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04 · The Irony of a Trade Off
As expected.
Drew Annoying Larkin 2:47 pm: Can't make it. Sry, owe u later!
Once I finished reading Drew's text, I didn't bother to answer back and shook my head. Glancing around the nearly empty parking lot of our school, I picked up my school bag and DSLR camera before hanging them around my right shoulder. To be honest, I wasn't surprised that Drew flaked.
Also, I wasn't completely upset — more on the fact that he made me wait for him for over half an hour.
Luck was on my side because I didn't have to spend the rest of the afternoon with that obnoxious football player.
Growing more pleased about the situation, I figured that I should go home and cook something for Mom before she got back from work. Mikaela was out possibly rekindling her relationship with Trevor, and Eric was busy training Joshua at the café.
Since Mom used the car for work, I took the public bus home every now and then. The idea of public transportation wasn't as bad as people judged it to be. The bus drivers on my route were very friendly and made sure that no creeps would bother others during the ride.
Before taking a seat near the front, I greeted Mr. Martin with a grin.
"How was your day, Olivia?"
Mr. Martin was a very polite, elder gentlemen. He reminded me of a cute little grandpa you'd see wearing a huge cardigan and playing chess in the park.
"Manageable. I can't believe it's already February."
As the bus door closed, Mr. Martin chuckled before he reminded, "You're still very young, Olivia. Will it be Remy's today?"
Hearing Remy's placed an empty void in my stomach. Mr. Martin must have assumed to go there since I was carrying my camera.
I was still on the crossroads whether or not I should continue my internship there. Mom suggested that it wasn't necessary to stay, but I had no definite answer yet. Even though I had been at Remy's for nearly two years, I felt like my time there was up. On top of that, I did need all the free time to come up with a perfect idea for the contest.
My voice went hoarse. "Just home, Mr. Martin. Thanks."
Mr. Martin observed me closely with his sky blue eyes before he nodded in response.
Throughout the bus ride, I kept thinking of possible ideas for the contest. One by one, I would mentally throw them into the trash can. Sighing in frustration, I was lacking complete inspiration. In my film photography class today, I looked back at old portfolios in hopes that something would ignite in my head, but nothing.
All of a sudden, my cellphone started to buzz against the somewhat uncomfortable bus seat. Reaching for it, I didn't expect the caller to be Eric.
I answered, "Hey, what's up?"
Eric sounded puzzled. "Hey. By any chance, do you know where Joshua is? He hasn't shown up."
"Hold on."
I cupped my cellphone once I realized that Mr. Martin reached the bus stop closest to my neighborhood. Giving Mr. Martin my thanks, he waved me a goodbye, and I placed my cellphone back to my ear.
"Sorry, just got off the bus. No, I haven't. You try calling him?"
"No answer. This isn't going to look good with my parents."
Although I wanted to crack a joke about how I knew the guy would bail out, it wasn't appropriate at the time. From the other line, Eric was hiding that he was nervous. Because Eric offered the job to Joshua, it would be his responsibility if Joshua didn't show up. There had to be a reason why Joshua was pulling this stunt.
"I wish I knew. If I hear from him, I'll let you know."
"Thanks, Olivia. I'll try asking Mikaela."
"Don't," I interjected a little too fast. When Eric asked why, I pressed my lips in a tight line. I had to answer somehow. "She's with Trevor right now, Eric. I don't think we should bother them."
There was a short moment of silence.
"Fine. Talk to you later. Get home safe."
Once we ended the call, I couldn't help but wonder where Joshua would be. He seemed okay during lunch. Actually "okay" would be a compliment. Joshua was quiet the entire time, but I guessed he wasn't comfortable. To be honest, I wasn't comfortable having him around either. He was the one who ridiculed me about my photography after all.
That was when I realized how stupid it was of me to tell Eric that I'd let him know if I heard from Joshua.
We didn't even have each other's number to begin with.
As I walked down the street, I passed by the familiar stores and gas stations that I was positive I could walk home with my eyes closed. However, there was this particular part on my route that scared me a little every time.
Between a grocery mart and restaurant was this long, eerie alley way where businesses could throw away trash. It never occurred to me why alleys always had to be so uninviting. I sort of wished that alleys had welcoming light fixtures and smelled like toasted marshmallows.
Usually, I'd walk a little faster than usual whenever I passed by the freaky alley, but this time, something caught my attention.
There were people actually occupying the alley. Thinking that it was nothing more than employees throwing away the trash, I did a double take when the group of three started to crowd around one person.
Just walk away.
I knew that I would be the next victim if I crossed the line.
Looking side to side, there wasn't anyone near me that I could call for help to. Biting my cheek, these situations always ended up like that. As I moved a few steps closer to the scene, the trio began to throw punches at the individual.
My eyes widened in shock.
The individual seemed to be fighting back, but it was three against one. Immediately, I grabbed my phone and camera and did something that would get me into so much trouble.
I screamed on the top of my lungs, "Hey, you three! What do you think you're doing? I'm calling the cops. I have pictures of you! You're going to jail!"
Once I harbored their attention, the individual was now lying on the floor while the shadowed three shifted their heads towards me.
One of them yelled, "Who the fuck do you think you are?"
"Shit. Did she say the cops?" A second voice said.
I waved my phone at them before I pretended to make a call, "Yeah! I'm on Ford St. and Third Ave., I have their faces and everything!"
The third one nearly choked on his laughter and ridiculed, "Is this a fucking joke?"
The second voice was still cautious and urged, "Forget it. He's not worth it. Let's go."
However, the third one was not taking my threat into consideration. "The little bitch said that she has our pictures. Let's show her not to mess with us."
Oh, shit.
Before the trio could move another step, the solo ranger must have regained their conscious and knocked them down once their backs were turned. That was quite a good comeback. The moment the three were on the floor, the shadow ran towards me. Taking a few steps back, I had a thought that maybe the individual was another bad guy.
Like a surprised deer to the headlights, the individual charged at me before grabbing my arm. Practically dragging my body along, I was close to dropping all my treasured belongings during the process.
Having no time to look back, we continued to run in the speed of light, zigzagging from street to street until I eventually grew dizzy. I had the urge to scream and tell this person to let go of me, but my legs were just moving on auto-pilot. The amount of epinephrine released took over. The grip the person had on my arm was unbreakable.
As my eyes observed who I was forcibly running with, the figure was the outline of a male. My natural instinct assumed this would be bad.
"Hey! Hey!" I ran out of breath that I couldn't even recognize my own voice.
After another sharp turn on an unrecognizable street, I had no clue where we were.
And, who I was stuck with right now.
When the individual pulled to a stop, I nearly bumped into him because of the sudden brake. My heart was racing from fear and exhaustion. The person was breathing heavily as he had his back turned. I watched him run his fingers through his brown hair in frustration.
"You are most craziest person in the world!" he spat out.
Wait a second.
The figure flipped around, and those green eyes were filled with fury, panic, and worry. "You could have gotten yourself killed, you know that!"
Now that we were face to face, it occurred to me that he didn't have a clue who his running partner was either. The dumbfounded eyes and the huge gulp that bopped from his throat were evident signs.
Not being able to blink at the time, I took in the damage the trio had done to him.
Speechless, I could only find enough energy to say, "J-Joshua?"
There wasn't even a proper way to explain the stunned look on his face.
Joshua's mouth dropped before he muttered, "Oh, fuck."
+ + +
"Quit moving. You're only making it worse," I scolded as I attempted to apply rubbing alcohol on Joshua's injuries.
"Shit, shit!" Joshua winced as his eyes shot darts at me. "How about you just not do that? I'll be fine."
Suppressing a laugh, I commented, "I really don't understand you boys. You can take a punch, but when it comes to this, you all wimp out."
"It's kind of hard when your nurse has hands like sandpaper," Joshua grumbled under his breath as he rubbed his jaw with his left hand.
"What was that?" I innocently asked, pressing the rubbing alcohol harder.
"Mother fu — nothing!" Joshua finally shut up.
From the looks of it, the trio weren't able to catch up to us which made my pumping heart ease up a bit. After the big revelation that I — barely — saved Joshua from the unknown trio while Joshua was the one who bought me along his running marathon, the two of us were now crouching outside a gas station's convenience store that happened to be nearby. I bought a cheap first aid kit to treat Joshua's injuries.
Unfortunately, there were no chairs.
The people who passed by gave us funny looks before remarking under their breaths about our "reckless" teenage behavior. A few asked if we needed help or if police involvement was necessary, but we insisted that we were fine. That may be a lie though. The entire twenty minutes of us being together were mostly composed of bickering that it never crossed my mind to ask why those three guys attacked Joshua in the first place.
As I swept the small cut with the tiny square cloth, I noticed how flattering Joshua's facial structure actually was, starting with his defined jawline. The only reason I had enough courage to gawk at his side profile within a close proximity was because he was too busy staring straight ahead. Joshua had thick eyelashes that emphasized his green eyes while his nose bridge was tall and straight. Even though Joshua's face had a slight cut and a few bruising, there was just something about him.
"Almost done," I announced, reaching for a bandaid from the kit.
He only grunted in response.
The moment I started to unravel the bandaid's wrapping, Joshua's eyes started to widen. "Oh no, you are not putting that on my face."
Waving the bandaid, I tilted my head and teased, "Why not? I think this style suits you well."
His flat stare was quite deadly, but I still ended up laughing at him.
Despite the constant fidgeting from Joshua, the bandaid with multiple yellow smiley-faces as the design was proudly stamped on his face to cover the cut on his right cheek.
Joshua groaned, "You're making me look ridiculous."
"The bandaid makes you look much more huggable now," I chuckled out, closing the small plastic box shut as my peripheral vision caught Joshua rolling his eyes.
When I tossed the first aid kit into my backpack for future use, I stole a glance from Joshua who was lost in his thoughts. For the longest time, his gaze was stuck on the concrete floor we sat on. A little worried, I was actually curious with whatever was circulating in Joshua's mind.
"You're insane."
Talk about speaking too soon.
Not believing what came out of Joshua's mouth, he angled his face so his green eyes would meet mine. I ended up glancing down due to the intensity of his stare. Joshua's voice appealed to me.
"Olivia, look at me."
A small grin emerged on Joshua's face once he saw that I listened to his request. However, Joshua just had to remind me what he said a minute ago.
"You're insane."
I let out a dry laugh before shrugging it off.
Joshua's lips fell into a frown due to my lack of interest. "Listen to me. What were you honestly thinking? Even if it was me — some stranger — your friend you wanted to save, you could have gotten hurt. Or who knows what else! You don't just do these kind of things and expect it to go your way. Don't do that again. You hear me?"
"Yes, Dad," I mumbled.
Noticing how I wasn't taking his words very seriously, Joshua tried to stand up even though he struggled a little at first. He probably stood up as a way for his point to come out clearer.
The exasperated expression stayed permanent on his face as he glared down at me. "You're not listening! What if they got you? Did you ever think about that? You would have been in trouble too!"
Looking up at Joshua, I felt sincerity pour out from his voice. Those green eyes were too cloudy to interpret though. Not understanding why Joshua needed to lecture me like so, the thought came across to me.
Did Joshua Anderson actually care about my behalf?
No way, it was common sense.
He obviously didn't enjoy my heroic attempt. I was sure that nobody would. The stunt was horrible now that I reminisced about it for a second.
I finally nodded my head. "You're right. It was foolish, spontaneous, and dangerous. I'm sorry."
When Joshua let out an unexpected hiss of pain due to his rapid actions, I threw an immediate look of concern at him.
Locking his eyes back with mine, Joshua shook it off and went back on topic. "Don't apologize. Tell me you won't do it again."
"I won't do it again — hey, are we in the third grade or something?"
The moment I repeated Joshua's words, my locker buddy didn't hesitate to squat down and hold his pinky out to me. He wanted to do a pinky promise. The move was surprising, but today was just a day full of surprises.
Without realizing it, I stared at his pinky and took in how long and lean his fingers were.
They were like perfect, piano playing hands.
"Do you understand what I'm doing?" Joshua broke my train of thought.
I swiftly countered, "It's hard to concentrate when a guy wearing a smiley-face bandaid is trying to talk to you."
Before Joshua transformed into a raging old lady, I immediately intertwined my pinky with his.
Hoping that would get him to calm down, I gave him a smile. "There."
A form of content overtook Joshua's face before he released the hold of our pinkies. "Olivia, did you really take pictures?"
I released a laugh of humiliation before answering, "No. Another reason why my plan failed."
Joshua shook his head, but relief was hidden beneath his eyes. "Anyway, thanks… and thanks for, uh, you know."
Deciding to play naive, I shook my head in a clueless matter. Joshua growled in annoyance, and I tried my best to hide my snickering. Seeing Joshua Anderson come up with words of gratitude would be very interesting after what happened on Monday.
"You really know how to make people's lives difficult, huh? Even if you made yourself look like a dumb ass, thanks for distracting those assholes and for this," Joshua then pointed at the wounds I tended to.
"Just yours," I half-joked before I replied, "and you're welcome. Are you okay though? Those guys were just attacking you and — "
He quickly interrupted, "I said that I'm fine, right? There were just a bunch of punks."
His gaze broke away from mine in an instance.
When I threw in a simple suggestion about going to the police station and reporting the incident, Joshua's voice went harsh. "Stop making a big deal out of it. Can we not talk about this?"
Clamping my mouth shut, I was slightly disappointed that Joshua wouldn't give me a definite answer about the trio. I then understood that it wasn't my business to begin with. There was still this unexplainable feeling surfacing in the pit of my stomach. My inner thoughts were telling me that it was something more than what Joshua tried to perceive it as.
All of a sudden, Joshua's tone changed as he called for my attention. "How about you… Are you okay?"
When I looked back up at him, his green eyes were apologetic.
I tried to lighten up the atmosphere. "Yeah — I mean, you nearly tore my arm off, but I'm good."
An amused grin soon stretched across Joshua's face before he reminded, "Sorry about that. I just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible."
"I would have done the same. You looked pretty shocked when you found out it was me."
"You were just the same way."
I didn't know why I asked Joshua, but I did anyway, "What would happen if it wasn't me?"
Joshua stood there in silence before he answered, "If it was a girl and she was cute, I'd probably ask her to marry me already. I guess I wasn't so lucky this time."
"Asshole," I coughed.
The smiley-face bandaid wearing jerk didn't stop himself from laughing at my face.
When I sat there with a grimace, I soon found a hand reaching out to me. Joshua flicked his head to the side as if he was signaling me to get up. Taking his hand, Joshua carefully lifted me up so I'd be standing beside him. Noticing his clothing attire, Joshua was wearing a white button up and black pants — the same kind for Soulatte Café.
That was when I remembered Eric.
Garnering his attention, Joshua settled his eyes on me. The green in them nearly radiated as the sun rays hit them.
"Before I found you, Eric called me. He's probably losing his mind wondering where you are. What should we do?"
Joshua returned with his voice completely solemn, "Can you do me a favor?"
Unsure of what I was getting myself into, I ended up bobbing my head a few times.
"Don't tell anyone about this, Olivia. That you found me. That you saw me. Look, I appreciate what you did, but I don't want you to bring yourself into this. I'll deal with Eric and my situation, and you act like you have no clue what happened to me."
"I kind of don't," I unconsciously retorted.
His lips twitched a bit. "Olivia, this isn't the time to play clever. Now, can you do that for me?"
"S-sure. I'm just worried about Eric's behalf too."
"Don't worry, that's my problem to fix," Joshua reassured me right away.
I paused until I followed, "You have my word."
After that, Joshua pressed his lips together like he was contemplating if he should say something or not. It confused me the moment Joshua wanted to know what I wanted in return.
"You have my back, so I'll have yours. What do you want?" His words sounded more like a demand rather than a kind offer.
"For you to be my eternal peasant," I requested, feeling a grin grow on my face before Joshua gave me a flat stare. Getting a good laugh at his reaction, I decided to come up with a more reasonable choice, "Be my subject for the photography contest I'm entering."
This time, Joshua's eyes flickered in immediate shock.
His mouth dropped a little. "You're… kidding."
"This contest is really important to me, so no, I don't have time to joke around. Is it a deal then?"
There was brief hesitation that occupied Joshua's face until he decided to let his ego run wild. "Because I'm good looking, right?"
Joshua thought that it was his turn to be the funny one between the two of us — even if his words were a tiny bit true. Despite the irony since Joshua was the one who made the snide comments about my photography, there was something about Joshua's emerald green eyes that made the photographer in me want to capture them.
In the end, I shook my head because I wasn't going to let this guy's head get any bigger. Dealing with that a few times already during the span of two days was something I had to avoid.
"No, it's because of your smiley-face bandaid."
He glared at me with no reluctance.
Giggling, I offered my hand out. "You got my back, and I got yours?"
Joshua had no choice but to take my hand, and we shook on it. I told myself that this wasn't a partnership — more like a trade off — because I still had to keep an alert eye on Joshua Anderson.
His lips then pulled into a smile.
"Only because I know you're even more attracted to me with this bandaid on my face."
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Dedicating this to Cristina because she’s a lovely girl, and I’m glad to have become buddies with her through wattpad.