Young Writers Society

Niklaus

Summer Twelve

After their colds cleared up, Blair persuaded Klaus into having a picnic with her down by the lake. She had packed a small wicker basket and a blanket for the occasion.

"I feel like we should be drinking tea or something," he said as she handed him a sandwich.

She laughed lightly. "Why?"

"This is fancy," he stuck his pinky out as he raised his sandwich. "Tea is what fancy people drink."

Blair offered him sweet tea that her mother made, but he shook his head. He wasn't a big fan of tea. It didn't take long for them to finish eating and once they were done they laid down on the blanket and looked up at the sky.

"What do you think that one looks like?" Blair asked, pointing to a puffy cloud. "A penguin maybe?"

"Nah," Klaus said. "It's a top hat. Like the one Abe Lincoln wore." He pointed to a different one. "Now that one looks like a penguin."

"No that one looks like the dark mark from Harry Potter, I think."

"You know what I think?" Klaus propped himself up on his elbows. "I think this is really boring."

"Really? I thought this was fun."

"Man, I worry about you sometimes," he teased her. "If this is your idea of fun then you must have a super boring time back home without me."

"Well what do you want to do then?"

"Let's play truth or dare," a lopsided smile crawled on his face as he thought up dares for her. "I dare you to swim out into the lake where the seaweed grows and bring back a handful of it then eat a piece."

Blair's face scrunched up at the thought of eating seaweed. "You have to ask me first before you give me a dare, remember?"

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Fine, princess. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Oh, that's so not fair!" He cried. "You only picked that because you knew what my dare was going to be."

"You're crazy if you thought I was going to eat seaweed."

"Why not? I bet it's just like lettuce."

Blair grinned. "You go do it then and tell me what it tastes like."

He pressed his lips together. Niklaus was not one to turn down a dare even if it meant he would have to eat seaweed.

"Fine," he stood up and headed towards the lake, throwing his shirt off as he did. "I will." He came back soaked and with a handful of dark green seaweed and gave Blair an unsure look. "I know this was my idea, but-"

"No buts!" She sang.

"If I do it then you have to do it too."

"Maybe."

"Here it goes." Klaus held the seaweed up then popped a piece of it in his mouth. "It tastes like lake water," he said after he swallowed it. "But it's gritty. I think there was sand stuck to it maybe."

"That's so gross!" Blair laughed. He handed her the seaweed and she tore off the smallest piece she could.

"Peer pressure!" Klaus chanted as she put it on her tongue. "See, isn't this more fun than a picnic?"

Blair

Summer Twelve

When Blair tasted the sea weed, she had a horrible look on her face as if she had tasted something incredibly sour. "No, this is not more fun."

Klaus looked at her, knowing that was not true. "Oh come on, Blair. You are lying."

"No, I am not lying." Blair protested. "I am fun."

"Yeah, when I am around." Klaus said.

Blair had a very sad look on her face. "You don't think I am fun?"

"I was kidding, oh course I think you are fun, Blair." He said. "Now come on, you go. You ask me."

"Fine, truth or dare?" She asked, knowing what he would choose.

"Dare." He said, excitement in his eyes.

Blair smiled, as a dare came to her mind. It was cruel. "I dare you to go up to the house and lick the inside of one of my brother's basket ball shoes."

"You want me to do what?" He asked, appalled that Blair could even come up with such a thing.

"You heard me, come on." She said as she got up. When he did not get up, she grabbed his hand and pulled him up to the top. "Are you going to chicken out?"

"No, I would never." He said. He picked up one of the shoes and smelled it. "That was a bad choice."

He was about to do it, when Blair stopped him. "No, don't." She said. "That is disgusting."

"You told me to do it." He said.

"I know, but that is horrible." She said, taking it from him and putting it on the ground. "I guess I have a weakness for you." She joked.

Klaus did not say anything but Blair could tell by the look on his face that he had an idea. "What is it now?" She asked smiling.

"We need to go on an adventure." He said. We never leave this unless we go with our families." He said. "Let's go explore."

They thought it was a good idea to tell their parents. They both got on their tennis shoes and they went into the woods near their house. They were not really woods, just a few trees. But in the minds of these kids, they were huge woods. Plus, Klaus could talk anything up to make things better then they really are.

They came to a little beachy area with an old tire swing. "Wow, this place is perfect." Klaus said. Then another idea popped into his head. "I declare this place, Blair and Klaus's place." He got a rock and carved their names into a tree.

"It is perfect. We can hang a hammock and clear it out a little. It will be perfect." Blair said, getting excited.

"Yes, we can. You can't tell anyone! This has to be out secret place. We can keep the list here too!" Klaus said.

In the mist of their excitement, they started scratching. "Klaus, you have something on you leg." Blair said, pointing over at him.

He looked down at his leg and there was a red splotch. "Blair, I think we have poison Ivey."

Niklaus

Summer 13

Klaus knew something bad was coming when both the Joneses and his parents pulled him and Blair from outside and into the living room. He racked his brain but he couldn't figure out what he had done wrong, they hadn't been there long enough for him to make much trouble. Unless they had found his and Blair's list. They had just added the F word to it.

"I didn't do anything wrong." Klaus stated as he sat next to Blair on the couch.

His mom smiled. "We're not here to punish you."

"We just thought it was time to have a talk about what is appropriate and what isn't appropriate now that you're teens." Mrs. Jones said. Niklaus's eyebrows knitted together. He opened his mouth to ask a question but his dad spoke before he could.

"Your mom and I have talked to the Joneses and we all agree that the two of you having sleepovers isn't appropriate anymore."

"I'm confused." Klaus looked over at Blair. She was biting on her lip and seemed to give him a small shrug. "I thought you said you weren't punishing us. This sounds a lot like a punishment. It's not like we do anything, we literally just watch movies and sleep on separate couches."

"We know that you don't do anything inappropriate whenever you have sleepovers but-"

"Then why is it inappropriate?" Klaus was beginning to get irritated. "If we aren't doing anything then there's nothing that makes it inappropriate."

Emily sighed. "Niky, as you both get older you'll get more hormones in your system and they can lead to inappropriate situations. I'm sorry if you don't understand it, but that's the rule now."

He huffed and it took everything inside him to keep from rolling his eyes. "Am I allowed to go outside now? Or is that inappropriate too?"

Hans raised his eyebrows as a warning sign. "Watch your tone, mister."

Klaus mumbled an apology but quickly ducked his head and headed towards the small clearing he and Blair had found the summer before.

"It's bullshit but whatever." He said as Blair followed him and sat across from him on the tire swing, their legs dangling in the middle of the tire.

"Yeah." She squeaked.

"You know, I was thinking," he exhaled loudly and kicked the ground so they'd spin slightly. "I don't know a lot of sign language but I know yes and no and that's probably enough. I can teach you and you can use that if you don't feel like talking to me." Klaus made a fist with his hand and nodded his wrist up and down. "This is yes. It's easy to remember because it's like you're nodding your head."

Blair copied him with a hint of a smile on her face.

"This one is no. It's a bit trickier." He pressed his pointer and middle fingers onto his thumb. "It's kind of like a Pac Man mouth. Do you think that'll work?"

She signed yes and he beamed.

"Awesome."

Blair

Summer 13

Blair smiled at him as he signed to him. Blair had been studying sign language for the past two years and got pretty good at it. She did not know why, but she was embarrassed that she had to learn sign in order to communicate to other people. She got really embarrassed when she had to sign to her parents.

She smiled at him, but did not look at him. "I know sign." She said, signing as she went.

He looked at her, confused. "You do? That is really cool." He said to her.

She shook her head. She took a deep breath, trying to finish her thought. "No it's not. I have to know it because I can't talk sometimes." She looked at him and gestured to her throat and signed the words, "I can't."

Even though Klaus did not know exactly what that meant, he knew that she did not want to talk anymore. "Listen, you don't have to talk, but you should not be embarrassed by that. I think it is cool, so it is cool and I know cool." Klaus said.

Blair smiled at him and sighed 'thank you.'

He knew what that meant and he signed back 'your welcome.'

She thought of something and took his hand, pulling her with him. She was glad that she did not ask questions, because she just wanted him to wait. She found Austin and asked him to translate some sign for her. When she agreed she started to sign. Austin had learned sign the quickest because he talked to Blair the most.

She signed slowly, so he could follow but stilled looked at Klaus as she did it.

"Blair wants you to know that she has a condition called Selective Mutism. That just means that she can't speak some times. Some times it feels like her throat swells up, even though it isn't. Other time fear is a trigger not to talk. She want's to, she really does, but it is just hard some times. She also says thank you for not making her talk, she thinks your a good friend." He said, as he watched Blair. She had to repeat a few things, but Austin did pretty well at keeping up.

Klaus nodded and Austin did too. Blair thanked her brother in sign and also told him to stop being awkward around Klaus.

Austin sighed and shoved her as he walked away. "What was that about?" Klaus asked.

Blair shook her head and smiled.

"You know, you are more mysterious now. I will have to guess what you are thinking." He said.

Blair raised her eye brows and gestured for him to go ahead.

He thought about it and looked deep into her eyes. "You are thinking that you are looking at the most handsome guy and the world and you are practically swooning over him." He guessed

She laughed and then nodded, mischievously.

"Really, I was right?" He asked.

She pushed him and shook her head and signed no.

"I am pretty sure I am right." He said.

She took a deep breath before spoke. "I guess you will never know."

Niklaus

Summer 13

"Come on!" Klaus urged, laughing. "The shop will be closed by the time we get there at your pace." He looked behind him at Blair who was having trouble locking her bike on the rack. He hurried over after he locked his and helped her. "What would you do without me?"

She gave him a knowing look and shook her head, smiling. Klaus knew she was silently telling him that she would've gotten it on her own either way.

"Just not in a timely manner," he teased as they headed towards the small fudge shop. This was the first summer they were able to go into town by themselves and Klaus was very excited.

As he opened the door for the two of them, the smell of chocolate, amaretto, and peanut butter filled the room. It was a comfortable familiar mesh of scents. They pressed their noses to the glass and surveyed the various fudges.

"Can I get you both something?" An employee greeted came out of the back room and greeted them at the counter.

"Uh, can I have the rocky road one?" Klaus asked. The employee nodded and looked over at Blair. She frantically looked at Klaus. "I know you like the chocolate peanut butter one, do you want that?" Blair signed yes and took a deep breath. "And the peanut butter one for her, please."

The employee handed them their fudge and told them their total. Blair went to grab the money her mom gave her but Klaus stopped her.

"I'm paying," he said. "I have a job now remember?" He proudly handed the guy the money then he and Blair sat on one of the small benches outside the shop. "It's funny how now that we can come here by ourselves the fudge tastes so much better now. Not that it didn't taste good before."

Blair nodded in agreement. "Thank you," she said quietly. "For.." She pointed back towards the shop.

"Oh, yeah, no problem." Klaus handed her a piece of his rocky road and she handed him a piece of her peanut butter chocolate. It was an unspoken agreement that every time they got fudge they each got a piece of the others.

When they were done with their fudge they didn't want to go back quite yet so Klaus suggested they go to the aquarium a few blocks down. It wasn't the biggest and didn't have tons of exotic fish, but it was still fun. They usually went with their families but now that they were able to go alone it was guaranteed to be more fun.

"The aquarium is good because all you have to do is look at the fish," Klaus said as they walked towards it. "No one expects you to have a conversation there because everyone is focused on the tanks." As they got to the front desk he whispered in her ear, "we're going to have to use your money too because I get paid under the table so I don't get that much."

She giggled and handed him her money. When they got their passes, they headed towards the little interactive pool in the back. It had always been their favorite because they were allowed to reach in and touch whatever was in there.

There were sea cucumbers, starfish, huge water snails, and even a stingray named Philip. Blair and Klaus took turns handling the various aquatic animals and held little anchovies between their fingers so Philip would swim over and suck the food from their fingers.

Blair

Summer 13

Blair and Klaus raced home on their bikes. Klaus past Blair a few times, but she was by far in the lead when they arrived back at the lakes houses. Blair took her bike into the garage and put it on the rack. Klaus did the same thing with his bike.

She took off the back pack she was wearing and walked over to him. "I got you something." She told him.

"You did? Why?" He asked. She had him hold her backpack, so she could get out the book. She took it back once she zipped it back up.

She took a breath before she spoke, hoping to get all the words out quickly. "If you want to learn anymore sign, here is a book that has some in them. You don't have to learn it, but incase you were interested, you can use this."

Klaus smiled at her and took the book. "Thank you, Blair." he said. "I will be right back." He told her.

Before he left, she pointed at the hammock to tell her where she would be when he returned.

He nodded and went into the house. Blair walked down to the dock where the hammock was and sat it in, crossing her legs.

When Klaus returned he had a white board in his hand and dry erase marker. "I told you we were going to do this." Klaus said, sitting in the hammock. He handed the board and marker to her and she uncapped the marked. "I am eager to know, what happened when you kicked Kevin in the balls?"

She smiled and wrote on board. He cried like a little girl. Then he ran away.

When she showed it to Klaus, he laughed. "See, I could up with the best ideas. What did you apology letter say?"

Blair wrote one word on the board, because that is all she wrote in the letter. Sorry.

"That is all you wrote?" Klaus asked.

She nodded and shrugged.

"It's true, my mom was right. You do have to look out for the quiet ones." Klaus said.

Blair smiled and nodded. She wrote on the board, Actions speak louder than words.

"You are right. Maybe I should try not talking." Klaus said, leaning back in the hammock, causing it to rock slightly.

You would not last a day.

Klaus gasp. "I cannot believe you are doubting me." He said. "Okay, staring now."

Blair sighed, knowing that this was not going to last long at all. She sat back in the hammock too and closed her eyes.

After about five minutes, he gave up. "Fine, I can't do it. I am the talker in this relationship. If I don't talk, the whole world is thrown off balance."

What ever you say Klaus.

"You know, maybe that board was not such a good idea." Klaus said, joking with her.

Blair smiled and shoved him. At that moment, Blair felt that security she needed. It did not make her talk more, but she did not feel afraid to talk.

Niklaus

Summer 14

Klaus exhaled, slightly irritated as he stared at Murphy who was sitting and eagerly wagging his tail across from Klaus.

"Shake, Murph." He commanded and held out his hand. "Come on, don't you want that biscuit Blair has?"

Blair held it up to show the dog. "You can do it, Murphy!" She encouraged.

The dog stared blankly back at them. Klaus sighed and picked up his paw for him then Blair gave Murphy the treat.

"I don't understand," Klaus said, watching Murphy eat the biscuit. "Why can't he learn it?"

"It takes time," a smile crawled onto Blair's face. "Mr. Impatience."

"All I'm saying is if someone was holding a piece of cake in front of me and asked me to shake, I'd do it after the first few times." He stood up, helping Blair up.

"Tubing?" She asked, suggesting their next activity for the day.

Klaus checked the clock in his room. "Uh, yeah. Just give me half an hour or so, I told Lauren I'd call her at one."

"She can't wait an hour?"

He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "She has dance practice at two-thirty and then something after that." Blair's shoulders dropped slightly and he felt bad but he also hadn't talked to Lauren since yesterday and he promised her he'd call. Klaus had all summer to hang out with Blair, he only had an hour or two a day to talk to Lauren.

Blair pressed her lips together in a forced smile.

"Sorry!" He called after she left his bedroom but he wasn't sure if she had heard him.

After he had talked to Lauren for a little over an hour, they said goodbye and he sprinted out to find Blair. When she wasn't at her house, he found her in their secret spot.

"Hey," Klaus said breathlessly. "Want to go tubing now?"

She looked up from the tire swing and nodded.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She said, dismounting the tire swing.

Klaus didn't buy it. "Come on, B. You can't lie to me. What's wrong?"

"I'm serious," she insisted. "Nothing's wrong."

"Okayyyy," He poked her playfully in the side. "Whatever you say, you liar." He wanted to know what was bothering her but she obviously didn't want to talk about it, so he changed the subject and they raced back to the dock.