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17 · The Grand Reveal
Since senior year was coming to an end, not only was graduation around the corner but AP exams as well. Mikaela and I already started to prepare ourselves by dedicating as much Fridays and Saturdays to study together. We didn't have the chance to meet up last weekend since Mikaela had her annual — and sadly, her last — cheer competition of her high school career.
The cheer team's hard work definitely paid off, and they took home second place. That was the biggest accomplishment in the history of Farello High School, and the school was holding onto this as a start of a legacy. I hadn't seen my best friend so overjoyed in her life. Even though the break up with Trevor nearly ruined her concentration, Mikaela never looked back with her past relationship with him.
Today was the first of many where we would study for our exams in May.
What better way to hold a study session than at Soulatté Café?
The oak wood table was flooded with our massive textbooks and old notes scattered around. It was three in the afternoon, and we've been here refreshing our minds about the theorems and rules of derivatives and limits.
Eric and his parents weren't running the café since this was the last day before his grandma headed back to South Korea. Our friend was the one who always gave us some pointers about what to look out for, but we didn't mind that he had to skip out today. Eric had to spend time with family, and that was most important.
Spinning her black pen between her fingers, Mikaela and I were trying to figure out a derivative problem for the past twenty minutes.
Flipping through the pages of my notebook, I let out an exasperated sigh. "I could have sworn someone told me that senior year was going to be the best year of my life. Why is it so torturous then?"
Holding back a laugh, Mikaela nodded in agreement.
All of a sudden, another voice decided to enter our conversation and reminded, "It was me. And, that's because you two are overachievers. Who takes AP classes their senior year?"
That voice belonged to none other than Soulatte's native barista, Kenneth, who was just a table away from us. Recalling that Kenneth had a laid back senior year made me envy his decision at the time.
Kenneth was mopping away the left over crumbs the previous customers had left. Harboring our attention towards him, he tossed the damp, cotton cloth up into his hand before he approached our table.
Greeting him, I then played a hurt expression. "Thanks for the words of encouragement, Kenneth."
The barista laughed, shaking his head. "I'm just teasing you. You'll both do fine. At least you're not Eric who's taking five or something beyond me."
Mikaela didn't hesitate to mention in admiration, "That boy was born to excel in life."
The three of us shared a laugh, but Eric's drive and intelligence was something we all appreciated about him.
While Kenneth asked Mikaela what we were studying for, my gaze trailed off to observe my surroundings. The cafe was quiet at the time with other students trying to study and a few tables filled with friends or couples having drinks and desserts together. I ended up focusing on front counter of the café where Joshua was currently fulfilling the drink orders as he worked with Ben, Will, and Randy.
What sparked my interest was how Joshua was talking to a male customer during the process. From afar, the male was just an inch or two shorter than Joshua's stature. It was impossible to distinguish the male's facial features since his back was towards me. The customer wore a black hat, and his clothes had a casual approach.
Raising my eyebrows at the interaction, I suspected that Joshua finally decided to break out of his shell.
"Right, Olivia?" Mikaela's voice pulled me back to my senses.
Angling my head back at Mikaela and Kenneth, the two stared as if they were waiting for a reply — except they actually were waiting for one.
Unsure to agree or disagree, I pursed my lips as I adjusted my position on the chair. "What was that again?"
A small frown appeared on Mikaela's lips before she repeated in forgiveness, "That we're scared for the calculus exam."
I quickly agreed, adding in a few nods, "Yeah, that exam is going to drain us."
Kenneth remarked sarcastically, making himself shiver, "I could really feel the fear in your voice."
The two snickered amongst each other, and I sheepishly smiled since they caught my absent mind. Once Kenneth announced that he better head to the front, I unconsciously stopped him. Allowing my curiosity to take control, I used my eyes to point out the guy Joshua was talking to.
I asked through a hushed tone, "Who's that, Kenneth?"
Glancing over his shoulder, a knowledgeable gasp escaped from him. From the corner of my eyes, Mikaela also followed.
Kenneth then revealed in a cool manner, "Joshua's boyfriend."
While confusion started to spew out from Mikaela and me, the barista stood there with the most composed expression on his face.
From that window of utter silence, Kenneth couldn't contain it anymore and started to cackle with laughter.
As I looked at Mikaela, she was still gaping at the laughing male before her eyes met mine. When she pointed at my expression, I realized that I was holding a similar, obscure face like hers.
Kenneth began to wave his hands out and explained, "You two are so gullible. I'm surprised you don't know him. That's Ethan."
Uncertain why Kenneth would assume that we would know this Ethan, this was all breaking news to me.
I knitted my eyebrows and replied, "I don't know him."
Kenneth scratched his head in doubt. "Huh, really? Ethan sometimes comes by to bother Joshua. They've been buddies since they were kids. Well, that's what Joshua told me."
The truth that Joshua actually had a friend surprised me.
Though it was mean to even think that my locker buddy never had any, I was just so used to Joshua telling me how he always kept to himself that it never crossed my mind. This friend of his had to be someone outside of school because Joshua always minded his business unless a student approached him first.
Before either of us could comment about that, Kenneth told us to stay put — not like we were planning to move in the first place — and walked off.
Watching Kenneth stray off, it turned out that he was heading over to Joshua and his friend. He even interrupted the boys' conversation.
Joshua's green eyes promptly gazed over to me before curiosity were tinged in them once Kenneth began to drag the other male along with him. Catching the look on Mikaela's face, she had an idea where this was going, and I signaled that we should just go along with it.
As I got a better perspective of Ethan, the puzzled expression on his face had disappeared — almost like he recognized who we were. A sudden grin flashed on Ethan's lips before he took off his cap.
The way his lips tugged up made that once intimidating aura nonexistent. Ethan's hidden hair color was black and cropped short. His face was symmetrical from his sharp nose to his pair of light brown eyes.
What stood out like a sore thumb was that healing gash near his right eyebrow, and I couldn't help but stare at it until I reminded myself that it was rude to do so.
Ethan ended up speaking first, and his voice was deep yet inviting to the ears. "And, who may these two be?"
Kenneth grinned and introduced, "Mikaela and Olivia."
Those brown eyes shifted from Mikaela to me, and we exchanged glances with him by smiling.
Ethan mirrored a welcoming smile in return. "I figured. Nice to meet you both. I'm Ethan Ross, a friend of Joshua."
Joshua's friend soon extended his hand out for us to take, and we all shook hands with no hesitation. Ethan reminded me of Joshua in ways that they were both charming towards people — or when Joshua wanted to be.
As Kenneth observed the exchange, he claimed, "I'm having a hard time believing this is the first time you all met."
Ethan released a sad sigh and complained, "Joshua likes to keep me locked up from his social life."
I couldn't help but suppress my laughter.
On the other end, Mikaela and Kenneth immediately started to laugh. Even though Ethan sounded serious, the crooked grin on his face was telling us otherwise. Ethan Ross knew how to pull jokes.
His eyes then scanned the table overflowing with school related belongings before he guessed correctly, "AP exams?"
Letting out tired smiles, Mikaela and I nodded.
From what Ethan revealed, he graduated from another high school two years ago but was taking a break with education at the moment. Ethan knew Joshua since childhood because they were once neighbors. Despite Ethan having to move to another neighborhood, the two have been good friends since.
I wished that Joshua mentioned his friend to us earlier especially since they were close.
Mikaela didn't stop her spirit of inquiry to run on overdrive. "So, what's up with the injury? Don't tell me you and Joshua are part of some fight club."
Shooting my friend a look for being a little too frank, Mikaela returned an innocent smile back, and I figured she was doing this so there could be some light shed on the mystery behind Joshua. Even though I did witness the cause of Joshua's first injuries, the other injuries were another story.
Ethan chuckled softly and revealed, "I like you. Straightforward and blunt. Unfortunately, there's no fight clubs in this town. I take boxing and self-defense classes."
Ethan then pointed at his injury. "This was kind of an accident."
Mikaela then tapped her chin and asked, "So... does Joshua do that too?"
As much as I wanted to stop Mikaela from prying too much, maybe Ethan would be able to tell us something about Joshua.
Not thinking too much of it, Ethan shook his head. "Nah, he wouldn't want to get his hands all messed up. A pianist is nothing without his hands, right?"
The convincing smile and tint in his eyes could make one easily believe that what Ethan was saying was true, but Ethan probably knew more answers than that. It seemed like Mikaela was trying to read in between Ethan's said words as well, but she nodded in the end.
"You're right."
Running his fingers through his raven black hair, Ethan admitted, "Joshua actually told me about you two. Well, a lot about Olivia."
I only hoped they were reasonable things.
There was no hesitation with Mikaela as she released a giddy squeal. Catching the knowing look on Kenneth's face, I glared at him until he mischievously glanced away.
Luckily, Ethan didn't add onto the teasing parade and mentioned, "I'm glad that Joshua decided to make some more friends. He could be such a loner sometimes."
I soon confessed, "I wonder why Joshua hasn't talked about you. Well, he is the kind of guy who alwayskeepsto himself."
"He said that to you?" Ethan questioned from disbelief before he ridiculed, "wow, Joshua is so lame. Don't mind him, it's actually because he doesn't like to share. Look how long it took for me to finally meet you both!"
We soon joined in with Ethan's laughter before nodding in agreement.
Kenneth was getting a kick out of his coworker's buddy shamelessly teasing the heck out of him. While this was all happening, there were some customers around us that appeared to be wondering what was so funny.
As we tried to recover, another person had entered the conversation. "Should I be concerned with all this laughter?"
Just by the soothing sound of his voice, I knew that it was Joshua behind us.
Glancing over my shoulder, Joshua stood there with a look that expressed hidden fear.
Maybe Joshua was mortified at the thought that his friend was revealing every embarrassing moment he had to us. Ethan soon approached Joshua's side before swinging his right arm around his friend.
A sly grin grew on Ethan's face. "I was just telling them about our relationship."
Joshua was not pleased at all.
Kenneth hooted, bringing his blue eyes back to Mikaela and me, "Do you see why they could pass as lovers?"
"Shut up, Kenny," Joshua muttered as he tried to shake away from Ethan's hold and warned, "don't cheat on your girlfriend."
Ethan joked between them, "You know I love Nadia, and Kenny just doesn't have a brotherhood like us."
Kenneth decided to pull Joshua's leg more. "No need to be so cold, Joshua. I know how Ethan warms that ice, cold heart of yours."
Mikaela was so entertained as we watched the three banter like old ladies, and she whispered in my ear, "Do you see how embarrassed Joshua looks?"
For the first time, Joshua was evidently humiliated.
Not like his face was glowing red, but his actions were showing it.
While the other two males played around, Joshua tried brushing it off by grinning uncomfortably here and there. His emerald green eyes would cautiously glance over my direction before he looked away.
And, like always, Joshua would rub the nape of his neck.
The sight put an amused grin on my face because it was normal to be embarrassed. What made things better was that it was Joshua Anderson being embarrassed.
Once Kenneth and Ethan decided to put an end to the teasing, Kenneth questioned, "How come they haven't met Ethan yet?"
Joshua decided to be a smart ass to his coworker and countered, "They did meet him — right now. I was going to once you came back to work, but you ended up bringing him instead."
Kenneth realized how that made sense and laughed before apologizing.
"It's cool," Joshua answered through an unaffected tone, "either way, this is Ethan. Don't stay with him too long or else his stupidity will catch onto you."
Ethan attempted to add in his own rephrased version, "In other words, Josh will be jealous if he sees any of you with me. Especially you, Olivia."
Joshua shot an intensified glare at his friend.
He corrected instantly, "Oh, I meant I can't be seen with you, Olivia. Damn, greedy as fuck."
As Ethan caused a laughing fit with Mikaela and Kenneth, it took all the strength for Joshua to not hurt his friend in public.
Joshua remarked with no remorse, "You are banned from coming here."
Ethan faked a pained expression until he reminded, "Only Eric can do that, and he won't."
"He will," Joshua stated confidently.
"Hey, sorry to interrupt, but could you two come back to help? The line is getting pretty bad," a shaky voice stumbled in.
When it occurred to everyone that Soulatté Café was suddenly welcomed by a swarm of people, we cut the laughter and got back to our main objectives. Joshua and Kenneth both cleared their throats before apologizing to Ben. Good thing Ben was the friendly yet timid kind of guy and indicated to the two that it wasn't a problem.
Although it was apparent that Joshua and Ethan weren't seriously fighting, Joshua still didn't hesitate to enforce the ban on Ethan as the baristas walked off.
Completely immune to the threat, Ethan turned around and smiled at Mikaela and me. "I expect to see you both more often."
Returning a similar reply back to Ethan, it was pleasing to know that Joshua had a friend who was the complete opposite to him. They balanced one another well.
At the same time, I was glad that Ben came just in time. He indirectly saved me because I could not erase the fact that I was blushing to an extreme the entire time.
+ + +
March was just zooming by, almost like someone decided to give the month a couple energy drinks.
I wasn't sure if I should be celebrating or be filled with terror at how these weeks passed within a blink of an eye. Although saying goodbye to high school was exhilarating, there were other events that were coming along the way that added onto the bittersweet stress.
Fortunately, luck was on my side, and the weeks weren't consisted of people coming to school beaten up or people deciding to be plain stupid. I was referencing Trevor Greene on the last part.
Trevor was still suspended, but his buddies that were involved came back to school earlier this week. The football team didn't exactly welcome them back with open arms since they did tarnish the team's reputation for messing with the school's class president. I could only imagine once Trevor returned, but that was the very least of my concerns.
Eric was gradually healing from the incident and looking more like, well, Eric Park. He went back to his usual routine and started working at the café again. I had to say that he was well missed by the female customers, but it was just relieving to see my best friend getting better.
This Friday afternoon, I was in the school's photo lab finishing up my contest submission.
I had a burst of inspiration the previous week that caused me to revamp my initial idea. Glancing at the matte printed photos, I aligned them along the counter and only hoped that the photos were contest ready.
"Hey, you needed me?"
Shifting my body to face the door where Joshua stood, I had texted him to come by here once classes were done. Joshua Anderson was the main subject after all.
His green eyes were locked onto mine, yet I still wasn't used to his staring. Every single time, it managed to make my insides jump around more by the day.
Getting a hold of myself, I pointed at the table and requested, "Right. I need you to take a look at the photos for the contest."
Not saying anything back, Joshua simply moved closer in interest as his attention soon dropped onto the counter.
Folding his arms, Joshua quietly observed each photo. I waited earnestly for a response because I hoped that my theme would be obvious yet artistic towards the public eye.
After what felt like forever, Joshua settled his attention back to me. "I'm going to take a guess. This main picture here focuses on my eyes, so it's kind of like reading behind a person's eyes. And, these other pictures here express some type of theme of emotion?"
The weight from my shoulders had lifted, knowing that Joshua understood. However, I was unsure with his response. The way he projected his words seemed as blank as a fresh canvas.
Before I could say anything, Joshua began to ask a myriad of questions. "Is that why you asked to take pictures of me while I played piano?"
I nodded.
"And, when I was writing some of my music?"
I nodded.
"And, during work?"
I nodded.
"And, with Duke and my siblings?"
I nodded for the millionth time.
Unleashing a teasing grin, Joshua then admitted, "For a moment, I just thought you adored me and wanted to stalk me for the past two weeks."
Giving him a lifeless expression, I grumbled back, "You're so full of yourself sometimes, if not all the time."
Joshua only laughed before looking back at the prints.
Disregard the part about "adoring" and "wanting to stalk" Joshua.
Due to my inspiration that sprouted, I wanted to focus on that close up shot of Joshua. I loved how his green eyes stood out. It was just the way his eyes appeared so unguarded and honest in that photo. I then decided to portray life through his eyes — silly pun, I understood that. It was something I could work with, and within each photo held a subtle theme.
Throughout the past week or so, I asked Joshua if I could take pictures of him as he played piano in the music room and composed music. After finding the proper angles and lighting, two photos from that ended up becoming my favorites because they were of Joshua doing what, he admitted, gave him comfort and was something he was passionate about.
Another idea was to capture Joshua's work as a barista at the café. I managed to take a great shot of him and the background of the cafe as he handed his latte art creation to a smiling, satisfied customer whom I used Mikaela as another subject for. I was hoping the photo would be interpreted as relations and communication between people.
When I was trying to come up with more ideas, I immediately thought of Joshua's family and Duke. The candid photo I took of Joshua with his three siblings while they laughed and smiled definitely gave off the loving and caring vibe. The last photo of Joshua kneeling down to pet his dog during sunset at a local park signified friendship and loyalty.
After adding Olivia Harris' twist to the photos, I was set with these five photos. Since the theme of the contest was people, I felt pleased with the outcome.
I then bought up, "Joshua, is it okay that these photos reveal some things about you?"
Shifting his head, Joshua gazed at me confusedly until he understood what I meant.
Feeling bad that I never got Joshua's approval in the first place, it did make sense to me that it probably seemed like I just stalked his life these two weeks. Throughout the time I spent with him, I was sort of hoping that something would pop up about the mysterious trio but nothing. I was starting to believe that maybe Joshua was just at the wrong place at the wrong time, yet my heart was signaling otherwise.
"At least it's not everything about me," he reasoned with a chuckle, "anyway, it's fine. These look great by the way. I'm not saying that just because it has me in it. You have a good eye."
Taken back by his words, I never intended to actually blush. It was because Joshua appeared and sounded genuine. That smile of his wasn't exactly helping my current state either.
After I expressed words of gratitude, Joshua then murmured, "There's something missing though."
I rose my eyebrows. "There is?"
Within a second, Joshua shook his head and insisted that it was nothing.
That only got me even more curious. Pressing on about the matter, Joshua wasn't budging. Those thoughts either slipped his mind, or he assumed that I would be insulted if he went on.
I then hinted, "You can tell me the truth. I promise I won't lash out on you like the first time."
A faint grin rose on Joshua's nicely shaped lips from the memory. The encounter wasn't something I'd like to remember about Joshua, but if I looked at it through another perspective, we wouldn't be standing here together right now.
Joshua mentioned, "I'm not very proud about what I did, but you want to know why I did it?"
I smiled before I took a sarcastic guess, "Because you decided to wake up one Monday and be a jackass?"
"Don't inspire me," Joshua threw on a dry expression until he admitted, "when I overheard you telling your friends about how you didn't get a scholarship, you looked really upset. Then, you started going on and on about how this St. Claire person probably thought your photography sucked or something like that."
"Sinclair," I corrected before stifling a laugh, "thanks for bringing that back up."
Joshua lifted his right hand up, gesturing that he wasn't done yet. "Anyway, I thought that provoking you would be a good reminder that you shouldn't take crap from people. It was a failed attempt because you ended up hating me, and I looked like a fucking jerk. But, at least in that moment, I saw how passionate you were as you defended yourself and your photography."
A more comforting grin resided on Joshua's face as he continued, "That's how you should be all the time, Olivia. You're amazing at what you do. Don't let anyone tell you or even let you feel otherwise."
Speechless, I stood there with a still expression.
Absorbing this new information in, I took a while to process what Joshua was revealing to me. I never imagined that this would be the reason — of all reasons — why Joshua approached me that particular Monday morning.
For the longest time, I thought that my locker buddy just wanted to irritate someone for the fun of it, and I ended up being the chosen one. Hearing that caused a fuzzy feeling to stir inside of me.
Snapping out of it, I quickly answered, "I don't hate you, but you really need to work on your support techniques. I almost wanted to run you over with my car."
Joshua grew at ease, appreciating how I didn't make the situation awkward.
He nodded as a smug grin appeared on his face. "A girl did tell me that I wasn't a people person."
"That girl is a genius," I noted with a mocking smile back.
In the end, I thanked Joshua because his horrible method did fuel me not to give up. Being down in the dumps that entire weekend, Joshua gave me the extra push to prove everyone wrong and that I would be able to redeem myself.
When Joshua grinned in return, he suddenly reached for his back pocket to pull out his cellphone. He must have gotten a text. I then started to place the contest photos into the folder, so I could send the submission in the mail before the deadline. Turning back around, I found Joshua who was heavily focused on his cellphone screen with knitted eyebrows.
Thinking that the text was serious, Joshua soon looked up, catching my gaze.
Clearing my throat, I figured it was too late to play it off. "Everything okay?"
Joshua only nodded until he received another text. This time, the bothered expression on his face quickly disappeared while he typed away on the screen.
When Joshua was done, he placed his phone back into his pocket and revealed through a bored tone, "Ethan."
Suddenly, my cellphone beeped from the countertop. Reaching for it, I was surprised to see who it was from.
Ethan Ross 2:37 pm
Hey Liv! I see you're with Joshy-poo. ;)
A chuckle escaped from me at the nicknames before I gazed at Joshua. "He just texted me too."
Joshua's green eyes widened in response. "He, what? How does Ethan have your number?"
"He just wanted to exchange numbers."
Since I didn't find any harm in that, I wasn't sure why Joshua was stunned about the matter. However, it wasn't long before he returned back to the mellow Joshua Anderson I knew.
I didn't fail to bring up, "Oh, and I like his name for you, Joshy-poo."
In an instance, Joshua's expression shifted darkly before he threatened in a light manner, "Don't you dare call me that. Ethan is going to regret it once I see his face tomorrow."
Even though Joshua tried his hardest to be the tough guy at the time, I could clearly see that he was embarrassed since he could no longer hide from his friend's wrath. With Ethan in the picture, Joshua wasn't as guarded anymore.
Stopping myself from laughing, I reasoned, "He's not a bad guy. At least you're not spending your Saturday at a grand ball with your dad.
The Father-Daughter dance was happening within the next twenty-four hours, and I was already dreading it.
______________________
A/N: I’ve received questions about when the relationship between Olivia & Joshua will further progress, but all I can really say is that it’s only a matter of time. I’m not one to really rush into things so quickly, but I can definitely assure you all that from this chapter on, the story will thicken even more, and we will discover and experience a myriad of things. :) So, thank you everyone for sticking with me!
Dedicating this chapter to TalkBoutAwesome because can we just talk about how awesome you are? ;) thank you so much for all the love!