A/N: Okay, so, it's another fluffy loliver. Hope you like!!! :)
For the record, Lilly hated that yellow jacket.
It was such a stupid, ugly color, it reminded her of everything but sunshine and it wasn't really that warm. It swallowed her whole, made her look like she was ill. She was glad that it didn't belong to her.
It belonged to Oliver Oken.
Years ago, she would have burst into laughter over the thought of wearing Oliver's jacket, and she mused for just a moment about how different things were now.
No, wait. Things weren't different at all. Because she absolutely hated that yellow jacket, just like she would have long ago.
Okay, well…maybe she didn't hate it. Hate was such a tremendously strong word, and besides, her mother had brought her up to never hate anything. No, she didn't hate it. She disliked it.
Why did he even need a yellow jacket? They lived in Malibu for crying out loud!! It wasn't like it was ever cold enough to actually need a jacket. Even if it was at school, in the freezing cold classrooms…and the even colder cafeteria…and…
She sighed. She was losing her credibility by the second.
She'd lied again. She didn't dislike the jacket. Maybe… perhaps…. it was possible that she did like it. But just a smidge.
She had to admit, it really was quite a lovely color on him. It contrasted well against his sun-tanned skin, and it complimented his mood, which was nearly always happy and bright. It didn't matter what her best friend Miley thought, or what anyone else thought, either. She thought that it made him look radiant, and no, she was not blinded. Not at all. She simply loved that yellow jacket.
Loved that yellow jacket?! The very idea made her shudder! She bit her lip, annoyed, wishing that her thoughts would shut off completely and leave her alone. All they did these days was torment her, confuse her, cause her to wonder about everything and wish things were easier.
She attempted to distract herself as she focused in on Mrs. Hazelwood, at the front of the class, her Geometry teacher, who was babbling on about trigonometry and breaking down last night's homework assignment step by step. Trigonometry was just so boring! She zoned out after about a minute.
Lilly rolled her eyes finally, and she drew in a deep breath as she decided that she was being immature and that she should just accept the facts. They weren't going to kill her, and if her heart broke again…well…then, her heart broke again.
It wasn't anything that she could control, really. It was the guy that always stole her heart, the guy that always refused to give it back, the guy that always forgot to offer up his own heart in return, and, of course, it was always the guy that wasn't careful and ended up breaking the heart in his possession.
Which was why it would be easier to hate Oliver's yellow jacket. But when the day was over, when it was all said and done…she couldn't help it. She loved that yellow jacket. So many memories had branched off of just one yellow jacket!
She remembered the first time that he wore it—about a year ago, in Spanish class.
He was sitting next to her, glancing periodically over to her during class with the most meaningful glance, the sincerest eyes and cutest smile. She began to associate their relationship with that yellow jacket.
Her face began to spread into an enormous grin whenever she saw the jacket. It quickly became her favorite clothing item of his, and she knew his wardrobe better than he did. He knew it, too.
But when summer arrived, everything changed. Oliver had to leave for the entire summer—his grandfather was sick in New York, so he left. It's not that she was selfish--family was important, she emphasized it, even. But he didn't email her. He didn't call her. He didn't contact her in any way whatsoever. And there she'd convinced herself that he actually cared, that maybe there was truly something between them, that perhaps he felt the same chemistry around her that she felt around him.
And of course they had no classes together this year now that he'd returned, and even if they had, it wasn't like they could simply pick up where they'd left off. Everything was awkward now, and she wished that she could move on. She'd tried, she really had, but she loved that yellow jacket. She loved him. She loved Oliver Oscar Oken.
Just as she was sure that her thoughts were going to drive her to tears, the bell rang. Lilly sprang up from her desk and gathered her books to enter the crowded hallway. She shoved and pushed through the mass of people and found her way to Chemistry. She was about to enter the classroom when there was a tap on her shoulder. Curiously, she turned around.
If she was frowning before, there was no way that she was now.
"Oliver!" She shrieked happily.
He chuckled, "Hey, Lilly."
"It's nice to see you. I never see you anymore, you know."
His voice turned soft and gentle, and he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know. I wish it were different, too."
Their eyes locked for a moment in time, and like the year before, Lilly's world paused, and nothing else mattered. All of her stress and all of her worries lifted, and everything was okay. It didn't matter if she hated Chemistry and it didn't matter that her grades weren't satisfactory to her mom and it didn't matter that out of all the people to share classes with, she just had to have Amber and Ashley in three of them. Nothing mattered. Oliver was there.
"I, uh, brought you something," Oliver mumbled quietly, abruptly breaking eye contact.
He reached into his backpack and tugged out a cherished remnant of the previous year.
"In case you get cold today," He shyly said, placing it into her arms.
Lilly leaped forward with a grin and hugged him tightly.
"Thank you," She told him, her voice just as soft as his had been.
A yellow jacket… so bright… so warm…so incredibly symbolic in her life. After he'd turned away and disappeared into the crowd, she pulled the jacket up to her nose and inhaled deeply, wishing fiercly that the scent would remain in her memory forever.