Today was the day. Maeve was going to tell Otis how she felt, or so Aimee thought. It had taken her all weekend to convince Maeve to just take the leap and now that it was finally Monday, Maeve was just about ready to run home.
"Maybe this is a bad idea." Maeve said pulling Aimee to the side as they approached the entrance of Moordale.
"Maybe it's not." Aimee said, pulling Maeve towards the school.
"I don't think I can bare hearing him say he doesn't feel the same way anymore. I've done that once and it hurt like a bitch." Maeve said.
"You literally have no reason to believe he doesn't feel the same way. The voicemail wasn't that long ago." Aimee said.
"But he's always with Ruby. And he had sex with her." Maeve said, feeling a pang in her chest at her own words.
"He was black out drunk that night. I'm sure it meant nothing to either of them. You always say how easy Otis is to talk to, so maybe they're friends." Aimee said, pulling Maeve towards the school a second time.
"Maybe you're right." Maeve said, finding comfort in Aimee's words. She knew there was probably nothing going on between Otis and Ruby but it was still really hard seeing them around school, knowing they had hooked up.
"Why are you trying so hard to find reasons to not do this?" Aimee asked.
"Because I don't want to get my heartbroken again." Maeve said bluntly. With everything she and Aimee had been through at this point, it had become a lot easier for Maeve to be honest with her and as a result with herself.
"Look if he doesn't feel the same way, then you can finally move on. But if he does feel the same way, then you can get everything you've been day dreaming about all year long." Aimee said.
"I don't day dream about Otis." Maeve said, taking mock offense.
"Oh please! You're always on the brink of completely losing your calm around him and then it's like you remember you're supposed to be badass and mysterious and so to cover up how obviously hung up you are on him, you call him dickhead." Aimee said, matter of factly.
Maeve's mouth opened and closed like a fish. She was kind of taken aback by Aimee's unabashed honestly. And also because she knew everything Aimee had said was 100% true. But she would never admit that.
"You know what? I'm not even going to dignify that with a response." Maeve said, walking away towards her locker.
"You know I'm right. Now stop wasting time, just go talk to him." Aimee said, nodding towards Otis who was standing across the hall at his locker.
Just as Maeve was about to muster up the courage to walk towards Otis, she was stopped by Ruby popping up at his side.
"Hey." Ruby said.
"Hey." Otis said, looking visibly surprised.
"Why do you look shocked to see me? Is my makeup messed up? Is it my hair?" Ruby asked, having a mini panic attack at the thought of her not looking perfect.
"No no, your hair looks great. I'm just surprised you're talking to me in the middle of the hallway." Otis said, shutting his locker.
"Of course my hair looks great, I always look great." Ruby said, doing a little hair flip after regaining her confidence.
"What's going on?" Otis asked, the smile on his face giving away how clearly amused he was by Ruby.
"I just.. I saw you looking all sad and alone, so I decided to check in." Ruby said, looking quite embarrassed.
"Wait, does that mean you're finally going to admit we're friends?" Otis asked, crossing his arms across his chest with a smug smile on his friends.
"We are not friends. If anyone asks me who you are, I'll say I don't know you." Ruby said, going back to her always-pleasant attitude.
"Then why are you checking in on me?" Otis asked.
"Because.. You weren't a complete arsehole when we.. We.. You know.." Ruby said, leaving the rest of her sentence incomplete.
"Had sex?" Otis asked.
"Yes." Ruby said, reluctantly.
"You know you can say the words out loud,right?." Otis said.
"Just because it happened, doesn't mean I want to remember it, Otis." Ruby said.
"You said I was okay!" Otis asked, a mixture of hurt and embarrassment evident on his face.
"I said you weren't terrible." Ruby said.
Otis took a deep breath; he knew he was never going to win this argument. "Well, thank you for checking on me."
"You're welcome. What's got you all mopey and weird? Well weirder than usual?" Ruby asked leaning against the wall of lockers.
"Maeve." Otis said.
"Wait, is this because you have feelings for cock biter?" Ruby asked.
"Maeve. And yes, I have feelings for her." Otis said, shooting Ruby a look.
"Didn't you basically call her a selfish bitch at your party?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah, well I super drunk and I regret it. I would take back in a heartbeat, if I could. I later left her a voicemail telling her I loved her which her boyfriend then deleted and didn't tell her about." Otis said, blurting out everything not knowing why he was having a heart to heart with Ruby of all people.
"How do you know he deleted it?" Ruby asked, still trying to appear her disinterested but failing.
"When I confronted her about it, she told me she had no idea so I assumed he deleted it." Otis said.
"Oh wow. Is this what the kind of stuff unpopular people get up to?" Ruby asked, as if she was genuinely curious.
Otis didn't know how to react to that at all. He just stared at Ruby.
"Ah fine, what's going on now?" Ruby asked. She would never admit it, but she was interested. Otis had always been great to her and she did kind of liked Maeve after she helped her with the whole leaked picture situation last year.
"I have no idea." Otis said, turning to steal a glance at Maeve who was already looking at him.
"Wait, you haven't spoken to her?" Ruby asked.
"No." Otis.
"What the fuck is wrong with you, Otis?" Ruby asked, clearly surprised at Otis being that stupid.
"She has a boyfriend, I have no idea how she feels about me." Otis said.
"She has been staring at us this entire time, in a way that can only be described as a mixture of rage and yearning. I think she feels the same way." Ruby said.
"She did tell me she liked me not too long ago." Otis said.
"Otis, I am fast losing interest in this conversation. Stop being a fucking idiot and go talk to her. Her staring is making me unconformable." Ruby said. She had now mentally checked out of the conversation and was busy admiring her nails.
Otis looked over at Maeve who quickly looked away when she realised he was now looking at her. Their eyes met for a Nano second but it was enough to increase Otis' heartbeat to 200. Maeve always had that effect on him and he for the life couldn't remember why they weren't together right now. Everything he had wanted for the longest time was standing right in front of him, so what was stopping him from taking the plunge? All he needed was 15 seconds of courage. Maeve was always the one who gave him strength but right now, she was the reason why he was afraid. His own feelings and emotions had always been confusing for Otis and feeling as deeply and intensely as he did for Maeve scared the living crap out of him.
