Flying Colors

Chapter 9

I woke up to the sound of a chicken calling out in the morning, only it sounded incredibly unnatural and loud. I pressed the breaking egg's cap to stop the sound from continuing on. Last night I ended overthinking the whole time and could barely only a wink of sleep. Before I tore myself away from the comfort of my bed, I clutched the chicken egg and traced my fingers over the cracks of the egg.

I rolled out of bed and went to school. With one big bag on my back and another one in front. I was wearing the school gym clothes and brought extra sets. By the time I came out the front door, I was already gasping for air. I guess it was a good thing that I decided to wake up twenty minutes early, but I still am late. I tried to walk on further when I heard a honk behind me.

"Come in, I will take you to school."

I turned around, it was Elliott once again, "It's fine, I need to exercise more."

"Olive," Elliott continued on, "It's fine, you can exercise plenty when we are camp. Just come in."

I walked towards him, it seems that Jason was also in the car, "Are you sure?"

Elliott nodded and stepped out the car to pop open the back trunk. I placed my bag in the back trunk and took a seat in the back row since shotgun was already taken with camping bags. Jason didn't seem to mind that I was sitting next to him, he was listening to music and texting some of his friends. I remember seeing the rules saying that you aren't allowed to bring your phone. I can't blame him, I too bought my phone.

"Did you sleep well?"

I looked at the driver seat, Elliott was driving casually with one hand, "Um, yeah. Thanks for the alarm clock, by the way. It really helped."

"Don't mention it. It's my job as your homeroom teacher to make sure that my students don't come to school late."

Next to me, I heard Jason snort. It might have been because of a text he read, but I had a feeling that he wasn't listening to anything on his earbuds.

"Uh, El–– Mr. Matthew, are you the teacher in charge of my group?"

We reached a red light, but he didn't turn back to look at me, "I think so, yeah."

After he said that, I didn't say anything else in return. We didn't say anything until we arrived at school. It was perhaps better that way.

"You guys can go ahead first," Elliott stopped the car in front of the school, near the roundabout, "I'm going to park the car."

It actually would have been more convenient if we came out through the car park, but I gues it isn't preferred for a teacher to be seen outside with his students. I pulled out both of my bags and closed the car trunk. When I finished struggling with my bags, I found that Jason was looking at me.

"Do you need help?"

I looked at him, he seemed to be at ease with his bags since he had a bigger frame than mine, "It's fine. It's my bags so I think I should carry them myself. You have your own bags to deal with anyways, it must be heavy enough."

He shook his head and reached for my big bag, "It's fine, let's exchange. You can carry my small bag and I will carry your big bag. We are both going to the gymnasium anyways."

Before I could say anything, he took my big bag and I took his small bag instead, "Thank you, Jason."

He whispered quietly, "It's just as Elliott said you......"

I glanced up, "Hmm?"

He shook his hand and continued walking ahead, "I was just talking to myself."

We continued to walk on in silence. He wasn't as tall Elliott but his frame was nearly the same. In a few years time, he might even be the same height as Elliott. They both bore the same striking resemblance, though Jason didn't seem to have a mole on his shoulder like Elliott did. I noticed that the root's of Jason's hair were brown.

"Jason," I asked suddenly to break the silence, "Did you dye your hair?"

He looked back at me with his blue eyes, the color was much darker in his eyes, unlike Elliott's, "Yeah, I dyed it blonde before school started. The roots are starting to show through."

"Why," I asked, only after I asked I knew that I was prying too much into his privacy, "Sorry, for asking. You don't have to answer."

This time he stopped to face me, but he didn't look at me with his eyes, "It's because I'm always told that I look like my mother. I have the same eyes as her."

I stopped walking too, "Sorry for asking."

"It's fine," He turned back around and offered me my bag, I took it, "We are here."

I gave him back his small bag, and thanked him, "I think, your hair suits you."

He smiled and turned back around. He quickly ran off to join his class, while I choose to walk slowly. Until I heard Lena and Emma call out my name.

Emma spoke up to me when I went into the bus and sat next to her and Lena, "Did you just came in and exchanged bags with the second year student, Jason Dyer?"

Lena added her statement, "I heard that he gets confessed to at least twice a week."

I told them quietly, "He is Mr. Matthew's brother."

"Really," Lena questioned, "I can't say that I don't see a resemblance though and now that you said so, they do have the same last name. How do you know so much about Mr. Dyer?"

Emma suddenly remembered something, "Dan told us that he saw Mr. Matthew in your house on Friday."

Lena pressed her weight against my shoulder, "Are you sure you guys are just friends?"

I am beginning to get flustered, and I know it will just worsen the situation. I bite my inner lip and tried to seem like I was already bored with this conversation, but I can't deny feeling a little high discussing him in public instead of just talking to my own thoughts.

I sighed, "We really are. What do I have to do for you to believe in me?"

Lena shrugged, "Another thing that supports my thesis is the time he watched you sleep, and he was all googly-eyed."

I slapped my forehead, "That's not how a thesis works, Lena."

Emma cut in before I could continue on, "I got another piece of evidence. I once heard him call you, Olive?"

I jumped up a little, I was about to say something in return when Lena added in, "I can see you two being a thing."

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A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while, was kinda in a writer's block :/ This chapter is a bit boring, but I promise that there will be some fluff in the camping trip with Alivia! Comment if you have any suggestions or if you have anything you want to say at all :)