Spike hadn't slept well, not really. He'd been up all night, pacing, fidgeting, smoking, drinking and watching trash TV until half the channels shut down for shopping TV. He ended up watching some Spanish news show in the hopes of not accidentally falling asleep and becoming prey for some kind of monster under the bed.

He didn't speak to his uncle during the drive to school either, he just smoked out the window and regarded every attempt at small talk with a frown. He wasn't mad any more, he was mostly just tired. Really tired.

When he finally managed to track down Nicki, he was still smoking despite all the school rules against it, unsure what Nicki even had for a gift. Seemed weird to him. "All right, Nicki? How's it going?" He didn't want to seem tired or over-eager or anything so he tried his best to keep things as cool and as casual as possible.