A Suicidal Boy and the Girl Who Could Read His Mind

23| banter

BANTER

Through all the chaos of the night before, it has totally slipped Laura's mind that her study date with Matt was this afternoon. She wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, she felt guilty for going when Oliver had admitted that he didn't want her to, though they weren't together and he really shouldn't have any control over her conscience. Yet, he did. And on the other, she'd feel guilty for bailing on Matt at the last minute.

He's done nothing wrong, and Laura still liked him...just not like that. Sure, she'd kissed him before, but she was confused and slightly drunk (okay, she was wasted). Besides, she did need help in economics, and he seemed to know what he was talking about.

It was studying. It was just studying. There was nothing more to it.

"Do you want a lift home after school?" Oliver asked, resting his hand on the centre console as he parked in front of the school. There were no other students around, class had started over thirty minutes ago at this point. Laura was still sipping her coffee in ignorance of this fact.

Laura shook her head, "No, I...uh—" she paused, "I have the study thing with Matt after school."

He nodded, playing it cool, "Right. Have fun."

"It's just studying."

"I know."

"I need help with economics, I'm almost failing."

"I understand," he turns to her, pulling the handbrake up.

Laura frowned, "Seriously, Matt's really good at—"

"You don't have to justify it to me, coffee cart. You can hang out with whoever you want, we aren't together."

Laura rolled her eyes, "I know, you just seemed a little annoyed when I told you on Monday."

Olls sighed, "I was, but now that I've had time to...process, I get that I can't control who you talk to and spend time with. I have no problem with Kate, so why shouldn't I treat Matt just the same?"

"Well, I never kissed Kate."

He smirked, "If you had kissed her, I definitely wouldn't be discouraging you from spending time with her," he waggled his eyebrows.

"Gross," Laura continued, "can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Last night," she took a breath, "why did you come to me?"

Oliver unbuckled his seatbelt to face her, "I don't know, Laur...I guess, I just trust you. I knew you'd help me out."

She smiled at this, "I'm glad you did...come to me, I mean."

He nodded, "Me too."

They sat in silence for a while, facing the school and not saying a word. Laura could feel the tension rising quickly, rapidly.

She broke the silence, "Oliver?"

"Yeah?"

"What were you dreaming about last night?" He stayed silent, "We don't have to talk about it, but you can...you know, if you want to."

"Did I ever say thank you for last night?" He brushed a piece of hair behind Laura's ear, "I should have...thank you, for everything. I mean it, I had the best sleep of my life last night, despite the bad dream."

Though he deflected her question, Laura knew she was getting somewhere with Oliver. She smiled at him, "We should head in, don't you think?"

"I guess so," he muttered, pulling his hand away from her face. She missed its warmth, though all it did was make her shiver.