Being Olivia West

Avoiding awkwardness

I wake up late. Jumping out of bed, I pull on black leggings and a loose white shirt. With minimal makeup and my hair let down I race downstairs. I see Cameron sitting at the counter talking with my dad.

"Liv, you're going to be late for school" my dad says. I throw my hands up.

"You think I don't know that?". I take a Fiber One bar out of the cupboard for breakfast and shove it in my backpack. I pull on tie-dye Vans and a black leather jacket before booking it to school.

I take my seat in class just as Mrs. Claiton is calling my name for attendance.

"Olivia West" she calls out in her monotone voice. I'm pulling my binder out of my bag while I reply.

"Here!" I say, out of breath. I look to my left and see Riley glaring at me. I roll my eyes at her and look straight ahead, feeling her stare burning into my head. During the class, Mrs. Claiton announces that we will be doing projects on chemistry. Wow, this is going to be so easy! I listen as Mrs. Claiton reads off the names of partners for the project. She says my name, followed by Riley's. Riley? Seriously?! This is going to suck! I cover my face in my arms. Ugh. I look up when I hear a whistle from above me. It's Chris. I scowl and roll my eyes at him.

"Ooh, Livvy Liv is having friend problems!" he says loudly. My eyes shoot daggers at him.

"First, don't call me that. And second, my personal life, or even my life at all, is none of your business, okay?" I ask. He smirks and walks away. I turn to Riley, ice in my stomach.

"So, Riley, what do you want to do for our project?" I ask politely, avoiding another wave of awkwardness. She tips her chair back, crosses her arms, and glares at me.

"I don't know. Maybe Little Miss Assumptions would like to assume what I'd like to do" she says flatly, although emphasizing "assume". I narrow my eyes.

"Okay. If that's the way you want to play it, why don't I choose?" I ask icily. Riley tips her chair forward onto all 4 legs.

"Sure, go right ahead. Wow me with your ideas" she says in a bored voice. I roll my eyes and pull my science notebook out of my bag. I scribble down some ideas.

"How about a teach your own lesson? It's creative and we can show the chemistry to the class" I suggest.

"Fine" Riley says evenly. We spend the rest of class brainstorming and shooting mad glances at each other.

As I'm walking to our table in the cafeteria, Amanda sticks her foot out and trips me. Everyone stares at me as I lay on the ground cradling my hurt elbow. Wow, I get hurt a lot at school. I hear footsteps, then I see a pair of gray Vans beside my face. Jack. He reaches his hand down and I take it, wincing. He helps me to my feet and pulls me against him, his arm wrapped protectively around my waist. He turns to Amanda.

"What the hell, Amanda!" he says, agitated. Amanda puts on a fake surprised face.

"Oh my goodness, Olivia. I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to trip you!" she says in a sweet voice. I glare at her. Amanda bats her eyelashes at Jack. I narrow my eyes at her.

"Yeah, right. What do you have against Olivia anyway?" Jack demands. Amanda fake-frowns and backs away slightly.

"Jackie, I don't hate Olivia! Where would you get that idea?" she asks. I roll my eyes.

"Don't you dare call me Jackie" he says to her, clearly mad. He opens his mouth to say something else, but I reach up on my tiptoes to whisper in his ear.

"Jack, it's okay. Just leave it" I whisper. He puts his hands on my cheeks and looks me in the eye.

"Liv, I'm not going to let her treat you this way anymore" he says determinedly. I close my eyes and put my hand on top of his. Instead of giving up, I just push him all the way back to the table.

At the 2:45 bell, I walk back to my locker. As I'm putting my binders and textbooks back in, somebody leans up against the locker beside mine. I close my locker door and look at them; Marisa. Relieved, I exhale.

"Hey Marisa, what's up?" I ask coolly. She shifts uncomfortably.

"Well, I noticed when we were in science that you and Riley weren't really getting along too well. What happened between you two?" she asks me, concerned.

"Um, well, last night she phoned me and was saying things like "you have to break up with Jack", and "before it's too late". I didn't understand what she meant. She's just trying to steal Jack away from me" I say quietly. Marisa's lavender eyes widen.

"You think she would do something like that? You guys have known each other since 4th grade!" she exclaims. I open my mouth.

"Marisa, she's trying to steal my boyfriend!" I say loudly. Marisa narrows her eyes at me.

"Really, Olivia. You're just being paranoid. Go apologize to Riley. She was just looking out for you!" she says and crosses her arms. My mouth falls open in shock.

"Who's side are you on? You're really going to believe her side of the story when you don't have any proof" I say, unbelieving. She uncrosses her arms and slowly begins to walk away backwards.

"Olivia, I don't need proof about the conversation to know that you're being a selfish jerk. Don't even think about trying to make up some story to make me forgive you. We're done" she says icily and walks off. Tears fill my eyes. I run outside and into a corner where I curl up and let the tears fall.

"Olivia?" I hear someone say my name in disbelief. I feel a hand on my shoulder and I look up. Jack again. I use the heel of my hand to dry my cheeks.

"Baby, what's wrong?" he asks me while stroking my hair back from my face. I explain everything that happened since last night. At the end of the story, he sits down beside me and wraps his arms around me.

"This is all my fault" he says quietly. I look at him in disbelief.

"How the hell is this your fault?" I ask. He leans his head back against the wall and closes his eyes.

"For dating you" he says softly. My heart shatters. More tears fill my eyes.

"Jack, no, they don't matter anymore. If they can't deal with us, that's their problem. I love you, Jack" my voice shakes. A tear escapes my eye. He looks at me sadly and his thumb strokes my cheek.

"Olivia, I love you too, but I don't like seeing you upset. And if us being together is making your friends turn against you, I don't want to feel like I'm the one hurting you" his voice cracks at the end of his sentence. Tears stain my cheeks.

"But I don't want anyone but you" I say and search his eyes for some kind of emotion. Without an answer, he leans over an kisses me. After the kiss, his fingers trail on my temple.

"Neither do I" he says quietly, softly smiling. I smile too, knowing I brought him back.

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I can't believe that I'm apologizing yet again for the slow updates😔I solemnly swear that from now on I will update each book at least twice a month✋ Stay tuned and vote!💕➰ (The media is Riley)