by Jack Parker
"Yeah," Nicky replied cautiously, looking p at him. "Why?"
"You'll see when we get there," Chad smiled, holding out a hand to help her up.
"You made me ditch school just so we could go back?" she asked, taking his hand.
"Hey, it's a surprise to me too, trust me," he smirked, straining as he pulled her up.
She giggled as she stood, but slid on a small pebble below her toe and fell against Chad's chest, making him grunt on impact. Nicky froze and looked up at him with wide eyes and red cheeks as she swallowed to moisten her suddenly dry mouth.
"S-Sorry," she murmured, casting her eyes down in panic.
"What for?" he frowned, sincerely then smirked, "You didn't fake-slip so I could hold you, did you?"
"N-No!" she sputtered, her blush deepening as she moved away from him and straightened herself out as he laughed. "You're such a dog!"
"Hey, Nicky?" he called gently, drawing her attention. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but was what that creep said true?"
"About what?" she wondered, though she had a feeling she already knew what he meant.
"I think you know," he replied, stepping closer to her. "The part about you liking me."
"Oh, come on, Chad," Nicky laughed nervously, trying to back away again. "You're like my brother!"
"Don't lie to me," he warned, following her as she backed away. "You never called me your brother and I never saw you as my sister."
Nicky backed up until her back as against wall and he settled his hands on the stone on either side of her so she couldn't get away.
"Do you really have a crush on me?" he murmured.
Nicky stared at him with wide eyes as he stared back at her, expectantly before she glanced around in thought before answering, "W-Well…You really think that matters right now, considering all the other things happening with you?"
"Hell yes," Chad blurted and Nicky's eyes shot wide at him as he only smiled and continued, "Out of all the bad stuff that's been happening, I'd welcome something amazingly wonderful as you having a crush on me. Means I'm not all gone."
"Not all gone?" Nicky echoed with a frown.
"Yeah," he sighed in exhaustion, gazing at her and making her blush. "Ever since that day I found my parents, I feel like I'm turning into a totally different person, ya know? Like every day, a little part of me dies and there's no way to get it back. Brandon noticed it, haven't you?"
"I've noticed you've been acting differently, but I get why," she admitted. "I'd be kinda weird if I went through what you did. You're different, but only a little."
"According to Brandon, it's a dramatic change."
"Well, you've been ditching school a lot more, and you're awfully moody."
"You're dodging the question, baby," he smirked, making her face burst into flames again, and it showed on her cheeks, making him chuckle. "How 'bout I just take that as a 'yes'?"
"Arrogant skinny-ass," she muttered and Chad only laughed as neither one of them moved from their positions.
"Well, thanks for havin' a crush on me," he smiled, honestly. "Best news I've had all day."
He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek, lingering there a moment before pulled away and winking at her. She stared at him, still blushing and wide-eyed.
"Let's get to school, huh?" he urged. "Jared's gotta get some info for me on this call."
CHAPTER 5
"Why don't we just say we're late?" Nicky whispered.
"Because this is more fun," Chad smirked as they both ducked lower into the brushes to avoid the security guard walking the field of Westwood High School.
"This is gonna get us in trouble!" Nicky hissed, and ducked down into the bushes, out of sight from the guard when he whirled around, hearing Nicky's hiss.
Chad glared at her and she gave a wince, staying out of sight until the guard looked away again. They both stood silently and headed toward the school building and rushed into the back door, their skateboards and helmets in hand.
"Alright, where would Jared be right now?" Chad whispered and Nicky looked at her wristwatch.
"Lunch," she reported. "Where do you think he'll be?"
"Computer room," Chad guessed. "Let's go."
He jumped onto his skateboard and drifted down the hall, Nicky right behind him on her own board. They went down the hall, peeking into the door windows until Chad stopped in front of one door and looked a little further in before opening it, Nicky behind him.
The computer room was empty, showing off it's spaciousness with four rows of eight seats. All seats had computers at each one, but only one had a student working at it.
The sophomore sat, fixed on the screen, tousled, black hair sitting on his head with black, thick-framed glasses covering dark blue eyes as he leaned his chin on his hand, eating with the other from the tray in front of him.
Chad smirked and snapped his board up by the tail end to pick it up and sauntered toward the student, who snapped his gaze at him and Nicky walking toward him.
"Chad!" the student smirked, adjusting his glasses. "Didn't see you at break. What are you doing here now?"
"I need some tech help," Chad smirked back, leaning on the desk as Nicky stood next to him. "Need a search on a blocked call I got on my phone."
"Ooh, a challenge," Jared grinned, shoving his glasses farther up the bridge of his nose. "Where's your phone?"
"Uh…" Chad trailed off then laughed nervously as he scratched at the side of his neck. "I sort of…broke it. It's a broken mess in the Tunnel."
"Nice," Jared smirked, tightly as he leaned over to reach into his backpack ad pull out a pen to write on his hand. "Gimme your number."
Jared stood as Chad gave him what used to be his cell phone number and the sophomore headed toward the front of the room.
"Who's your provider?" Jared questioned, sitting at the teacher's desk at the front of the rest of the desks in the room. Chad leaned on the back of the chair Jared sat in, giving him all the information he needed as Nicky came up next to him, Jared typing away at the computer.
"What's this for, anyway?" Jared asked, still typing, glancing at his hand a couple times at what he'd written.
"Just find out where the call came from if you can, ok?" Chad requested, stepping back.
Jared didn't even look up at him as he turned to Nicky and nodded her toward the back of the room to speak to her 'privately.' When she met him he pulled her closer by the wrist, making her frown at him.
"What's wrong?" she wondered in a whisper as he pulled her close enough to whisper.
"Nothing wrong, really," Chad replied, glancing toward Jared as the sophomore still worked then looked back at Nicky. "I don't want Jared to know anything about what's going on."
"Ok," Nicky nodded with a confused frown.
"To get that confused look off your face, I don't want you to go blabbing everything to him, ok?" he smirked and she gave him a comical glare.
"Fine," she retorted, making him smile and as she tried to walk away, he caught her again and pulled her back. "What now?"
"I don't want you to go home tonight," he murmured, making Nicky frown. "You stick with me all day, and tell your parents you're gonna spend the night at my place, ok?"
"I don't think they'll—"
"I can't make a move on you if Brandon's there," he cut in, knowing that she was going to say her parents would object. "I don't want you to be out of my sight with this creep out there."
"Chad, I'll be fine," Nicky laughed, nervously and tried to walk away again, but he held her wrist firmly to pull her back.
"I'm serious, Liza," he murmured and Nicky knew he was serious when he only used her middle name. "This guy knows stuff. Whether he's watching us from outside our windows or tapping our phones, it doesn't matter to me. You and your safety does. You're staying at my place tonight, no arguments."
Nicky stared at him for a moment then nodded. Wanting to lighten the mood, she smirked at him as he let go of her wrist and she nudged him gently
with her elbow on his arm, saying, "You couldn't make a move on me even if you wanted to. You don't have the guts."
"Oh, you think so, do you?" Chad smirked back, lifting a brow in intrigue at her. She nodded but her smile dropped when he stepped closer to pin her against the wall as he'd done in the Tunnel and she swallowed, staring at him with wide eyes. "I had the guts to pull one in the Tunnel."
"You've kissed me on the cheek before," Nicky retorted, her smirk returning.
"Sure, but never the way I did that time," he corrected. "What? You need a grand gesture or something?"
"Maybe," she shrugged, casually.
"Fine," he smirked. "Get ready for your gesture, then."
Nicky's eyes widened when Chad closed in on her…
"Chad!"
He froze, sighed, bowed his head in exasperation then marched toward Jared angrily barking, "What?!"
"This call is…a mystery," Jared replied, ignoring the junior's now foul mood and still looking at the computer screen as he typed.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Chad asked, leaning over the other's boy's shoulder to look at the screen as Nicky walked toward the two.
"I was able to trace the call to Washington State," Jared explained, but when he didn't continue Chad frowned at him.
"Ok," Chad replied, blankly staring at the screen. "So what's the problem? You have the signal, right?"
"Not exactly," Jared winced, then pointed to three red dots on a map of Washington on the computer screen as he said, "This call was bouncing between these three towers when it made its last call. It's almost impossible to narrow it down, but I'd say the one in Seattle is the source."
"I'm not taking any chances," Chad murmured. "What are the other two cities?"
"Tacoma and Olympia," Jared replied, finally looking up at Chad as the blonde grabbed a pen from the mug on the desk and wrote on his hand. "What's this all about, Chad?"
"Don't worry your over-sized brain about it, Walker," the other boy replied, tossing the pen onto the desk again and ruffling Jared's hair. "But thanks for this." He headed to the door, skateboard in hand. "When I get back, I owe you one."
"Get back?" Jared frowned, turning in the chair as Nicky went after Chad but the younger boy stopped her a moment. "Where're you going?! Nicky, what the hell's goin' on here?!"
"It's alright, Jared," Nicky lied with a smile as she followed Chad into the hall. "Pass your exams, alright?"
"But—!"
The sophomore never got to finish his statement as the two juniors skated out the door and down the hall. Jared sighed, adjusting his glasses as he turned back to the computer to examine what he'd been looking up. He sat for a moment, glanced at the open door then shot to the seat he'd been in when they came in, grabbed his backpack and bolted out the door.
"Chad! Nicky! Wait up!"
The two juniors stopped and looked over their shoulders to watch the sophomore catch up to them in the hall and catch his breath.
"What do you want, now?" Chad smirked.
"I'm coming with you," Jared panted and Chad instantly burst into laughter.
"Don't be ridiculous," the older boy laughed. "This is over your head."
"You might need more help," Jared observed. "My laptop is way more advanced than these Static Boxes here. If I go with you, I can almost definitely pinpoint the source of the call."
"No, Jared," Chad replied, seriously. "This isn't a game."
"No doubt," Jared agreed. "Which is why I'm not gonna ask you what all this is about. I'll just be along for the ride."
"Why?" Nicky couldn't help but ask.
"Because I'm bored!" Jared sighed roughly, slumping forward. "I can't get any good hacking work. I'm losing my brain here!"
"You willing to risk your life for entertainment?" Chad wondered honestly, pushing himself gently to drift in front of him with a burning gaze. "Because that's what you'll be doing. Nicky's not even coming with me. This is a damn suicide mission I'm on."
"I can help!" Jared insisted.
"Go back to your cyberspace, Geek!" Chad snarled, making Jared and Nicky shoot wide-eyed stares of disbelief at him. He'd never said anything like that to Jared, even though he was teased relentlessly by other students, Chad never treated him like that. It was a shock to them both. "This isn't any of your business!"
Chad turned and pushed himself down the hall on his board as his friends stared after him, still in shock.
"Did he just…call me a geek?" Jared breathed and Nicky quickly straightened to turn to Jared.
"He didn't mean it, Jare," she assured him with a warm smile. "He's stressed out. Maybe you can just stay here and we'll call you if we need you, ok?"
Jared blinked in astonishment but nodded and Nicky gave a two-fingered salute with a wink as she headed after Chad n her board. She caught up with the blonde who didn't look at her as she came up next to him.
"You didn't have to be so mean, ya know?" she muttered.
"Yes, I did," he replied without looking at her and she shot a wide-eyed gaze at him, but he continued, "That way, he's so mad he won't wanna be around me. I'm protecting him, Nicky. I can't let any more of my friends get mixed up into this."
"You know he may not let you get away with it that easily," Nicky warned. "He may show up and follow you to Washington anyway."
"Well, I'll just have to beat him to a pulp for following me," Chad replied, stopping at a door. "Stick close, ok? I'll get us outta here without a hitch."
"Arrogant jerk," Nicky muttered, playfully.
"Oh," Chad chirped, stepping off his skate board and Nicky did the same with a frown. "I almost forgot."
He grabbed her arms in a firm grip, shoved her against the wall as she gasped and before she could ask what he was doing, he planted his lips to hers. She squeaked in surprise, her eyes wide in shock, but when he didn't move, she sighed and let her eyes flutter shut as he pressed her against the wall, gently before slowly breaking the kiss and looking to her for a reaction.
"How's that for your grand gesture?" he smirked, seeing her smile, her eyes still shut. Her eyes opened and her smile grew into a grin.
"That was great," she breathed, still smiling.
"Good," he nodded, leaving a quick, tender kiss to her lips before saying, "Now let's get outta here and back to my place."
CHAPTER 6
"You sure your parents are alright with this, Nicole?" Brandon wondered as he stood in front of the linen closet and pulling out sheets and blankets. "You're both kind of old for sleepovers."
"Yeah, well, they know we're not even thinking of each other like that," Nicky lied through her teeth as Brandon handed her blankets and sheets she'd need. "Besides, even if Chad thinks of me that way, I certainly don't find his scrawny ass interesting."
Brandon chuckled as Chad strolled up behind Nicky and ran his hand up her back, making her squeak in surprise and straighten as her eyes widened and she almost dropped the sheets and blankets she was holding. The man turned to her with a frown as she looked back at him and Chad grinned at him as well, looking like the cat that ate the canary.
"What happened?" he wondered.
"Nothing!" she chirped with a smile. "Nothing at all! I just had a little hiccup, that's all."
Brandon gave a small frown, glancing between the two young people before going back to rummaging in the closet. Chad's grin dropped to a smirk as he gave a sideways glance to Nicky and he slid his hand around her waist. She took a deep breath and stomped onto his foot, mercilessly hard. Chad growled in pain, bending down in impulse to sooth his foot and catching Brandon's attention again. The man frowned as Chad stood tall and glared at Nicky who only grinned at Brandon as he placed a pillow on the pile in her hands.
"I hope the couch is ok," Brandon said, shutting the closet door.
"The couch is—"
"She'll sleep on my futon," Chad cut in, gripping Nicky's wrist and pulling her down the hall toward his room as Brandon frowned at them, but they paid no attention.
"Chad, you promised," she reminded him and he groaned.
"I know," he groaned again. "But I can't help it. I've never had a girlfriend before. It's kinda nice."
"Yeah, well, try to contain yourself," Nicky smiled, leaving a tender kiss on his cheek. "I'm not letting you get any further than that."
"Cruel woman," he muttered as she turned back to the futon to spread out the blankets. He sighed as he sat on his bed and watched her with a smile.
"So what now?" she asked, not turning from the futon. "Are you really gonna go to Washington to find this guy?"
"You heard me say I was, didn't you?" Chad retorted, flopping onto his side on his bed.
"Yeah, but if this guy is watching us, won't he see you coming?" she wondered, turning and sitting on the futon and when she saw his frown of confusion, she explained, "If he's in Washington, and he knows you're coming, by the time you get there, he'll be somewhere else, won't he? And if you find out where he's gone, and head after him, he'll go somewhere else."
"Maybe," Chad shrugged. "But it doesn't matter. I'll follow this guy to the ends of the Earth if I have to, to get him off our backs."
"Our backs?" Nicky echoed with a frown. "You mean your back?"
"Nicky, he's watching you, too, or didn't you get that?" he retorted, sitting up.
"All I got was that he knew what we talked about last night," Nicky replied, leaning over to pull off her shoes. "From what you told me, that's all you two talked about on your own, too."
Chad frowned then felt his jaw slacken, his eyes widening in realization as he sat up and she frowned as his open mouth curved into an opened-mouthed smile. He stood up and leaned toward her, placing his hands on either side of her head as her frown turned to a wide-eyed stare of wonder and he placed a kiss to her lips before grinning at her again.