Now It's My Time to Strike Back

I was surprised for Nick to lead us to a place in which neither of us had been since the previous school year; our tree.

Its branches were just as covered in leaves as it always ways, providing more than enough shade for a small group of people, but it was bare, just as it usually was.

He stopped at the tree, sitting in the grass. I mimicked his actions, waiting for him to speak. A breeze blew, ruffling his hair a little and I felt at peace. It was a nice day; not too hot and not too cold.

He spoke, interrupting the comfortable silence between us.

“Vic has been acting sort of smothering lately. It seems as though she doesn’t even want me around you for any reason”, he began.

I scoffed, laughing a little afterwards.

“That sounds like something Vic would do”, I admitted, sighing contently as another breeze blew through my hair.

“It’s not funny, Rose! She’s like, crazy! I didn’t expect her to be-”, he began, but I cut across him.

“Controlling? Unbearable? Well, that’s who you chose”, I said, instantly regretting my words after I said them.

He sighed deeply before speaking.

“I understand that and I hate the fact that I hurt you, but what am I supposed to do?” he asked, running a hand through his curls.

“I don’t know”, I answered honestly. “You can’t expect me to have all of the answers for you just because you’re dating my sister”, I added, looking into the distance towards the entrance of the school.

“But you know how Victoria is! Can’t you just at least listen to me when I need someone to talk to?” he asked, practically begging me.

“I-I don’t know”, I stammered.

Listen to him?! When he and I had problems, I never talked about them to Vic. So why should I listen to him when he’s hurt me even more than Brian did? I sat in thought for a moment before I said anything.

“There’s no sort of trick or conditions to this, right?” I asked, licking my lips nervously.

“No! No, of course there aren’t any! So, are you saying you will listen?” he asked, staring at me with such intensity.

I allowed those words to sink in for almost a minute. Was I seriously going to listen to my ex-boyfriend rant about how he and my sister whom he cheated on me with are having problems? Was I honestly going to be this nice to him?

The war within me quickly diminished as I stared at his pitiful face. He needed someone to talk to since he couldn’t talk to anyone besides Kevin, but he didn’t need to constantly hear his problems. I suppose I could do it, just for a little while.

“OK”, I said, caving. Boy, this dude isn’t even with me and he’s making me do things that I wouldn’t usually do for anyone else.

“Thank you, Rose!” he exclaimed happily, catching me off guard as he embraced me in another hug.

His hug was warm again just as it was before, but I felt something..different. I don’t know how to explain it, but it just seemed like so much more than just a “thank you” hug.

But before I could decipher what I was even thinking I was feeling or what was even going on between us, he pulled away, smiling a little.

“Ah! The Freshman are here”, he said, standing abruptly.

I stood with him, brushing the light dirt off of the back of my legs, sighing deeply before leading the way towards the entrance where sure enough, a few of the white vans came, about half a dozen Freshman exiting each one.

This was going to be a long day.

…

I don’t know what possessed me to agree to tour these kids, but I instantly felt at ease as I walked alongside Nick as the group of twelve Freshmen followed us. We started at the Academic Building, continuing on until we were stopping for lunch at noon for them to eat.

But Nick and I didn’t eat, seeing as we weren’t hungry at the time. I stared out of the double doors of the cafeteria, jumping slightly as Nick spoke.

“They seem to like you-or at least, the boys do”, he said in a soft tone in my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

I ignored them, glancing back at our group just as the boys in the group giggled a little before talking amongst themselves again.

“Even if they do, that would never happen. They’re too young for my taste”, I said, smiling, stealing a glance at Nick.

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye before chuckling slightly. He didn’t speak, but shrugged his shoulders before he stared towards the lounge.

I looked back at our group as they ate, seeing the girls giggle at Nick even though he wasn’t even looking at them. I laughed softly before whispering to Nick as well.

“You seem to be attracting the girls, too, though”, I teased, bumping into him slightly, getting another chuckle from him.

“They’re too young for my taste”, he said, mimicking me slightly.

I stared at him open-mouthed for a moment before laughing, hitting his arm with the back of my hand as we laughed together, everything seeming to disappear around us.

An alarm on his phone sounded, indicating it was time for us and the group to move on. Nick looked at me and I stared back at him before he tilted his head, turning to the group before speaking to them in an audible, calm tone.

“Alright, guys! We’re going to head to our next stop on the tour in about a minute. Make sure you throw away your trash in the trash and we’ll get going”, he said, flashing a smile, making the girls melt.

Our group hurried along, throwing their trash away wherever there were trash cans before huddling behind us again. It was adorable.

Nick held the door open, like a gentleman as I led the way to the lounge.

…

Once we reached the lounge, opening the doors for them, they gaped and gasped in awe. Nick and I exchanged silent smiles, showing them everything from the performing stage to the batting cages Nick, Joe, Mel, and I were at last year. The memory swept through me as a smile formed on my face.

We stopped suddenly, Nick heading into the cage causing me to get confused.

“Um, what are you doing?” I asked, wrinkling my brows in confusion as I tried to keep my cool in front of the kids.

“Just showing them what it’s like to play baseball”, he answered, smiling all the while as he put on a helmet, then grabbed one of the bats as he walked to the machine.

“Nick-”, I began, knowing this wasn’t on the agenda, but he cut across me.

“I’ll be fine, Rose. Just watch out for them, OK, please?” he asked, staring at me like he did before.

I sighed, glaring at him before nodding in agreement. I was scared to death at what Nick was going to do when he had to turn the machine off, but luckily, he had it set to the lowest and slowest speed so he’d have time to turn it off.

After about twelve balls later, he stopped, knowing we had to finish the tour. As soon as he stepped out of the cage, the entire group huddled around him, frantically asking if he was OK. I laughed a little as he constantly reassured them he was fine before setting everything back up the way it was before he entered it.

We exited the lounge, showing them the D.A.B before heading finally to the last stop; the dorms. Nick and I walked a short distance from the Freshman as I whispered to him, finally after a good twenty minutes.

“Are you sure you’re OK?” I asked, glancing back as I kept counting our group, making sure no one had wandered off.

“Yeah, I’m fine”, he answered coolly as he did the same.

“That wasn’t necessary back there, you know? What were you trying to prove?” I asked, staring at him this time instead of the group.

“I’m going to be on the Varsity baseball team this year and I haven’t exactly practiced a lot so that was a warm-up”, he replied nervously.

Why was he nervous? I gasped in excitement before embracing him in a hug, causing all of us to stop.

“I’m so proud of you!” I exclaimed, excitement filling me every second as he shrugged, but smiled as well.

“Thanks. I was the only Junior they accepted onto the team so late in the year, but our first game will be sometime next month during the second week of school”, he explained, smiling proudly.

“Well, that’s good! You should tell Vic!” I said before I stopped speaking, hearing the worst thing I could ever hear in my entire life; pompoms.

A group of cheerleaders, including Vic, some dressed casually, others dressed similar to Vic stood in front of the dorms by the stairs.

I groaned mentally. Vic was a cheerleader now? Ugh.

“We’re the cheerleaders of this school, so if you join, you’ll be super cool! So after you’re done finishing the tour, you should sign up with the-”, they cheered in unison, but stopped at the end.

“What rhymes with tour?” one of the blondes asked the group. Everyone shrugged causing me to roll my eyes at them.

Idiots. Nothing but pure idiots.

Vic shook off the matter, facing the group again, doing a cartwheel a little too close to the kids in my taste before ending it with a, “So join!” with her arm outstretched as she held out a pompom, flashing a bright smile at us. I smacked my forehead, seeing Nick shake his head before staring off to his left.

“So, Rose, Nick”, Victoria began, walking to us as the cheerleading drones surrounded the group.

My attention went to the kids, seeing some of them look interested while others..weren’t. Who could blame them? Being a cheerleader sucks. Well, I wouldn’t know if I even had it for a past life of some sort, but you get what I’m saying.

“-OK? Are you listening, Rose?” she asked, shaking one of those damn things in front of my face.

I smacked her hand away, getting irritated.

“Will you just leave? Jeez! You’re annoying them!” I exclaimed heatedly, but not loud enough for either of our groups to hear me.

Her hazel eyes glanced back at the others before they met Nick and I’s again.

“Fine. Girls, come on. We’ll ditch these dweebs”, she said, giving me a look as well as Nick, but it was more apologetic than anything.

Nick didn’t speak, but stared at her as they left. He turned back to our group before speaking.

“Alright, guys. Let’s head to your dorms, shall we?” he said, flashing a smile.

I smiled along with him, but watched him as he lead the group as I decided to stay in the back. Victoria just disrespected him in front of her “friends” and our group of Freshman. I shook my head again at the matter as I thought it over one last time before we headed inside the first floor of the dorm building.