Zella {Wattys2015}

Oliver Shields

A/N: At the top or the side of your screen there should be a pic of calum hood, that's who Oliver looks like. Enjoy!!!

After lunch Uma and I split from Olivia and Piper, who are heading to art, and walk to English. Due to the fact that it's an AP class I can count on not seeing Jake there and I feel a thousand times more relaxed.

"What do you think of the new kid?"

It takes me a second to realize that Uma has spoken and I raise an eyebrow. The new kid doesn't exactly strike me as her type...he doesn't strike me as anyone's type.

"He's hot, there's no doubt about it. A bit weird, but I guess you two would get along."

"Oh god no. I'm trying to go steady with Scott, remember? I'm asking for Piper," That makes more sense I guess. He kind of seems like Pipers type. Kind of. Like I said before, he doesn't strike me as anyone's type.

"She's into him?"

"Yeah, how did you not notice? She was basically undressing him with her eyes," I don't know how I didn't notice, Piper isn't exactly discreet when it comes to liking people. She has this thing she does, we call it the Piper. It starts with staring at whoever her victim of the week is, then she'll raise an eyebrow at him when she's sure he's looking. From there she'll get really close to him, give him a few sidehugs maybe. She has a really distinctive scent, and she does her best to leave it on the guy. Kind of like marking her territory. When we were younger the girls and I gave her a lot of crap for it, until she explained to us that at random parts of the day he'll catch a whiff of her scent and be reminded of her. It all goes back to science.

Anyway, I guess this time she only made it to step one. There's something strangely gratifying with that fact and I try to hide my smile from Uma.

"Oops, I guess I was too busy sitting on him and actually talking to him to notice."

She raises an eyebrow. Oh shit. The girls and I try our bests not to be dramatic and to prevent issues within our group, but when you have a group of girls as competitive as we are, there are bound to be more than a few issues.

"Zel..."

This is Uma's way of telling me to shut up. In the group, I'd say Piper and I clash the most. And arguments get very ugly.

"Whatever Uma, you already know I'm not looking for a relationship anyway," And this is the truth. Relationships aren't my thing, and they never will be.

She nods and I vow not to say another word on the topic. I can tell she wants me to swear off of Oliver completely, promise that Piper can have him. But I'm not the same person I was last year, and I keep my mouth shut, feeling waves of her judgment swimming in the tiny space we've left between us.

It could be said that Piper and I have a history of falling for the same guy. Technically, the "girl code" we've decided on for our group states that neither of us should get the guy, both of us should just drop it. However, I can think of six instances since eighth grade when I've tried to do just that and drop the crush, only for her to guilt me into allowing her to get the guy. So yeah, maybe I'm not too eager to let her get her way yet again. Scratch that, I'm sick and tired of letting her get her way with everything. The girls are notorious for turning me into the bad guy when it comes to situations like this.

Before I know it, Uma and I are walking into Mr. Cooks room. I swing my head aroun, looking for something. Mr. Cook is known for his- oh. There it is.

The seating chart.

My eyes scan the chart, glad that Uma had forced me to hurry up so that we could get here first.

Quincy...Ruthford...Shields, Sterling. I don't know a Shields. I convey this information to Uma, who has managed to get a seat next to Mackenzie Gilligan, our kind of friend kind of not friend. She's known for following us around, and she can be kind of annoying but there's no doubt that Uma has gotten lucky.

Also, there's the small thing that Uma has a crush on Mackenzie. As for me, who the fuck is Shields? I sigh and take a seat in the chair that has been assigned to me and look around for the person who's supposed to be sitting next to me. If they don't hurry up they're going to be late.

Not that I care.

Slowly more and more people enter the room, checking the seating chart and sitting down in their assigned seats, some with wide smiles and others with loud groans.

Still no desk partner.

Last minute, while the bell is ringing three people enter in a flurry of movement, and everyone in the class stares at them. Not just because they're late, but because they're all popular. And decent looking.

That's high praise coming from me.

They all move to the back of the room but are interrupted by Mr. Cooks throaty cough and his pointer smacking at the Promethean board. It seems as if nobody had informed them of Cooks seating chart.

Slowly they all figure out where they're supposed to be seated and one of them makes there way to the left side of me. As Cook starts to handout the syllabus I see Uma turn around and raise her eyebrow at me. I've got no idea why.

The guy sitting next to me moves to get a pen and I catch a whiff of his scent. A strange mixture of grass and nice cologne.

It's a smell I recognize from lunch, as I should since it had completely surrounded me.

"Shields, huh," Taking advantage of the volume of the classroom due to Cook handing out syllabi, I turn to my new desk partner.

In a spot on imitation of my voice he speaks.

"Sterling, huh," I can't help the laugh that escapes. He seems like a smart guy and Cook is known for handing out copious amounts of homework, while I'm known for taking on more activities than I can juggle. It'll help to have a friend in this class, especially because Uma has been known to refuse to allow me to cheat off of her.

Uma turns around obviously having heard my laugh and shoots me a warning look. Fuck. To be quite honest, I don't know how I'm going to put up with her for the whole school year if she keeps acting like this. I know I should back off of Oliver, Piper has trouble opening up to people (or so she claims) and if she really likes Oliver it won't be fair for me to flirt. Still, I turn to Oliver, ignoring Umas eyes, once again feeling judgment fill the distance we have between us.

....................................................................

I take my time gathering my things at the end of Cooks class, even though all he did was hand out the syllabus and go over it, so really I don't have much to put in my bag. I can't help but be fascinated by the way Oliver interacts with his friends, his movements sure and cocky, smug even. He too takes his time gathering up his things, and he reassures his friends that he'll hurry up as they walk down the aisle eager to exit the class.

When we both finish getting our things we're the only students left in the classroom, everyone else out in the hallway on their way to their respective next class. He confidently leads me out of the room, and we walk into a group of boys who all say things such as,

"Took you long enough princess."

Or,

"Jesus Shields, did ya get lost on the way to the door or something?"

Though they all seem annoyed they all waited for him anyway. Oliver gets drawn in by his friends, and soon enough the group takes off down the hallway, Oliver in the middle obviously caught up by their energy. I've slipped Olivers mind already, yet he's all I can think about.

I look around and notice that while observing Oliver I've neglected to notice the absence of Uma and I sigh, starting the walk to my next class by myself. I'm not actually by myself, the hallway still crowded and everyone staring at me. But the little people really have no part in my world and to me they are nonexistent.

The walk gives me time to think about Oliver and it hits me that he's perfectly capable of replacing Jake and becoming the leader of his group. Yet he seems content to keep his status, and it surprises me.

Later, it occurs to me that maybe he's scared to take charge because he's new. It also hits me that many people probably think I'm more than capable of being the leader of our group, yet here I am sharing the spotlight with four people. Oliver has an excuse, what's mine?

Already Oliver Shields is making me reconsider things. And I'm not too sure how I feel about that.