The Scars of Anatomy

4. Bold

Olivia sits next to me, her body tense as she refuses to turn around and get in the middle of our discussion. Her pencil is in her hand, anxiously coloring in the corner of her notebook paper as she desperately tries to ignore everything going on.

Realizing Olivia isn't going to come to his defense, rat boy shoots me a death glare before stomping past us to take the empty chair next to Delilah.

"Jeez, what's up with me and sitting in people's unassigned seats? This is college, not elementary school. Professors don't give a rat's ass about where you sit," I mutter lowly, so only Olivia can hear me, trying to make a joke to clear the air.

I watch as her lips press together, suppressing a smile.

Our professor walks in and stets up the projector. We spend the next hour jotting down notes from the power point presentation.

"Man, I don't miss taking notes," I complain, flexing my fingers as we finish the class, students gathering their belongings and filing out of the room to flee to their next class.

"It only gets worse from here," Delilah says, shoving her binder into her backpack. "Oh hey, Liv, I may be a few minutes late meeting you to the car. I have to meet Josie after class to grab a few things from her, and you know how she likes to blab."

"No problem, I have some reading to do for our English class, anyway. It's hot out there today so I'll just wait for you in the library and read while I wait. Text me when you're finished and I'll meet you," Olivia says.

"Shit, I forgot about that," I mumble, referring to the assigned reading for our English class.

I stand from my chair and grab my backpack, slinging it over my shoulder, waiting for Olivia to finish packing up her things. While waiting I feel someone sneak up behind me, a hand landing on my shoulder as a body presses up against my side.

"You're going to the party tonight, right, Bronx?" Adrianna purrs in my ear, her hand on my shoulder sliding down my back and slipping into the back pocket of my jeans, squeezing.

I jump, awkwardly clearing my throat. I feel uncomfortable with Adrianna being this assertive while Olivia's eyes are on me. And I can sense the rising tension radiating off Olivia from witnessing Adrianna's bold actions.

"Uh, yeah, I might swing by for a bit," I reply, recoiling.

Adrianna grins triumphantly. "Perfect, I'll see you there," she says before standing on her tippy toes, planting a kiss to the corner of my mouth, taking me by surprise.

Anger and embarrassment bubble inside my chest as I watch her walk away, clearly please with herself, like an animal that's just marked its territory.

"Awkward," Delilah sings in a hushed tone as she, Olivia, and rat boy stand from their seats and shrug on their backpacks.

Olivia flashes her friend a warning look before we all file out of the room. We walk down the halls of the science building, and my mind goes haywire trying to think of something to say to clear the obvious tension still lingering.

Do I apologize?

But what do I apologize for? I did nothing wrong.

Do I not say anything at all?

"See you guys later," Delilah says as we descend the stairs to the first floor, rat boy following her down the hallway towards more classrooms as Olivia and I both head for the exit. I make sure to grab the door for her.

"Thank you," she says softly, and we both walk in silence, some awkward tension still lingering.

"You sure you don't want to come tonight?" I ask, stuffing my hands in the front pockets of my jeans.