Bookworm & Biker [ENG]

11-Mia Lowson

I walk down the hallway, typing a message to Olivia. It’s still nagging at me why she suddenly ran out of the movie theater. I hate not knowing who she was texting, but it’s her privacy. The sound of the bell rings in my ears, and with my heart pounding like crazy, I start running to class, checking the time.

"Shit," I blurt out as I crash into someone and close my eyes as I fall backward. Before I hit the ground, I feel a warm, pulsing touch on my hand. I open my eyes and realize I’m hanging a few centimeters above the ground, held up only by my heel.

“You should be more careful," Colin says with a laugh. I pull away from him and get up, crouching down to gather the things that scattered across the floor. This feels like one of those clichés where the girl falls in love with the guy, and when he helps her with her stuff, their hands lightly touch, and both feel some strange connection. But that’s not my reality.

Colin stands in front of me, arms crossed, as if waiting for an apology, and I’m too scared to look him in the eyes. It’s incredibly embarrassing. I want to bury myself underground. I look at my phone, the screen cracked but still half-working.

“Can I walk you to class?” I force myself to look at him and notice the slight smile he’s trying to hide. I shake my head and look away again. God, this is awkward.

“No,” I say quietly as I walk past him with my textbooks and phone in hand.

“Really? How about at least saying ‘thank you’ or ‘sorry for not paying attention’?” he says, annoyed. I stop, realizing he’s right, but swallow the lump in my throat and continue on my way.

...

My mind has been like a storm cloud hovering over me ever since I ran into Colin. I regret not even saying that stupid “thank you,” but it’s harder than I thought. Especially since Olivia isn’t here to force me to do it. I lean against my desk and watch my classmates take notes. Sometimes I feel like a complete outsider.

...

As I walk next to Olivia, who’s cuddling with Nick, I feel a strange mix of jealousy and sadness. I hate how they snuggle up and whisper secrets to each other while I’m the third wheel. When Nick leaves, I force a smile at her.

“What’s with that look?” she asks, amused, as I blink quickly and relax again.

“Olivia?” I say softly, and we both stop. “I ran into Cole today,” I say through the lump in my throat.

“What do you mean ‘ran into’?” she crosses her arms over her chest.

“Just that. I was rushing to class and... I pulled out my phone to check the time, and he kind of…” I feel myself blush again as the wave of embarrassment hits me. Olivia stands on her tiptoes, but even then, she can’t quite reach my height.

“Kind of what?” she asks in a higher tone, while I stare at the cracked floor.

“He caught me before I fell, and I didn’t say anything, I just ran off,” I blurt out so fast I barely understood myself. Olivia clasps her hands together, her serious expression turning into a smile.

“You left him standing there like a complete idiot?” I nod with a smile as her words hit me.

“Go apologize,” she points at some random door. I glare at her.

“Are you serious?” I say, my voice shaky.

She shakes her head, and her smile fades. “No,” she sighs, “I’ll go with you.” As soon as she said that, a small smile crept onto my face, though it quickly disappeared.

What if he does something to me? I might not be afraid of his touch anymore, but it could’ve just been an adrenaline rush. There has to be a logical explanation.

“So?” I glance at Olivia again and nod.

“Okay, but I don’t know where his class is.”

Olivia waves her hand. “I do.” She winks at me with a small smile.

I followed her all the way to room 421, where Olivia peeked through the keyhole. “All three of them are in there.” I started fidgeting with my fingers. It’s one thing to apologize to a guy for a slip-up, and another thing to do it in front of his friends. They’ll think I’m incompetent, that I don’t know how to walk, and Cole? I close my eyes. What if they do something to me and I freeze again?

“Olivia, I... I can’t do this,” I turn to leave.

“Wait!” she yells after me, but I keep walking. I can’t do this. My heart pounds so hard I can hear it in my ears, and every step I take feels unbearably heavy. Two parts of me are at war. One knows that it’s the right thing to do and I should apologize, and the other, louder part, is screaming to stay in the background and forget everything that happened.

“Wait!” Olivia catches up to me, just as the door opens, and Nick comes out. He wraps his arms around Olivia from behind, and she smiles, but her eyes signal for me to go to Cole. I hate you. My heart races as I know what I’m about to do. With heavy steps, I walk over to Cole, who’s standing with Jake, leaning his foot against the wall. He’s going to hate me.

I keep staring at the ground. I refuse to meet his gaze, but I have to do this. I take a breath, glance at Olivia, who nods, and then look back at Cole, who’s watching me with crossed arms. I take a step back and swallow the lump.

“S-sorry. You know. For... that.” I lower my gaze, and a small weight lifts off my chest.

“It’s cool, redhead,” he says, and he reaches out as if to touch my chin, but his hand lingers in the air as I step back. I bolt back to Olivia, my cheeks flushing red again. I didn’t even register his words. What did he call me?

“See, you did it,” she smiles, and Nick kisses her hair, making her close her eyes. “I love you,” he says with a smile, and my heart skips a beat when I see her smile. It annoys me that I can’t be the one to support her in her relationship. I look at her.

“I should go. My mom has work for me,” I say in a normal voice. Nick glanced at Cole and nodded. I thought secret signals were just for girls.

“Take care,” Olivia said, already shoving her tongue into Nick’s mouth. I turned on my heel and walked out of that cursed place. Olivia’s right. I did it. That small sentence is why I’m smiling a little.

...

On my way to the small white house, I feel a vibration in my hand. When I unlock my phone, with a wallpaper of book titles, a message pops up that I can’t read because half of my phone is completely broken. This is a bad dream.

Author’s Note: Hi everyone. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I wanted to ask: what kind of characters do you like and why?