~Wednesday, January 5th~
Walking by myself to lunch I feel my phone vibrate silently in my back pocket. I grab it and read the text from Olivia: "Busy night tonight, meet me in the library?" I smile to myself as I change directions, narrowly avoiding crashing into confused freshmen as I veer away from the cafeteria. I send a quick "Sure" to Olivia and make my way to the library.
Between my schedule with dance and Olivia's with tennis, neither of us have much afterschool time. So, to make up for that, when we have a day with a larger work load we spend lunch in the library instead. Of course we both have free blocks during the day, but when you're in all honors classes competing for valedictorian, you use all the time you can get. We usually spend our lunch here about once a week.
I enter the double doors of the expansive library and immediately spot Olivia sitting at our usual table, her nose buried in her chemistry textbook while her hand scribbles down notes next to her. I set my bag down next to the seat across from her and sit down, pulling out my agenda book.
"Hey Liv."
"Don't call me that," she mumbles, not looking up. I laugh, having called her that nickname just to get her annoyed. Ever since the show Liv and Maddie came out on Disney channel she has refused to let anyone - including myself - call her Liv. She insists that she is nothing like the character and that she wishes to have nothing to do with her. But of course, as her best friend it's my duty to annoy her.
I work on my calculus homework and by the time I'm done there are still about ten minutes left of lunch. I weigh my options for how I can spend my time. I could talk to Olivia, find something to do on my phone, study some of my material, or find a book to read from the library. Glancing up, I see that Olivia is still working - though she's moved on from chemistry an English assignment - so she won't be talking anytime soon. I need a break from schoolwork, so that leaves my phone or a book. I decide to go for the more scholarly option and stand to find a book to read in the many aisles of the library.
"I'll be back in a minute," I say to Olivia, earning a soft grunt of recognition as a response. I start wandering through the shelves of books, trying to decide on what to pick. I could try to find something new, or read one of my favorites over again. I spend all the time I can reading, even though it's usually not very much. Mostly I read romance novels - the really cheesy ones that make me actually have hope for finding true love one day. I don't like romance movies though, something about watching it all happen - usually with other people around - makes it so much more embarrassing to watch. It always feels so awkward when the characters kiss. Plus, when reading you know about the characters' inner emotions, which often make romantic moments even more romantic.
Walking through the shelves, I run my fingertips over the old book spines, quickly reading each title. I come across a larger old book, and picking it up I see that it's a dictionary. Of course I'm not going to sit down and start reading a dictionary, but this one is very old. I prop the heavy book on my knee and open to a random page. Slowly I turn the page, relishing in the soft crackling noise that the paper makes. I turn a few more pages before quickly and subtly glancing around me. No one else is in this aisle and I don't hear any voices so I decide the coast is clear. I turn one more page and bring the dictionary up to my nose, taking a slow sniff of the old paper. It smells musty, but in a good way. I put it back in it's spot on the shelf and decide on which book to look for, one I've read many times before but that still remains my favorite romance novel. I walk to the romance section in the back of the library and begin scanning the shelves, searching for the last names starting with "M." H... J... L... M! I quickly recognize the spine of my favorite book: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. Picking it off of the shelf I thumb through the pages. When I glance back up at the spot where the book was I am shocked to find a crystal blue eye staring back at me from the other side of the shelf.
A small squeal escapes my mouth as my eyes widen. I immediately turn away from the gap in the books, and in the process hit my left foot on the bottom shelf of the metal bookcase. I fight to keep another squeal inside as my middle toe screams in pain.
Calm down, they probably didn't even notice you, I think, trying to calm my fears of the possible upcoming social interaction. Meanwhile, I hop in circles on my right foot and shake my left foot, an ugly grimace on my face. My mind is still racing, I swear I've seen those eyes before, but certainly I would have remembered them. They were so light and sparkly, like the ocean with the sun reflecting off the ripples.
"What are you doing?" I immediately spin around to face the direction of the voice, putting my foot down and standing up straight, my book clutched in both hands. And who else but Noah freakin' Thompson to be staring back at me with his sparkly light blue eyes.
"Um, what are you doing?" Stupid. So, so stupid. "What does it look like I'm doing?" I ask, trying to save myself. Nope, even stupider. Noah's expression has gone from curious to judgemental to what on earth is wrong with this girl, and I honestly couldn't blame him. I'm also wondering what on earth is wrong with me at this point. "I was just picking out a book and I hit my foot on the shelf." Finally, a decent answer, not that it matters anymore since I've already ruined any dignity I had left. Noah still looks at me skeptically.
"Then why were you so-"
"Dude, who are you talking to? Oh, it's Theresa!" Cameron walks around the corner from behind Noah, standing next to him. He puts his elbow on his shoulder and casually leans against his slightly taller friend. "Hey babe, how's it going since you told off this guy Monday morning?"
First of all, am I ever going to be able to forget about that morning? All I did was lie to help Olivia and then stand up to Noah, and everyone I'm with can't seem to talk about anything else. I wish I could just move on so I wouldn't have to keep reliving the embarrassing moment when I actually thought it was a good idea to stand up to someone like him.
Secondly, 'hey babe?' This is exactly what I try to warn Olivia about. She's caught in this trance that all girls get caught in when the school player starts talking to them. She thinks she's special to him, but how could she be when Cameron talks to me the same way? Of course I do want her to find someone, but I just don't think that person is Cameron.
"Uhhh," I say uncomfortably, not wanting to respond to that. I just want to get away from this conversation, the one involving myself, the school's two hottest boys, and no one else. Apparently I'm an open book, Noah smirks at my discomfort.
"There you are, I knew I'd find you in the romance section. Lunch is about to end, we need to go." I constantly thank god for Olivia. "Oh, hello," she says shyly when she notices I'm not the only one nearby. Cameron immediately takes his arm off of Noah's shoulder and stands up straight, wearing his most charming smile.
"Hey Liv."
"Hey," she says with a small wave. I turn and give her an incredulous look, arching one eyebrow higher than the other and narrowing my eyes slightly. There is no way you just let him get away with calling you "Liv."
Olivia shrugs her shoulders ever so slightly, as if saying, I like it when he says it.
I deadpan, Olivia...
She rolls her eyes slightly, here we go again.
"English please," Noah speaks up, noticing our silent conversation.
"Oh, sorry," I say sheepishly, turning my attention back to the boys but not meeting their eyes - especially not Noah's.
"Well, as I was saying, lunch is almost over so we better get going," Olivia continues.
"Okay," I respond happy to have not only something else to think about, but also a reason to leave.
"See you guys later!" Olivia says, starting to turn away from them and back towards our table. I finally look up again, first meeting Cameron's eyes with a small smile, then moving to Noah. I find him giving me that same curious look that he wore when he first came around the corner, but as soon as we make eye contact his expression turns cold again, making my polite smile fade. I turn and follow at Olivia's heels without saying another word, holding my book to my chest. Why does he have to be so angry all the time, and why does it make me so upset?
And why am I barely able to handle a conversation with him by myself? It's really getting on my nerves.
~~~~~
Written 8/13/17, Published 10/22/17
Ok so I didn't even do this on purpose I swear but the actress who plays Liv and Maddie on the TV show Liv and Maddie (Dove Cameron) is also the person I chose for Olivia. It's actually pretty pathetic that I did that on accident lol.
Thank you for reading!