Nicola's POV

I groaned as I felt the sun light on my eyes. I turned over and snuggled deeper into the pillows. The floral scent of the pillows relaxed me even more. Wait! I don't have floral scented pillows. I squinted my eyes open to look around. I stared at the wall and realized that my dorm room was not painted light blue. Shit! I pulled the covers down and sighed in relief when I saw that I was still fully clothed. I held my breath while slowly turning over. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion since the right side of the bed was empty. I sat up on my elbows and observed the room. I saw a bottle of Icelandic water and a bottle of Advil on the side table. I quickly took them to ease my subtle headache.

Directly across from the bed was a tv built into the wall and a floating tv stand. A Wii and Xbox rested on the stand. A potted plant, books, and ceramics decorated the stand as well. To my right, I saw a hammock chair and a plush white couple couch. The desk was neatly organized with only a laptop and writing supplies present. I turned to my right to see a built in bookshelf. But instead of books being displayed, the shelf was cluttered with numerous trophies; tennis trophies to be exact. A door was slightly opened, so I leant forward to see that it was the bathroom. I then looked up, past the chandelier, to see a loft area. I scooted farther back so I could see upstairs better. I saw a piece of clothing so I assume that the closet is upstairs.

"You're awake." I jumped in surprise at the voice. My head darted to the right to see Alicia enter with a cup in her hands. "Umm... I see that you've taken the Advil. I went to get you some tea to settle your stomach." She handed it to me before sitting opposite me on the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Better since the Advil has started to kick in." I smiled. I was surprised when she returned my smile, but it was short lived since her face contorted into a stoic expression.

"What do you remember?" She hesitantly asked. I put my pointer finger to my chin as I tried to recall last night's events.

"I went with my friends to a frat party. I was having a fun time and got really drunk. I started to not feel well so I went to sit down and that was when I really started to feel bad. Then, this guy started hitting on me and I tried to reject him, but he wouldn't take the hint. He then took me upstairs and..." My eyes bulged and my hands covered my mouth. Alicia suddenly grabbed my hands and held them. Her hands were soft like pillows. She comfortably stroked my hands.

"He was only able to kiss you and possibly grope you." She murmured the last part. "I entered before he could... ya know." She awkwardly looked away. "Anyways, I called the chief of police and he will be arrested."

"Thank you." I genuinely meant it. "But you might as well let him go." I awkwardly chuckled.

"Why would I do that?" She was confused.

"Because I don't have any money for a lawyer and even if I did, he has more money and would drown my family in debt."

"I figured you'd say that. That's why I decided to sue him on your behalf."

"Really?" I gazed into her ocean eyes. She smiled and nodded. Something overtook me and I leant forward and embraced her. She was stunned so it took her a moment to reciprocate the hug. "Sorry." I said when I broke off the hug.

"Don't worry about it. Actually, it's 11:30. I'm pretty sure you're probably hungry and it's too late to offer you breakfast. How about you get ready and I take you out to eat?"

"Oh, I don't have any clothes-"

"You'll find new clothes in the bathroom. Also, leave your dress. I'll have it dry cleaned and return it to you tomorrow."

"Thanks, but I don't want to cause you to spend unnecessary money on me."

"That's fine. I figured you'd rather eat somewhere other than my house since you'd probably want to avoid my sisters for as long as possible." She laughed. A thought suddenly appeared to me.

"Thanks again. You succeeded in giving me a reason to forgive you." Her eyebrows furrowed at me.

"No, I haven't. I just did the right thing. I wasn't going to stand by and allow you to be further violated. I'll give you a proper reason to forgive me by showing you around Boston. Please." She gave me puppy dog eyes. I couldn't reject her even if I wanted to. She looked so cute and vulnerable like this. I shyly nodded which caused her to cheer. She then shuffled me into the bathroom and closed the door. I gazed in awe at the expensive design. I wasn't surprised by the marble jacuzzi in the middle of the room. What surprised me was the enormous fish tank built into the wall. The colorful fish happily swam by while I marveled at them. I shook my head before heading into the shower. The shower could probably fit around 8 people. I noticed that the shower had all these different knobs. I played with them and realized that the shower shot water out in different directions. Cool. I finished showering and used one of her lotions. It smelled just like her, jasmine. I saw the clothes neatly piled on the sink counter. A stick of deodorant, chapstick, and a toothbrush were also present. I did my routine and was dressed in short shorts and a baby blue off the shoulder top. She even gave me a bra and underwear. I guess I'll be keeping the last two based on the note she left. I exited the bathroom to see her lazily lying on the bed. She glanced up at me and smiled. Alicia was wearing a long sleeved, navy blue romper with pink and white floral designs. She wore wedges while offering me Vans. Alicia picked up a set of aviators and handed me one. She then picked up her purse and led me out her house.

"We're gonna head out the back so that you can avoid my family." We entered an elevator and she hit the 0 floor and we entered the garage. My mouth fell open as I stared at the expensive cars. "Come on." She dragged me towards a blue Maserati. She opened the passenger door and beckoned me inside. She then closed the door and entered the driver's side. We drove in comfortable silence until pulling up to the restaurant. "This is one of my favorite cafes." She smiled. The valet person opened my door and assisted me out. I followed behind Alicia. She removed her sunglasses and placed them on top of her head. The hostess recognized Alicia right away and guided us to the back. She handed us menus and left. "Order anything you'd like." She gazed outside. I would order anything I'd like if I could afford anything on this menu. The cheapest thing here was $120! Alicia must have realized my predicament since she snatched the menu from my hands. "Don't look at the price. What do you like to eat for breakfast?"

"Umm... French toast, waffles, pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, cereal..." I rambled stuff off the top of my head. She seemed satisfied since she simply nodded. The waiter soon arrived and asked us for our drink orders. I ordered orange juice while Alicia ordered a raspberry lemonade. When he asked for our orders, Alicia answered that she'd like the glazed salmon over the salad. She then ordered French toast, pancakes, waffles, basically everything I rambled off. She thanked the waiter before he left. My mouth hung open as I stared at her.

"What?" She asked, confused.

"What do you mean what?" I questioned back.

"You said that's what you like for breakfast and you didn't seem to be able to make up your mind, so I got you one of everything." She simply shrugged.

"You're something."

"Thank you." She smirked. "So... tell me about yourself."

"What do you want to know?"

"I don't know. Maybe where you're from, your family and friends, interests-"

"Okay. I get the idea." I chuckled. "Umm... I'm from North Carolina. I'm 17. I miss my friends back home since I've known them forever-"

"Why'd you decide to leave and come here?"

"My mom wanted me to attend this school. It's a dream of hers to have her kids attend this academy. My sister was rejected, so her dream was semi accomplished by me attending here."

"Do you regret coming here?"

"Umm... no because I met amazing people here, but I do miss my friends back home."

"So you only came here to fulfill your mother's dream?" She questioned. What is this? Rapid fire questions?!

"Yeeeeeeees." I drew out. She seemed satisfied by my answer since she just nodded and hummed. The waiter arrived with our food and placed her small little dish in front of her and placed my buffet in front of me.

"Bon appetit." She grinned at me. I first tried the French toast with powdered sugar. I nearly moaned in pleasure at the taste. I then tried the apple cinnamon pancakes which were equally as good. I sampled every dish in front of me. I snapped out of my foodgasm when I heard snickers across from me. I looked up to see Alicia covering her mouth with her hand. I quirked an eyebrow which caused her to regain composure. "Is it good?" She smirked.

"Very! Would you like to try some?"

"No thank you." She shook her head.

"Are you sure?" I pushed.

"I can't. Special diet." She remarked.

"You can't even break it for one day?" She stared at the food in consideration, but ended up shaking her head. "Right. You're an elite tennis athlete. Can't have you eating bad." I chuckled.

"Yeah." She drifted off. I was about to ask her if she was alright, but her phone rang. She looked at the caller I. D. and immediately answered. The longer she talked on the phone, the more her mood soured. I tried to zone out to give her the semblance of privacy. "It's alright. Just see to it that it is done." She hung up.

"Everything okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. Eat up and I'll show you around the city." She went back to eating her food. We ate in silence until I was stuffed and could no longer poke food down my throat. Alicia gave the waiter her card, much to my protest.