Decisions
1112 Words
Olivia chewed down her fingernails as she sat in her seat in sixth period. She kept telling herself that she wasn’t nervous. So a boy had asked her over to his house, no big deal. It didn’t matter at all. He was just a guy from school. They would watch movies. There was nothing to get excited about. Anyway, he was probably going to disinvite her after what he found out at lunch.
Zoe came in and looked at her sitting in the back. Olivia dropped her hands together her lap.
In a condescendingly sweet tone, Zoe said. “Look, everybody, liv the div is waiting for her new friend, isn’t that cute?” Everyone turned to look at Olivia either openly or hidden glances. Olivia did not like the attention but ground her teeth and kept her head held high. She would not give Zoe the satisfaction of seeing her squirm. Zoe sat down and put her bag in the empty seat next to her. Olivia’s shoulders slumped. Zoe was going to try for Ben again.
When he came in and made his way toward Olivia, Zoe leaped up and called to him, “Ben sit by me today. I need to talk to you.”
He turned to her with a grimace. “Sorry Zoe, but Olivia and I need to talk about something.”
“You can talk to her anytime. I need to talk to you now.” She pleaded.
“Sorry Zoe,” he said again.
Her face darkened in anger as she sat down in her chair with a huff.
Now everyone looked at her! Except Olivia, her eyes were glued to Ben. He’d chosen her over the cheerleader again. It was beyond startling.
He sat down beside her and leaned over to ask, “how are you?”
“Fine.” She mumbled. She stole a glance at him out of the corner of her eye. He was doing the same. They both smiled.
“So what did you wanna talk to me about?” She asked him.
“I don’t know, how about those broncos?”
“What sport do they play?”
He smirked. “I forgot that you’re a girl.”
Her back stiffened “I’m not sure, but I think I’m offended.”
“Sorry, so what do you wanna talk about?”
“Why do I have to come up with something? You’re the one who had something to tell me.”
“That was just to get Zoe off my back.”
“So I’m just your handy excuse?”
“No of course not, it’s just that when I look at you my brain goes blank.”
She raised an eyebrow, “yeah right.”
He decided to ham it up even more.
“But Olivia, the radiance of your smile completely undoes me. One little look from you sends me into fits of rapture. My entire universe hinges on your every whim.”
She turned away and scanned the room.
“What are you doing?” He asked.
“I’m looking for another place to sit. The seat by Zoe is actually tempting.”
His hand smacked his chest. “You wound me. All I want to do is worship you.”
“Are you going to build an altar and sacrifice small woodland creatures in my name?”
“Sure.” He said sounding very unsure.
“Cool, I’m into that.” He glanced at her sharply. She grinned back. He shook his head with a chuckle.
“Ben and Olivia, could you both please turn your attention to the board, or do I need to separate you two?” The teacher asked.
They both guiltily turned their attention to the front of the room.
When the final bell rang, Olivia grabbed Bens arm. He looked at her confused.
“Leave no man behind.” She said in explanation. “But if you slow me down too much, I will abandon you.”
“Ben.” Zoe called.
“Run.” Olivia yelled and pulled him out of the classroom. They dodged between people, cutting through the stream heading for the front exits.
When they reached the front lawn, they stopped to catch their breaths. Zoe had looked ready to tackle Ben to speak to him. When he caught his breath, he let out a long sigh. “Zoe doesn’t let up, does she?”
“Not on something she wants.” Olivia replied.
“I’m flattered, but I could do without the attention.”
“So could I.”
He looks like he wanted to ask her what she meant, but Charlotte came bouncing up to them. “Hey, guys, enough with the long faces. It’s the weekend! Two days of freedom!”
“Freedom for you, you get to flee off to aspen,” Olivia said.
“So you’re really going?” Ben asked.
“Yep, my dad’s taking me with him to some conference, he thinks that it’ll keep me out of trouble. Oh, how little he knows. So while you two losers are kicking your heels without any clue on what to do, I’ll be speeding down the powdery slopes of Colorado!”
“Rub it in why don’t you!” Olivia said.
“Hey I’ll think about you, maybe even bring you back a snowball.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Hey, Olivia and I will be able to manage just fine without you, we’ll watch a few movies like alive and the shining, and think of you in snowy aspen,” said Ben.
Charlottes right eyebrow shot up, “watch movies?”
“Yeah, Olivia’s coming over to watch movies and hang out.”
Charlotte turned to her, with both eyebrows raised now.
Olivia suddenly found her shoes very interesting. “Yeah, why watch tv at my house when I can do it someplace else?”
“Especially since at home, you don’t have anyone to share popcorn with.” Charlotte said with a sly grin. Ben returned the grin. Olivia scowled at both of them. What did they think they were getting at?
She waved and headed off, leaving Ben and Olivia standing awkwardly alone.
She remembered that she didn’t have his number or his address and got both from him. He got her info as well. After a few seconds of just staring dumbly at the scrap of paper with his address and number scrawled on it, she said to her shoes, “well, I’ll see you this weekend.”
“Yeah, come over on Saturday at any time,” he said.
Then they went their separate ways.
- Writer
