Our Chemistry

Chapter 15

I woke up really late the next morning. I groaned as I opened my eyes. They still burnt from the crying.

I checked my phone. Of course, there were no texts from Dylan. I rolled my eyes. Then I saw Kate's:

Oliver. Talk to me
I wanna make sure you're okay.
I'm here for you

I love her. I texted her.

Call me when you are out of school

I stayed in bed and watched Keeping Up With the Kardashians. It was hard though. I kept replaying everything. The kiss that he initiated. Him and Lauren's kiss. Our argument in the hallway.
It was a mistake.

"Can I come in?" Lilly asked, knocking on the door.

I nodded.

"You don't have to talk about it right now," she said, "Just wanted to check on you,"

"Thanks," I said.

"Was it Dylan?" She asked.

That threw me off.

"I thought we weren't talking about it," I said, laughing and sniffling.

"I knew it!" She said, smiling. Then she turned back to me, her expression changing, "Sorry,"

"How did you know?" I asked.

"Oh come on," she said, "It was so obvious,"

"I guess it was obvious to everyone," I said, realizing the truth.

"What did he do?" She asked.

I explained everything to her.

"He'll come back. Just wait," she replied.

"But I'm not sure how I would feel if he came back. I mean, what's gonna happen? I don't want him to be forced to come out, and I don't know if I'm ready either," I said.

"I think everything's gonna work out in the end," she said, grabbing my arm.

Strangely, she made me feel better.

"What happened to you?" I asked surprised.

"Hey," she said, "You're not the only one with secrets,"

We smiled at each other.

"Wanna watch?" I asked, gesturing to the TV.

"Of course," she said, smiling.

Kate finally called me that night.
"You have so much explaining to do," she said.

And so I told her everything that happened.

"That son of a bitch!" She said.

"Oh I know," I said.

"Don't worry. Even before I knew all this, I was giving him dirty looks at soccer practice," she said.

"I love you Kate," I said.

"Love you too," she replied.

The next day, I unfortunately had to go back to school because I had a test in English. I felt exhausted. I think I probably slept for a total of 2 hours last night.

At lunch, I sat in my car by myself. I told Kate, and she covered for me with our friends. She understood that I just wanted to be by myself.

In Chemistry, Dylan was already sitting in his seat. I could feel that he looked up at me, but I avoided eye contact.

I could feel him looking over at me every few seconds. It was fucking annoying.

"So, you guys will be dissecting a sheep's heart today," Mrs. Thorpe announced.

I got up to grab the kit in the front of the class.
I came back to see Dylan, who was giving me an unreadable look.

"Do you want to dissect it or do you want me to?" I asked. Looking at him made my heart hurt.

"You can," he replied. He kept on staring at me, slightly furrowing his eyebrows.

I didn't respond. I just started following the instructions on the paper.

It was silent for most of the period. We didn't even talk much, but if we did, it was strictly Chemistry-related.

After class, I got up, but then he pulled my arm and said, "Oliver,"

I turned around, "What?"

My answer surprised him.

"Can we at least be friends?" He asked.

"I can't just be friends with you anymore. Not after what happened," I said, walking away from him now. I held tears back.

Kate waited for me at my locker.

"You know you look like shit, right?" She asked.

"I thought the eye bags were a good look on me," I joked. She looked at me and smiled.

"Well, that's what 2 hours of sleep does to you," I added.

"Ollie, 2 hours?" She asked.

"Couldn't sleep," I said, shrugging my shoulders.
She put her arm around me and her head on my shoulder as we walked out.