Temperatures had dropped well below freezing, prompting the heaters to rattle around in response and combat the cold. Despite their valiant effort, they managed to spew air that was mild at best–unhelpful at worst. This left the club room with a definite chill. I pulled the drawstrings of my sweatshirt tighter and situated myself in the chair at the long side of the rectangular table. It wasn’t often I was able to sit there anymore; Serena had claimed it as a favorite of hers and was rather unwilling to relinquish it. I found it hard to fault her since the spot gave you the perfect view to stare out the window and see who was coming or going. The courtyard was buried in white, snowflakes relentlessly tumbling from the gray sky. I watched them awhile longer until the door creaked open and announced Nicole’s presence.

“No luck?” I asked, doing my best to hide my disappointment. 

She trailed her sweatshirt sleeve along the tabletop before dropping into the seat to the left of me. “Unfortunately. I know I said to leave it to me, but damn, I forgot how stubborn she can be.”

I laughed lightly. “It used to be one of your favorite things to complain about.”

“You’re funny today.”

The heater gurgled particularly loud to cover up for the quiet that had fallen over us. I wondered if our conversation was going to be stilted, the same as it had been between Aubrey and me. Yet, it seemed like Nicole was mulling something over rather than avoiding me. Her hand was cupped around her chin and her bright eyes blinked rapidly. When she hammered a fist on the table, I nearly jumped out of the skin.

“Aubrey might not know it yet, but I can be hella persistent.” She practically snarled, teeth glimmering in the low lights. “We’ll postpone this for now. This is something I want to talk to both of you about. Besides, who knows how much longer I can be alone with you in this room before you jump me?”

“You’re funny today too,” I drawled, already pushing to my feet. A surge of nervous energy coursed through me, but I pushed it down. It was better that she wasn’t acting weird around me.

“I’m not wrong, though. A kiss isn’t too far out of the realm of possibilities, is it?”

I scratched my cheek. “About that, I might have gotten—“

My sentence was interrupted by the feel of soft lips brushing against my cheek. My body tensed, heat rising from my neck to my face in a sudden rush. It only lasted for a fleeting moment before she playfully skipped away, a self-satisfied grin in place of her earlier frown. Her touch left a lingering warmth on my skin, and I couldn't help but run a finger over the spot. That small motion had her eyes practically lighting up.

“Hah, I guess it wasn’t. Seems like you should have been the one on guard.”

“Wha…”

Nicole laughed at my elegant wordplay. “We’ll leave it there for now.”

The steady ticking of the second hand echoed in my ears, and it was all but impossible to ignore the wetness on my cheek or how they were burning. A pang of guilt stabbed through my chest, every throb an accusation of wrongdoing. Yet, I hadn’t been the one to initiate anything. Sure, I wouldn’t deny having enjoyed the kiss, but I still needed to talk to Aubrey again. Nothing spur of the moment was going to change that.

“I can’t respond to your feelings right now, Nicole. I also want to talk to Aubrey first.”

“Of course. I’m not so blind as to not see that.” She placed a hand on her hip. “But be aware, I plan on doing whatever it takes to win. I’m not a nice girl like she is, so Aubrey better make up her mind soon, or you’re as good as mine.”

There was no denying the surge of electricity I felt watching her lick her lips. The ringing of the bell was my saving grace, in more ways than one. It sent her scrambling for the door with a belated ‘see ya,’ allowed me to gain some semblance of control again, and left how upstanding my reaction truly had been undiscovered by her.

“As good as yours, huh?” I pushed the toe of my shoe into the table leg. “Would you say that if you knew why she was being hesitant?”

I hoped I knew the answer to that already.

On my third day of failure, Aubrey gave to me: three shrugs of her shoulders, two shakes of her head, and a small smile in her rush out of English class. I sighed like a man on death row and gave a few vague statements to feign my interest in whatever Jack was going on about. Nicole had headed off in hot pursuit but even the most deranged betting men wouldn’t stake anything on those odds. It seemed like convincing her to come to the club room these days was akin to torture, which made her disappearing acts all the more worrisome. 

“Sorry, I know you don’t like to talk about this kind of stuff in the classroom.”

I bumped my elbow into the backpack that Jack flung over his shoulders. “It’s not that. I guess I’m just a little lost in thought today.”

He chuckled. “These last few days?”

“You got me there. What were you talking about, though, out of actual curiosity?”

“Just if you wanted to go to the premiere opening of the new Magical Girls: Rising? It’s supposed to be crazy violent. I heard online that a few countries are even banning it.”

We squeezed through the doorway in a slow, sideways shuffle that would have impressed a hermit crab more than the group of people behind us waiting to leave. A few made their displeasure known, shoving themselves between us and around in a hallway that was already much too crowded. That ended with us getting separated by a wall of bodies and part of a human shuffleboard. Bounced around and tousled without regard, it was a relief when we reunited at the end of the hall. He was a little worse for the wear, his downy jacket was ruffled and creased at angles that would normally be unthinkable in a school setting, but otherwise gave off his normal cheerful aura. He truly was a wonderful person to be unchanged after going through that fresh hell.

“You got that weird look you get when you’re deep in thought.”

“You’re mistaken.” I waved him off, trying to ignore how idiotic those thoughts were. “Anyway, when’s this movie at?”

“I can remember the exact date, but I’m sure it was in a week or two.”

“Doesn’t matter much since I’m probably free either way, but text me, and I’ll let you know.”

“Sounds good.” He rounded the corner, stopping a few feet away from the main office. “You are going to your club, right?”

“Yep.”

“Cool, I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t forget the broadcast for the newest season of Sledgehammer Guy starts at midnight.”

I laughed a little at his endless enthusiasm. “If I’m up, I’ll watch it. Otherwise, you’ll have to let me know what you thought about it.”

“You know I will!” 

And with that, I melded back into the crowd rushing to their cars, the bus, or their own clubs. My footsteps felt a little heavier than usual, yet I figured that was starting to be my new usual. It was depressing going into the club room and trying to maintain my distance from Nicole while Serena looked more and more uneasy every day. Guess it could have been worse, though. At least, we had been able to maintain some semblance of normalcy while waiting for Aubrey to come around. I just wondered how much longer we could maintain that before the illusion shattered completely.