hell of a season

She was told to find Harper and, so, that’s what she did. In all honesty, she wasn’t too sure what to expect. She had been warned that he wasn’t the sunniest of people when she had been told to where to find him - “and perhaps, tone it down with your whole optimist Jesus loves you thing” had been the advice she had been given -, but that wasn’t going to stop her. She needed the help and he was going to be able to provide it, so she had taken a deep breath, ran her fingers through her long hair as though somehow that would help, straightened her shoulders and made her way over to him, trying to act a lot more comfortable than she actually felt. “Hi!” She said, as soon as she was close enough, offering her warmest smile. “I’m Laurel. You’re Harper, right?” She had no idea how to even conduct business of this sort, but she was trying. “I need your help, like, I heard you can help me out. I need some stuff.”

“God, were you born yesterday?” He didn’t waste any time in grabbing hold of her arm and pulling her forward with him, unceremoniously yanking her into a thankfully empty and unused classroom. A couple of students may have flashed them confused glances as the door was pulled to a close, but they went mostly unseen, a fact that Harper was grateful for. Anyone who knew of him knew about him, but there was never any proof, and for the most part, his teachers either didn’t know or simply didn’t care what he got up to in his free time. “You might as well have started blaring a police siren.” Now that they were alone, though, he could actually consider talking to her. Harper leaned back against the desk at the forefront of the room, placed there for the teacher’s use when the class was in session, and took a good look at the girl in front of him. She was kind of pretty, in a way that he didn’t usually look at girls like her – from what he knew about her, she was the sort of person that probably thought one of them would spontaneously catch fire if they ever interacted with one another. “I’m sure I can help you out, but it depends on a few things: first, if this is some ridiculous scheme someone’s come up with to try and get rid of me by using you as bait, and second, what it is you’re looking for.” He raised an eyebrow as he gave the redhead another once-over, his gaze searching. “I mean, I thought I knew most of the addicts around here, but maybe you’re just a social pill popper.”

“Well it’s not like I know how to do this,” she said, shrugging apologetically. In her defense, nobody had warned her about secrecy and, really, she had thought she was being perfectly subtle. "Sorry though. Really.” She looked up at him, with the sad doe eyes she always pulled for forgiveness from her parents for emphasis, before stepping back to one of the desks, sitting on top of it as though she had no care in the world. “I promise this isn’t a scheme or anything,” she said, “and I’m not sure how I can prove it to you, but I’ll do whatever it is you need me to do.” That, alone, she knew was a proposition that could either go really, really good....or really, really bad. But in her situation, she was willing to do whatever it was to get the pills she needed so she could keep her grades - and her life - intact. “I don’t need anything crazy. Just some Adderall or whatever, you know?” She shrugged, reaching up to mindlessly play with the ends of her hair, moreso out of nerves than anything else. “I’m not an addict or a social pill popper. I just need it for school. So. Can you help me or do I need to find somebody else?”

“You know, I really wish the whole detention thing worked like that. Stay a little longer, pay my dues in advance, but alas. Here we are.” He swung his hand in a side ways manner, gesturing to the classroom around him. “You’d think they’d learn eventually that this shit doesn’t work.” Nick chuckled, propping his elbow on the desk, his hand resting against the heel of his hand. “I got caught smoking. Not that it’s any of their business. If I want to catch lung cancer, than by all means, they oughtta let me instead of punishing me for it. Hasn’t done shit for stopping me yet.” 

After a second’s consideration, he closed his notebook, the pen he held still between his fingers for the sake of something to hold onto. There was no way he’d actually be able to get any of his missed work done, so why bother trying in the first place when there were too many (one, just one) distractions around?He couldn’t place why everything about Nick seemed to bother him as much as it did, but he didn’t like it. “Maybe you’d be in less trouble if you had the incentive to pretend you’re going to change. You could just wait until you’re off the school grounds to smoke, if you enjoy smelling terrible and developing health issues for yourself.” Isaac shrugged. “But then again, that would give off the impression that you might actually care about something, and I doubt that’s your style.” Not that he would know. Nick probably cared about plenty of things, but Isaac doubted that any of their interests and causes for concern would overlap – he found himself still stuck on the way Nick had referred to him: ‘as perfect as everyone says’, which made him feel oddly proud of himself. He’d have to tell Laurel about it next time they hung out, he resolved, and imagined that she might manage to get a laugh out of it.

“Aww,” Nick said, bringing a hand to his chest for a moment. “Are you saying  you care about my health? That’s nice of you. But, I am totally fine and the whole getting into trouble thing really isn’t that big of a deal. Breaking rules is fine; it’s not like I’m breaking the law or anything. You need to learn to live a little. Might do you some good.” If there was one thing guaranteed to annoy Nick, it was judgment. In all honesty, it wasn’t as though Nick had much room to stand on - after all, he was judgmental but he judged freely and without apology - but it still rubbed him the wrong way. He couldn’t show that though, not when he was trying to come off as the epitome of carefree and chill. “Ok, look, to be fair, I care about a lot of things and I don’t have any shame in that. But that’s enough about me. What do you care about? We’re stuck in here for a while. Let’s get to know each other.”

“You know, I really wish the whole detention thing worked like that. Stay a little longer, pay my dues in advance, but alas. Here we are.” He swung his hand in a side ways manner, gesturing to the classroom around him. “You’d like they’d learn eventually that this shit doesn’t work.” Nick chuckled, propping his elbow on the desk, his hand resting against the heel of his hand. “I got caught smoking. Not that it’s any of their business. If I want to catch lung cancer, than by all means, they oughtta let me instead of punishing me for it. Hasn’t done shit for stopping me yet.” 

He tried to focus on his homework, but he stole the occasional glance - because, fuck, he was curious - and Nick knew it was futile. However, he was soon saved thanks to the teacher running off to chemistry club and not too long later, the boy spoke, causing Nick to raise his eyebrows in amusement. “People offend me,” Nick stated, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “And yet, surprisingly, you didn’t do anything until you asked me that.” He shrugged, running his hand over the paper in front of him. ‘But, no, I was more curious how the hell someone like you ended up in here. Honest.”