Best lovers

school daze

The drive to school is, as usual, a mix of half-asleep silence and half-awake arguments over the radio. Oliver refuses to let me skip through the songs, saying I "lack any sense of music history," while I counter that he's just stuck in the past. Somehow, we make it to the parking lot without actually strangling each other, so I'd say we're off to a good start.

We step out of the car, and the fresh morning air hits us, waking us up a little more. I sling my backpack over my shoulder as we head towards the main entrance, Oliver's arm draped lazily over my shoulder.

"Think Mrs. Turner will mark us late?" I ask, hoping for a little mercy.

"Considering we're 20 minutes late and she saw us through the window? Probably," Oliver replies, yawning. "But maybe she's in a forgiving mood."

"Mrs. Turner in a forgiving mood? You sure you're awake?"

He just laughs, his hand giving my shoulder a light squeeze as we make our way to homeroom. Sure enough, the moment we walk in, Mrs. Turner shoots us both a disapproving glare over the top of her glasses. I try to give her a sheepish smile, but it doesn't soften her expression one bit.

"Nice of you to join us, Sam and Oliver," she says, tapping her watch.

"Traffic," Oliver says smoothly, as if it's totally plausible in our small town.

She rolls her eyes and waves us toward our seats.

As I drop into my usual seat next to Oliver, he nudges me with his elbow, raising an eyebrow. "Not bad for improvising under pressure, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah, you're a regular mastermind," I mutter, but I can't help smiling. Despite his laid-back attitude, Oliver's weirdly good at talking his way out of trouble.

The rest of homeroom drags by, and as soon as the bell rings, we're off to math class. Oliver's already zoned out by the time we get there, his head resting against his hand as he stares blankly at the board. I poke him in the arm with my pencil, and he stirs, looking at me with a sleepy half-smile.

"Try to look awake at least," I whisper. "Mr. Patterson will call on you if he catches you dozing."

"Eh, I'm good," he murmurs, stifling a yawn. "I'm a math prodigy. Can do it in my sleep."

Despite his best efforts, he ends up being called on, and as expected, he stumbles his way through an answer that's close enough for Mr. Patterson to nod and move on. By some miracle, we survive the class without getting in trouble, and we head to our lockers before lunch, where we're greeted by a familiar face: Ryan, one of our friends and a world-class instigator.

Ryan glances between the two of us, smirking. "So, you two decide to show up late together again? People are starting to talk, you know."

I give him a mock glare as I shove my math book into my locker. "And? People can talk. Let 'em."

Oliver, completely unfazed, just shrugs, leaning against the locker beside me. "Honestly, who cares?" He grins lazily at Ryan. "We're just best friends. If people think we're more, that's on them."

Ryan snorts. "You two are practically attached at the hip. I mean, look at you. If I didn't know better, I'd say you guys are... what's the term... life partners."

"Real funny, Ryan," I say, rolling my eyes. "When you're this close, you don't waste time worrying about labels."

"Sure, sure," Ryan replies, giving Oliver a friendly punch on the arm. "I'm just saying, if the whole school thinks you're dating, don't blame me."

Oliver shrugs, looking at me with a grin. "Guess we're dating now, huh?"

"Guess so," I reply, grinning back.

Ryan laughs, shaking his head as he heads down the hall. I turn to Oliver, who's still leaning against the lockers, watching me with a smirk.

"We make a cute couple, don't you think?" he says, waggling his eyebrows.

"Oh, absolutely. We'd be the cutest couple in school," I reply, nudging him with my shoulder. "Too bad you're not my type."

"Hey, I'm everyone's type," he says, pretending to be offended. "I mean, who wouldn't want all this?" He gestures dramatically to himself.

I laugh, shoving him lightly, and we head off to the cafeteria. The lunchroom is its usual chaos, with tables packed full of half-awake students and the smell of questionable cafeteria food hanging in the air. We grab our trays and make our way to our usual spot by the windows, where the sunlight streams in and makes the place feel a little less like a prison.

"Think they'll serve anything that doesn't taste like cardboard today?" Oliver asks, eyeing his tray skeptically.

"Not a chance," I reply, poking at the mystery meat with a fork. "But we can hope."

We're halfway through our questionable lunches when Jess, a girl from our history class, slides into the seat across from us. She takes one look at us and sighs dramatically. "You two look cozy."

Oliver quirks an eyebrow at her. "Jealous, Jess?"

She laughs, shaking her head. "Please. I just don't understand how you two aren't a couple yet. I mean, look at you. It's like you're always in your own little world."

Oliver just shrugs, looking at her with a grin. "Guess it's because Sam's too good for me. Heartbreaker over here."

I snort, rolling my eyes. "Yeah, that's it."

Jess just smiles knowingly. "You guys can keep denying it, but everyone knows you're basically soulmates."

"Well, thanks for the analysis, Dr. Jess," I say, throwing a piece of bread at her. She laughs, dodging it as she gets up from the table, leaving us alone again.

I turn back to Oliver, who's watching her leave with a bemused expression. "She really thinks we're soulmates?"

"Apparently," he says, still grinning. "Guess we've got that kind of vibe."

I shrug, taking a sip of my drink. "Could be worse."

We finish lunch, then drift through the rest of our classes, where Oliver and I manage to keep ourselves awake by passing notes back and forth, doodling ridiculous cartoons of our teachers, and making up stories about the random people we see out the windows. By the time the final bell rings, we're more than ready to bolt out of there.

As we walk back to the parking lot, Oliver's arm drapes over my shoulder again, and we talk about everything and nothing, mostly mocking our teachers and debating what music we'll listen to on the way home.

"Think we'll ever live down this whole 'are-they-or-aren't-they' thing?" I ask as we reach his car.

"Probably not," he says, chuckling as he unlocks the door. "But honestly, who cares? We know what's what."

I grin as I climb in. "True that."

And with that, we speed out of the school parking lot, windows down, laughing and singing along to whatever song we land on, not caring about the looks we get from the other students as we drive off. Because, honestly, when you've got a best friend like Oliver, none of that other stuff really matters.

A/N: Heeeeeyy!! So I tried portraying their relationship as best as i could...i hope i conveyed it accordingly lol.

This chapter is pretty long i feel i hope it was enjoyable!!

xoxo