The Romance In Our Rivalry

9 | Jealous

Nova

I woke up to a ton of messages from Maddie, Nick, and other Norwood randoms that had me on social media somehow. Apparently, Aubrey and Jason got caught having sex and people thought that Nick and I were behind it. As if this whole situation between Aubrey and I couldn't get any worse.

I dragged to the bathroom, cultivated by my phone and all that I was seeing.

After showering and putting on a homemade face mask, I put on black leggings, a white tank top, some rainbow vans, and a light blue ripped jean jacket. I pulled my hair back into a low messy bun, and I grabbed my stuff for school.

"Shit!" I exclaimed upon realizing that the mask was still on, "I almost forgot." I quickly ran back in and began yanking pieces off my face. It was painful, but I'm positive that I had at least gotten the best results.

Nick texted me good morning and told me that he didn't want me going into school alone. Nick feared the possibility that Aubrey would attempt to kill me, even though I didn't expose her. We agreed that I'd wait for him in the back corner of the parking lot.

***

"So far, so good," Nick said, as we walked side by side, hands to ourselves, to first period. I had noticed we'd never held hands before, and as I thought about the whole Aubrey thing, I sort of became jealous. They're already having sex, and Nick and I didn't even kiss or hold hands yet?

To my surprise, Aubrey didn't come in during first period. People were saying that she was in school though, which kind of worried me because it made me believe she was plotting something.

"Between yesterday's comment and exposing her, you are an absolute menace Nova" a classmate of me and Nick, whose name I believe was John, insisted to me right before the bell rang.

"I really didn't do it" I replied, in a defensive manner. "What do I gain from that?"

John laughed, "what don't you gain?"

The bell rang, and I quickly followed directly behind Nick, scared that Aubrey was going to pop up out of nowhere and sneak attack me. But of course, like any other high school drama, there were levels that you had to get through, throughout the day. The first period was always the easiest one.

As if my overthinking triggered it, Nick was then confronted by a very angry, heavy-breathing Jason, causing everybody to crowd around us.

"You're fake as fuck my nigga! After that whole conversation we had, you come up and do this?!" Jason yelled as he shook his head at Nick, clearly seconds away from using physical force as a means to handle his anger. Maddie came up from behind me, startling me, and gently pulled me back in case something happened between Nick and Jason.

"Dude" Nick remained calm, "I didn't expose you, that's not my place and I get nothing from that." I smiled, glad that Nick was taking the high road, until a bystander added fuel to the fire.

"Just fight already!"

Jason shoved Nick, and Nick shoved him right back. "That's how it is?" Jason asked as he attempted to put Nick in a headlock, but Nick moved back fast enough. Without warning, Nick landed several face punches on Jason, who then tackled Nick. They rolled back and forth for a second before Jason got one clean punch on Nick, was flipped so that he was on the floor again, and then was choked out for a brief moment by my boyfriend.

"Stop!" a teacher yelled as she ran through the crowd. A husky guy, who I suspect was either some sort of security or the gym teacher, quickly followed.

***

"Did you get a glimpse of his face?" Nick asked me, referring to Jason. At this point, Nick, Jason, Aubrey, and I were all suspended. Jason for fighting and sexual misconduct on school grounds, Nick for fighting, me for allegedly instigating, and TBA, because they don't believe that I didn't expose Aubrey, and Aubrey for sexual misconduct on school grounds. Jason was already eighteen, but the other three parties in this situation were all still seventeen, so we had to be signed out by our parents. Due to the fear of another fight breaking out, Nick and I were ordered to sit in office A alone, while Aubrey and Jason sat in office B.

"He has a busted lip and a swollen eye," I answered as I rubbed the bruise on Nick's cheek and sighed, "I wish it didn't even get this far."

Nick looked down at his lap, "I'm sorry Nova."

"It's cool" I shrugged, "not exactly your fault." Nick looked up at me as if he was studying me. He didn't seem to be content with my answer, or maybe the tone that I answered in.

"What's wrong?"

"What?" I was caught off guard, "nothings wrong."

Nick stared into my eyes, which intimidated me. "What Nick?" I finally asked after a moment of silence, "nothings wrong. I'm okay, I'm fine."

"I know I haven't known you forever, but I can tell that something is on your mind. Maybe not 'wrong' per se, but you're thinking about something. I know you well enough to know that" Nick persisted.

"Fine" I shook my head as I looked away from Nick for a second, giving in, "I'm kind of jealous."

"Jealous?" Nick furrowed his brows, "of my bruise?"

"No!" I scrunched up my face, "I'm jealous of Aubrey and Jason's relationship."

"Why?" Nick asked, and I began to feel some form of regret toward even bringing this up. I didn't want to mention us never having kissed before, like this. I shrugged and looked around the room.

"They're a couple" I let out, after a moment of silence. Surprisingly, Nick was patient and allowed me a moment to gather my thoughts.

"We're a couple too, Nova" Nick immediately said in response, "I'm honestly not getting it. I'm lost." I bit my lip before I spoke again.

"They do couple stuff, Nick" I responded in a groaning manner as I reluctantly looked my boyfriend in the eyes. "They kiss, hold hands, and have sex. Of course I'm not saying I wanna have sex right now but-"

Before I could finish that sentence, Nick's lips collided with mine. Our lips were like puzzle pieces, seeming to fit in with one another's, as we found several different ways to rearrange them. Since nobody else was in the room, our kiss was long and passionate. Nick placed his palm on my cheek, taking up nearly half my face, as his thumb lightly rubbed my temple. Unsure of what to do, given this was my first kiss, I lightly rested my right hand on Nick's knee, while it had been in a partial fist.

"I wasn't sure if you were ready, that's why I didn't do it earlier," Nick sorta whispered as he gently pulled away. I tried to hide my smile, but I'm certain that I was blushing. I just had my first real kiss. It wasn't a kiss on the cheek from my aunt or a kiss on the forehead from my mom. It was a kiss that I could actually brag about; a kiss that I would be able to think about without feeling weird.

Nick kissed me one more time, although it was a mere peck this time, before putting his arm around me. Without second-guessing, I snuggled into his neck, waiting for my mom who I'm positive will be pretty angry at me. When my dad left, she had lost her gentle, patient side.