouring the taste of the burn on her lips.

Jecka gasps. “Nicole?”

For a horrible moment, Nicole thinks she might have fucked it all up beyond repair. That really, she should’ve listened to her instincts and kept the thing in her chest from growing and ignored this insufferable attraction to Jecka.

Fuck it. Fuck Ari and her stupid bracelet. Fuck Kyler, fuck the principal and all of her pedophile teachers. This is what matters. “I don’t take punches for just anybody, Jecka.” Nicole speaks into her wrist, where she can feel delicate veins interlocked beneath Jecka’s skin.

Jecka’s face twists and breaks, before breaking out into a bright smile. “Fuck you, Nicole,” she says, with a heavy exhale. She drops the ice pack and cradles Nicole’s cheek, before planting a kiss right on her lips.

She tastes like nicotine and sweat and not at all like the cherry Nicole’s been dreaming of, but she can hardly bring herself to care. She uses her free hand to pull Jecka’s head down, locking them into a deep kiss. It feels more incredible than she ever could have imagined.

She only breaks the kiss to sit up and adjust their position. She gets a good look at Jecka – pupils blown, panting heavily, shirt hanging dangerously low, smiling like that – and realises she’s never wanted anything in her life like she’s wanted this.

She all but shoves her lips into Jecka’s, and then they’re throwing themselves at each other, and Nicole is drowning and floating at the same time.

They don’t break apart for some time after.

-

“I was scared,” Jecka admits later, when they’ve miraculously made it up to Nicole’s bedroom. Their hands and legs are intertwined, they’re sweaty and still panting, and they’re both still a little fucked up from whatever new prescription Nicole’s mom had gotten. Nicole’s not complaining though, because she has her face buried in Jecka’s chest, and it’s not an exaggeration to say she really might have to be pried away with a forklift.

“When that dick punched me?” She mumbles.

Jecka rolls her eyes. “Duh. I meant… with everything. I didn’t even realise I liked you like that yet. But you always talked about Ari like you never cared. I just… I was scared of that being me next, I guess.”

Nicole brings their hands up to her face. She kisses the burn on Jecka’s hand as softly as she can. Then, with a grin, she says, “so, you’re not denying being gay anymore, are you? ‘Cause holy fuck-“

“Nicole, you bitch.”

“I’m serious! You’d have to be in, like, Christian mom who just found out her kids are told to go to confession a little too often in denial to act straight after all that.”

Jecka narrows her eyes and pouts, but there’s a lightness behind it. One that has Nicole’s chest fluttering. “We were having a moment, you asshole.”

Nicole rolls her eyes. “And, what? Nothing about jealousy?”

“Shut the fuck up, Nicole.”  

“What? You were the one who ditched me like, twice.”

“Uh, because you started fucking Ari the night after she told me she wanted to date girls again?”

Nicole raises her head from Jecka’s chest, cheeks burning in anger. “She said what to you?”

“Yeah, she…” Jecka pauses, scanning Nicole’s face. Her eyebrows raise. “Oh my god, you only fucked her because of me. You piece of shit, Nicole,” she exclaims, eyes wide in surprise.

“Only like, once. The second time I wasn’t even thinking about her.”

“You’re so fucked up, Nicole.” She freezes. “Who were you thinking about?”

Shit. Nicole buries her face in Jecka’s boobs.

Jecka speaks in a tone that lets Nicole hear the stupidly pretty grin on her face. “Corny bitch. And I’m gay?”

“Fuck yourself.”

Jecka smiles the same smile she wore when she first started learning her cigarette tricks. She leans in, kisses her again and again, and then her hands start wandering. Nicole could really get used to-

A thought occurs to her. Nicole pulls away.

“How’d you get the ice pack?”

Jecka glares at her. “Bitch, did you really interrupt us to ask me that?”

Nicole shrugs.

“I stole it,” Jecka sighs.

Nicole’s eyes widen. “Really?”

Jecka hums. “Nurse’s office was open.”

“…You’re kind of hot when you do evil shit.”

Jecka’s eyes twinkle. “And what’re you gonna do about it?”

It’s a long night. Not that Nicole’s upset about it.

-

Jecka still does her stupidly sexy cigarette party tricks whenever she smokes, and Nicole still watches.

Now, though, Jecka catches her staring more often than not. Now that they’re… dating, she doesn’t have reason to hide. Which is really fucking embarrassing, but whatever. 

Whenever she does get caught, Jecka softly beckons Nicole in closer. With a taunting grin, she lets out a breath of smoke that goes straight to her head and has her spinning.

“Gay,” Nicole taunts.

“How am I the gay one for this?”

“Stop blowing smoke in my face, bitch.”

“Stop liking it, pet,” Jecka teases.

Nicole really wishes she could argue, but something in the way her limbs have turned to jelly stops her.

Jecka laughs at her, twirling the cigarette around her fingers, drawing Nicole’s eyes wherever they go.