“Please, Olivia?”
I slam my fist down on the table. If Tyler doesn't get his humongous head out of my personal space bubble in three seconds, I am not going to be held responsible for my actions.
For the past ten minutes since class has started, all Tyler's done is all but beg me to give him another chance. Yeah right, like that'll ever happen. Only twenty-four hours ago he was standing in the front of this very class telling everyone about my lack of talent. To be honest, I was pretty surprised he didn't post it on Facebook along with the recording.
“I'll give you M&M's,” he offers in a quiet voice.
“I can buy my own,” I hiss. I really hope Mr. Owens doesn't hear us because if I lose any marks or get a detention because of him, there will be no longer be a Tyler Perry to annoy me anymore.
“I'll give you M&M's every day until the end of the year.”
His offer is tempting, very tempting, but I already have someone who gives me M&M's every day and has been doing so for the past three and a half years.
“Come on, Olive, just give me a second chance. I'm begging you here.”
“And I'm telling you to stop and leave me the hell alone!” I snap as quietly as I possibly can. “And calling me Olive isn't really helping your case,” I add at the end.
Mr. Owens asks for a volunteer to help distribute the rats and I raise my hand, anything to get away from this guy – even if it means having to carry out a tub of dead, stinky rats. But of course, luck doesn't seem to be on my side and he chooses a boy named Alex to help him instead.
Everyone starts chatting loudly and I put my head on the table so that maybe Tyler will get the hint that I don't want to talk, but being the stubborn ass that he unfortunately is, he keeps on saying my name until I look up and shoot him a look that is designed to kill.
“What do you want, Tyler? For real, and don't give me the crap about wanting to be friends again.”
“It's not crap,” he says softly, “I really, really want to make it up to you. Come on, Olive— sorry, Olivia,” he looks at me sheepishly then continues, “for old time’s sake.”
He gives me his puppy dog eyes look that I couldn't resist four years ago, but now I've seemed to build up immunity against him. To be honest, I don't want to give him that chance because I'm afraid he'll disappoint me again.
It sucked the first time, the feeling of being betrayed by a friend and it'll probably suck even more if I'm the one giving him a chance to do it again.
“Well pardon me if I don't believe that.”
A bad smell enters the room making everyone groan out loud and cover their noses. Must mean the arrival of our dead, furry friends.
Mr. Owens takes a huge sniff and everyone stares at him like he's crazy. “I love the smell of science in the morning,” he says seriously. Everyone groans again. He grins then tells a girl named Hannah to go get the dissecting tools from the supply room.
Alex, the poor boy carrying the tub looks like he'd rather be anywhere else and it makes me sort of glad that I wasn't chosen. But then again, I'd take dead rats over having to sit next to Tyler Perry any day.
Once the rats and tools are given out and are lying on the dissection tray, I look at Tyler expectantly. Like I said before, I don't have a problem with dissecting stuff, I just have a problem with having to remove its fur and then having to cut it open.
“What?” He says when he notices my stare.
I gesture to the rat. “Proceed.”
A disgusted look appears on his face. “Hell no, you do it!”
“Aren't you the man in this partnership?” I tell him, “prove you're a man and do it.”
“I don't mind being the woman for the time being,” he says and crosses his arms over his chest. I notice how his biceps get a little bigger and before I let my thoughts go anywhere, I quickly snap out of it. This is Tyler we're talking about, no drooling over his muscular arms is allowed.
“Tyler, please?” I say in a small voice as I look up at him from under my lashes. It always used to work on him before and I can only hope it still does now. His breathing hitches a little then I hear him curse under his breath and I smirk.
“I'll do it on one condition,” he finally says.
“What's that?”
“You give me just one chance to prove to you that I really mean it, us being friends, I mean.”
“Oh hell no!”
He shrugs. “Then I hope you enjoy your grade in biology when it's twenty-five percent less than it should be.”
I grit my teeth. It's no use asking Mr. Owens to do it because he very clearly stated at the beginning of the class that he wasn't doing anything for anyone and that we would all have to man up.
I'd rather not take up his offer but the alternative is having to do it myself and the mere thought of it is making me sick and if he doesn't do it then I'll get a seventy-five in biology and that's assuming I get full marks on the final.
“Fine,” I tell him moodily, “but I swear to God if we don't get an A on this, I'll castrate you.”
So much for taking dead rats over him any day.
Tyler grins. “And I wouldn't expect any less from you. Just remind me to give you my number after class.”
So we're exchanging numbers now? “Whatever, just get to work.” I watch him as he gets to work. He surprisingly does it correctly and from the look of concentration on his face and how he didn't hesitate at all to get started I can only say that I've been scammed into going out with him.
As much as I'd love to hit him over the head with my textbook and possibly knock his brains out, I refrain from doing that. I don't need the next call my parents get to be from the police station.
I watch him as he works, wondering how such a beautiful human being can be such an awful one. His high cheekbones, square jaw, the stubble on his cheeks. For a moment I let myself forget that the guy I'm checking out is Tyler Perry and is just a guy.
If it weren't for his awful attitude, I would totally have a crush on him. But what can you do, you don't always get what you want in life.
“Can you stop staring at me?” He says suddenly, pulling me out of my thoughts. “It's a bit distracting.” I can hear the smirk in voice.
I scoff and fold my arms over my chest. “You only wish that I was staring at you.” I make sure to turn my head so that he doesn't see the red on my cheeks.
He raises an eyebrow. “Whatever you say, Olivia, whatever you say.”
I don't look at him for the rest of the period.
***
“Ohmigod, for real?” Ella squeals when I tell her about what happened in Bio class.
“No, not ‘ohmigod’,” I say mimicking her squeal of delight, “it's ‘oh my God’,” I say in a tone that indicates that the worst thing in life just happened to me.
She rolls her eyes. “Can't you see, Olivia? He's trying to make things right, the last you could do is give him a chance and then if you don't want to be friends with him again after that then tell him.”
She speaks with reason, but it doesn't mean I want to do this, it's only because I was blackmailed into it.
“I've seen the movies and read the books, Ella. How do I know this isn't just some plot to humiliate me before graduation or something, you know, like a grand finale.”
“If we thought that about every person then we would all be lonely and miserable.”
“Yeah, whatever,” I mumble, not wanting to admit that she has a point.
“So when are you guys going out?” She asks.
“We're not ‘going out’, he's going out and I'm being dragged along against my free will.”
“Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I have to cancel on Friday,” she says, referring to the plans we had to go to the carnival that opened last week.
“Why?”
“Because Will's coming down this weekend,” she says happily. Will's her boyfriend who left town for college in California last year. Unlike most couples who decide to break up instead of try the long distance thing, they didn't. They really love each other and I'm totally jealous of what they have. I can only dream of something remotely close to want they have.
“So I guess you're busy Saturday and Sunday too, right?”
She nods. “I'm sorry, but I haven't seen him since winter break and I really miss him.”
“No, it's okay, seriously. Have fun and say hi to him for me.”
Ella hugs me and grins. “You're the best, Olivia.”