Nickolle (1)
We were released from the shitty hospital with our parents but Dad was still missing. I was scared we’d never see him again and doctors said they believed him to be dead.
There was no proof so we decided to wait until it could be proven. We met the sheriff and ended up having to walk to our new neighborhood.
The houses weren’t very welcoming and they looked old and as if they would collapse at any moment. We separated for the night, discovering the houses were fully furnished.
There were some things the people here had provided for us to have a smooth move in but it wasn’t home yet. I wondered if Bryan was here; if his parents managed to make it through that line of cars that was soon turned away.
Was his dad’s car one that made it in? Or was it rejected? I sit on the bed, staring around at the room. The house was old; it might be haunted.
It was a bit bigger than the houses in New Orleans and there were enough rooms for me to have my own.
Rockelle and Nichelle shared a room upstairs because they wanted to have a bathroom connected to their bedroom. I looked around my room, peering out the window and seeing a group of kids riding back into town. I wonder where they had gone- they had gone by multiple times.
I wondered if they were going to Armadillo Junior High and I wondered if people would be accepting of me and my newer friends.
Were they my friends? We walked from somewhere in New Mexico to here and we had to defend each other from the world by ourselves.
Skylynn was a natural leader and she got us here. We might not have been accepted immediately but now we were free to float along with the hustle and bustle of the town.
Mom came upstairs and I heard her go into Rockelle and Nichelle’s room. She said something to them then she came over to my room.
“Hey, honey.” She closed the door, sitting down on the bed and smiling weakly. She had been crying; I could tell. “We’re gonna get Burger Tank for dinner. I don’t feel like cooking.”
I nod, knowing words weren’t necessary. I stand up, running my fingers through my long hair as a brush and following her and my sisters to the local Burger Tank.
There was no drive-thru since there were no cars. Instead we had to go in to order, taking our food and walking back to the house.
It was awkward and I figured most people just sat down and ate but I don’t think Mom wanted to be around the public right now.
Instead we gathered around a small table in our living room, sitting on the floor and picking through our food. Our milkshakes melted as we didn’t feel like drinking them.
Nichelle finished everything, heading upstairs to the room. I knew she was upset and I hoped she would talk to us about how she was feeling. She idolized Dad- a lot like how I did.
I chew my lip instead of the food and Mom sighs, setting her burger down. She had managed to take a few bites out of it and she pushed the wrapper towards us. “You guys can eat what you want.”
She goes upstairs and Rockelle sighs. “Do you think Scotty’s okay?”
“I don’t know who’s okay but we should wait until school tomorrow to make note of who we lost.” I sigh. “Not like I had friends to lose.”
“What about Bryan? Or Elley?”
“Elley doesn’t really count and Bryan and I haven’t talked in a while.”
“Oh,” Rockelle was quiet, slurping down her milkshake before declaring that she was going to bed. I watched as she left the living room and I cleaned up all the wrappers, taking myself upstairs and collapsing onto the bed.
I missed Bryan but I wouldn’t be able to dwell on him. If he was dead- God, my Bryan, dead- I would be devastated. That’d be the second man I loved the most dead. Bryan was still just a kid- as was I- but I knew I was in love with him.
Maybe it was time to push those feelings aside and get a grip on reality. I closed my eyes, falling asleep.
Mom woke me up the next morning and I pulled on a dress before putting together a backpack. We had to go shopping at some point for things to personalize the house.
It would probably be a while though. After breakfast I walked with Rockelle and Nichelle to school. The others were there too but everyone was silent.
School started at 8:30 and we would be out of here at five. We separated from our younger siblings at the door and they went over to the elementary school, waving goodbye excitedly.
There was almost no grass here; it was all dead and crunched under my shoes. We entered the building, comparing schedules.
“You know what?” Skylynn says, looking at us. “We’re gonna be friends. We’ll put people in their place.” She was so proud of herself I almost didn’t want to point out we needed to stay in ours too.
We go to a classroom and I’m nervous. This is Mrs. Abbott’s classroom. She would be my teacher next year and the year after so I had to make a good impression.
Skylynn opened the door, strutting in and smiling out at the class. I glanced at everyone, meeting the eyes of a cute boy. He smiled and I felt myself blush.
Mrs. Abbott assigns us seats, explaining that the kids around us would be more than happy to help us if we had any questions. The kid next to me pulled out my chair, smiling before going back to minding his own business for a while. He eventually began staring at me.
“What do you want?” I ask, but I kind of enjoy the attention. He was cute and he could probably date anyone he wanted. Why he was choosing me made my heart flutter.
“What time do we get out of here?” He asked and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
“How should I know?” I was new. I literally just walked in for the first time and he expects me to know the times of class dismissals?
“Oh right, you’re new here.” He smiles and looks back at the blackboard for a moment before turning back to me. We were whispering. “Well how was it? The apocalypse?”
“Trash.” I mumble, keeping my eyes on the board. I can’t look at him again. I think I’m falling in love.
“That sucks I guess. So which one are you?” Which one? Which one? As if we’re some sort of lab experiment results? I wish I could tell him that I’m human and I’m not some “one” but I answer him instead.
“Nickolle.” I turn to him slightly. “What’s your name? I didn’t catch it .”
“Noa.” He smiles then adds “Without the ‘h’.” He smiles at me again and my heart flutters. I was definitely in love. Not a fan of his name- it was kind of girly in my opinion, but I guess I could get used to it.
Bryan had a cool name. It sounded nice, it was fun to say, and it was nice to write down, but Bryan wasn’t here. Noa was. I couldn’t expect him to love me if I was thinking of someone else.
“That’s cool. I’ve never met anyone with their name spelled like that.”
“Yeah, I have to tell people when they write my name. They always add an ‘h’.” Noa smiles and I nod.
“I know what that’s like. My name is spelled differently too. You probably already know since you’re so invested in the apocalypse.”
He chuckles. “Well I’d rather hear it from you.”
“It’s spelled N-I-C-K-O-L-L-E. We found out my dad’s dead. That’s what everyone’s saying. I can’t imagine a world without him but here I am living in it.”
Noa nods. “Have you ever had a boyfriend?”
I shake my head. “I liked a kid once but we didn’t get very far. I really liked him too.”
“Aw that sucks.” Noa frowns and Mrs. Abbott assigns us into groups to work on something. We were partnered with the kid next to us so mine was Noa.
Skylynn was near the back and I glanced back at her. She was smirking, looking over at a kid in the corner of the room but Noa caught my attention before I could look at the kid for myself.
We started working on the project and Noa helped me organize my notes. He had one notebook full of literally everything Mrs. Abbott taught.
While we worked silently she was sitting at her chunky metal desk grading papers and flipping through things. I focused on the project at hand and Noa was talking about the answers.
Noa was smart like Bryan. Noa was like Bryan. Bryan was like Noa. I want to ask Noa if he’d seen Bryan but if he did I didn’t want there to be any harsh feelings.
Instead I blurt out, “Wanna sit with my friends at lunch?”
Noa smiles, glancing back and then looking at me again. “Uh yeah sure. Thanks. Could my friends come, maybe?”
“If they want.”
“Okay I’ll just sit with you and test the waters for them.” Noa smiles. He’s the leader of his little group. I wonder who he was friends with in the back.
I looked back, seeing a few boys and girls with heads bent together as they talked about their project. I thought one looked like Bryan but that was just me wishing it was him.
Mrs. Abbott handed out a math paper and we worked through our problems while we waited for the dismissal to lunch.
Noa helped me when I got stuck and he was super nice. He was like a dream come true and he was handsome too.
At lunch we gathered around a table and Noa waved to a girl and a boy with a hoodie. The same ones we saw riding bikes.
They join us and I recognize Eli. “Oh my gosh, Eli, you’re okay!”
He nods. “I was evacuated. My mom was talking to Noa’s dad. Fun right?”
I share a look with the girl. “I’m Becky. It’s nice to meet you.” She had long black hair and bangs that were just above her caramel brown eyes.
She was really pretty and I could tell she spent a lot of time in the sun. Noa also looked like he spent a lot of time outside but it wasn’t anything like Becky.
Skylynn eyes us and she smiles. “Nice to have new recruits, I guess.” She smiles at Eli and Becky and her gaze lingers on Noa a moment longer.
“Yeah,” Noa looks awkward, glancing over at a table that a kid sat at.
“Did you leave someone?” Skylynn asks, looking over at the table, too.
Noa shrugs. “He didn’t want to come, probably. He’s not very social. I kind of had to adopt him. Now he’s kind of an orphan again.”
“It’s okay, he was a weird kid back at our old school.” Eli laughs. He is sitting next to Elley and I could tell she had a crush.
“Really?” Becky asks. “He seems normal. He’s a sweetheart. Do you guys know him then? Where are y’all from?”
“We’re all friends from a shitty academy school thing over in New Orleans.” Skylynn answers. “Do you guys get bullied here?”
Becky and Noa share a glance. They’re the only two at this table both native to Armadillo. “Uh no. Bullying is highly acted upon and kids have ended up in jail and stuff. Especially when they get physical with their victims.” Becky explains.
“Oh. Do you have any stuck up and entitled assholes around here?”
“Just Jessica Goodman, she, uh, she, well,” Noa was struggling for words and it was kind of cute. “Her parents give more money at church than other families and she brags that she can afford to help people like us a lot.”
“Good, watch this.” Skylynn gets up, strutting over to the girl’s table, exchanging a few words with her, then dumping a milk carton on her head.
Maybe our time in Armadillo wouldn’t be so fun.
