Nichole's Experience With Dating

[A/N: Just a fair warning, this can be triggering to some viewers in a "they're human trash" in a way. Don't hate me for this! Please!]

"Speaking of homecoming, did Nichole ever go to?" John asked curiously, being a newer member of the group. This question earned a few rather harsh glares from the older members and visible wince from Nichole, which is no easy task, as most would know.

"Why wou-" Olivia starts, only to be cut off by a hand on her shoulder. Looking over to the owner, Nichole is there giving her a bit of a sad look, shaking her head.

"Go ahead and tell him Liv, I have to use the ladies room," the blue eyed girl stands up after saying this, leaving Liv no room for argument. Liv just looks at Nichole's fleeting figure, a seemingly angry yet depressed look in her eyes. Nichole hate using public bathrooms, she's a certified germaphobe, and everyone here knows it.

Glaring at John, Liv starts the story. "Well, if we're going to go over her homecoming, we might as well tell the whole story, right guys?" The few others who know the story give her a nod, whilst the ones in the dark lean forward, knowing that the story is important.

"Okay, so, we'll start with how we met Nichole. It was 8th grade, and school had just started. This is a small town and all, so we all would know when there's a new kid, and Nichole was the new kid that year. She was a rather silent and mysterious, and when you asked her something, she always seemed to have the answer. Although her replies we usually rather cold,  Keeana, one of our good ex-friends had a few classes with the girl everyday, and slowly started to get the new girl. Nichole never really talked about herself from what Keeana said at the time, and the only thing we know is that she's moved around a lot and has a really good memory. Other than that, she's still  mystery to us today." Liv looks towards the bathroom, as if expecting the girl in question to come out, before Alex continue the story.

"One day, Keeana brought up the idea of bringing Nichole into the friend group, as she seemed rather isolated from everyone else. Naturally, we all agreed, as Keeana really seemed to like the girl. The day she greeted us in the morning was actually rather uneventful, she just kind of... stood there, listening to us. She seemed rather content with that, and from then on, joined us there in the morning and lunch. She was such a nice and polite girl, a but quiet most of the time, but one of the nicest people I ever met. She'd comfort us if we were down, take our trash and throw it away for us, always asked how we were doing. Not that obligatory shit, but she seemed to genuinely want to know how we were doing.

She basically became the mother of our group, and the dad. I don't believe any of us realized just how strong she could be until some random douche thought he could smack Liv. I wish I had recorded that, that man didn't even know what hit him before was on the ground and she was on top of him. It was actually pretty damn scary when she's truly mad. And I mean mad. He didn't come to school for at least a week and her hands were a bloody mess. She was suspended for a month due to this, and no one messed with her or us after that."

"After school ended, we lost contact with her, as no one had her phone number. Stupid, right? Anyways, fast forward to 9th grade, she's back, and the first thing we do is ask her for her number. We get it surprisingly, and Keeana acts like she just won the lottery. Jokingly, we had told if she likes her that much, ask her on a date. The next day, while we're all there, Keeana asks Nichole out!" Alex stops to let that sink in, letting Liv take over.

"That was the first day we saw Nichole make an expression other than her 'natural' look as she calls it, and it was wonderful. She smiled like an angel, and I swear I saw a tear in her eye. Naturally, she said yes and the two started dating. Obviously we supported them, and Nichole was a rather sweet person. Every Monday, she would come in with something for Keeana. Anything from sweets, a handmade bracelet, a necklace or a book Keeana was looking for. Nichole used to call her Kit-Kat, and that she was her favorite sweet. Soon afterwards, Keeana called her Nicky. Nichole didn't react to well at first, she looked angry at the name. Keeana got her to like the name though, so that was nice.

"Anyways, homecoming was coming up. Nichole had never been to one, so Keeana came up with this elaborate plan to ask her. She got a bouquet of flowers and created this awesome signboard asking Nichole to come to homecoming. That was the second time she gave that angelic smile of hers, and the last that we know of. Nichole prepared a suit and tie to go, as she has a rather keen hate for dresses apparently. Fron what I understand, Nichole didn't have a ride to homecoming, so she walked. It was winter and had just snowed, and she didn't ask any of us for a ride, although that's just how she is. Moving on, she lives over 10 miles away from the school. She walked 10 miles in the snow, just to come to homecoming." Liv stops, tears brimming in her eyes. She wipes them away, and looks towards Alex, seemingly asking her to continue. Alex nods in acknowledgement and goes on with the story.

"10 miles of walking later, Nichole was around 15 minutes early, so she waited outside. Around 10 minutes later, all of us arrived, to see Nichole out there standing in the freezing weather. We asked what she was doing, and she told us she was waiting for her Kit-Kat. We all laughed, and she told us to go inside, that she'll come in as soon as her partner arrives. Us, believing she'd be in rather soon, go in and enjoy the dance. It's not until we're an hour into the party before Liv asks the rest of us if we've seen Nichole since we arrived. We all hadn't, and proceed to ask around, before the person at the entrance tells us that Nochole hasn't come in yet. All of us, wandering what happened to our friend, rush outside." Alex's voice cracks near the end, full of emotion.

"We get outside and Nichole is just standing out there in freezing temperatures, like nothing's wrong. After walking up to her, she turned to us. I swear my heart cracked that day. The girl was standing there with frozen tears coming down her face, her hands were an icy blue and the rose in her hand was frozen solid. She stood out there for over an hour, in the freezing cold, just to see a girl who's too good to leave a message saying that she can't make it! We take her inside to warm her up and call over a teacher to see if they can't get something to help. After we get the poor girl warmed up, we ask her if she wants to go home, she said no, and that she's fine. For the rest of the dance, we just stayed with her, hoping to comfort her. If I'm being honest here, I didn't realize just how fragile of a girl she was until that night, she seemed broken. The rest of the night she didn't talk to anyone, and she disappeared after it ended, and it was only afterwards that we realized that she walked here and back." Alex finishes, and Liv takes over once again.

"I confronted Keeana about it, and she said something that I never would've expected from her. Apparently, she really did like Nichole, but, due to the girl's natural hate for being touched, she found someone who would touch her for Nichole. She cheated on her!" Pure unbridled hatred laced Liv's tone as she said this, before a hand touched her shoulder. Nichole had returned and gave her that signature smirk of hers, although seemed duller than usual, before motioning her to continue and sitting down. "I told Nichole here about it, and they broke up. Nichole has been available since an-" Liv stops again after receiving a harsh glare from Nichole, and she just raises her hands on response before continuing. "As I was saying, Keeana moved for some reason and we haven't seen her since, and I'm glad of it." Everyone at the table seems to agree with that statement with a nod of approval.

Nichole is the next to speak "Now that that story is finished, and your curiosity is sated, let's move back to a less depressing topic, please."