DRAWN TO LOVE

Chapter 19-20

Tami POV

Weeks had passed, and I had become an expert at avoidance. Every hallway, every stairwell, even the quad—I found routes that kept me out of sight. Yet my mornings still carried the same tension. Every step I took across the campus felt like navigating a minefield. My eyes stayed down, my bag hugged to my chest, as if disappearing behind the fabric would somehow make me invisible.

He seemed to still be spending more time with Brittney, laughing easily, leaning into her world like it had always been his. That alone should have made it easier to ignore him. And yet… my chest twisted every time I caught his gaze, the subtle smirk he used to throw my way, or the way he seemed to linger in my peripheral vision.

Lola noticed, of course. She always did. Even though she studied visual arts in her own building and I had no classes with her, she managed to catch me in the hallway almost every day, sketchbook under her arm, her sharp eyes scanning me like she could see right through my attempts to look normal.

“Tami,” she had said last week, her tone a mixture of exasperation and concern, “you need to stop avoiding him every time you see him. You know. I feel it more than what transpires between you two. I can see it.”

I had laughed awkwardly, shoving my hands into the pockets of my oversized sweatshirt. “I’m fine,” I said, though my pulse betrayed me. “I just… don’t want any trouble.”

Lola had narrowed her eyes at me, clearly unconvinced. She never liked Oliver from the start—not because she had anything against him personally, but because she could see how unsettled I got whenever he was around. And over the past weeks, that had been constant.

The thought of him sitting near Brittney, or worse, acting like nothing had happened between us, made me tighten my grip on my bag. I had been careful, avoiding him whenever possible, slipping through the hallways like a shadow, and leaning on Lola’s watchful presence whenever I had to pass him.

Today, however, my plan hit a snag.

I rounded the corner near the business management block and saw Oliver walking in, his stride easy and confident. He was laughing quietly with a boy I had barely noticed before—Jason. A subtle smile tugged at my lips. At least he wasn’t with Brittney this time. He’d stopped sitting with her entirely and had clearly chosen Jason. That made my chest tighten in a way I couldn’t explain.

I ducked my head instinctively, hoping he wouldn’t notice me, yet I couldn’t stop my eyes from flicking to him. There he was, laughing at something Jason had said, leaning back casually in a way that made it clear he had no intention of entertaining Brittney’s games anymore.

I felt a strange mix of relief and… something else. Jealousy? Perhaps. My mind recoiled at the thought, but the warmth creeping through my chest was undeniable.

Lola appeared beside me quietly, sketchbook clutched in her hand. “See that?” she whispered. “He’s with Jason. He’s not paying attention to Brittney.”

“I know,” I muttered, trying to focus on the ground in front of me instead of the sight that had me unhinged.

“You’re still avoiding him,” she said bluntly, not unkindly. “You need to… I don’t know… face it.”

I swallowed hard, the knot in my stomach tightening. “I can’t,” I admitted, barely above a whisper. “I don’t… I don’t know what he’s thinking. I can’t deal with him smiling at me, like nothing happened.”

Lola’s hand brushed mine in a gesture of reassurance. “You don’t have to know. Just… try to act normal. Pretend for a second that it’s just… school.”

I nodded slowly, drawing in a shaky breath. “I’ll try.”

Across the quad, Oliver shifted in his chair beside Jason, his posture relaxed yet attentive. From my vantage point, I could see him subtly scanning the edges of the courtyard, probably for me. My pulse skipped. Even from a distance, I could feel the unspoken tension between us—the unacknowledged history, the memory of cruel pranks and whispered laughter that had once cut so deeply.

Weeks of avoidance had created this fragile balance. I stayed away from him, and he—well, he seemed to respect it, mostly. But the small glances, the subtle positioning beside Jason instead of Brittney, all hinted that he wasn’t completely ignoring me.

Lola leaned closer, lowering her voice. “You’re thinking about him too much.”

I closed my eyes briefly, letting her words sink in. “I can’t help it,” I whispered. “He’s… he’s just—different. But still… the same. I don’t know how to explain it.”

She gave a soft laugh. “I get it. But maybe… maybe you need to stop running. You’ve been avoiding him for weeks now. Don’t you want to see what he actually wants?”

I opened my eyes and looked toward him again. Oliver was laughing at something Jason said, but for the briefest moment, our eyes met across the distance. My stomach fluttered uncontrollably. He didn’t move toward me—not yet—but the awareness was enough.

The bell rang, echoing across the quad. Students began dispersing toward their respective classes. I adjusted my bag and tried to look casual, though my heartbeat thundered in my ears.

Lola squeezed my hand. “Text me after your class,” she said, a mischievous spark in her eyes. “I need to know if you survived another encounter.”

I smiled faintly, letting her guide me toward my lecture hall. My mind, however, lingered on Oliver. The thought of his apology, quietly but deliberately, brought a strange sense of hope that I couldn’t deny.