Truce

"Shut the hell up Pearson,"

"Fuck you, Palmer,"

"You probably wish you could!" Nicole spat.

"Are you fucking stupid?" Jason said in disgust. "I'd want anyone or thing but you!"

"Okay, guys! Cut it out!" Parker shook his head as he grabbed Jason by the arm, pulling him back. "You two need to calm the hell down!"

"Tell your asshole of a friend to stay the hell away from me," Nicole muttered through her gritted teeth as she glared daggers at Jason who she could not tolerate.

"Will do," Jason muttered irritably before walking off.

Parker stood there with his arms crossed.

"What do you want Evans?" Nicole rolled her eyes, not wanting to deal with his bullshit too.

Parker sighed before shaking his head and walking off, not wanting to annoy her even more. Parker leaving caused the crowd of students that were gathered around to also head off.

Nicole and Jason have known each other for practically their whole lives and have hated one other with so much passion for years now. When you hate one person, you tend to hate their friends too.

For Nicole, Jason Pearson was an arrogant, stuck-up asshole who was constantly being irritating and impossible to tolerate.

There was Parker Evans, Jason's friend. Nicole had also know him for years. He and Nicole didn't talk but they would acknowledge each other at the most, simply with a head nod once in a while but aside from that they had nothing against each other.

Then there was Logan Maxwell. Just like Parker, she had nothing against him. Logan was the quiet, down to earth, and a sentimental guy. Probably the most tolerable for Nicole out of all the guys. She had known him for the least amount of time and only did know him now because he had become friends with the other boys in the beginning of high school.

And lastly, there was Seth Lee - another uptight, arrogant douche. He and Nicole couldn't tolerate each other at all. They could hardly look at each other without practically wanting to stomp on each other's faces - basically, they couldn't tolerate each other one bit and never had a reason to anyways. There was no specific reason the fueled their annoyance with one other, it was just there. They didn't bother taunting each other like Jason always did.

Nicole's head was pounding and she felt exhausted and having to put up with Jason wasn't helping her case. All she wanted to do was go home and sleep. But it was only Monday and she had the whole school day left.

"Why so quiet today, Nikki?"

Nicole sat across from her best friend, Serena, in the cafeteria.

"I'm just tired," she spoke honestly.

"Gossip girl marathon?" Serena offered, wanting to do something to make her feel better because she could easily tell Nicole needed some down time.

"No. I just didn't sleep well," she muttered, keeping her head in her hands. She felt like the school day was passing by as slow as hell as she walked through each pit of fire watching her flesh burn away. - maybe that was exaggerated... just a bit.

"If it isn't my favourite blonde," Jason smirked at Serena, stopping at Nicole's table in the cafeteria.

Nicole didn't have to look to see who it was, she already knew. The irritating voice belonged to none other than Jason Pearson.

"Are you sure you're not mistaking me for that bimbo you brought home last week?" Serena raised an eyebrow.

Jason narrowed his eyes at her. "Whatever," he muttered before walking away over to his table because he really didn't like Serena. He found her snarky and annoying.

"What's with Palmer today?" Seth asked as Jason sat down. "No comebacks or even a single curse." It was unusual for Nicole to take Jason's bullshit without snapping back at him with some insult that would shut him down.

"No idea," Jason shrugged. "It's peaceful without her voice anyways." He rolled his eyes.

"That's why you taunt her all the time," Parker shook his head.

"It's entertaining pissing her off," Jason retorted.

"I'm sure it is,"

Jason rolled his eyes. "Come on Parker, she's naturally always pissed near me anyway so why not get some entertainment out of it?"

"Because it seems like she pisses you off more than you piss her off," Logan piped in.

Parker leaned back in his chair and raised an eyebrow in amusement at where this was going.

"What? Hell no. She's the one that's always mad!" Jason argued, very clearly irritated.

"Says the one getting mad right now," Parker scoffed, shaking his head but amused still. Jason narrowed his eyes at his friend and just as he was about to speak, Parker cut past his breath, "She's actually the chill one."

Jason scoffed. "Look at her now! You can tell she's mad."

"She doesn't seem mad," Parker mumbled as he looked over to see Nicole with her head still in her hands and she played around with the fork she was holding, moving around the tuna salad in front of her. "She seems unamused, bored, and tired."

"Look at who's paying attention now," Seth smirked.

"Says the one that's been quiet the whole time, clearly staring off at Nicole." Parker grinned, giving Seth a suggestive look as he made sure to mention that he noted Seth analyzing her.

"You guys are ridiculous," Logan mumbled, rolling his friends lightly at his friends who were having a ridiculous argument.

"Why would I look at her? Please, I can get any girl I'd want... I don't need her." Seth leaned back in his seat, an impassive look on his face.

"So you're thinking about needing her when I'm just talking about you looking at her," Parker retorted, still trying to stir up the pot.

Seth groaned as he stood up and left the cafeteria causing a chuckle to escape Parker's lips.

❀

"If it isn't lil palm tree,"

Nicole kept her head down, looking at the book in front of her though she wasn't reading or paying much attention to it, or anything really.

"That's an old one, Pearson." She muttered.

"No comeback?" He quirked an eyebrow.

"Not the time, Jay," she sighed. She wasn't in the mood to argue with Jason or tolerate his annoying nicks at her. She just wanted to be alone.

"Sin- Jay?" He furrowed his eyebrows not sure if he heard right. He way very close to getting an ear appointment.

Nicole glanced up at Jason before shaking her head. "I didn't say that," she sputtered. She blinked, quickly wishing she could eat up the nickname she accidentally let out.

"I think you did," Jason smirked as he took the seat across from her. Amusement washed over his features, feeling smug.

When Nicole didn't respond, he chuckled. "Come on Nik, time has changed,"

"Leave, Pearson." Nicole spoke dryly, tired and unamused.

"Why, Nik?" He emphasized the nickname, enjoying seeing her irritated because that was just how their relationship was at this point.

"Not in the mood," she said bluntly.

"Who pissed in your Cheerios?"

"You know what? I'll leave." She muttered before standing up and walking away from Jason and the library. She was hoping she could skip class in peace but of course not. She wasn't going to sit there any longer because she knew he had np plan to shut up or leave her alone so she made it easier for herself and left.

She sighed as she made it to class - late.

"Ah Ms.Palmer, any reason you're late?" The teacher asked as she walked into the classroom. She simply shook her head. The teacher held out a detention slip as she grabbed it before taking her seat and waiting for the day to end.

❀

"It's only Monday and you're already in detention."

Nicole looked up to see the familiar face of Jason Pearson.

"Does it -" she paused, her eyes going wide. " Shit. It's Monday?"

"Uh yea, a little behind, Palmer?" He chuckled. He raised his eyebrows, finding it funny how lost she seemed through Nicole was mentally starting to panic but that wasn't something Jason could see or understand.

Nicole quickly grabbed her phone, dialling a number without waiting.

"Yea," she spoke into the phone, her head dropped as she stared at the table. "Uh, I can't come right now. I've gotten caught up- no- wait, wait, no. I'll make it up. Two hours- the usual. Fine."

Nicole sighed as she hung up and placed her head down on the table.

"Why so out of it today?" Jason tilted his head as he looked at her.

"Leave," she muttered, growing even more tired of his unnecessary banter with her. She knew he was simply trying to be annoying and didn't actually hold any interest in really talking to her. It was all games, teasing, and amusement for him.

"Why so out of it?" Jason repeated, ignoring the irritation in her voice - choosing not to care that she was fed up with him.

Nicole looked up, glaring at Jason. "What do you want, Jason?" She sighed, feeling defeated.

"I asked a question."

"I told you to leave."

"Answer the question."

"Leave."

"No."

"Fine, I will." She said blandly. But just as she stood up, Jason did too.

"Wait," he muttered. "I'm sorry," he quickly shook his head before walking away from her. He felt bad when he realized she really was not in the mood today. He now could seriously see that she was not having it today. She left earlier because of him and didn't want her to again so he gave up and left.

Stunned at the fact that he apologized, Nicole stood there partially confused but eventually sat down, not wanting to think too much about it.