18. New Starts

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you your graduating class" All the students that were graduating threw their hats up in the air celebrating. As everyone was walking away, they were met by their family.

Someone placed their hands over Nicki's eyes. "Guess who?"

"Hmm, let me guess. Big hands, deep voice, smells a bit funky, is it Drake?"

"I didn't think you would guess correctly and I do not smell funky" Drake lifted up his arm and smelled his armpit.

"I was kidding, now put your armpit down" Nicki told him.

"Anyway... Congratulations my beautiful graduate" Drake said pulling Nicki into his arms, hugging her and kissing her forehead.

"Thank you" Nicki smiled when they released from each other. Her parents walked over to them with Jelani behind them and Micaiah ran up to Nicki and she lifted him up, placing him on her hip.

"Congrats you little bugger" Jelani said.

"Thank you, brat"

Carol nodded at Micaiah and he turned and said to Nicki, "Well done for gradupating"

Nicki laughed at his mispronunciation and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you"

"How does it feel to finally graduate from high school?" Robert said.

"Good, really good"

"Me and your dad are very proud of you" Carol said patting her shoulder. Nicki smiled at her parents.

She put Micaiah back on the ground after she said, 'I'm going to talk to my friends, I'll be back in a few"

Nicki walked away and noticed her friends with the other graduates. "Hey!" Nicki said joining in their conversation.

"Can you believe we don't have to come to this groggy school?"

"Yes I believe it!"

"Graduation came really fast!"

"I know, it’s like yesterday I was a freshman"

They were talking for ages before Drake came over and disturbed them. "Sorry for disturbing y'all but Nika, we have to get going"

"But babe, we're having a great chat"

"If you want to miss your own graduation party then okay" He walked away. Nicki quickly hugged everyone and said goodbye before running after Drake.

~

"Go on, say a speech" Her mother nudged her, Nicki sighed before walking up to the stage.

"I don't like doing speeches but I'll try. Erm, high school was a good experience and I'm happy I stuck with it instead of dropping out. I was honoured to have graduated with honours but I would have been able to do that without the teachers I had and my parents and my families and friends support" Nicki said and her parents gave her a nod.

"Also I would like to thank a special guy in my life, and I'm sorry for putting you on the spot right now but I love you Aubrey" Nicki laughed and smiled. "I said more than I said in my actual graduation speech" Everyone laughed as she left the stage.

"Oh, I got you a little gift" Drake reached under the table and pulled out a small bag. He put the bag on the table.

"I wonder what it is" Nicki reached inside the bag and pulled out a card. The card had a graduation gown and cap on it with a message saying 'you graduated?". Inside the card were the words congratulations and a short message written by Drake.

Hey baby, you did it! I'm so proud of you and I love you <3

"Thank you, I love you too" Nicki gave Drake a kiss on the cheek.

"Don't thank me yet, there's something else in there"

Nicki raised an eyebrow and reached into the bag again and pulled out a small wrapped box.

"You didn't have to, you know?" Nicki said ripping the wrapping paper off.

"I know but I wanted to" Drake shrugged.

Nicki finally pulled off all the wrapping paper and placed it back in the bag. She was left with a silver box.

Ohhh, what could it be?

Nicki pulled the ribbon off of the box and lifted the top off. Inside the box was a silver necklace.

"It's beautiful"

"So you like it?"

"I love it. I don't deserve you!"

I feel the same about you. "Don't get soppy on me, let me put it on for you" Drake carefully took the necklace from the box and fastened it around Nicki's neck.

Nicki grazed the pendent on the necklace with her finger. "I'm never taking this off!"

Drake smiled and Nicki smiled back. "I'm never taking the ring you gave me off either" She said and lifted her hand to show him she was wearing it.

~

Drake was spending the night over at Nicki's. His and her parents both agreed that if they stayed over at each others houses, they would have to stay in separate rooms. Nicki was chilling in the spare room with him for a bit.

"You never told me what university you are going to" Drake said.

"I wanted to wait till I actually went so I could surprise you but,"

"What do you till you went? You got into,"

"Yep!" 

"Shut up! You didn't!"

"I did" Nicki went to her room to get her acceptance letter. "Look"

Drake pulled the letter out of the already open envelope and read it. "Me and you together. Now I know I'm really going to enjoy it" He hugged her and they fell backwards on the bed.

"Babeeee, get off me" Nicki laughed while trying to push Drake off her.

"I'm never letting you go" Drake said in a deep voice which made Nicki laugh even harder.

An hour later, Drake still had a tight hold on her. She had found comfort in his arms and had fallen asleep.

A knock was heard at the door. "Sorry for disturbing you but," Carol stopped what she was saying when she saw her daughter peacefully sleeping in Drake's arms.

"Fallen asleep has she?"

"Yeah. She was pretty tired after the long she had" Drake said slowly getting up and removing his arms from around her. 

"Well I'm going to bed now so make sure you get some sleep. Goodnight"

"Goodnight" Drake smiled. He carefully lifted Nicki up from the bed and carried her to her bedroom. He pulled the cover back with one hand and laid her down under it then pulled the cover back over her.

"I love you, sweet dreams" He kissed her forehead and turned off her bedroom light before he walked back to the guest room.

~

"Welcome! We are happy to have you here. I will give you a quick guide of the campus and then you can go see what dorms you are in" Nicki squeezed Drake's hand gave him a cheeky grin. They followed the guidance counsellor.

After the guide around the campus, they went to the office to get their schedules and find out what dorms they were in.

"Onika Maraj" Nicki told the secretary. The secretary looked through the files and gave her her schedule and dorm number.

"Here you go honey" She smiled.

"Thank you" Nicki said politely and walked away. Drake walked to the secretary after and asked for his schedule and dorm number. After he got his, he and Nicki compared schedules.

"We have 2 subjects together and that's good" Drake said.

"I guess, I'm going to miss you" Nicki frowned.

"You'll be fine, I'll see you everyday and we can still hang out. I promise I will never let anything come between us" Drake pecked her lips and they went their separate ways.

~

Nicki pulled her suitcase along the long hallway and stood when she got to her dorm. She opened the door and shut the door behind her. She looked around and saw a beautiful designed living room. The walls were painted red with black carpet.

A great contrast.

There was a three-seater cream coloured couch, a 42 inch plasma TV, a large flower canvas on the wall behind the TV and a wooden table in front of the couch. Nicki went to see the bedrooms, she was surprised to see that she didn't have to share a room. Her bedroom had a double bed, a reasonable sized wardrobe, a chester draw and 2 bedside tables. After unpacking her suitcase and adding some things to make it seem more roomy, Nicki decided to send a text to Drake.

Meanwhile, Drake pulled up to his dorm and was greeted by two boys.

"Sup? I'm Damien" Drake gave him a dap.

"Andre" Andre dapped drake. "You are?"

"Aubrey but I go by Drake"

"Why don't you go by Aubrey?"

"I don't know, just do but can I put my stuff away?"

"Sure man" Drake dragged his suitcase to the only room left in the dorm. It wasn't big but it was a good size for Drake. The room was nicely decorated; he had a double bed, a sliver wardrobe, a bedside table and what seemed to be a computer desk. He took his laptop out of his compartment in his suitcase and placed it on the computer desk and put all his clothes on the hangers in his wardrobe, as he was doing that he heard his phone beep.

*Hey. What to go for a bit to eat? I'm bored and hungry. 

He chuckled before replying. 

*You're always hungry but yeah. Tell me what dorm you're in and I'll meet you there in like 10 mins.

Drake fixed his room to his standards before going back to the living room. He started talking to his dorm mates and realised they had a lot in common and knew they would get along great.

"So do you have a girl?" Andre asked.

"Nah just a few sidelines, you?" Damien said.

"Did, got bored of her. What about you, Drake?" They both turned around to stare at him.

"Yeah, I got a girl" Drake smiled, thinking about Nicki.

"So what she like?" Damien asked.

"She's beautiful, funny, a little bit crazy but I love her" 

"Cool cool, does she have a name?"

"Yeah, obviously"

"And it is," Andre gestured on.

"Oh, Nicki"

"You got a picture?"

Damn, these guys are nosy.

Drake shook his head and took his phone out his pocket. He opened his picture section and chose the photo of Nicki smiling. He handed his phone over to Andre and Damien.

"Man, she is fine with a capital F. I would," Damien started to say before he remembered that she was Drake's girlfriend and it would be rude to say.

"You're right, she's a hottie. If I met her before y'all dated maaaan" Andre said and Damien dapped him in agreement.

"Alright then, can you have my phone back now?" Andre and Damien looked at the picture once more time before giving Drake his phone back.

Drake saw he had a text. 

*Okay baby and I'm in 16. See you then.

"20 minutes ago" Drake said aloud and received strange looks from Damien and Andre. "Doesn't matter" He waved them off.

He ran grab his wallet and went out the door. When he got to Nicki's dorm, he heard giggling behind the door. He knocked once before he heard someone shout for him to come in. He walked in and saw Nicki talking to a girl.

She turned around and smiled at him. "Hey"

"Hey, you ready to go?"

"Yeah, let me get my bag" Nicki ran to her room leaving Drake and the girl alone. The girl looked at Drake seductively and licked her lips at him, she was about to say something to him but Nicki returned to the room. 

Nicki saw how awkward the room was. "Oh how rude of me. Charlotte, this is my boyfriend Drake. Drake, this is my Charlotte, my dorm mate if that's the right term" Drake and Charlotte shook hands.

"It's nice meeting you Charlotte, we should get going Nic"

"Alright, see you later Char" Nicki called as she walked out the door behind Drake.

"So where we eating?" She asked as they were walking. 

"Are there any food places around here?"

"Why you asking me?"

"It beats me" He shrugged.

As they were walking out of the campus, Nicki spotted a diner and they decided that was where they were going to eat.

The food wasn't that nice but they enjoyed being in each others presence. "So how's your roommate?"

"You mean roommates, they're alright. They think you're hot" He said and had another mouthful of food.

"They think I'm hot huh? How sweet" Nicki smiled. Drake raised an eyebrow at her. "Why you looking at me like that?"

"So when I say you look nice or whatever, you say thanks and brush it off but when other people say it, it puts a smile on your face"

"I'm used to you saying it so I just accept it but its different when others say it, it surprises me. No one else except from you or my family say I'm pretty and stuff, I always thought I was ugly"

"You really think that?" Nicki nodded slowly and looked out the window. Drake got up and went around the booth to sit next to her. "Look at me" Nicki did as she was told.

"When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change because you're amazing just the way you are"

"Bruno Mars, really?"

"Ay, don't be mean to my man Bruno! He speaks the truth but do you get my point?"

"Yes I do"

"So you're never going to say things like that again, are you?"

"No, I promise"

~

"Sit wherever you want for the time being" Drake took the seat next to Nicki. "Hello freshmans! I'm not sure if you know but I'm Mr. Parkinson and this is your first official English class in college!"

The class clapped. "So since you're all probably getting used to your surroundings so we're going to have an introductory session then I'll tell you what we'll be doing for this rest of the school year"

Mr Parkinson looked around and spotted Nicki and Drake looking at each other and laughing. "Starting with you, young man"

"Me?" Drake said, pointing to himself.

"Yes you, stand up and introduce yourself"

Drake stood up and introduced himself. "Hi I'm Aubrey. But no one calls me that, I go by the name Drake and I'm here to study so I can be a business man" He sat down afterwards. 

"That's great, now what about the young woman next to you" Nicki stood up and sighed.

"I'm Onika but everyone calls me Nicki and I want to be a fashion designer" Nicki said and sat back down.

"What a good choice, you look like you could be a fashion designer" Mr Parkinson smiled. "And next person"

~

At lunch, Nicki was waiting for Drake in the cafeteria. He was outside and saw her looking around. He walked the other way so he could walk behind her. He touched her shoulder and she jumped out of skin.

"Shit! You scared me" She said trying to regulate her breathing again.

"Sorry"

"Its fine, let's get something to eat. I'm hungry"

"Alright" They went to the que and got something they could take out into the yard. In the yard, the place was full of students.

"Where we going to sit?" Nicki said.

"What about..."

"Oh look it's Charlotte over there, let's sit with her" They walked over and took seats around the table Charlotte was sat.

"Hey" Nicki said.

"Oh hello Nicki, hi Drake" Charlotte smiled. 

Nicki and Drake ate their lunch and chat with Charlotte but Charlotte focussed on Drake most of the time. He felt a bit uncomfortable and stopped his dormmates looking lost so he invited them over to the table. 

"Are we going to sit together at lunch all the time?" Nicki whispered in his ear.

"Yes, I promise"

Drake kept that promise. They sat next to each in the two lessons they had together, met up at break when they could and sat together at lunch, they practically never left each others side.

I posted this yesterday but I didn't mean to, I was editing it and I clicked publish instead of save :| I had a bit of writer's block with this chapter but I finally got it done. Excuse any mistakes or whatever :) I wrote chapter 19 before I finished this one haha, that should be posted next week or the week after.