Pretty Poison - Saltburn

003

The next time Oliver saw Olympia wasn't in class.
He was on his way back from the library, strolling over the nearly empty campus. It had snowed over night and the whole town, the whole University looked even more magical than before. Everything was covered under a blanket of powdery white snow, looking so picturesque as if taken straight form a movie scene.

Oliver dodged a small snowman, its carrot nose already fallen to the ground, when he spotted them. It was hard not to notice them, really. They were, very obviously, having a snowball fight and Oliver watched as Olympia ran from Felix, surprisingly fast, while he chased after her, snowball in hand and huge grin on both of their faces.

Their other friends too, were bolting around, cheering and laughing loudly as snowballs were being fired liked cannonballs. But as usually, Oliver eyes were glued on Felix and Olympia as if they were magnets, as if they were the only thing worth looking at.

He slowed his walking pace, slowed down so that he could look at them longer. The whole group appeared so carefree, so full of youthful joy and happy to have each other's company that again, he felt inevitably and endlessly aggravated, this utter jealousy.
He was jealous of their relationship, jealous of their friends, jealous of their beauty and the fact that they didn't seem to have a single worry in the world.

He could hear Olympia giggle when Felix's snowball hit her in the back, leaving a wet mark where it had landed. She turned around for a moment, smiling at the boy behind her who was already gathering a new load of snow. But that seemed to be a mistake, as she soon realized when she suddenly bumped into Farleigh who had positioned himself in her way.

They all laughed, laughed as Farleigh wrapped one arm around her waist, holding her close to his body as he secured her wrists behind her back with his other hand and Olympia yelped as Felix took the opportunity to rub the cold snow directly into her face.

They had the kind of friendship that Oliver could never have. He would never have this kind of intimacy with any of them, the kind that was gained over years of being around one another, the kind you could only achieve with people you knew almost your whole life, yet he foolishly had hope. Hope that Olympia would spot him, recognize him, and perhaps even invite him to play with them.

But he should have learned from the evening of the Christmas party that this hope was utterly delusional. Because when Farleigh finally released the girl, whose cheeks and nose had taken on a bright red color from the cold, hair a tangled, wet mess, she turned around and Oliver could swear that for a spilt second, they locked eyes.

But apparently, he was now not even worth a second glance.

Instantly, his heart dropped and even though nobody was witness to the situation, he still felt completely embarrassed for believing, even for a minute, that Olympia Morrowe would actually talk to someone like him in front of her dear friends.

Of, fucking, course she wouldn't.

He could feel his blood boil, his breath fasten, as he turned right, anything to get them out of his view as fast as possible.
This sickeningly perfect display of friendship and love.

Olympia and her red-haired friend were bombarding Felix with snowballs, the taller boy clearly faster and stronger than the both of them, yet making no attempt to run away and instead just letting them have their way, while he laughed full of delight and enjoyment.

When they were out of sight, Oliver had to stop for a moment, regaining his composure. This was just a mild setback, nothing he couldn't recover from he told himself as he clutched his book bag tighter.

And in all honesty, had he really expected that she would come running, asking him how his ankle was? That she would invite him to hang out with them, invite him into her inner circle?
He surely had overestimated her kindness, her selflessness because apparently, she wasn't as humble and nice as she always pretended to be.