Lime st. [ opposites attract ]

oscar O'BRIEN

two weeks have past since i officially met victoria finnerty and nothing has happened. she smiles at me if we pass in the hallway but makes no attempt  to talk to me or anything like that. troye still doesn't believe me.
"if it happened like you said, i just think she'd be more likely to actually say something to you." he shrugs. it's 2am on a saturday morning and we're wandering the streets. he's not smoking. he doesn't like it because he tried it when he was drunk one night and he threw up all over his crush. it was hilarious.
"okay. believe what you want but it happened."
he rolls his eyes and turned forward again. he laughs and then turns back to me.
"prove it."
i follow his line of sight to see a figure. and that figure just so happens to be the girl herself, victoria.
like the other night she is sitting on the curb again. i roll my eyes but walk toward her. troye didn't follow, he just folds his arms and quirks an eyebrow.
"are you high again?" i ask.
she looks up, her eyes are red but this time it's not caused by drugs but by crying.
"i wish."
i don't know what to do so I sit down next to her. "what's wrong?"
"i had a fight with my parents. they're so selfish." she puts her head back down on her knees.
i glance over to troye who's grinning. the moments tick by and the only sound you can hear is the buzzing of a nearby streetlight.
"is you're friend just gonna stand over there and watch you or is he going to come and introduce himself?" she doesn't look up.
"he's watching me because he doesn't think i helped you out the other day." i shrug,not answering the question.
"what's his name?"
"troye."
she lifts her head and angles it to troye who looks slightly startled.
"hey, troye, you're friend is a nice guy and if you don't believe that you're a dick. now stop hovering and come and sit down." she talks slightly louder which sound like yelling in the early morning.
"have you got a cigarette? i left my pack at home." she looks over to me as troye warily walks over.
i pull out my pack and hand it to her. she lights one before giving it back. she looks so cool in that moment. an orange tinge to her thanks to the street light, smoke dangling from her teeth, nonchalant look on her face, all wrapped up in an oversized denim jacket.
troye plants his butt on the ground about a meter and a half away from victoria and i.
"do you want to talk about anything?" i ask quietly. she shakes her head, looks straight ahead and takes another drag.
we sit in silence for about another 15 minutes until troye leans over and taps my shoulder before pointing to his wrist.
i nod, holding up my index finger to him. he nods, getting up and walking away, his footsteps filling the silence.
"hey, victoria." it takes her a moment to look at me. she takes a final drag of her cigarette and takes her time grinding it into the concrete before throwing it into the gutter and glancing at me. "seriously, i know we don't know each other or anything but I can listen if you need to talk about anything."
i wait for her to scoff and tell me she a million friends she can talk to and that i'm crazy for even saying that but instead she just nods and smiles.
"thanks."
i nod and stand. just as i turn and begin to walk away she put a hand on my calf, stopping me. she stands and pulls her phone from her pocket.
"put your number in." she hands it to me. i hold it in my hand for a second, staring at her before i actually out my number in it and hand it back.
"thanks, oscar. you're too kind." she stands awkwardly before pulling me into a hug. slowly, i pull my hands from my pocket and hug her back. it's nice.
she pulls away, smiles and turns, beginning to walk away.
when i turn i see troye staring at me wide eyed about fifty meters up the road. i jog over to him and shrug when he gives me a "what the hell was that?" look.
that morning, when i wake up, troye is still asleep. it's 10:08 and i handle late nights a lot better than him. I use the back door to go out. i can faintly hear clanks and music coming from the kitchen at the front of the house so i jump the back fence, follow the stone path and sit on one of the logs that fell by the side of the track. the council was suppose to clean them up but they make neat little seats so the didn't bother. i light up, wishing i had grabbed a jacket before i left as the morning air is crisp ad cold. the sky is clear though, so I can tell it's going to be one of the better autumn days.
i try to be under fifteen minutes so if troye woke up he won't have to wait long. when i come back in the back door, though, he's still asleep. i grab some clothes, go upstairs to the shower, wash the smell of smoke off of me and only when i get back is he waking up.
he holds his hand over his face, blocking the light from his eyes like he's a vampire or very hungover. neither of which he has ever been.
"morning sunshine." i chime, grinning.
"shut up."
i go about my typical morning, drying my hair, neatening my room, picking the warmest pair of socks, all while troye lies in my bed, unmoving groaning about having to he up.
"oi, unless you want to smell like a trash can all day, go and have a shower. our train leaves in an hour and we both know how much time you spend on your hair."
he slowly and carefully slides out of bed, walks over to me, smacks my head, grabs his clothes and walks up stairs. But he doesn't leave before uttering a simple, "fuck you."