Serenity Falls

Chapter 8

^ because she's my latest fan :D

New chapter, because I thought you'd waited long enough! You will see a lot more of Alyssa in the coming chapters... beware of her! Vote, comment all that jazz :)

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"Hi, Olivia!"

Olivia scanned the room for the source of the noise. Then she saw it. Strangely, it was Alyssa, who was sitting at one of the cafeteria tables with her friends, holding her hand in the air and gesturing for Olivia to come over with a friendly smile on her face.

"Uh…" Olivia looked round, wondering if it was some kind of joke or trap, and if a camera crew where going to burst out at any minute, but Alyssa seemed deadly serious about the whole thing, and Kayla and Courtney were smiling too.

"Come sit with us!" Alyssa smiled and gestured towards the seat opposite her.

Olivia was still dubious – how could Alyssa be so warm and friendly after her iciness just the previous day? – but she made her way over to the table in an effort to be forgiving. Admittedly, her decision was probably swayed by the fact that she still hadn’t properly spoken to Chelsie after the Aaron incident yesterday and didn’t exactly fancy eating lunch on a table by herself.

"Oh my gosh, I am sooo sorry that we got off on the wrong foot yesterday," Alyssa was saying as Olivia placed her tray on the tabletop and took a seat.

On this occasion, Alyssa’s hair had been scraped back into a perfectly messy ponytail and her skin was looking even more tanned than usual – had she slipped off to the Caribbean last night or something?

"Anyway, I guess I was just having an off day or something and like I said, I totally apologise. It was totally out of order, I know. So, are we good?" She smiled, showing off her perfect white teeth and her dazzling blue eyes focused on Olivia’s bemused face.

"Uh… yeah, I guess." Olivia shrugged.                                                                     

"Oh my gosh, that is such a relief. I could hardly sleep last night knowing how horrible I’d been to you – and on your first day too!" The words coming out of her mouth were so obviously fake and yet she had a way of delivering them that made them sound so sincere that even Olivia was starting to believe her.

"Uh… yeah. Like I said, it’s okay." Olivia looked down at her lunch and speared a chip with her fork, still quite confused by the whole situation, which was completely out of character from what Chelsie and Fred had described the day before, anyway. Still, the more she thought about Chelsie’s attitudes towards the school and the people inside it, the more they seemed just a twisted perception created someone who was just jealous of what she didn’t have. Maybe she was better off befriending Alyssa’s crowd rather than her.

"That’s great! So… now that we’re friends…" Alyssa lowered her voice. "How were things with Aaron?"

"Oh! Right…" Olivia smiled, trying to pretend that Aaron had barely crossed her mind since their after school encounter, even though she had barely thought of anything else from that time onwards. He had consumed her mind ever since he said goodbye, rendering her brain physically unable to process any information that wasn’t to do with him.

"Oh my god, you guys totally did it, didn’t you?" Alyssa gasped as a smile crept onto her flawless face. "I knew it! You are so not the little innocent you act!"

"No! Oh my gosh, no… is that what people think?"

Olivia was startled. Did people really think she was that much of a slut? She’d only just met the guy! All they’d done was kissed a little… Olivia’s skin tingled as the memory drifted back into her mind, as vivid as the moment it had occurred.