Olivia tried to get to her locker, which should be easy. But considering the crowdness of the corridor, it will take some time to navigate through the sea of students.
Luckily, her friends were willing to help her make way to her locker.
As they were walking through the crowd, Jesse decided to start a conversation. " So, who do you think will ask you out for Valentine's ?"
" Not this again " Axel and Petra moaned.
Oh, yeah. It's that time of the year again. Which is Valentine's Day. Which means the guys will be scrambling to get girls as their Valentine's and then dumps them at the end of the day.
Although she didn't showed it, Olivia also waited for this day. No matter how most guys looked good, she always waited for this one guy.
James.
Yes, Jesse's twin brother. She waited and waited for him to ask her out but, it seems like it's not gonna happen anytime soon. Let me correct that, that's not gonna happen, ever.
Because he had his eyes on Petra.
Petra didn't noticed his interest to her - it was either she was too oblivious to notice or she was into someone else. Olivia suspected Axel was the one as he always spend some time with Petra-.It's not like she could be mad at her. Petra's a good-looking girl, after all. In her own way. There's a good chance that James had a crush on her. She's not going to blame both of them.
" I don't know about you, sis , but I'm totally gonna ask a girl out this year " James announced.
Olivia's ears perked up. Maybe he'll ask her?-Hah, because life is just that kind.- Her pessimistic side came up but she had a little hope that he will ask her out.
Who is this lucky girl ? " Axel asked. James only put his finger against his lips. Looks like he's not telling them. Damn.
" Valentine's Day...ugh...if I saw more pink hearts and roses, I might lose my mind! " Petra chimed. Jesse and James' eyes widen. " You don't want to be out on a date with someone?! "
" Lower your voice, idiot! " Jesse hit his head.
"Ow", he rubbed his head. Axel snickered at the twin's antique.
" What's up with Valentine's Day anyway? It's pointless. Besides, most boys are jerks ", Petra crossed her arms. After recovering from his sister's blow, James responded "What if the guy who asked you out is a nice person? A nice person who is close to you?"
"Meh"
"What if he's your close friend? Who always helps you? What if..."
" Let's get away from this drama as soon as possible. " Jesse pulled Olivia by her arm. Axel tried to follow them but Jesse insist that Petra might need some 'emotional support' after their arguement is finished. Axel reluctantly stays and listen to James and Petra's arguement, which the former says that the latter should 'break the ice around their heart' and ' too rough for a girl". Yep, she's gonna need some emotional support.
As they were walking, Olivia knows her locker is close so she insisted that Jesse should release her arm. She wasn't comfortable with strong grips. She remembered the bullies back at kindergarten. She readjust her spectacles.
When they arrived, she opened her locker and started to rummage in it. Jesse crossed her arms and leaned against a locker next to Olivia's. It was a moment of silence between them until Jesse pops out the dreaded question;
"Who do you think will ask you out?"
This is more than enough to make Olivia flinch. She frozed for a second or two before turned to her friend. Who will take her out on a date? For the whole morning, James is the only one who runs in her mind. How is she going to tell his twin sister about her hopeless crush? Maybe Jesse will told him. If she do, how will he react? Will he react positively? Or negatively?
Luckily, Olivia managed to think of an answer. "I don't know, Jesse. Maybe there's somebody, maybe there's nobody. I can't tell", Jesse opened her mouth but she cuts her off. Wait for it...
"Besides, who wants to date a nerd? I'm not that special anyway..."
Jesse looked thoughtful for a moment, before giving ber a sympathetic look. Looks like she fell for it.
Perfect lies 101 :Put some embarrasing details. People will never doubt you if you looked weird.She forgot where she read that. But she don't mind. Moreover, a little more tips and lifehacks wouldn't hurt. She knows it'll help her in hard times, such as underestimate the power of knowledge, you'll never know when the knowledge will be useful, which is one of her could breath in relief as Jesse was distracted from her Valentine's thoughts. She was done at her locker and now silently double-checking her books.
Maths?
Check.
Chemistry?
Check.
Robotics?
Always.
She chuckled at her reference. Perhaps she's a geek, too. She closed the door. Jesse seems thoughtful for a moment before turns at her.
"What if the guy who asks you is someone close to us? Surely, he wouldn't judge you."
She just had to jinx herself.
Olivia tried to respond but this time, Jesse cuts her off " What if the guy is Axel? What if the guy's James?". To say she flinched at his name is an understatement. She jumped a little at his name. She then fixed her glasses.
Jesse noticed it and she narrowed her eyes "Is there something I don't know, Olivia?" she started to panic. No! Jesse shouldn't know! She looked around for a distraction until she saw a group of senior football players. One of them stares straight at Jesse while the others nudged him towards her.
An idea came to her.
She returns her gaze at Jesse, who is now crossing her arms again and waited impatiently for her to answer. Olivia copied her and braced herself "Yes, dear Jesse. I know something that you don't."
"What is it?" God, this better work.
Olivia nodded past her head "That guy over there? He's been staring at you for like, forever. Judging by the situation he was in, it seems like he wants to ask you out." As expected, Jesse turned around. Looks like her prediction was right, he wanted to ask her out, as he smiled when Jesse saw him.
She waved at him, which he returns it. Olivia leaned towards her and say "Why don't you get know of him and hang out with his friend?" Jesse looked at her before started walking towards the guy. To be honest, Olivia felt a little bit guilty because she encouraged her own best friend to hook up with some unknown guy.
The crowd suddenly split, forming a path. Squeals can be heard nearby. It was enough to snap her out of her thought. Oh, no. I've wasted too much time already.
It was a group of popular students. The Ocelots. They were at the same year as Olivia and her friends, which is sophomore. She normally don't have a problem with them when she was with her friends. But when she was alone, it was a different story. She knows exactly when they will stroll around the hallway just for the heck of it, as she had done some observing since freshman. So far, she managed to avoid bullies and other threats like the cheerleaders and the jocks.
Screams of "be my Valentine"s can be heard from girls ranging from freshmans to some seniors. The boys who was the centre of attention is Aiden and Lukas.
From what she heard, Aiden is not a nice person. He usually mess with students who can be classified as nerds, geeks, dorks or anyone who is an easy target with his friends, Maya and Gill. This earns him the 'bad boy' image, which is wanted by many girls. She also heard that he once sent a freshman to the hospital for 'not responding to him'. What a brat. She decides that his main target is those who don't have friends. Olivia knows their pattern.
Lukas from the other hand, is the opposite of him. He's a kind person and a little bit of arrogant. Even if they are some emo wanna-bes or obsessive cheerleaders to geeks, he didn't hesitate to help them. He usually help those who were victims of Aiden's bullying, to his friends' dismay. He was friendly to some students. This gave girls a chance to get know of him. Other than that, he is the smartest of The Ocelots and possibly, the nicest person of the group.
So, that was it. Either Aiden, the bad boy or Lukas, the nice guy.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"
Shit.
" A nerd, all alone." a female voice says.
She just had to make Jesse to leave her alone. Now that her friends are away, she's an easy target for them. Looks like karma's got the best of her. And to add insult to injury, most people were quiet as they looked at them. Oh great...
" What's wrong? Don't have anyone to back you up?" Aiden sneered. Someone then pulled him a little " Stop it, Aiden. She didn't do anything wrong to you" the person revealed to be Lukas himself. The former looked at him "Relax, man. I'm just trying to get know as much as people as possible."
" Yeah, and so far, the introduction is less friendly. Cut it off. You'll get into trouble."
Aiden seems to ignore him as he grabbed her books. She didn't expect it so, her grips on it is not that hard. "Oh, look! A maths fan. What do you expect from a nerd anyway?", he dangled the book in front of her face. The audience snickered. She could feel blood rushed to her cheeks in embarrasment. Where are Petra and the others anyway?
He roughly opened her books to the point if he put more force, the pages will rip off. And the pages is too wrinkly for her comfort. She tried her best to hold herself from grab her books and make a run for it, as it will bring satisfaction to them.
"Aren't you gonna cry, nerdie?" Maya sneered. They tried to push her to her limits. Luckily, she had too many encounter with bullies in the past to have some kind of resistant to their words.
Ironically, Lukas is the one who burst, "Would you return her books back? Don't you remember what the principal told you last week? One more trouble this month and you'll be suspended for 3 weeks". Aiden didn't respond for a second before rolling his eyes, "Fine,fine. Jeez, we were just joking". He chucked her books back. Olivia barely managed to catch it. She immediately secure it in her hands by gripping at the sides.
The trio walked away, followed by the blond after he gave her an apologetic look, which she accept. But before she could breath in relief, Aiden immediately take long strides to her and hit the bottom of her pile of books, which was exposed since she gripped at the sides.
Books and papers were flying while her back hit the lockers. The crowds were laughing histerically. She leaned against the lockers to recover from the shock. After awhile, she started to regain her senses back.
She looked around, everything feels like in slow motion. Life itself flashes in her eyes as she realized what was happened. Olivia looked at Aiden, who is giving her a taunting smirk before turning to his friends. Gill and Maya gave her similar smirks before following him.
Hands found its' way to her arm. She turned her head to see Lukas helped her to stand straight. When he succeded in the task, he proceeded in picking up her scattered books and papers. She tried to aid him but he was already done.
Lukas gave Olivia her books back, which she now holds it tight against her chest. Instead of walking away from her like she expected him to, he stayed and asked her.
"Are you okay?"
This time, she couldn't hold it anymore. She shooked her head, eyes closed tight. His eyes widened for a while before asking her again "Are you hurt?".
Both emotionally and physically.
She nodded slowly. It's not much but her chin was throbbing because the books hit her when it was flying upwards. And now she was beyond humilliated.
"Should I take you to the medical room?" his voice showed too much care to her. If she goes to the medical room, her brother will know about what happened to her. Olivia didn't want more people involved in this.
She managed to open her eyes and say "No, it's okay. I can managed it". He opened his mouth to reply but he closed it again. "I'm fine" she continued.
"I'm sorry for what happened earlier. Aiden's always like that. I tried to warn him but, he's too stubborn. You know what people said about him." Lukas apologized on their behalf. She fell into silence before nodding. She fixed her glasses again.
"Heh. Well, I'm looking forward to see you again in class." he smiled, giving her a little squeeze to her forearm before following the direction where his friends had went. She watched him until he disappeared in the crowds. She smiled.
Out of the blue, Jesse were running towards her. She stopped for a moment to catch her breaths before asking "What happened? I heard them talking about some girl been bullied and turns out, it was you! Care to elaborate?"
Olivia wasn't ready to retold the whole incident yet, but she didn't want to make her even worried. "I'll tell you when I'm ready. But for now, I need some space and a little time", her expression shows more worry than ever, but reluctantly nodded.
"If that's so, fine. Let's get to class. But if it gets worst, you are telling all of us." Jesse's tone harden. Olivia swallowed. Jesse sometimes meant what she said. It's not getting worst, is it?
From a distance, Petra, Axel and James are approaching them. Petra looks like she wants to destroy anything in her sight. James greeted the girls "We were looking everywhere for you. Don't wander around like that again!"
"If we stays with you guys, Olivia'll never get to her stuff. So, stop whining!" Jesse hits his head again. Axel and Olivia can't help but flinch while Petra enjoyed it a little.
"Come on, kids. Let's get along" Axel managed to separate them and miraculously, not receiving any hits from Jesse. The two of the huffed before the little group starts walking to their designated class.
Olivia rethink her choice. What if she decides to stay when James and Petra's are arguing? What if she decides to be honest to Jesse about her crush on James instead tried to hook her up with some unknown guy and leave herself all alone? Surely, all of this will never happened. She won't have a problem with The Ocelots.
But then again, she wouldn't met Lukas, the one who comforted her. And what does he mean by 'looking forward to see her in class'?
She felt butterflies fluttering in her stomach but she shrugged that feeling off.
A/N : That's all, folks! I'll try to add more chapter as soon as possible. If you had any question, ask me in Tumblr. The link is in my profile or something.
Anyway, don't expect frequent updates as I'm working with more stories and AUs. Don't forget to leave some review!
~Gryff21
