Booksmarts

chapter 017

TO SAY I WAS NERVOUS was an understatement.

It had been 4 weeks, 5 days, 2 hours, and 9 minutes since Benny had met Olivia. Today, he has decided to escalate their relationship, by letting his friends meet her. I know I've already met Olivia but now it's... different. Now, Benny and Olivia weren't just friends anymore. They have labels now. This was honestly a big step for Benny, he's never had an actual girl that willingly wanted to hang out with him before. And if he did find a girl, she was usually too intimidated by Paris to stay any longer.

"Mira, what's the time?" Lukas's knee bounces rapidly, impatiently waiting on the late couple to arrive. "I swear to God, if they don't show up I'm eating their food." Amira ignores his question and continues to scroll through her phone, fed up with Lukas's whining.

"Relax Lukas, they're only late by like," I glance down at my wristwatch, "18 minutes." I don't blame him for being annoyed, frankly, I would be too.

"They're probably just caught up in traffic." Benny was usually a punctual person, he hated keeping people waiting so this was really unlike him.

"Maybe they're doing other things," Mason says, leaning towards Lukas and giggling. Amiras' and Paris' eyes meet mine, sharing a mutual blank straight face. I'm not even sure if Mason was even invited, Benny doesn't even like him. He claims that Mason makes him nervous, but then again, everyone makes him nervous.

"I heard that!" Benny yells, he walks through the doors, towards our table and pulls out Olivia's chair first before sitting down. "And no we weren't doing anything, Olivia just doesn't know how to drive." Paris' eyes follow Olivia as she sits, almost staring her down. But this wasn't her usual 'scare tactic'. Paris held a different kind of look, it wasn't anger or fury. It was undecipherable. Her eyebrows raised as if she was surprised, yet there's that infamous indent between her eyebrows like she was frustrated to see her. "So guys...This is Olivia Braxton, my girlfriend." Benny twiddles with his thumbs, nervously anticipating our reactions. Olivia looked a bit different than the last time I saw her, she had on a nice frilly white skirt and a light pink v-neck sweater. Her hair wasn't straight like before, instead, it in its curly state, up in a nice and neat puff.

"Hello! I'm Amira and it's nice to meet you!" Amira sticks out her hand and Olivia timidly shakes it. It doesn't take long for Olivia to settle down. They all share embarrassing stories of one another but I can't help but zone out. Paris doesn't like many people upon first meeting, but she's looking at Olivia as if she can't stand her already. Paris's eye twitches as Benny wraps his arm around Olivia's seat, cuddling next to her.

"–And then, Lukas sprints out of the car!" Amira throws her head back laughing

"I thought it was a taxi cab! Like c'mon! Who even owns a yellow car anymore?!" Laughter rings in the air, everyone seemed to be getting along with Olivia and having a good time. Not Paris though, definitely not. Paris's facial expression was the antithesis of "having a good time", especially with Olivia around. Since we already ordered before Benny and Olivia got here, our usual server Mandy comes back and sets down our food.

Olivia suddenly perks up, "Oh wait! I just remembered, isn't your birthday coming up?"

Mason nods his head, "Yeah, actually my sister's coming back home for the first time in awhile so I'm pretty excited," He beams.

"Okay! I've got grilled cheese and tomato soup and..." She passes around the dishes until she notices Olivia, "Oh! I didn't see you there!" Mandy pulls back out her notepad from her red apron. "What did you want to drink first?"

"Sorry, Olivia! We didn't order for you because we didn't know if you were allergic" Lukas's eyes dart straight at me, "To anything we would've ordered", He feigns a smile. Everyone including Olivia and even the waitress starts cracking up, refusing to let me live down the memory of almost killing a boy with a carrot allergy. After the laughter starts dying down, Olivia lifts back up the menu.