Oh Olivia!

33. Of Course, It's Stupid!

Although there was a large age gap between Felix and Lucas, he tried his best to be a good big brother to him and not be all self-centered like his sister. It did not mean that he was not proud of her or anything, but after sometime, he understood that she had her priorities and he had his.

Also there was this fact that he was not as ambitious as Lucy. He did not have his life figured out like her. Does that mean he would not even fit in with his family in the near future?

He hopes it never comes to that. The thought alone is scary.

"-listening to me?"

Felix's train of thought was cut off by his mother's voice.

"What?"

"What are you thinking about?" Dad asked. Felix knew he was concerned.

"Um, nothing. Just about college and, er, stuff. . ."

"Don't worry about it, son." Dad smiled at him. "I'm sure you'll figure something out."

Felix shrugged and gave him a small smile in return. He knew that he would figure it out but he wanted to figure it out sooner.

"These potatoes are hard, ma!"

~•~

The next morning, Felix sat on his porch waiting for Max and Aril as usual. He wouldn't lie and say that being a third-wheel was a great experience. But they had had this arrangement since they learned how to drive and Felix was not going to walk out of it because he was awkward around people.

Moreover, Aril was a pretty chill girl. She would always try to include Felix in conversation and sometimes even go as far as ignoring Max. It was amusing to see Max whine and pout to get his girlfriend's attention.

But it meant it was also dangerous to have him behind the wheel.

A loud horn made Felix aware that Max is finally here. He walked out and took his seat in the passenger side. Aril waved him from the backseat. According to her, just because she was a new addition to their carpool doesn't mean that she would take his place. Although Felix try to argue that it didn't matter, he was secretly glad that she understood. He liked her more then.

"Hello, Felix!" Aril greeted as soon as Felix had shut the door.

He mumbled a similar greeting back and adjusted his dark blue school bag on his lap. Max turned on the radio and a Bon Jovi song blasted through the speakers. Max began bobbing his head along the beat, the white baseball cap which he had worn backwards lightly brushing the front of his seat. Aril began to sing along softly although it was more of a rock song which requires a lot of screaming. Max grinned and without any warning, began shouting out the lyrics.

". . . me heaven and put me through hell. . ."

Complete with drums and electric guitars and headbangs and all. Well, it's Max, after all.

~•~

Felix was making his way to his locker after waving goodbye to Max and Aril when he saw Olivia and Anaya whispering with each other. Well, after spending his senior year with them, he knew that they were not a wise combination. The ideas Olivia came up with were crazy itself but with inputs from Anaya, they'd be dangerously insane.

Brushing aside his thoughts and no intention to know what they were discussing, Felix went on his way. But from the corner of his eye he saw Anaya glancing nervously at Travis who was busy chatting with a couple of guys from the basketball team. He always thought that Travis' crush was unrequited. But seeing Anaya nervously biting on her nails and stealing glances at Travis, he was almost sure that he was wrong.