¶ Whenever You're Ready ¶

Rage Room

"Yeah. Well, thank you rage room." Olivia laughed, glancing around the messy room filled with shattered, glass, old furniture scraps, and broken junk. 

"No, thank you," Spencer corrected her, knowing that he would not have found such a positive outlet for his feelings if not thanks to her innovative thinking. He spent days upset over Coach Baker and Jordan's secret, running himself ragged trying to process his frustrations. It seemed like nothing and no one could help him overcome his dilemma without it turning into a screaming match or pointless conversation where Spencer felt he wasn't being heard. 

Jordan and Billy wanted him to understand the positive side of Coach B coming to GAU. Mama Grace believed Billy should stick around Crenshaw, but could not say that the opportunity to rebuild the GAU football program shouldn't appeal to Coach Baker. And while Spencer loved the idea of Billy being his head coach once more, he didn't need Billy as much as those boys in Crenshaw. Spencer got out, and with Billy at their side, more great athletes had a chance to do so as well. That was the bigger picture, and it pissed Spencer off that no one understood where he was coming from. 

Then there was Olivia. She hadn't known about Billy's opportunity to coach at GAU until Spencer disclosed the news. However, she didn't jump to back her dad as soon as she heard, nor did she act like Spencer wasn't obliged to his feelings on the matter. No, Liv didn't take sides or shut Spencer down for being angry with anyone for dancing around the truth. She listened to him and his feelings on the topic, then gave her truthful advice. Knowing his temperament, Olivia willed Spencer to try to talk to her father again. And like any other time, Spencer would follow her advice because even after their breakup, Olivia had not stirred him in the wrong direction. He missed these sincere talks they shared. He could not confide in anyone as he did with Olivia. She was his best friend before anything else. And it was in moments like this that he found himself missing her the most. 

"I needed this," Spencer admitted adoringly, gazing at those beautiful brown orbs he could stare into for hours at a time. He forced himself to look away before he found himself falling into old habits that these loving gazes use to lead to before the breakup. 

"I needed this too," Olivia confessed when Spencer broke their gaze, hoping to regain his focus. Her shoulders slumped as she heavily sighed, feeling the weight of her emotions building, resisting the urge to close the small amount of space between them as Spencer met her eyes once more.

 Gifting Spencer a halfhearted smile, she was rewarded when he smiled back as they enter a comfortable silence. "Look at that. It's finally happening." Spencer retorted encouragingly. 

"What?" Olivia inquired, believing she missed what he caught on to. 

"We're finally learning how to be friends again," Spencer replied, grinning as if this were their greatest accomplishment. 

"Hmm..." Olivia hummed, nodding lightly internalizing his statement, trying to process that the guy she spent the afternoon putting the moves on was friend-zoning her.  

"What's up?" Spencer questioned, sensing the tension switch between him and Olivia as her body tensed and her expression faltered. 

"Can I be honest with you for a second?" Liv asked, biting her bottom lip nervously, desiring to work out the problems inside her mind. 

"Always," Spencer insisted, his hand grazing her outer thigh, "Hey, look at me." 

Swallowing her pride, Olivia finally glanced at him, her unease conveyed in her tense state. "Alright, so full transparency, I had ulterior motives for bringing you here today?" Liv confessed, rubbing her hands at her side, nervous to see how Spencer would react to her actions. "I wanted to help you work out your frustrations, but I also hoped to get you alone for a few hours. We hardly hang out as much as we use to, and when we do there are always other people around. Plus, now you have Alicia..." Olivia's voice dragged out, unsure where to go from there without sounding like a bitter ex.