Under the Bridge

chapter sixty three- "my best friend is so popular"

I HAVEN'T CHECKED MY PHONE SINCE EARLY THIS MORNING. Partially, because I've been busy spending time with Liam. Mostly, because I've been too scared to have to explain everything to Hope and communicate with my mother. I know Liam told her that he found me last night, but that doesn't mean she's not mad at me. Liam hasn't been on his phone either, so seeing a million notifications light up his screen when he turns it on doesn't really surprise me. 

"Why is everyone congragulating me?" He asks, scrolling through his texts and showing me the phone. "What did I do?" 

I shrug. "I don't know. Do none of the texts give context?" 

"Nope. The ones from my band seem sarcastic. The ones from everyone else seem genuinely congragulatory. There's a few girls who I haven't talked to in months sending super flirty things," he gapes, showing me a few messages that imply some very sexual things. He leaves all of them on read and even blocks one or two senders. 

I raise my eyebrows, feeling a bit of jealousy, and then swallowing it. It doesn't matter. "I'll uh, check my phone. Maybe someone's said something." 

After finding my cell on the charger, I walk back over to Liam and sit beside him on the bed. When it turns on, another slew of notificatons pop up on my phone, some of which are from people in NHS who I've never talked to outside of the group chat. 

Hope has sent me 14 texts, and I quickly read through them. 

are you okay?

An hour later. 

are you at school? i haven't seen you. 

Another hour. 

OLIVIA

I KNOW YOU'RE PROBABLY FEELING REALLY TERRIBLE BUT REMEMEBER, I LOVE YOU

Then, a collection of heart emojis. 

HOLY SHIT OLIVIA

you really should not have missed today

you've been nominated for valentine's queen at saturday's dance

liam's been nominated for king!!!!

oh my god my best friend is so popular

i'm freaking out

you have to go to the dance now

dude you guys are totally going to win the only competition is renee

olivIA

WE'RE GOING DRESS SHOPPING ASAP

I pass the phone to Liam so he can read it. When he's done, he furrows his brow. "Do we really have to go to this stupid thing?" 

I shrug, happy we're on the same page. School dances are the absolute worst, and this one is going to be majority underclassmen, which makes it a nightmare in and of itself.  "Maybe they can take us off the ballot." 

"If they won't, does that mean we have to attend?" He asks. "I mean, I really don't want to have to wear nice clothes and shave." 

I chuckle, the nervousness in my voice obviously apparent. "It means we're going to have to be in the assembly on Friday." I've always hated dances, and I've also always hated assemblies. The concept of people looking at me freaks me out, the thought of wearing a dress and showing skin makes me worried that people are going to judge me. 

Maybe it'll be different with Liam. Maybe I'll have a nice time. 

Maybe it won't. 

"Should I have asked you? Was that something I was supposed to do?" Liam asks, setting a hand on my bent knee.