Truce

fiapie

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"So, I guess the plan is off?" Chase asked Nicole as the two of them walked out of the classroom.

Nicole sighed, frowning. "I hate what took its place but yes. I do need to get my grades up in this class if I want to graduate."

Chase nodded, sending Nicole a sheepish smile. He knew how her and Jason didn't get along so he knew it wasn't ideal for her to study with him. "How about you sit with me at lunch?" He offered. "It'll make up for the Taco Bell we would have gotten after school anyways. Plus, I don't think you'd want to sit with Serena after your fight with her earlier." Chase bit his lip as he waited for answer, making sure he didn't say anything wrong.

Nicole thought for a moment before nodding, "Sure, that sounds good."

"Good," Chase grinned.

❀

Nicole was sitting in her seat and twirling around her pencil she held during third period. She had her head leaning on the palm of her hand when she felt someone else's presence.

She glanced up to see looking at her with his signature smirk playing on his face. "Hello, love."

"Don't call me that," she grumbled, glancing away from him.

"Don't tell me not to call you that, love." He grinned down at her, amusement dancing through his eyes.

"Shut up," she muttered quickly, annoyed solely by his presence.

"Don't tell me to shut up." He held an impassive look on his face.

"I'll do whatever I wan-" Nicole caught herself when she remembered the 'truce'. She shook her head and turned away from him, facing the front of the class.

"No insult?" He questioned, continuing to taunt her and finding amusement in it.

She ignored him.

"C'mon Love," he chuckled. "Relax."

"No," she muttered dully.

"I'm not going to-"

"Page 4, second article, you cannot bring up the topic whenever you'd like just for fun," Nicole said bluntly, cutting him off.

"I guessed it," he grinned, feeling satisfied.

Nicole looked at him again and raised an eyebrow, confused by what he meant.

"I knew you'd stay up all night to read over it."

"Well how can you blame me?" She asked. "I don't exactly trust you, at all."

"Cranky," his lip twitched upwards in a gleeful grin.

"Yes, very." She nodded, not bothering to deny it because she was indeed cranky.

"Oh and you're sitting with me at lunch." He said cooly, sending her a small smirk.

Before Nicole could protest and say no, the teacher had started his lesson so she had no chance to say anything as she watched him walk off to his seat.

Cue another smirk from Seth.

At the end of class, Nicole wanted to talk to Seth to tell him she wasn't going to sit with him and his friends at lunch. She glanced around trying to find him but he had disappeared from sight. She knew he was avoiding her on purpose so she had no choice but to go find him at lunch even though the contract meant she couldn't object either way. They were just words on a paper but Nicole knew better than to test Seth.

When lunch finally came around, Nicole was stuck between what to say to either Chase or Seth because she would have to bail on one of them. Of course she would much rather sit with Chase but she didn't have much choice she she couldn't say no to Seth.

She was debating whether she should just go hide out in the abandoned hallway or the bathroom until lunch ended but then Chase came up to her. He swung an arm around her shoulder, "Care to join me for lunch?"

Nicole forced a small smile when suddenly a light bulb went off in her head.

"Hey, Chase..." she dragged out. "Do you mind if we sit at a different table? I mean not your normal table?"

"Uh... yeah, I don't mind." He shrugged but his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, not quite sure what she meant.

Nicole gave him a small smile as the two of them walked into the cafeteria side by side and headed over to the guys table.

Jason noted Nicole as soon as she had come over. He groaned, "Palmer, tutoring is after school, not right n-"

"She's here for me," Seth cut Jason off cooly, his eyes trained on Nicole.

Man, people really love cutting him off mid-sentence.

"What?" Jason and Parker asked in unison. Both of them were confused, taken aback and not understanding what the deal with Seth and Nicole was.

"Why is he here?" Seth asked, referring to Chase but his eyes didn't leave Nicole.

"Do you want me to answer that?" She retorted, giving him an innocent smile. She knew he wouldn't make her continue because they couldn't bring the truce up in front of the others and her being at his table was due to their contract that stated she couldn't say no to Seth.

Seth caught onto what she meant and slowly shook his head.

"I think I already know the answer, actually," he mustered up instead.

"What's with you answering questions with questions?" Jason muttered, narrowing his eyes at Nicole.

"What's it to you?" Nicole retorted.

Jason huffed, not bothering to reply.

"Sit," Seth told her, his eyes not leaving her for a second.

The boys looked at him in confusion. They looked at him as if he just killed a cat or something.

Jason, Parker and Logan sat at one side of the table and Seth sat across from them.

Nicole awkwardly took the seat beside Seth and then Chase sat on the other side of her.

"I don't understand why she's here," Jason muttered, looking at Seth with a dull look on his face.

"I don't understand why you guys aren't bickering." Parker mumbled with narrowed eyes. He was referring to both Nicole and Jason as well as Nicole and Seth who would typically be bickering right now.

"I don't understand why we're here," Chase mumbled under his breath, sighing.

"I don't understand why he's here," Seth shrugged, referring to Chase, of course. He wasn't shy about the shade he was subtly throwing.

"There's more to life." Nicole and Logan said in unison causing everyone else to look at them as if they were the ones who killed the cat.

Nicole looked at Logan who gave her a smug grin.

"That's my thing!" Parker frowned.

"How do you ev-"

"I've heard it enough times," Nicole shrugged.

"What is with everyone cutting me off?" Jason huffed.

"What isn't there?" Nicole smirked, knowing Jason got annoyed when she answered questions with questions.

"I see what you mean," Parker mumbled to Jason, though everyone else heard it but didn't say anything.

"No offence of anything... but why are you here?" Parker asked Nicole awkwardly, not wanting to be rude but genuinely wondering why she were here because he knew she would do anything but be here.

"Shouldn't you ask Seth?" Nicole tilted her head, uninterested as she sat here.

"Okay, now I really see it." Parker elbowed Jason.

Nicole rolled her eyes.

"Why not?" Seth shrugged.

"Not you too," Jason groaned.

Seth chuckled at the comment as Nicole just shook her head.

Seth swung his arm around Nicole's shoulder. "We've become acquaintances."

"You already were," Logan piped in.

"Violating article 6," Nicole muttered under her breath so only Seth could hear.

"It's friendly, not sexual." He argued but remained amused.

Nicole awkwardly coughed, shaking his arm off her shoulder.

"Um, I have to hand in an assignment," she said as she stood up. "Wanna accompany me, Chase?"