꧁༒☬~~~~~☬༒꧂
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚄𝚜
"ɪ ᴜꜱᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ᴏɴᴇ ᴅᴀʏ, ᴡᴇ'ᴅ ᴛᴇʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ ᴏꜰ ᴜꜱ ʜᴏᴡ ᴡᴇ ᴍᴇᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴘᴀʀᴋꜱ ꜰʟᴇᴡ ɪɴꜱᴛᴀɴᴛʟʏ"
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If there was one thing Olivia knew for sure was that freshman boys were animals. They were their own category of stupid. Olivia placed them in second place of foolish, the first being her friends. She had handed Selena a folder of paperwork she had left in the car and turned to walk back towards the exit when she was grabbed.
It was by two boys trying to act macho in front of their friends. It was a joint attack, with one boy's arms draping around her shoulder and the other around her waist. Olivia, who was used to having arms wrapped around her, and having a overprotected dad who made her and Selena take self-defense classes, knew how to get out of them.
She jabbed her heel down on one of the boy's feet, using her elbow to swing back into the other's throat. Olivia forced the arms off her with a scoff. "As if," she shouted. The two offenders back up. "It was a joke!" One moaned, rubbing his throat.
"You know, if you really wanted attention, go fuck each other," she snapped. "Now fuck off."
They went with their tails tucked between their legs, with the whole hall watching them. Selena sipped her wine with a smirk as she watched. Olivia rolled her eyes, pushing her hair out of her face. She wouldn't call them dogs, because that would be an insult to dogs. They were cockroaches.
"Are you alright?"
Olivia turned her attention to a girl sitting to the side of her. "Fantastic," she responded. "Is that champagne?" The girl nodded and shifted, opening up a space for Olivia to sit down. Olivia took the seat, accepting the offered glass.
"Cockroaches," Olivia complained. "Work of advice, if you only plan is to think with your dick through college, be prepared to get slapped."
The girl that offered her the champagne laughed and held out her hand. "I'm Lauren," she said. Olivia took the offered hand and shook it. "Olivia, thank you." Olivia presented her hand to the two boys sitting on the other side of the table.
The one on the left took it first. "Miles," he said.
"Richards?" Olivia questioned. She already knew the answer. She was present when Hugo watched the boy during their time at Westminster. And from the many pictures Miles' mother had shown her, when she and Olivia's own mother had tea parties.
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
Olivia snickered and answered. "We went to Westminster together. Plus, our moms are best mates. I've seen your baby pictures."
Lauren and the second male sitting next to Miles laughed. Olivia shushed them. "He was adorable. Still is adorable," she said. Miles' cheeks were flushed as he drowned the rest of his champagne.
"Are you a first year?" The second male inquired.
"Nope, already went through this hell. Second year."
The boy nodded before introducing himself. "Alastair," he told, stretching out his hand. Olivia smiled and took it.
"Pleasure."
Alastair smiled back before turning his head towards Miles. "Mate, I'm sorry you ended up in the prison block," he said. Miles waved him off. "My father is," Alastair tried to add before getting caught off by Lauren.
"Are you in the new building?"
Olivia tuned out the conversation, peering over her shoulder, catching Hugo's eyes. She grinned at him, giving him a teasing wink before turning back around.
"There weren't any girls at your school, were there?" Lauren asked.
Olivia snorted as Miles said, "don't worry, they're just like us, but cleverer."
"And more mature," Olivia added, taking a pen and piece of paper out of her bag. She wrote something down and slid it towards Alastair.
Alastair looked at the piece of paper, quickly scrawling something below what Olivia wrote before sliding it back. Miles and Lauren watched with curiosity, but both didn't say anything, instead they began their own conversation.
Olivia took the paper and smirked. She leaned forward and whispered, "tell him he still owes Olivia Atwood twenty pounds. That bastard." Alastair acknowledged with a small laugh. Olivia grinned, drowning the rest of the champagne, and standing up. "It was nice meeting all of you, but I see my friend, so I'm going to run," she said.
Lauren waved goodbye and Miles watched as Olivia walked down the aisle towards the main table, taking a seat next to a girl that look exactly like her. He caught the eye of a male sitting across from her. Miles kept eye contact for a few seconds, immediately adverting his eyes when Lauren started speaking again.
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Olivia inserted a bobby pin into the lock, jiggling it around. Hugo stood next to her, keeping an eye out from the alley they were in. "Almost there," she whispered, a look of excitement in her eyes. She cheered silently when the gate clicked and opened.
"What are you doing?"
Hugo was the worst look out ever. Olivia turned on her heels, an excuse already forming in her head. She glanced at Hugo who looked unapologetic. Posh bastard. The words caught themselves in her mouth as Olivia registered who had caught them. Miles Richards. She relaxed slightly at the sight of the other male.
"Nothing illegal," she said.
"You're picking a lock."
"To get to the ladder. Come on."
Olivia reached forward and grabbed Miles' hand, pulling him forward. She already knew Hugo was following them. "Where are we going?" Miles asked. Olivia stopped at the ladder, pulling herself up.
"To the moon, Miles. Now, shush, be quiet until you see where we're going."
Miles looked bewildered as Olivia disappeared over the ledge. Her companion stood on the side of the ladder offering him nothing but a "after you." Miles had two options run back down the alley and pretend he saw nothing or climb up the ladder and see what's worth picking a lock to see.
Curiosity won, and Miles climbed the ladder. The three of them traveled in silence as Olivia led them down and up and over and sideways. It was a very confusing path. Olivia walked ahead and Miles was left walking next to her companion.
He kept wondering if he should introduce himself of wait for Olivia to do it. Which shouldn't have been that big of a problem since Miles was his own man, but he kept his mouth shut until Olivia spoke up.
"Miles. Hugo. Hugo. Miles." Olivia said, climbing over a roof ledge. "Hugo did a lot of school plays. His Richard the third was something. Though I hate the play because of the bias, but that's another conversation."
Miles fought through his memories at Westminster and to the play he saw with his friends. "Oh, my god you were the guy who used to improvise limericks in Latin," he said, glancing at the side of Hugo's face.
"And get bog washed for it."
"Those were fun times," Olivia teased, coming back to stand on the other side of Hugo. "I, on the other hand, was banned from school plays when I beat the piss out of a girl on stage."
"That was you?" Miles exclaimed, remembering that moment. It was absolutely hilarious.
"Olivia was a very violent child," Hugo told him.
"That tosser deserved it. That bitch," Olivia muttered in defense. "Anyway, just up that ledge."
Olivia walked forward and pushed a crate to the side of a ledge. Stepping on the crate and onto the roof. Miles stopped and stared at Hugo in question.
"The person she beat the piss out of shagged her ex-boyfriend while they were in the process of getting back together. Multiple times," Hugo answered.
"Oh."
"Best not to bring it up."
"Right."
Miles climbed onto the roof, the wind blowing on his face. They were high up. Olivia stood next to the ledge of the roof, holding out her arms. Miles went to stand next to her, peering at the view of Oxford in the setting sun.
"This. Miles. Is where we truly are invincible," Olivia said. "The world is wide, and we are young. I plan to live every day is if it were my last." Miles grinned at her. He settled next to Hugo and watched as Olivia took out a camera from her bag and began snapping pictures.
If only Miles knew how soon Olivia Atwood's last day was going to be. And how impactful she would be on his life. But they couldn't know better until knowing better was useless. And them knowing better was going to a while. So, the three of them stood on the roof well into the night. Miles didn't think he would talk to either of them tomorrow, but for that night, the three of them conversed as if they had been best mates for centuries.
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Also Posted on AO3.