I Still Need ✓

15. I'm only here to be a shoulder to cry on

If I didn't know any better, I'd think that Olivia was intentionally staying home just to avoid me, but that couldn't be true. The first reason being that Olivia had actually wanted to tell me her secret (or whatever it was) and the second that past experiences with her mother showed me that the story about her not being allowed to use her phone wasn't all that far-fetched. She was... strict in a weird way.

And just when I had decided to go visit her—the curiosity absolutely killing me—she was already back at school.

How convenient!

Floyd didn't think the same way. Once he noticed her standing by her locker, he immediately stomped up to her and started talking to her with wild, anxious and angry gestures. I stared at them for only a short moment, before simply turning back around and walking over to my other friends.

I didn't think they'd be very nice to me if I interrupted them now. Floyd seemed genuinely upset and I had no idea in what kind of mood Olivia was today. For all I knew, she was a grumpy bitch after being sick. She wasn't sick often, so I really wouldn't know.

Soon, I found Dylan and Rafael on their way to the classrooms and I tapped Dylan's shoulder and murmured, "Olivia's back."

"Ah, let me guess, Floyd cornered her?"

"What is even going on with Floyd?" Rafael asked. "I swear, he suddenly turned into a completely different person."

"I'd tell you if I knew, Raffe," I sighed.

"If you really wanna know what Olivia was going to tell you, Hugo," said Dylan, "I'd make sure she has a better reason to do that than keep it secret for Floyd, because you know he can be quite persuasive if he wants to be."

"Well, I think it's only fair she tells me after fucking blackmailing us," I grumble, kicking a paper ball on the ground away from me.

Rafael and I made our way into our History classroom, while Dylan walked to wherever he had his next class, and I was immediately thrown off by being stared at by Mr. Rosenberg. I was pretty sure he had something to tell me. With a gaze this intent, there was no question about it. And was that fear in his eyes?

What the hell was it with this guy?

He proceeded to give the messiest class he'd ever given, thoughts all over the place, messing up all the facts, switching names of students. He even sat down on his glasses, breaking one of the lenses. When the bell finally rang, he instantly slammed his book closed, hastily told everyone that his class was over—not even thinking of giving us any homework, which he normally always did—and squeaked, "Mr. Bridges, can I have a word?"

He was lucky I was in the front row.

When I'd closed the door, he groaned, "Hugo, help."

"What is it now?"

"Her mother found out."

I took some time to process this information.

"Oh." I frowned and sucked in some air. "Yeah, that's not good. At least, I'm assuming it's not good, since you seem very upset."

"She started screaming at me in French!"

"That's pretty normal."

"Hugo, this is not funny! Olivia was not even allowed to come to school because I'm here. I don't think her mother likes me very much!"

"Oh, so she wasn't sick?"

"No, of course she wasn't sick! Well, she was, at first, but this happened after that." He sighed, starting to pace around the room with a hand on his forehead.