Forever and Always, Olive

Chapter 6

My question about why he came so early was answered when we drove in an unfamiliar direction. Rather than straight heading to school, we take a detour. Twenty minutes go by and we eventually arrive at a cute, white house. It's tiny and has a neat front yard with plants hanging from the porch. Two familiar girls emerge from the house and I can't help but smile. Cassidy and Winona slowly walk to the car, yelling out swear words when Maddox honks the horn. I swear I see him grin at that. I wait patiently for them to get into the car before we take off, but not without loud music, yelling, and terrible singing.

When we arrive to school, we go to the event hall after handing in our tickets, which were free thanks to a recent fundraiser. I was grateful; I only brought ten dollars in case we stopped for food. Barely fifteen minutes after Maddox, Cassidy, Winona and I arrive, Vivica and her friends show up. I'm standing off to the side with Maddox and we're both watching people silently. Speaking is awkward because he rarely replies. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, he'll nod. Other times, he'll outright ignore me. It's quite aggravating- all I want to do is make this event fun for the both of us but it's not going to work unless he cooperates. And every time he ignores me, my attitude towards him becomes sharper and sharper.

Giving up on conversation, I allow my eyes to wander around the event hall. I noticed a group of people making their way over to us. Leading the group of five or six is Winona and Cassidy. I recognize a few people. I know one of them is called Nicholas, and another is called Jackson. I think I have class with them. However, I don't recognize the two people in the back at all- a girl and a boy.

"Olivia!" Winona greets me before she turns and points at people, listing off their names as she does. "Nicholas, Jackson, Parker, Raven."

Okay, so Nicholas is the one with the boyish smile and surfer blonde hair. Jackson has brown hair, which rises up in the front, and bright blue eyes. Parker, like Jackson, has brown hair and matching eyes. He's at least a foot taller than me and I stand at 5'6", which is a bit tall, I guess. Raven, the only girl of the four "new" people, wears her light brown hair down to her shoulders and has bright green eyes, like Maddox's. She's a good three or four inches shorter than me and is wearing a straight, white grin. It takes me a second to notice that she has a nose ring.

Catching me by surprise, Raven walks over to Maddox, wraps her arms around his neck, and presses her lips to his. He return the kiss as he loops his arms around her waist. I awkwardly looked away and shoot a look to Cassidy, who laughs loudly. Nicholas, Parker, and Jackson, who all wear disgusted looks on their faces, excuse themselves.

"Don't worry, they're not dating," Winona whispers to me. My eyes widen slightly as I look back at her.

"Uh, good to know," I mutter as I look at the pair a few feet away. I honestly don't care whether or not he's dating her.

"You look so...okay with it," Cassidy adds as she examines my facial expression.

I shrug at her. "It's not like I like him."

"So...why'd you ask him?" Winona inquires with furrowed brows.

"I was dared to by my cousin," I confess with another shrug.

Winona blinks a few times, as does Cassidy. "Oh," they both blurt. I simply nod in response, happy that everything is cleared up.

They talk excitedly about all the cute boys among us and I agree occasionally. I nod appreciatively when I see a group of cute guys having a conversation. I smile as couples dance to the song that's playing. "Who is that?" I question curiously when I see a tall, blonde boy saunter across the room.

"The blonde one?" Winona asks from beside me. I nod at her. "Adrien Warhol. He has a girlfriend."

"Well, that doesn't change the fact that he's cute," I mumble as I assess him once again. I mean, it's not like I'm going to go over there and try to talk to him.

It takes me a second to realize that Maddox has joined the conversation. Hearing his scoff, I glance over and he rolls his eyes. "If you want to go up against his girlfriend, be my guest. She does kickboxing," he adds as if I care.

I curiously look at him. "Do you know him?" I press as I look back at Adrien.

"Nope," he replies. Raven has her head on his arm.

"Then how do you know all this?" I inquire with a curious look on my face.

"I'm very observant," he excuses with a one-armed shrug.

"So... you're creepy?" I quirk an eyebrow. Winona and Cassidy laughs.

He glare at me before looking around. "Call it what you want."

"You like gossiping, don't you?" I smirk. He sets his narrowed eyes on me in the form of a glower. Instead of being intimidated like I should be, I simply laugh. He looks away with a scowl and again, refuses to acknowledge me.

After being dragged to the dance floor by Cassidy and Winona, we dance for barely thirty minutes before they ask if we can go back to where we were standing before. We return to the area where Maddox and Raven are with jubilant smiles on our faces. I cringe when Raven pecks Maddox's lips and I immediately turn away and join Winona and Cassidy's conversation. Once the discussion dies down a bit, I feel the urge to announce something. "I'm hungry."

Winona immediately turns to Maddox and I know I've made a mistake telling her that small fact. Maddox is talking to Raven, who has a large grin on her face, when Winona clears her throat. "Maddox! Your date is hungry!"

"That sounds like a personal problem," he responds as he turns back around with an annoyed look on his face.

"Take her to get something to eat," Winona demands. My face is red as I stare at Winona. How could she?

Maddox groans as he pulls away from Raven, giving her one last kiss before turning to exit the event hall. Winona shoves me in his direction when she sees that I haven't moved. I shoot her a glare and earn a laugh in return.

I follow after him with my head down and stare at my shoes as they clack against the linoleum. As we walk by a fan, I'm hit with the smell of cologne. I inhale deeply, unsure if it was Maddox or just a brief whiff of someone else. It smells good. I slowly inch closer to him in an attempt to smell him. When my face gets close enough to his back, he whips around faster than I anticipated.

"What are you doing?" he questions me and I immediately jerk my head back. I cough awkwardly as my face heats up from being caught.

"You smell good," I blurt.

He narrows his eyes at me before turning away.

Gee, now I've made things awkward.