It's Always Been You | Motis Season 3 Sex Education

Chapter 1

As Otis approached Moordale Secondary, he had only one thing on his mind: Maeve. Maeve, Maeve, Maeve, Maeve, Maeve. Her name echoed around his mind, like it had been doing relentlessly for the past few weeks of the school break. Although he usually dreaded school, because of the anxiety that it gave him, for the very first time in all of his secondary schooling, he felt something different: excitement.

Otis took a deep breath to calm his racing heart and entered the main building. Immediately, he was greeted with a sea of both familiar and unfamiliar faces. Two first-years, passing a rugby ball around the hallway. Aimee, laughing heartily at Steve. The Untouchables, whispering indiscreetly about every single person who passed, presumably judging their choices of clothing.

Yet, there was no sign whatsoever of Maeve.

Otis felt his anxiety levels immediately spike. He checked his phone anxiously, seeing if Maeve had sent him any texts. Yet, still none had appeared. Still none had appeared since he professed his undying love for her. No response that she had heard it; no clue as to how she felt. Otis sighed heavily, his mind immediately going into overdrive. Where was she? In the bathrooms? Talking to Miss Sands before school? Or, was she wagging school completely? Otis couldn't take this anymore, the suspense and endless possibilities to her whereabouts were quite literally killing him. He searched for her contact on his phone, about to send her a message.

But then he saw her.

Sporting a sleek leather jacket, short-cut black denim shorts and her signature black fishnets, Maeve Wiley looked hotter and more confident than ever. Otis' eyes consumed her like candy; he could not stop staring at her. It had only been a few weeks since they had last seen each other, yet for Otis, it had felt like an eternity.

Otis couldn't stop himself from smiling as he saw the joy that washed over her face, her previously stone-cold expression now softening into a grin. Otis' heart danced at the sight of her smile.

So she has heard my voicemail, then. Otis thought as he raised his hand awkwardly and waved at her.

But, to his shock, Maeve didn't wave back. Instead, her hand continued to rest by her side. Otis felt his insides do a somersault.

She was smiling at me, so why didn't she wave back? He thought frantically, looking away quickly and pretending that he was waving at someone else. Otis stole another glance at her, searching her face for answers.

And when her gaze shifted from straight ahead to the left, her face angling downwards, he knew exactly why she wasn't waving at him.

"Fool," Otis muttered to himself under his breath. The reason that Maeve wasn't waving at him was that she wasn't even smiling at him in the first place. In fact, she probably hadn't even noticed that he'd entered the hallway. Judging by where she was now looking, there could only be one person who she was smiling at.

Isaac.

She was smiling at Isaac.

Otis' heart instantly shattered into a million pieces at this realisation. She had heard his voicemail. She had heard the raw emotion behind each of his words. And yet, she still chose to ignore him, instead favouring someone else.

Otis glanced at Maeve again, analysing every single aspect of her facial expressions as she spoke to Isaac. Her eyes seemed bright and happy, and continued to remain fixed on Isaac. Unlike Otis', they made no sideways glances, giving no indication that she was waiting for someone else to arrive. Her lips curved upwards into a smile, and then separated into a laugh. They made no nervous movements; her fingers did not pick her lips like they occasionally did when she was nervous. She seemed to be completely at ease. She rested her shoulder on the wall of someone's locker, standing there nonchalantly, as if nothing in the world was bothering her, as if her mind was a completely blank slate.

It became quite clear to Otis that Maeve didn't care about the voicemail nearly as much as he did. She didn't even really seem to be anticipating Otis' company at all. Perhaps she didn't want to speak of the voicemail, ever. Maybe she thought it was insincere, cruel even, to send a voicemail to voice his emotions, when Maeve had so bravely said hers in person.

Honestly, Otis had no idea. Her mind was the biggest mystery that he had yet to solve.

Otis wanted to give up. He wanted to crawl back home to his bed and cry. He seriously contemplated doing it as he stood there, in the middle of the hallway, completely stunned by what had happened. School hadn't even started yet and he already felt all the energy sucked out of him.

Yet, he felt a sudden resurgence of hope as Maeve turned away from Isaac, walking forwards in his direction. He had put too much emotion in that voicemail, he had put too much on the line, for it to be simply disregarded like that. This time, he would make sure that Maeve would see him.

"Hi," Otis said as, this time, he managed to successfully make eye contact with Maeve.

"Hey," Maeve replied, sounding almost surprised that Otis was talking to her. She continued to make her way briskly forwards, forcing Otis to walk alongside her so that they could talk properly.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" Otis asked, laughing slightly to try to lighten the mood. He was genuinely puzzled; although first period was about to start, Maeve didn't usually mind turning up to class late.

"I, uh, I'm going to fetch Isaac's timetable for him," Maeve responded. "He just transferred here."

"Oh, okay, right. Cool." Otis responded, trying to hide the hurt in his voice. Apparently she was too preoccupied with looking after Isaac to even have a small conversation with Otis.

"He made me get it for him," Maeve added, as if she had read Otis' mind. "Anyways, Otis, can you make it quick? I'd love to talk, but it's Isaac's first day so I basically have to show him around and make sure he isn't late for class or anything. They already had a hard enough time accepting him as it is, apparently the school is full or something," She said, rolling her eyes at that last part. Clearly, she found it hard to believe and, honestly, Otis did too. How could the school be full if Adam had only recently been expelled, and no new students had arrived since? Otis suspected it had something to do with Isaac being disabled, although he wouldn't ever say that out loud.

"Yeah, um..." Otis began, only to be interrupted by the school bell, indicating the start of class. "Can we talk after school then please? It's kind of important."

"I have to practise for the Quizheads after school, sorry," Maeve replied, and Otis couldn't help but notice there was a tinge of guilt in her voice. "Unless you're willing to wait till 3:30pm, when it finishes?"

"Yeah, of course I'll wait," Otis said, although honestly he was getting extremely impatient with the amount of waiting that he was having to do. He had been waiting for all of the holidays to speak to her, and he was having to wait yet again for the end of school. Better late then never though, he supposed.

"Alright cool, bye," Maeve said, flashing Otis one last smile before continuing to walk off, even brisker now.

Otis sighed. The last time he saw Maeve in this much of a rush was when she was looking for Elsie, and Elsie was... well, Elsie was Maeve's half-sister, who she loved dearly. Could she also love Isaac dearly? Otis shook his head, pushing this thought aside as quickly as it had sprung up. That wasn't possible; she couldn't have moved on that quickly. And the tinge of guilt in her voice when she said she had Quizheads practise after school... Maeve still had some feelings for him, he was sure of it.

Otis glanced back at Maeve, looking for reassurance, looking for her eyes to meet his.

But she had already disappeared down the other hallway.