Distraction

Chapter 4

OLIVIA.
'Do you already know who you spoke to?' One of my mentor students asks me in Dutch. 'Sorry, I can't understand you,' I say in English. Tuesday is the day I can only speak English. But I'm walking bye to wish them luck for their math exam. 'No, still got no clue,' I lie. I haven't told them that Daniel upgraded our tickets, in stead of him Tommy did. Don't think that's really believable, but they do so it's alright. The bell rings. 'Good luck y'all. You can do this!' And then they disappear in the class. My heart is beating, I'm nervous for them. Now I have another hour break before I have my last class. I leave the hallway to my classroom.
Out of my bag I grab a box with some fruit, I'm trying to live a little healthier, again. It goes with ups and downs.

I hear a soft knock on the door. I look up from the tests I was grading. My last class just left. I wanted to fishing grading here, so I don't have to do it at home. Eva is already done with math, she's good in it. She's a smart girl. 'Come in.' Eva walks in and closes the door behind her. She looks a little sad, she hasn't showed a legit smile when I saw her. Exams aren't fun, but normally she does. She has good friends in her class. Hopefully she's going to explain it now. 'Grab a seat.' She takes one of the chairs and places it on the side of my desk. 'What wrong.' I'm not going to talk English now, because I can tell it's serious. She doesn't look at me. She plays with the end of her shirt. I can tell she's nervous and finds it hard to talk about it. 'It's my mom, she's sick.' Oh no. Poor girl. And now with the most important tests. 'What does she have?' I'm not allow to hug her, but if I could I would hug her so tight. 'She has breast cancer.' I can see the tears in her eyes. 'For how long do you know?' I feel so sorry for her and her family, I know how she feels. 'Since this weekend.' I need to hug her. 'I wanna hug you. Do you wanna hug?' It isn't going to help anything, but I need to. She nods. We both stand up. I hug her tight.

My foot moves on the beat of one of the songs of "Mamma Mia", I was in the mood for it. I open Instagram, when I remember I got a dm from someone. It's from Daniel Ricciardo.

danielricciardo

Hi Daniel here!
If found you on here, love the pics you
made
But I had a question. Do you think there's
a chance we meet again?

Hi! I don't know 🤷🏽‍♀️
Do you want to?

I put my phone away and walk to the kitchen to fill a glass with water. After I take a sip I place it next to the papers and laptop on my wooden table. My screen lights up, I'm not going to respond directly. Never mind.

I wouldn't mind

I don't mind either

What do you think about next week? I need to be there anyway

I have work during the week,
but I'm free on the weekends
You have the Jumbo Racing days don't you?

Sounds good! That's right!
Can I come Friday?

Yes of course!
But I don't live in Amsterdam you know
that right?
I don't live close at all

Um yes...

I can come to Amsterdam, maybe
we can go to my place later

I don't mind
You know your country
Is it a little warm?

Depending on what you call warm
I think Monaco is warmer

Ok it's fine

Don't be a pussy😄

I'm not! I just like the warmth

Me too

I need to go, It was nice speaking
to you see you next weekend

Bye

I smile at my screen and put it away again. I really need to finish my work now.

I couldn't concentrate at all, and I don't know why. In the back of my head I was thinking about the weekend and things I need to do before he comes. Now thinking about him, my stomach feels weird and I can't wait till the weekend. Do I have feelings for him? I ask myself. I don't know. Maybe, I think. I don't know. Leo was speaking the truth when he said I look different at him, I think. Daniel is attractive. He's funny. Always joking. Really what I look for in a man. But I still need to know him more. I don't know the real Daniel, yet. The doorbell rings and then I hear the door open. Leo. He always rings the bell before he opens the door. I used to do that too when I was home from school or something else. It got a tell, it was kinda hard quitting. It was something I did automatically and every time I was smiling. It was bad. 'Hi.' Leo walks in with his backpack on his bag. 'Is there a chance that I can crash here? I need to be early on school.' 'Okay. But you need to be quite in the morning.' He nods and sits down. 'You wanna play a game?' He points at the PlayStation, it's not mine but from Tom. When he's home he stays here or at moms place. I sometimes play when I'm in the mood. Bought some games myself. 'You don't have homework?' I sound like a mom. He shakes his head. 'Alright.' He smiles and moves from the couch to the ground.

'How are you and Elle?' I ask him. Before he answers he takes a bite of his food. 'We're going on a date on Friday.' I smile. Elle is a pretty girl. Leo was scared to text her, I pushed him last weekend and texted her on his phone of course. They go to the same school but do different education. 'How about you and Daniel?' He asks. 'What about us? It's never going to be a thing.' I take a bite of my food. He looks at me, thinking. I'll tell him after the weekend, when I know more. 'I don't believe you.' 'Okay, I don't mind.' I finish my food and clean it in the kitchen. 'Are you sure there is nothing.' I shake my head. 'I don't care what you believe, it's nothing.' 'Why is he following you on Instagram then?' He follows me on Instagram? I shrug, I take Leo's plate and clean it too. 'I don't know. If you don't quit, I'll send you home.' He puts his arms up, like he's surrendering. 'You're pretty offensive, you sure?' Can I throw something at him? I role my eyes and decide not to answer him anymore. 'You wanna play another game?' I ask him sitting down on the couch. 'Yeah sure.' Thank god he lets it rest.