FicWad

Nikki's POV

Terrible. I was expecting today to be great. I thought I would see Dustin right away, and everything would be perfect. No. It was almost the end of the day and there was no sign of him. I was starting to think Danni was crazy.

Until, I saw him. It was only for a split second, and for a while I thought I imagined it.

“See! I told you I wasn’t crazy!” Danni said to me.

“Yea, I believe you. Though, your sanity is still up for debate about other things.” I looked up and down the hallway trying to spot him again. I couldn’t see him anywhere and I had no idea where he went.

“Maybe you’ll have him in homeroom. That’s always a possibility.”

I shrugged, “I doubt it. This is me we’re talking about. Things never work out for me. You of all people should know that.”

“Nik, this is the start of a new life. You have to be a little optimistic.” Danni said, putting her hand on my shoulder.

“I don’t know.” I readjusted the bag on my shoulder and sighed, “We should probably get to class. The bell is going to ring any second.”

“Okay, I’ll see you in homeroom,” Danni said as she raced off to biology.

I watched her run down the hallway, barely missing other students. I swear, one of these days she was going to have a collision. Laughing to myself, I turned around to head to English. As I turned, I ran straight into someone, “Sorry.” I looked up to see who I ran into and my jaw hit the floor. It was Dustin. I couldn’t believe it.

He smiled, “You should really pay more attention to your surroundings. You don’t want to get hurt.” He paused, staring at me. “Wait, haven’t I met you before?”

I think a part of me died. He recognized me. Maybe today wasn’t so bad after all. I smiled, “Yea, you’re the paper boy.”

He nodded, and after a few awkward moments of silence he finally said, “Well, I should get to class.”

Before I could say anything he was already walking down the hallway toward whatever class he was going to. I took a few seconds to compose myself, and then finally headed to English. I slid into my seat just as the bell rang.

**

I sat down on the bench by the front door of the school and watched Danni pace back and forth. It had been almost half and hour and there was still no sign of our father. Why would there be? He was turning out to be just like our mom, maybe even worse.

“Do you want to just walk? It’s not that far. He probably just lost track of time.” Danni stood up and grabbed her bad from the bench.

I shook my head, “Do you really believe that?” Instead of arguing, I picked up my things and started walking home. I had spent many days after school waiting for a mom that never showed. I knew how to take care of myself just fine.

“Nik? Just please don’t jump to conclusions...” Danni said, following not too far behind me.

“Danni, I’m not in the mood to argue with you right now. Let’s just forget about this and go home.” I turned around to glance at Danni and make sure she was walking behind me still. She had gone quiet and I was worried.

I walked in the door, and I stepped on something. I looked down to see five Nerf bullets laying on the floor. I shook my head and walked further into the living room. Looking around, I saw that there were tons of them stuck to the walls and the furniture.

“Hello?” Danni called out from beside me. No answer.

“Hey, what are you guys doing here?” My dad asked as he came in from the kitchen.

“Umm, we’ve been waiting for you to come get us,” I answered.

“Oh, shit! I’m sorry! I must have lost track of time...” he said walking over to us. I just shrugged.

“Just be there next time. I hate walking in this heat.” I told him before sitting on the couch. He looked at my sympathetically.

“Nice outfit,” Danni laughed.

Dad looked down and laughed. “Yea, Nerf battles can get pretty violent.”