pll verse

Unlikemany people in their small town, Jaden hadn’t been around for all of NikkiJonathan’s reign. He had moved a few months before she disappeared, but he hadwitnessed her power, and it was terrifying. No one girl should be able tocontrol so much of the population. He was just glad that Shelby also seemedlike she was immune to Nikki’s charms. They had to stick together. Nikki wasthe worst, more people needed to know that as a fact. “Yeah, Iagree,” Jaden responded, shrugging slightly, “She’s kind of a bitch,if we’re being honest.”

While Shelby hadn’t been the only girl that Nikki terrorized, she seemed to be the only one that wasn’t still trying to get on her good side. She’d done that once and felt absolutely pathetic as a result. She wasn’t about to do it again. “Kind of a bitch?” Shelby laughed, shaking her head. “You don’t have to sugar coat it. She’s like the bitch. We’re talking Mean Girls level here.” Shelby had no idea what made this guy different from all the others that had fallen under Nikki’s charms, but she liked him already. Clearly he wasn’t pathetic. “So who are you?” she asked, an eyebrow raised.

Hewould be lying if he said he didn’t miss the girl Alexis had been before Nikkicame back into the picture. She was nicer and more present. Now shewas just aNikki Jonathan slave and in all honesty, Vincent hated everything about it.“Nikki makes you a shell of who you were.” He responded, scoffingslightly, “You’re not the same person you were when we first met.” Heknew he was being a bit bitter, because it wasn’t like Alexis owed himanything. But he didn’t have to stay with Alexis either. She had made it clearwhere she wanted to be, and he wasn’t going to awkwardly hide in her basementwhile she played around with Nikki. “Alexis… I don’t think that’s a goodidea.”

Being friends with Nikki meant that Alexis cared all too much what people thought about her. Being made fun of when she was younger had practically killed her - she was doing everything she could to keep that from happening again. But apparently not everyone liked who she was becoming. “You don’t have to be such a dick about it,” Alexis said defensively, crossing her arms across her chest. Hearing him say things like that about her, it hurt. She might not have been ready to admit that his opinion matter to her, that he mattered to her, but she couldn’t keep the wounded look from her face. “At least stay until you find somewhere else to go,” Alexis pleaded, trying to find a different angle. “I’ll stop arguing after that.”

Workingfor the Jonathan family wasn’t necessarily Alex’s dream, but he was trying tomake the most of it. He was good at what he did, and sure, it may have justbeen working in an office, but he was enjoying it. “I do have to worryabout that,” Alex said with a laugh, “Your father may let you havewhatever you want, but I’m pretty sure he’d draw the line at fucking hisemployees. Staying in your lane and all that.” Alex kept his eyes on heras she spoke, shaking his head as she moved closer to him. “I may be a badliar, but I’m not lying now. I need you to get off my desk.”

While some girls liked to play hard to get, Gillian had never seen the point in that. If she saw something she wanted, she went for it. No one had ever said no to her before, and she wasn’t about to let Alex be the person to tarnish her perfect record. There had to be a way to crack him, and Gillian was going to figure it out. “Sure, he might have a problem with it if he found out. But who says he has to?” Gillian frowned for a moment when he told her to get off his desk, but that frown quickly turned into a smirk. “If you insist,” she finally agreed, slipping off the desk and sliding into his lap instead. “Is that better?”

Being overdramatic wasn’t usually Lucas’s thing, but he couldn’t explain why it was so necessary right now. He was frustrated with Willa. He loved her so much, and she was barely there anymore. It wasn’t especially easy to be in a relationship when the other person wasn’t around. “You were always venting about how mad she made you… About how much you hated her. And now you’re practically licking her ass.” Lucas knew things were going to be different with Nikki around, but he hadn’t expected them to change this drastically. It was bigger than he had ever imagined. He looked over at Willa, raising an eyebrow as she tried flirting with him, “You don’t get to flirt and try to charm me when I’m mad at you.”

Willa had always considered herself to be the dramatic one in the relationship, but she was starting to think that it might be the other way around. She’d never actually seen Lucas like this before - jealous, angry, whatever it was. And she had no idea how to fix it. She waved Nikki and the rest of the girls away; she wasn’t about to run off and join them any time soon. Reaching out to take one of Lucas’ hands, she gave it a small squeeze as she looked up at him. “It’s complicated having her back. Nikki, our friendship... It’s all complicated,” she tried to explain with a pathetic shrug of her shoulders. “Just tell me what I can do to make it up to you,” Willa asked, since apparently flirting wasn’t having the desired affect. “I don’t like you being mad at me.”

Skyler tried to hide the hurt in her eyes with every moment that Asia stood in front of her. They had been so close, and Asia had been forced to leave herbehind. It had honestly killed Skyler, and now that she was here and practically ignoring her? That made things ten times worse in her eyes. “We could have done so much in a night,” She responded still trying to hide the hurt. Skyler had a big heart, and she loved with all of it. She had loved Asia with all of it. “So does that mean we can hang out later?” She asked, raising an eyebrow, “Because… I’d really like that.”

There was a small part of Asia that had hoped Skyler would be over her by the time she got back. As much as that would have killed her, it would have made avoiding her all the easier. But seeing the hurt in Skyler’s eyes caused a pang in her chest; she hated to be the one to cause it. Not too long ago, she would have been ready to kick the ass of anyone that hurt her. And yet here she was. “I don’t know, Sky...” Asia bit her lip, running a hand through her hair. “I have a lot of unpacking and shit to do and I think I’m supposed to have dinner with my parents tonight. Maybe later?” She didn’t have it in her to say no outright; hopefully Skyler would take the hint.

Jaden Williams wasn’t like the other jocks in his town. He wasn’t a self-absorbed jackass with his head up Nikki Jonathan’s ass. That was pretty much why Shelby Brown was so interesting to him. She also wasn’t buried in Nikki’s ass. That was such a rarity in this town, especially with Satan’s recent return. Maybe it was weird to be looking at her and trying to figure her out without saying a word. He raised an eyebrow when she spoke, and he immediately bit his lip and moved so he was sitting in the seat across from her. “Sorry, just trying to figure out how you seem to be the one girl in this school who isn’t kissing her ass.” He kept his eyes on her for a moment before he started eating his lunch, “It’s a… refreshing change.”

There had been a time when Shelby had been trying to follow Nikki Jonathan and her friends around like a sad puppy, just hoping that they might pay attention to her. But eventually, Shelby had realized she was better than that. She didn’t need Nikki to make her popular. She could do it on her own. All she needed was an opening, and Nikki disappearing had been perfect. Not only had she risen to the occasion, but she’d done so with flair. To say that she was disappointed to see Nikki back at school was a bit of an understatement. Shelby liked it better when she was gone. While she didn’t actually know who the cute brunet was, Shelby smirked at his words. “Oh honey,” she smiled, putting down her nail file lone enough to look up at him. “She’s nothing special. It’s tragic that more people can’t see it.”

Vincent didn’t like Nikki Jonathan. Hell, no one should have liked Nikki Jonathan, and he didn’t understand why Alexis and her seemingly sane friends were so far up her ass. She was truly nothing special, and yet she was the center of attention all around. “It doesn’t matter,” Vincent responded, shrugging his shoulders and taking a step away from her after she squeezed his hand. He wanted nothing to do with Nikki Jonathan, and right now Alexis was so wrapped up with her that it was disgusting. “You like having me here, but you’re never here. Look… Its weird living with your mom when you’re not here as a buffer. And I don’t want to deal with Nikki, and I’m sure she’ll be around.”

There was a small part of Alexis that wished Nikki and Vincent could just get along, but an even bigger part of her that feared the two of them being in the same room for too long. She wanted to have her cake and eat it too; she simply hadn’t figured out all the logistics yet. “I know you don’t get it,” Alexis sighed, trying to think of the best way to explain it. “It’s just... Nikki makes you feel special. Sometimes being around her can feel really good.” Especially since most people didn’t make her feel that way - not unless she was getting some of the glow off Nikki. Except the more she thought about it, the more she realized that Vincent did. And here she’d been, completely ignoring him. Running a hand through her hair, she bit her lip. “What if you just try for another week. If I’m not around more and you hate it here, I won’t stop you from leaving. Please?” 

High school and college were two totally different worlds. That was something Callie was quickly learning. It sounded like it would be something obvious, but Callie really hadn’t expected how different they were. She was doing well, sure, but things were different. “It’s not bad,” She said with a shrug, “I just don’t like the full name. It’s too much of a mouthful…. Callie fits me better.” Callie looked up at him as he spoke and smiled softly, “Nice to meet you, Miles. Maybe we can work together on this stuff.”

Having competition was something new to Miles, and he wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about it. But something told him he was dealing with a it a lot better, knowing that competition came in the form of a pretty girl. That he could deal with. “Then I promise I’ll call you Callie,” Miles nodded, as though he had any sort of say in it. He almost opened his mouth to say that he preferred to work alone before he stopped himself. Something told him that working with Callie would be significantly different than carrying most of the idiots that asked to study with him. “I’d like that,” he said instead, smiling at her as the filed out of the classroom.

Callie knew that she had been through a lot to get here. She was glad that she had pulled herself out of her slump after Nikki disappeared and that she had gotten her shit together. She was glad she was doing this college thing early, and she was glad she’d have that advantage when it came time to actually do college. “First rule to earning my secrets…” She looked down at her paper, turning it around so the title page was against her chest, “Don’t call me Calliope. It’s Callie. I’m part Greek and my parents liked poetry… So I got stuck with the name of a muse.”

Noticing the way Callie hugged her paper to her chest, Miles couldn’t help but give her an amused smile. There was something endearing about her. “Good to know. Callie it is,” Miles nodded, raising an eyebrow as she gave him a short explanation of her name. “Is that supposed to be a bad thing or something?” he asked curiously as she finished her small saga. “I think it’s kinda pretty.” Always having been a poetry fan himself, he didn’t quite see the problem with it. But with a name as ordinary as Miles, what did he know? “I’m Miles,” he added as a bit of an afterthought, giving her a lame little wave as he introduced himself. He winced slightly as he realized what he was doing, quickly putting his hand down and gripping his books to keep him from doing anything else stupid.

Skyler had a tendency to fall fast and fall hard, but she had been so sure Asia was different. Sure, she had fallen hard, but she was sure that Asia was going to be different from the others. She didn’t think Asia was going to use her and drop her… But then it had happened, and Skyler was upset about it. She had been hurt when Asia left, and she hadn’t expected that pain. “Yeah, so do you…” She bit her lip and looked up at her, “Were you just… not going to tell me you were home?”

Asia knew how bitchy of a move this was, coming home without even calling her. This was the girl she’d completely fallen for and it was almost physically painful, having to act like she didn’t give a shit. It was a good thing she did bitch better than most. Asia shrugged at Skyler’s question, hoping it was coming off as nonchalant. “It just kind of happened... I only got home last night,” she admitted, glad that part was at least the truth. She might have known she was coming home for a few weeks, but Skyler didn’t need to know that part. “I figured I’d just see you today. And I was right, wasn’t I?”

Letting Dev go off with someone else was easy, she had no regrets about the situation. She had done the whole thing with him already. He was old news. That much was something she couldn’t deny. Having been with him before, there was no desire to be with him again. “Have fun, princess,” And with that, Nikki was off. Finding someone to spend her time with for the night. Dev wasn’t worth her time, no matter how hot he was.

Dev had hit on plenty of girls before, and he couldn’t remember one ever turning him down, let alone resisting a round two. Of course, these were girls that he’d picked for himself rather than having someone pick for him, but it still came as a shock. “You too, sweetheart,” Dev plastered on a fake smile as he waved to Nikki’s retreating back. He cursed softly under his breath when she was out of earshot, trying to figure out his next move. He settled with approaching another girl at the bar, offering to buy her a drink. Nikki struck him as the territorial type and he was banking on it.

Nicolette Jonathan was a bitch and Vincent knew that. It seemed like he was the only one who knew that lately. Alexis was clearly up her ass, and all of Alexis’s friends - who he had never really had a problem with - were up her ass too. “Your best friend happened.” Vincent shook his head, “She showed up and… shit happened.” He knew he was overreacting, but he didn’t want to live in an awkward situation. He didn’t want to live with Alexis if she was barely going to acknowledge him. He’d find somewhere else to go.  It wouldn’t be easy, but he’d make it work. “The school library isn’t the best place, I know. But I’ll find somewhere. I can do this.”

All Alexis had wanted was to show Nikki how far she’d come since she disappeared. She’d improved a lot in her opinion, and she was proud of the girl she’d become. It was who Nikki had always told her she should be. It hadn’t even occurred to her that Vincent would have a problem with it. “I’m sorry, okay?” Alexis sighed, reaching out and taking Vincent’s hand, giving it a small squeeze. She knew that was weird - they were hardly the touchy-feely sort of friend - but she wasn’t sure what else to do. “You shouldn’t have to find someone else. I like having you here. I want you to stay.” She gave him a small smile, hoping that he was the type to be easily swayed.

Dealing with Nikki Jonathan wasn’t something Lucas wanted to do. She was the actual worst, and Lucas knew that. Unfortunately, Willa didn’t seem to know that. She loved hanging out with the sociopath. He didn’t get it, but it happened. Willa was always willing to hang out with her, and Lucas was sick of it. “She’s totally a dictator.” Lucas said with a shrug, “And you’re only talking to me now because I’m annoyed and standing up for myself. As soon as I chill out a bit, you’re going to be right back where you were… Following Nikki like a damn puppy.” Lucas was blowing up slightly and he knew that. But he was so sick and tired of losing his girlfriend to Nikki Jonathan.

Willa had always been a bit defensive when it came to her friendship with Nikki. Her parents and brother had always accused her of following Nikki around, and she’d protested just as hard. Willa had never thought of herself as popular or deserving a friend like Nikki. She didn’t know what it was about hanging out with the girl, but it just felt good. It was hard to just walk away from that, and she didn’t know how to explain it to Lucas in a way that wouldn’t make him angry. “I’m talking to you because you’re my boyfriend and I like you!” Willa argued, even though she knew he was right. There was hardly any point in denying it, try as she might. She took a deep breath, biting her lip. “I hate seeing you this angry,” she sighed, her voice softer this time. “What can I do to cheer you up?”