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[CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE]
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TO SAY THAT ODETTE WAS NERVOUS would be an understatement. She had to constantly repeat to herself that she was just meeting Olivia Mae. It was just Olivia Mae, not her parents that she didn't remember.
Olivia Mae had stayed the night in the Hospital Wing. According to Emma, Madam Pomfrey could not identify the reason for Olivia Mae passing out. Odette may not have been a healer, but she had an idea.
Odette was sure her hands felt clammy as she nervously buttoned and unbuttoned a button on her shirt. She moved on from that and pulled at the fabric of the hem of her skirt. Olivia Mae was finishing up her fruit salad and Odette felt like a small child that just admitted to her disobedience and was waiting for her mother to say something. Anything at all. She was just standing at the foot of the bed, anxiously waiting for the girl to say anything.
However, Olivia Mae seemed to take pleasure in knowing that she was causing Odette so much anxiety. She took her time to finish up her food.
Finally, she placed the bowl aside and she looked up at Odette.
"Have you eaten yet?" she asked.
Odette shook her head, "No, I, uh, I didn't have time."
Olivia Mae tossed an apple to her, "You shouldn't skip breakfast because of me. You have class in an hour, so I'll make it quick."
"Please do," said Odette before she bit into the apple.
"I wish I could say I was confronted by a strange being and I fought with it, but lost and it took over my body," said Olivia Mae, "Such a great story that would make . . . shame it did not happen. What did that imposter to talk to you about while in my body?"
Odette stared at her. Olivia Mae noticed and laughed, "There's nothing much to hide anymore, Odette."
Odette huffed before she said, "She told me that Cassandra wasn't real. That it was in my head — why are you looking at me like that?"
"Because Chloe was in the lavatory that day while you were talking with Cassandra," said Olivia Mae, "She said you were talking like you were having a conversation, yet she couldn't hear anyone responding. When you left, she couldn't see anyone either. I told her not to say anything, Chloe is rather good at keeping secrets."
"In my head. . ." repeated Odette, "I'm my head. . ."
Her eyes widened as she looked over at Olivia Mae, "That's it! It's not me, but it's inside my head!"
"What. . ."
Odette didn't let her finish as she waved and hurried out of the Hospital Wing. She would deal with Olivia Mae later. Until then, she had to go take a look at something.
In that moment, Odette didn't think about anything else but the book that was laying under her bed. She ran all the way to her dorm and even when her lungs were crying out for a break, she didn't slow down. She was so afraid that any moment of relaxation will make her forget where to look. She threw the dorm door open and scrambled over to her bed. She brought out the book and flipped through the pages as she kept her eyes on the numbers at the bottom of the page. Finally, she came across what she was looking for.
She trailed her finger underneath each word.
They usually appear in the mind during dreams, but occasionally they could show themselves, though they do not possess a physical form.
She turned the pages.
— call out to them using their name.
All hope had not been lost for Odette as she closed the book and slid it back under the bed. She found a piece of parchment in her bag and brought it out. She wrote — it looked more like scribbles than it did words — a short and straight to the point letter to Édouard.
She was certain nothing could dampen her mood as she walked to the Owlery. It felt as if the puzzle was nearly done and she knew exactly where to place the puzzle pieces handed to her.
There weren't many students around as most were still in the Great Hall. It worked in her favour, however, as she didn't have to constantly move out of the way for others. Once she was in the owlery, she sent the letter off and went to walk back down the owlery when she came face to face with Benny. She hadn't seen him since she left the hospital wing yesterday.
She waved and forced a smile to her face, though she was sure it looked more like a grimace than it did a smile. The bubbling energy she had before was still present in the pit of her stomach, but she couldn't quite forgot the conversation she had with Naomi the night before.
"Oh. . .Odette! I didn't know you'd be in here," he said. Odette nodded and they stood in uncomfortable silence. "Actually. . .that's a lie. I followed you here."
"Oh."
Had it not been for the flapping of wings or shrieks from the owls, they would have been in complete silence. Odette was quite glad that they were in the owlery as the noise made it less uncomfortable. Still, she could barely look up from her shoes. She focused on a small rip near her toe. She figured it was time to take Liu's advice and throw them out. Liu had gifted her a pair of Mary Janes for Christmas. They had originally belonged to Mei, but Mei never wore them. Odette didn't understand why as they were nice looking and were a comfortable from what she could tell in the short half of an hour she wore them. If anything, they were a lot nicer than the loafers that Mei always wore.
"Well, I should get going. . ." said Odette. She scratched the back of head and avoided to look into Benny's eyes. "I have class soon and I still have to get my stuff from my dorm."
She walked passed him in a hurried manner and was about to step off the first step when he called her name. Odette put her foot back down on the ground and bit her lip to stop a sigh from emitting. Odette stared down at the steps before she turned around and smiled.
"Yes?"
"I — I — well, I was — I wanted to know — I'd like to — no. . ."
He sighed and pressed his forehead against his palm, "Oh, I'm awful at this."
Odette didn't say anything. She didn't know how to comfort him when she couldn't comfort herself.
"It's okay. Just tell me," she said.
"I won't make things awkward, will I?"
She doubted he could make things more awkward than they already were. She did not say that, though, and instead settled for a simple question of, "What could you possibly say to —"
She was not given the opportunity to finish her sentence as he interrupted her, "I noticed you last term."
Odette nodded, slightly annoyed that he interrupted her, "Yes and so did many other people." She had to keep herself from asking him where he was going with the pointless conversation. She took back what she said about nothing ruining her mood. Benny had done nothing, yet she was already slightly annoyed. He was kind and friendly, but she was acting as if he had insulted her. She didn't understand.
"I wanted to know if you would go on a date with me, so will you?" He had said it very quickly that Odette hadn't even realized he had asked her a question until he stared at her with hopeful eyes. She snapped back into reality and took in his words.
Her eyes widened, "D — Date?!" She let out a shriek and it was not a cheerful one either. She did not want to go on a date with Benny, it was nothing personal. She just did not want to go on a date with him, she did not want to touch him, she did not want to get distracted by him.
He winced and upon realizing how harsh she sounded, she calmed down.
"Listen, Benny, I —"
"I'm only asking for one, just one!"
Odette crossed her arms as she thought about it. She thought back to Naomi's words. She didn't make up her mind until she acknowledged that she was considering it. She was considering his offer and that should be enough of a sign. However, she was still awfully reluctant. Going on a date with Benny would gain her nothing but a loss of time.
Odette sighed, "Three. I'll give you up to three dates. We don't have to go on all three, but we can go up to three. If we reach the third date and neither or one of us don't want to continue, we stop. If we decide we both want to continue, we can. If at any time during the three dates, you don't want to see me anymore, we'll stop this whole thing. Alright?"
He nodded eagerly and Odette continued, "Starting Saturday. Each date will be on Saturday at noon. You can decide the other details, I don't really care."
She bade him goodbye and fled down the stairs. Why she had sacrificed three of her Saturdays, she had no clue. However, she thought back to his grin and the way his eyes lit up at her offer. She couldn't deny that it felt nice. It felt nice knowing she could make someone feel so good about themselves. She had been the cause of someone's happiness and she liked the way it felt. It made her feel a lot better than when she was rude to someone.
It made her feel all warm in the inside and it lifted her mood once again. However, it was not Benny's smile that she pictured in her mind that gave her warmth.
Odette wished she could share the enthusiasm of her friends when she told them of the encounter with Benny that morning. Her friends seemed more excited than Odette and it had been Odette who agreed to giving Benny a chance. She could only assume that that was not a good sign.
Naomi kept repeating the phrase, "I told you so! I told you so!" as she ran around the dorm room. She jumped on her bed, rolled over Chloe's, and ran around Emma's as Emma did not like her bed messy. Xia was smiling as she fired question after question. Mei seemed to be in a daze while she repeated the words, "A date," over and over again.
Odette was barely present for all the different reactions in the small dorm as her thoughts drifted to another place. A sunny field where flowers grew tall and the clouds never blocked the sun. She thought of herself sitting in the field with someone that was not Benny. Zemi was running around them, chasing butterflies that wanted nothing to do with him and were just after the flowers. She thought back to how warm and soft his hand felt in the one second she had brushed her hand against his.
Suddenly, she wondered what he would think. There was no reason for her to wonder such thing, yet she did. She knew he probably wouldn't care, yet it was how he would think that she worried about. She was left horrified at the idea of Benny's dates cutting the little time she had with Regulus. They no longer agreed to meet up at a place. Either they looked for one another or they ran into each other.
"Odette!" said Mei as she grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, a bit violently if you ask her. "Benny? Benny? Benny?! Really? Why? I reckon you could have easily scored a date with another boy if you asked, why Benny?"
"Mei, leave her alone," said Olivia Mae as she filed down her nails. Odette still didn't know why Olivia Mae was sticking so close to her after she was released from the Hospital Wing. She didn't exactly enjoy Olivia Mae's company, she was more uneasy than anything. "Benny isn't that bad and he's better for her compared to someone like Black."
"At least Black is a piece of art and has talent. Benny's talent is destroying things," said Mei before she turned back to Odette, "I won't tell you to do anything, just be careful. Benny has a knack for ruining things. He ruined his relationship with his ex-girlfriend just like all those cauldrons he ruined over the years."
Mei gasped, "Odette! What if he's using you as a rebound?"
"I'm quite fine with that," said Odette.
"Rebounds never last," said Mei.
"I'm not hoping it will."
Xia bit the inside of her cheek, "You haven't even smiled once. You don't like him, do you?"
"No, no I don't," said Odette as she leaned against the wall.
"That's not too bad," said Naomi, "That's why there is dates; to get to know each other. Your feelings might change."
Mei shooed her away.
"You can back out of it, you know. It's not like you made a vow."
"I don't want to," said Odette, "I want to give him a chance. Besides, the way he looked afterwards. I like that I could make people happy."
"Of course you can make people happy," said Xia, "You'll always make someone happy, even if you don't realize it."
"Just remember to do this for you," said Mei.
"Of course," said Odette.