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At the end of the day, Nicole leaned against a locker completely zoned out. She watched blankly as students filled the halls getting ready to leave the hell hole... until the next morning, really.

The students talked to their friends, took things in or out of their lockers, guys got ready for football practice, walked in and out of change rooms, rushed out of class and crowded the hallways.

Nicole could see their mouths moving but couldn't hear a thing. Her mind was blank. She was completely zoned out, not paying attention to a thing or even thinking about anything.

She zoned back into reality when she felt a hand placed on her shoulder causing her to flinch away from the touch, turning around abruptly.

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion when she saw Parker, his hand hanging in the air as he slowly let it drop to his side. "What are you doing here?"

"I just saw you leaning here so I just... came to say hi?" He offered, not really sure himself what he was actually doing with Nicole.

Nicole looked at him in confusion. "Well, okay," she muttered. Her tone was dry and glum, clearly not in the mood to hold a conversation.

"Right, sorry," Parker rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly. "I mean, I just saw you and... yeah, I don't really know."

Nicole shrugged, no phased as she dully mumbled, "It's whatever."

"So uh... what's the deal with you and Seth?"

She quirked an eyebrow, the question catching her attention. "Seth and I?" She questioned, scoffing a little. "Nothing. There is no deal." She briefly worried that Seth may have said something to Parker about what he was holding over Nicole's head.

"So all of a sudden, after years of not being able to even look at one other, you guys just suddenly decide to join hands and make up?" Parker chuckled, a little confused as he noticed this new friendship but didn't understand what had changed.

"We didn't join hands and make up," she said in a mocking tone. "We simply sorted out our disagreements..." she spoke slowly, making sure to choose the right words.

"And you came to do that, why?" Parker quirked an eyebrow skeptically.

"Why not?" Nicole shrugged nonchalantly.

"Answering questions with questions," Parker murmured. "Jason was right."

"Force of habit," she shrugged again, in response.

"How does one manage to get into the habit of answering someone's question, with another question?" Parker chuckled.

"Why does one bother asking so many questions?" She retorted, a small grin on her lips.

"Shouldn't you ask yourself that?"

"Why would I start answering someones questions with questions if I wasn't asked a question in the first place?"

"Why can't you answer the question with a simple response?"

"Why do people question things in the first place?"

"Once again, shouldn't you ask yourself that?" Parker raised an eyebrow.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you are the one that questions anything and everything all the time," Parker noted, amused.

A small smirk grew on Nicole's lips. "I win."

Parker looked at her in confusion but before he could say anything, Nicole gave him a small wave and walked off leaving him standing there, dumbfounded.

❀

"Took you long enough," Nicole glanced up as she saw Jason leaning against his car, a bored expression on his face.

"What?"

"I've been waiting for you. Now are we going to just stand here or go?"

"Did I tell you that you need to be standing?" She retorted lamely.

"Again with the answer-"

"Don't finish that," she muttered. "I've heard it too many times now,"

"It's true," he muttered. "But anyways, are we going to go?"

"Why are you still here?"

"Don't I need to tutor you?"

Just as Nicole opened her mouth to reply, Jason quickly shook his head and spoke, "Scratch that, since I know you won't answer it. Let me rephrase that.. I need to tutor you,"

"And I could've gone to your house myself," she pointed out. "You don't need to drive me."

"You didn't come in your car so either you'd take the bus or walk which would take forever anyways, so giving you a ride is the quickest option meaning the quicker we get to it, the quicker you'll leave."

"Nobodies forcing you to tutor me," she rolled her eyes.

"And when Mr.Willow sees that your grade isn't going up - which it won't without my help - then I'll probably get questioned whether I tutored you or not and under the eyes of Mr.Willow, I'd crack,"

"Okay, thats true. But I could've gotten a ride from Chase or someone," she muttered.

"Whatever," Jason scoffed. "Now get in."

Nicole narrowed her eyes at him before sighing and getting into the passenger seat. She didn't have much of a choice.

Jason turned on the music as he drove when some Taylor Swift started to play.

"Taylor Swift?" Nicole asked in disbelief.

"Don't act like you don't know I listen to her," Jason muttered dully, trying to avoid Nicole's gaze as his cheeks heated up in sheepishness.

Nicole rolled her eyes before reaching over and turning on some Drizzy Wright.

"What the hell?" Jason mumbled, glancing over at her for a split second.

"He's better than Swifty." Nicole grinned smugly.

"His songs are bull," Jason shook his head, before turning it back to Taylor.

"Taylor's are all about her stupid breakups," Nicole rolled her eyes again as she changed it to Drizzy.

"It's my car! Stop changing it," and now it was back onto Taylor.

"I'm the guest in the car!" Back to Drizzy.

And that's how the car ride went. The whole ride - short ride, back to Jason's house consisted of the two arguing over the music. While Nicole wanted to listen to rap, a.k.a some Drizzy Wright, Jason was being stubborn and not wanting to listen to him; not only because he didn't want Nicole to get what she wanted, but because he didnorefer Taylor over Drizzy.

Finally, they had reached Jason's house. Nicole glared at Jason as she got out of the car.

❀

"What's the answer to question 3?" Jason asked her, peering at her hopefully.

"Uhm.. It's 8?" Nicole mumbled questioningly, doubt all over her tone because she knew it was probably the wrong answer.

"What? No!" Jason ran a hand through his hair, growing more irritated by the second. "We've been over this!"

"It's a close guess!" Nicole grumbled, no longer in the mood to do this.

"You've guessed the number eight four times now!" He groaned. "And we've been over that it's not number eight!"

"Okay, okay," Nicole sighed. "Just give me a different question,"

"Fine, what's the answer to this one," he pointed to a question in the text book.

"Okay, so you find this side, then this one and then the last one and then up you use the.. this theory and.... Would the answer be 16 y2 = 8 (y - 2).." Nicole asked, unsurely.

Jason furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at her in confusion.

Nicole groaned as she saw the look on his face. "Shit, I got it wrong again," she grumbled. "I should've just guessed eight," she muttered under her breath.

"Wait what? I mean - no! You actually got it right," Jason told her, a smile spreading across his face.

"I kne- wait what? Really?" Her eyes widened.

Jason nodded as he looked over her shoulder, looking at her work.

Nicole's breath hitched in her throat as she realized how close the two were. They were both sitting on the ground in Jason's room, his chest was almost pressed against her back as he looked down at her papers.

Nicole awkwardly coughed before abruptly standing.

"Well, progress. I guess that's good enough," she muttered, avoiding eye contact as she started to pack her things.

"Right," Jason nodded as he also stood up just as Nicole grabbed her bag.

She walked to the door and was just about to leave before she turned back around. "Thanks for the help."

Before he could reply, she was already gone.