They ended up in some busted old playground, the kind with creaky swings and graffiti-covered slides. It looked like every bad decision made by teenagers had once happened here—and somehow the night wasn't done adding to that legacy.
Sky kicked off her shoes and dropped onto the metal merry-go-round like it owed her money. A bottle of cheap liquor hung from her fingers, already half gone. Nicole sat on the swings, chain creaking under her weight. She didn't swing. Just breathed. Her knuckles still buzzed from smashing glass. Sky took a long pull from the bottle, then fished a crumpled pack of smokes from her jacket. "You smoke?"
Nicole raised a brow. "You offering or profiling?"
Sky shrugged, grinning. "Both." She tossed her the pack.
Nicole caught it, lit one with shaky fingers. Inhaled. Coughed a little, but didn't stop.
"Nice," Sky muttered, watching the smoke curl up into the night. "Didn't think you'd take it."
Nicole didn't answer.
"So," Sky said, twirling lazily on the spinning wheel. "You always this quiet after breaking shit, or is it just me?"
Nicole blew out a long breath. "I talk when it matters."
Sky chuckled, but her eyes narrowed slightly. "So what matters then?"
A beat passed. Nicole's jaw tensed.
"Family?" Sky offered. "Friends? Secret vampire boyfriend?"
Nicole gave a dry, humorless laugh.
Sky took another sip. "Ever been caught?"
Nicole flicked ash onto the gravel. "Caught doing what?"
"Anything." Sky's voice dropped lower now, teasing, but curious. "Like… juvie-caught."
Nicole's eyes stayed on the smoke curling from her lips.
"You have, haven't you?" Sky said, leaning forward like she'd just won something. "Holy shit, Jackson. What were you—like, twelve?"
"Thirteen," Nicole said softly. Her voice didn't match the fire in her bones. It was too calm. Almost cold.
Sky blinked. "Wait, seriously?"
Nicole stared into the dark. "Yeah."
The playground fell quiet except for the wind groaning through broken fences. Sky sat up straighter. "Okay. You gotta tell me what happened."
Nicole's fingers twitched.
"There was blood," she said finally. "And cops. And my mom… she lit a cigarette while they put me in the car."
Sky leaned in, her grin fading. "Damn. What did she say?"
Nicole didn't look at her. Her voice was steel, low and flat. "She said if someone hit me first, I better finish it. That life hits hard, so hit harder."
Sky's eyes widened a little, but she didn't joke this time.
"She didn't ask them not to take me," Nicole added. "Didn't cry. Just stood there watching, like it was training."
Then she dropped the cigarette and crushed it under her heel.
Sky whistled softly. "That's… dark."
Nicole looked up, her gaze sharp. "You wanted a story. You got one."
"Yeah," Sky said quietly. "But now I wanna know the ending."
Nicole stood, brushing ash off her jeans. "So do I."
Sky was quiet for a second, like the air had gotten too heavy to move through.
Then she exhaled and flopped back down on the merry-go-round, arms spread like she was surrendering to the night sky.
"You ever think maybe we're just… the wrong kind of girls?" she muttered.
Nicole raised an eyebrow. "Define 'wrong.'"
Sky smirked. "The ones moms warn their sons about. Or maybe just the ones no one warns anyone about 'cause they assume we're already lost causes."
Nicole didn't answer. She just sat back on the swing, letting the cigarette dangle between her lips, burning slow.
"I liked him, you know?" Sky said suddenly, voice brittle. "Marcos. That idiot back there. I liked him so much it made me stupid."
Nicole glanced over. "And now?"
"Now I hope he finds glass in his bed tonight."
Nicole gave the tiniest smirk. "Revenge suits you."
Sky looked at her, the corner of her mouth tugging up. "It suits you better. You looked hot smashing that car."
Nicole snorted. "You got a weird definition of hot."
Sky laughed, a real one this time. It echoed strangely in the dead playground. "Says the girl who drop-kicked a locker and choked a guy her first week."
There was a pause. Just the wind and city sounds in the background.
"I guess we both broke something today," Sky added, more quietly.
Nicole met her eyes. "Yeah. The rules."
Sky raised the bottle in salute. "To rule breakers."
Nicole didn't clink it. She just stared ahead.
"Sky?" she said after a moment.
"Yeah?"
"Don't fall in love with me."
Sky froze.
"Why?" she asked, trying to keep her voice light.
Nicole's smile was sharp and sad. "Because I don't survive happy endings."
Sky blinked, stunned into silence. The moment stretched between them, thick with smoke and pain and something unspoken.
Then a phone buzzed. Loud in the quiet.
Sky checked it, frowning. "Micah."
Nicole stood. "We should go."
Sky hesitated, still staring at her.
Nicole started walking. "You coming or what?"
Sky stood, pocketing the lighter and grabbing the bottle. "Damn right I am."
And just like that, they left the playground behind. Two girls, broken in different ways, walking side by side toward whatever came next. Because sometimes the only thing more dangerous than enemies…
is allies who understand your damage.
Sky's car rolled to a stop in front of Nicole's place. The engine hummed low, headlights casting long shadows across the driveway.
"Home sweet hell," Sky said, tipping the last of her drink back before setting the bottle down between them. "You gonna invite me in or what?"
Nicole didn't answer. She opened the door, stepped out, and paused. Her fingers curled into fists.
Sky leaned her head out the window. "Hey—what, no goodnight kiss? We just bonded over vandalism, Jackson."
Nicole didn't look back. She walked to the front of the car… then stopped.
Sky squinted. "Uh… Nicole?"
Nicole turned slowly, her face unreadable in the dark. Then, like something inside her snapped, she grabbed the nearest rock from the flowerbed, turned, and smashed it through Sky's front windshield.
"Holy—what the fuck?!" Sky screamed, ducking as glass exploded across the dash.
Nicole didn't wait. She dropped the rock like it burned her and bolted toward her house.
"Are you kidding me?!" Sky shouted, leaping out of the car, crunching glass under her boots. "Nicole!"
But the door slammed shut. Locked. Nicole stood behind it, chest heaving, eyes wide. She didn't cry. She didn't speak. She just watched through the curtain as Sky banged on the door.
"Are you serious right now?!" Sky yelled. "You used me! We smashed his car and then you smash mine?! What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Still, Nicole didn't move. Didn't answer.
Sky hit the door once, then again, then let her forehead fall against it. Her voice dropped, quieter now, raw.
"I actually liked you."
No answer. From inside the house, a sleepy voice broke the silence. "Nicole?"
Mark stood at the hallway entrance, hair messy, shirtless, rubbing his eyes. "Why is someone screaming outside?"
Nicole didn't look at him. Mark walked toward the door, glanced through the peephole, and groaned. "Jesus. What a crazy blonde"
Mark opened just in time for Sky to shout, "I WANT NICOLE!"
Mark blinked, unimpressed. "You need Jesus."
Sky leaned in, furious. "She broke my mirror!"
Mark held up a hand like a traffic cop. "Leave now, or I'm calling the cops."
Sky backed up slowly, eyes narrowed. "This isn't over, Barbie. You just made it personal."
Mark cut her off. "And you're scaring the neighbors."
Sky stood there, shaking with frustration. Her car sat broken in the driveway behind her, windshield shattered like their alliance.
Finally, she turned.
"I should've let you burn," she muttered.
Nicole didn't flinch. She just watched her go.
And when Sky's car finally peeled off into the night, she sank down behind the door, her back pressed to the wood. Silent. Alone. And more broken than she wanted to admit.
Nicole didn't move from the door. Not even after Sky's engine faded into the distance.
"You're insane." Mark said
Nicole stretched like a cat and yawned. "Takes one to know one."
He glared. "You almost got our old apartment burned down over a sandwich, and now this?"
Nicole shrugged. "It was a really good sandwich."
Mark groaned and trudged upstairs followed by Nicole.