Nicholas Garcia

Nick, Nico, Nicky, whatever you wanna call me // 17

[nico-garciaa]

ffswyctt‌:

“yes, i went to ucla. why do you seem so surprised?” wyatt shook his head, thinking back to how many times the teens came into his office and probably glanced at his diploma on the walls. “yes, i do. all you need to do is talk to someone from the school and you’ll figure out what they have to offer money wise. and academics. you can do it, nico.” 

Why was Nico so surprised? “I don’t know. I can see you’re a college guy but... I guess I didn’t see you as a ucla guy?” It made absolutely no sense and he knew it. “Yeah,” He started nodding his head, feeling a little less helpless as Wyatt explained what to do. “I can do that. That’s not hard.”

[nico-garciaa]

imessage -- nico

saffron: where would you go? if you could.

saffron: i was meant to compete instead of just cheering everyone on

saffron: it's all good though, i used to want to be a cheerleader - but i would have had to clone myself to have the time and idk how to do that.

nico: visit my grandparents.

nico: .... that was lame wasn't it

nico: you're a cheerleader? or used to be one?

[nico-garciaa]

imessage -- nico

saffron: i'm an odd person, 99% of what i say is odd

saffron: it's honestly nothing

saffron: i have permission to miss class next week because i was supposed to be busy, but now i'm not, so i figured why not use the time off anyway?

saffron: i mean who picks going to class over going away somewhere?

nico: i'd miss class any time if i could

nico: i love school, but sometimes, i need a break

nico: what were u supposed to go do?

[nico-garciaa]

ffswyctt‌:

though he was madder than hell he had to pick nico up from the police station, wyatt could sympathize a little bit with the male. he understood why he was lashing out and why he felt like nothing mattered. wyatt had been there in his own life and he was able to move on. he wanted the best for the teens and maybe yelling wasn’t the answer right now. “there are different kinds of aid that can help you attend college. you’re independent. it means something with the government. yeah? ucla is a good school. i’d know that personally.”

“Huh? You went to ucla?” Nico knew Wyatt was a smart man, one who was obviously college educated. But he just didn’t expect that the man had gone to such a good school. “You think I could really get enough money in financial aid and scholarships to go to college?” He wasn’t very confident about that.

[nico-garciaa]

saffronmontgomery‌:

“I mean… I think getting so drunk you can’t remember what happened, is reserved for when you do something embarrassing that you want to forget about. So unless you have something that qualifies as too embarrassing to remember, that wouldn’t be a bonus.” She joked before shrugging. “Actual bonuses would be… Finding the good food because everyone is more focused on the drinks. Taking the cutest pictures, because everything has to be documented. But that might have to do with my food and picture obsession, so I guess the bonuses are whatever you think would make your night better.” 

“Yeah but the hangover you get from that isn’t worth it.” It was probably the main reason why drinking never appealed to him. Even just one drink had him feeling tipsy, and gave him a horrible headache the next morning. It was safe to avoid drinking altogether. As Saffron continued talking, he got a little sad. He couldn’t really document anything on his phone. He was afraid that anything he took a picture or video of would somehow find its way to some people he was trying to avoid. So social media and anything like that was a big no-no. “Food is a really good bonus. Thankfully the food here is the bomb dot com.”

[nico-garciaa]

imessage -- open

saffron: if you had enough money to fund going away for a week, you had somewhere to stay AND you were going to support friends; you'd go wouldn't you?

saffron: there's no reason not to if everything perfectly aligns is there?

saffron: that would just be being an awful friend.

nico: yeah i'd go, especially if it fits into my schedule

nico: this sounds oddly specific... wanna talk about it?

[nico-garciaa]

ffswyctt‌:

wyatt believed that part of the reason the house was so successful and teens flocked there when they had no other place to go was because wyatt took the time to understand each and every one of them. he made it his mission to improve the lives of these displaced teenagers. he wanted the best for them and wanted to teach the lessons that were important. ones he wished he was given at their age. “i understand. rebelling is a common outlet when things look grim. i’ve done it in the past. almost every single one of you has done it, i’m sure. that’s not always the best way to go about things, though.” he exhaled, lifting his hand to touch nico’s shoulder. “that’s a good start. let’s look into colleges this week. see what some of your options are.” 

In the beginning of the conversation, Nico was almost disappointed that Wyatt hadn’t been yelling at him; he felt that he deserved to get yelled at for his horrible behavior. But now he was glad that Wyatt was understanding. Surely Wyatt wasn’t technically a father figure, but he sometimes felt like one. “I’m not sure I could afford college. I always planned to go... But to a community college. Not like... UCLA or anything like that.”

[nico-garciaa]

saffronmontgomery‌:

Mock bowing at the applause, she returned the gesture as he finished. “Best sprinkler I’ve ever seen in my life, and if anyone else was paying attention I’m sure they’d say the same.” That, or they’d point out just how ridiculous the whole thing was. “And now I promise not to judge you if you want to leave. Kind of covered all the essentials now - anything else is just a bonus.” 

Nico hoped no one was looking. But he did have a nice time dancing though. He didn’t really want to leave now, he enjoyed talking to her, but if she mentioned it it meant she didn’t want to talk to him anymore right? How did party etiquette go? “And what exactly is a bonus? I would think the bonus is get so drunk you can’t remember what happened, but that doesn’t seem fun.”

[nico-garciaa]

ffswyctt‌:

“you don’t need to get yourself wrapped up in stuff like that. it’s not a good life to lead. moving in and out of jail and not being able to achieve what you wanted.” wyatt sighed loudly, leaning against his car as he kept his eyes on the teenager. “don’t worry about it. i don’t let it defeat me. you shouldn’t let yours defeat you either. you’re a smart kid. you have so much going for you. don’t let that get ruined because you feel the need to rebel.” his hand lifted to touch nico’s shoulder. “you’re good at a lot of things. you just need to find the one thing that makes you happy.” 

Nico nodded his head- he found himself doing that a lot in this conversation. He didn’t have anymore excuses for himself, so there was nothing left to say. “Yeah, but... I don’t know. There’s this, like, weird itch inside of me that makes me want to do that stuff. And I know I shouldn’t be telling you this stuff, but I don’t know what to do about it.” He felt ashamed of that feeling inside of him, the one that made him want to rebel. He knew he should ignore it but he couldn’t. He shrugged before saying, “School makes me happy, I guess... I like learning.”

[nico-garciaa]

saffronmontgomery‌:

“Guess they’re gonna have to be.” She shrugged, with the hint of a laugh in her voice. Doing the weirdest version of the robot she could come up with, she turned in a square, before mock bowing. “No need for applause, I know it was awesome.” 

Despite her words, Nico applauded anyway. The dance was corny no matter who did it, but he had to admit she did the dance pretty good. “That was good, but how about this-” He did his best sprinkler, trying his hardest not to burst into laughter. “Huh? Good, right?”

[nico-garciaa]

gemmahq‌:

“they’re a little cringe, not gonna lie.” gemma laughed, quirking an eyebrow. “people who are like, twelve years old maybe.” she had her fair share of disney star crushes growing up, though she wouldn’t directly admit that. “tequila can be fun to drink, but maybe not too much of it. not my favorite liquor, to be honest.”

“Yeah, true...” Nico said with a shrug. “Its only fun when you’re already drunk, and can’t taste it.” He thought for a moment. He’d tried a lot of alcohols, so he at least had a favorite. “Only thing I can tolerate is Rum Chata.”

[nico-garciaa]

ffswyctt‌:

wyatt felt his anger starting to desiccate as he listened to the younger male speak. he understood his pain. he understood his lashing out but wyatt wasn’t going to allow the teens in the house to be felons under his roof. there had to be another way to get your shit together. “anything else. focus your anger on a punching bag or a new hobby. don’t do anything illegal that will land you more jail time. you are a smart kid. don’t let anything stupid screw up your future.” he sighed, taking a step closer to nico for a moment. “i was young when my sister disappeared and my entire family fell apart. my dad renovated the house to be a safe haven back then for teens like you. channel your pain like he did into something else.” 

“I know.” Nico shook his head, and said with more resolve, “I know I should, and that I have to but I don’t know what.” He was surprised to hear that Wyatt had gone through something similar. If he had gotten over that and made something of himself, then so could Nico. “I’m sorry that happened to you.” He shook his head. “And, I hear what you’re saying, I do, but I don’t know what to do. I’m not good at anything, and I don’t have anything to go and fix up. The only talent I have is breaking into stuff and that’s obviously not doing anyone any good.”

[nico-garciaa]

saffronmontgomery‌:

“The most shame. But it’s okay, I’ll keep your secret so nobody else can judge you for it.” Finishing with a gasp, she had to remind herself not to drop the volume in her voice, considering she wouldn’t have been heard. “Between your best sprinkler ever and my amazing robot, I almost feel bad for everyone else, who’ll have to settle with never having such awesome moves.” Linking her arm through his, she scanned the room looking for a space, before pointing one out. “Ready yo show everyone else up?” 

“Ha, thanks.” Nico looked to where she had pointed, and started walking there. He was embarrassed to say that he was a little nervous to dance in front of a lot of people; but everyone else was busy dancing so they weren’t paying any attention to him. Or he had to hope they weren’t paying attention to him. “I’m ready... The question is, is everyone else in here ready?”

[nico-garciaa]

ffswyctt‌:

there were times when wyatt’s father made him feel like he was two feet tall and wyatt never wanted to do that to any of the teens at the house. he wanted them to feel welcome but he hated punishing them. although it was necessary, he tried to teach them morals and values so they wouldn’t choose those paths. he was angry as he walked next to nico. he and ares were really pushing his buttons and wyatt was trying to keep himself together. not blow up at the seams. “you need to figure it out.” he said, moving towards his car in the parking lot, keeping an eye on nico to assure he was moving as well. “stealing a car should not be a replacement for something internal. there are better outlets to feel better, nicholas.” 

Nico was by no means mad at Wyatt for his reaction to all of this. He was mad at the world, for what it did to his mom and the pain it caused her, and for taking her away from him at such a pivotal part of his youth. He missed her, and he was mad that he even had to miss her in the first place. “Yeah, well I tried every other fucking outlet there was.” He struggled to remind himself that Wyatt was not the one he was mad at. “I tried drinking, and drugs, punching a wall, and stealing that car but nothing is helping. What the hell else am I supposed to do, huh?” He stopped walking, needing to calm down before he got any angrier.

[nico-garciaa]

gemmahq‌:

“that’s unfortunate for him, then.” gemma snorted, meeting nico’s gaze yet again when he questioned her rebellious days. “yeah… not to any extreme extent. i suppose the usual things any stupid teenager would do. sneak out, drink from my mom’s wine bottle and replace what was taken with grape juice–that kind of thing.”

Nico furrowed his brows. “Are Disney characters not a good thing? Don’t people find them attractive to some extent?” He knew he had. “Ahhh, I see. I’m Mexican so we had tequila as opposed to wine. That is not a fun thing to drink. Also a little hard to replace it with anything.”

[nico-garciaa]

saffronmontgomery‌:

“What? You don’t enjoy needing to scream to be heard? Shocking.” Rolling her eyes, she made sure to follow it with a smile, on the off-chance he didn’t understand that she was joking. “A bad ass sprinkler? Now that I have to see. Who wouldn’t want to see a bad ass sprinkler? I don’t trust people who wouldn’t.” 

“I know right, shame on me.” Nico laughed before giving Saffron a scoff. “Excuse me, I’m offended. Watch, you’re gonna see that I have the best damn sprinkler ever. I agree, sprinklers are a classic and anyone who doesn’t wanna see one is crazy.” He offered her his arm. “Shall we show off to the other dancers up there?”

[nico-garciaa]

ffswyctt‌:

hanging up the phone, wyatt wasn’t really sure what he did to deserve the teens acting like fools but he figured it was because of something he did when he was younger. he wasn’t always the best kid and now he was getting payback. he knew he couldn’t leave nico in jail for a long period of time but the idea stayed in his mind for a while. grabbing his jacket, he moved through the house, letting people know he would be back in no time. he wasn’t rushing to the police station. nico would have to stew on his decisions. ones that he knew were probably stemmed from something else as nico was generally a good kid. he wasn’t sure how he was going to punish the male but wyatt had an idea. 

the lobby of the police station wasn’t busy and wyatt spotted nico soon enough, hearing his voice before anything else. he lifted a hand to wave nico off from speaking, making his way to sign the teenager out. it wasn’t until they were outside of the station that wyatt spoke to him for the first time. “what the hell were you thinking? or were you even thinking at all?” 

Wyatt’s silence filled Nico with dread. The man must’ve so incredibly pissed at him if he was this quiet. He almost wished that he’d been left at the police station, left alone to his thoughts. Nico racked his brain for anything else he could say, how he could explain this to Wyatt. It was too soon when Wyatt finally spoke. “I- I don’t know...” he refused to cry. He tried to blink away his tears. Everything happening this week was too overwhelming and having someone he respected be this mad added on too much stress. “I thought it’d make me feel better...”