Whoever Falls Loses

Chapter Sixteen: Christian

The car ride home was...well it was awkward.

At least this morning, she was talking, even if it really was just because she wanted to annoy me. Now she was just sitting there, rapid-fire texting somebody, most likely Jessie.

Finally, she sighed, and turned her phone over, staring out the window, glaring into the middle distance. I tried to think of what I could've done to annoy her, but something told me this really wasn't my doing. After a few minutes, she grabbed her phone again, but just stared at the blank screen, pretending to be busy.

"So..." I dared to speak, dragging out the word.

Olivia looked over at me, "So...?"

"Today?" I asked, keeping my eyes on the road, so as to avoid having to look her way.

"Lots of...questions." Was all she offered.

"Yeah," I agreed, thinking back to the boy's interrogation. "Same."

She laughed, "Uhuh."

"What?"

"I'm sure you and your guy friends had like I dunno...a little huddle around a table or the bleachers or something and they just wanted all the details."

"Are you comparing me and my friends to the guys in Grease?"

"Most definitely."

"I'm really offended right now."

"You should be Danny."

"Ugh," I threw my head back, risking a quick glance over at her. She was still looking at her phone but she was smirking. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"Yeah okay."

She mimicked me, "Yeah okay."

I rolled my eyes, "You're worse than my little sister."

"Thank you."

I looked back at the road, "That's not a compliment."

"Well than you aren't being very nice to your little sister then," She said idly, glancing over at me. "And just in case you were wondering, which I'm sure you were, my interrogation by all those popular, beach-waved cheerleaders was so amazing and pleasant."

"Popular, beach-waved?"

She rolled her eyes, "You know exactly what I mean."

The worst part is that I really did. So, instead of throwing something back, I just stayed silent.

xxx

I pulled into her driveway, narrowly avoiding hitting a car that was parked there, which wasn't there this morning. I turned to Olivia, about to ask whose it was, but her face was pale like she'd seen a ghost. She quickly unbuckled her seatbelt, grabbing her bag from the floor.

"Thanks. See you tomorrow." She said, words coming and ending so fast, I could hardly make out what she was saying.

She raced up the pavement, reaching the door, before freezing like an animal in headlights. Vaguely I noticed how she clenched her hands into fists, mainly to stop the shaking. What was going on?

For a few seconds, Olivia stood there, and I was debating whether or not to just pull away, and she came over. Opening the door, climbing in, and burying her face in her hands. "Could we go somewhere?"

I blinked, "Where?"

"It doesn't really matter, you could even drop me off somewhere. I just can't be here. Not right now." She didn't look up at me, her voice muffled.