For the first time in years, Alan was trying to fix his hair in the bathroom mirror. Typically, he would just wash it, blow dry, lay it flat and run out the door. But this morning, he had taken a bit of his father's pomade and attempted to style his hair. He had picked out an outfit from the clothes that Daniel had gifted him with already, the outfit resting on his bed. He ran his fingers through his hair slightly, trying to recall how Daniel did it previously.

"What... are you doing?" a voice stated from outside, catching Alan's attention. He looked over to see his father staring at him in a surprised fashion.

"Hey dad... can you help me with this?" Alan asked, pointing to his now incredibly sleek hair. "I... have no idea how to use this stuff..."

"I can see that..." his father teased, watching a frown come to his son's face in annoyance. Walking over, he placed a hand onto Alan's hair, then immediately removed it. "Did you use half of my jar?"

"No! I used enough to fill my palm." Alan replied, confused.

"That's too much, Allie... rinse it out first." his father stated with a small laugh, as he watched Alan turn on the sink and begin to rinse his hair. "What's gotten into you? You typically don't style your hair."

"Well... I made a bet, so to speak..." Alan muttered, trying to figure out a way to not bring up the fact that Daniel was the reason for this whole ordeal.

"...There's a boy, isn't there?" his father bluntly stated with a smirk.

"DAD." Alan groaned, his head shooting up from the sink, a look of frustration on his face.

"It's fine, Allie. If it is, it's not a big deal." his father spoke with a smile, getting a towel to dry Alan's hair. He looked down at his son, seeing a look of bashfulness on his face. "Do you like him?" he asked, ruffling the towel against Alan's head.

Alan kept his gaze to the floor, a twisted frown on his face. "I do... but he doesn't know that I do..."

"Ah, unrequited love..." his father lightly joked, only to see Alan roll his eyes. Throwing the towel in a nearby hamper, he grabbed a blow dryer and began to dry Alan's hair. "Why don't you tell him?"

"I... can't. It's not that simple." Alan answered, his face exhibiting internal conflict. "Thomas screwed shit up."

"Alan, words." his father quickly stated, a bit firm.

"I'm sorry." Alan apologized just as fast. "We haven't... reconciled."

"You certainly don't have to if you don't want to do so. What Thomas did was... unnecessary." his father stated, turning off the dryer.

"Fucked up, is what you mean." Alan muttered, only to catch himself again. "Sorry."

"No, in that instance, you're right. It was pretty fucked up." his father stated with a laugh. He reached over to grab the jar of pomade and took a rather small amount into his hands, rubbing them together. "But, it's up to you to forgive him or not. I'm not going to judge you either way." He carefully began to run his hands through Alan's hair, styling it carefully along the way.

"Thanks dad..." Alan spoke softly, a small smile coming to his face.

"All done." his father stated, moving back to let Alan look in the mirror. He watched his son carefully examine his hair in the mirror, a bright smile coming to his face as he saw Alan nod happily. "Next time, just call me instead of sticking your whole hand into my jar." he teased, only to hear Alan laugh.

"Will do." Alan replied with a grin, reaching over to hug his dad quickly. "I'll see you at dinner..."

"Have a good day, Allie." his father spoke, watching his son quickly exit the bathroom.

I can only hope I have a good day.

-

Waiting for the bus was incredibly frustrating. He had yet to tell Nicolette about what he had gotten himself into, so he could only imagine what she was going to say when she saw him. He was dressed in a black J.Crew pullover sweater layered over a white button down shirt, slim fitted dark denim jeans and a pair of all white Vans that his mother bought him last year, but he never wore. He was wearing a Levi's khaki jacket, his bookbag on his shoulders. He didn't wear his glasses today and opted for contacts, making himself look barely recognizable. When the bus pulled up to his stop, the bus driver almost drove past him, seeing as he had to make a double take at Alan's appearance.

Geez... even the bus driver is making a scene at this... Alan thought to himself, sighing deeply as he climbed up the stairs of the bus. Once he hit the aisle, the entire bus got silent and stared. They weren't stares of disgust of disapproval, but utter shock, from girls and guys alike.

Alan stopped breathing as he carefully eyed the crowd. He slowly began to walk down the aisle, hearing shocked and amazed whispers along the way.

God... I don't like this... The attention was making him incredibly uncomfortable, his green eyes averting downward as he made his way towards Nicolette, who was incredibly engrossed in a book. Once he reached the seat, she glanced up towards him, and frowned.

"Hey... um, this seat is for someone else." she stated firmly, her eyes narrowing.

"Nikki..." Alan muttered meekly, a nervous grin on his face.

Nicolette started at him blankly, before blinking in utter shock. Her mouth hung open as her eyes grew wider. "Holy shit... ALAN?!" she shouted loudly, the entire bus looking back towards them both.

"Fuck, Nikki, shut up!" Alan whispered loudly, glancing about himself.

"My GOD... you.... Alan... THE FUCK?!" Nikki could barely speak, eyeing Alan intently as he stood there, before he shoved her over and took his seat quickly. He could still feel eyes on him as he sat, averting his gaze away from anyone else entirely.

"Explain. RIGHT NOW." Nicolette demanded, an amused but confused smile on her face.

"Take notes. It's a long story." Alan groaned, covering his face with his hands.

-

During the bus ride, Alan gave an abridged version of the situation with Daniel, save for the frog form and curse, seeing as he promised Daniel he wouldn't tell anyone about it. Instead, he gave a lie about how Daniel needed his help for a project and Alan agreed, and as repayment, he helped Alan change his image.

"Daniel 'hot as fuck' Lang helped you with this?" Nicolette stated, shocked.

"Yeah... I made a bet that I would wear my new clothes for an entire week... like a fucking moron..." Alan grumbled, having switched spots with Nicolette so people could stop starting at him.

"Does... he know?" She asked, curious.

"FUCK NO. And I hope he doesn't find out." Alan quickly answered. "Granted... he never will, because.... Thomas told him I was... straight..." he whispered with an annoyed grimace.

"...I wish you would just let me kill Thomas already." Nicolette answered with an annoyed expression of her own.

"He says hello, by the way..." Alan added with a roll of his eyes.

"He can say hello to my fucking fist." Nicolette spoke, cracking her knuckles.

The bus soon came to a stop as it reached the courtyard of the high school, the students beginning to disembark from the bus. Alan sunk even lower into the seat, not wanting to leave.

"Come, Alan. You don't look bad at all. You looking fucking stunning." Nicolette reassured him, grabbing his arm and dragging him out the seat. "Might as well bathe in all this attention, cause you sure as hell won't get it again next week when you go back to your old style."

"That's the hope..." Alan replied, climbing out the seat and walking behind her, his head hanging slightly.

"Just enjoy it! Who knows what you'll get out of it?" Nicolette protested happily. "At least you get to hangout with Daniel."

"That's the only good thing..." Alan rebutted, walking off the bus and into the building.

Once again, the stares and silence came as soon as he walked through the door. For fuck's sake... He kept that firmly to himself as he walked down the hallway to his locker, Nicolette walking along next to him. His hands made their way into his pockets, feeling unbearably nervous as he walked past people, hearing them whisper and mutter.

"Think this shit will stop?" Alan whispered to Nicolette softly, trying not to make eye contact with anyone.

"Nope." Nicolette teased, a smirk on her face. Once they reached his locker, the crowd slowly began to talk once again. Of course, it was about Alan, but in more detail.

"Holy shit... it's Alan Wilson."

"I thought that was a new kid."

"Since when was the nerd that fucking hot?"

"Damn, Wilson had a glow up."

"Make it fucking stop..." Alan muttered, trying to hide his face behind his locker door.

"Good luck, beautiful. I'm going to have to leave you." Nicolette stated with a gentle pat on his back, only to see Alan look over at her in utter disdain. "I have to head to the dark room for my photos before class starts. You'll be fine... just don't do anything crazy..."

"Like, run out of school and go back home?" Alan suggested, a slight pout on his face.

"Yeah... don't do that. And don't pout... it makes you more attractive." Nicolette teased, before walking past him.

Alan watched her leave quietly, before sighing deeply, beginning to empty out his bookbag as a distraction. I need to find Daniel... I cannot handle this shit alone...

"Alan?"

At the sound of his name, Alan looked over his left shoulder to see the last person he wanted any contact with right now: Thomas Thaxton. His eyes widened completely when he caught sight of Thomas, who in turn did the exact same thing.

"What... is this?" Thomas asked, his face blank from surprise, a hand waving towards Alan as he spoke.

"None... of your damn business..." Alan forced out, his eyes shifting to annoyance.

"Oh no... I'm not teasing you, Alan. Not at all." Thomas stated, sincere.

Alan stared at Thomas carefully, not expecting such a reaction from him. He had never seen an expression like this on his face, which made Alan even more nervous. "Then... what do you want?"

Thomas blinked, as if processing the question slowly in his mind. Then his lips curled into a solid smile. "To tell you what I want for not mentioning what I know about Daniel Lang..." Thomas replied, that smile rather pleasant and simple.

Alan's stomach turned at the sight, his hand gripping onto the door of his locker so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. "What... is that?" Alan asked through pursed lips.

Thomas moved in closer, to whisper something into his ear so no one else could hear.

"I want you."

-

So, what did you guys think?

Hopefully you enjoyed the back-to-back uploads the past 3 days!

The pictures above are of Thomas Thaxton and Nicolette Kruse, with models Alexandru Gorincioi and Raven Lyn Corneil respectfully representing these characters. Again, only using the images for character depiction.

The first two are of Thomas and I think this model shows his entire personality very well. As I mentioned before, Thomas is going to be a very involved character throughout the story. But don't worry, he'll eventually get what he deserves.

As for Nicolette, I wanted someone who gave off a tomboyish image, but was still feminine with large hair and this model was perfect.

As stated before, this is the last chapter until next week. I will not be posting this weekend. I hate to leave you guys with a cliffhanger, but the story gets so much more exciting after this.

For now, let me know what you thought and thanks again for reading! Until next week!

- Blu