Where Do We Go From Here?

Getting On Just Getting On!

It was just before school breaks for summer, June 6th. Sara Lin was having a last-minute study session with Oliver before her finals in the usual school room. Since Sara and Joe broke up a few weeks ago, Sara has felt skittish and embarrassed around Oliver which made studying very difficult. She often caught herself admiring his hands instead of the numbers and formulas she should be paying attention to.

"Earth to Sara Lin?" Oliver said, waving his hand in front of her face.

"W-what?" The girl sat straight in her seat as her temperature rose in tandem.

"I asked you to solve this problem a minute ago and you haven't moved since." The tutor said with a deadpan look.

"Ah, sorry." Sara picked up her pencil and fudged through the problem that she didn't understand. In the back of her brain, she was thinking about something else, however. 'This is bad. This is really bad. I know I broke up with Joe but I still can't tell Oliver how I feel. That would be so horrible of me! To date one brother then the next? I might as well go after their sister!' At this point, Sara had stopped moving her pencil and was staring blankly into the sheet of paper in front of her with a perplexed look on her face.

"Is it really that hard?" Oliver spoke up. Sara shot her head up and blushed in embarrassment. "Here, let me show you how to do it again." He took her pencil, lightly grazing her hand in the process. Sara's breath hitched as she looked at Oliver for his reaction, but he was too engrossed in the math to notice. Sara mentally slapped herself for hoping that he would notice that small touch.

'He obviously doesn't think of you like that, Sara. You're his student. And friend. And brother's ex-girlfriend.' Sara literally slapped herself on the face for the last thought. This action made Oliver sigh and place the pencil on the table before leaning back in his seat.

"Ok. What is it?" The boy asked, arms crossed.

"What?" Sara replied. "What is what?"

"What are you thinking about so hard that you can't focus on your math when you have your final coming in two days?" He laced some judgment into that one. Sara took mental damage from the comment.

"I'm not thinking about anything!" The ginger flipped her head away from the blonde, hoping he wouldn't see through her lie if he wasn't looking in her eyes.

"Obviously you are. Just tell me and we can move forward with your homework." He said, sitting at the table again. The seriousness on his face made Sara feel a little guilty for thinking about such trivial things during his tutoring session. She quickly thought about something else to tell him.

"I was thinking about... about... your birthday!" She lied.

"My birthday?" A pink tint rose to Oliver's cheeks.

"Yup, your birthday!"

"What about it?" He pressed. Sara had not thought this far yet.

"I was just wondering... if you were celebrating it?" This wasn't a complete lie. She remembers him mentioning it earlier in the year. "It's coming up, right?"

"Yeah, in like a month. You don't need to be thinking about that right now. Let's do your homework." He adjusted his glasses and picked up the pencil again, ready to work. Sara put her hand on top of the pencil making Oliver drop it. Her hand rested on his.

"Come on," She let her words drag to show how bored she was of the work. "Let's talk about anything other than math."

"Fine," Oliver replied. Sara was surprised at this. Oliver usually puts up at least a little bit of a fight when she wants to divert the subject. "Why do you want to know if I'm going to celebrate it?" Oliver's interest was actually piqued. Why would Sara be sighing and mulling over his birthday of all things? He also tried to ignore the fact that her hand was still on his, but it was obvious that he noticed. He stole quick glances at their hands and felt his getting a little sweaty. Sara pulled her hand away from Oliver's once she noticed, to both their dismay.