Annie & Shane

Chapter Nine

“You’re crazy!” I say.

                Oliver stares at me; eyes widened and expression totally serious. “I’m not kidding, Annie. This is some serious shit,” he says.

                “But there’s no way!”

                Oliver throws up his hands and lets out an exasperated sigh. “You’re telling me that you think that Spiderman would beat Batman in a fight? You’ve honestly lost your mind.”

                We had been arguing about it while getting coffee in between classes. “I’m telling you, Olly, Spiderman wins every time,” I say.

                “Oh, okay, what’s he gonna do? Web me to death?”

                I shrug. “You wouldn’t know how to get out of it. Therefore he wins.”

                Oliver laughs and shakes his head. “You’re wrong. So wrong.”

                “Whatever you say, Doctor.” I nudge him with my elbow and we begin walking. The silence is comfortable, we’re both just enjoying each other’s presence. After about five minutes, Oliver runs a hand through his hair and exhales. He grabs my forearm and stops me from walking. When I turn to look at him, he’s watching me carefully.

                “What’s wrong…” I say.

                Oliver lets out a breath. “Look, Annie, I like you.”

                I watch him; expressionless.

                “And – I wanna take you out. On a real date.”

                I smile shyly at him.

                “What do you say?” He says.

                “Yeah. Yeah, that sounds really nice,” I say, smiling.

                “Ugh, my god. I was so nervous,” Oliver says, and I laugh. “Alright, cool, I’ll pick you up later tonight.” And with that, he walks away, headed to his next class. I frown slightly – I’ve never been asked on a date, but that seemed like a pretty abrupt way to do it. I sigh and head to class.

****

                When I get back to the room, Shane’s not in it. Which is fine, because I’ve got a lot of homework and studying to do, and I preferred the silence.

                I stay at my desk for about two hours, totally focused on my school work. So I’m a bit annoyed when Shane and James come barging through the door, laughing about something that happened at a soccer game. They’re being pretty loud, and occasionally shoving each other.

                I turn around in my chair. “Do you mind?”

                Both boys stop and turn to me. James is making an annoyed face, and Shane’s got one eyebrow raised – wearing a look of amusement.

                “No, we don’t,” Shane says, and they go back to being loud and riled up.

                I groan and push away from my desk, grabbing my laptop and books and shoving them into my backpack. I put it on, grab my keys, and head out the door.

                I get to the library and find a spot that’s pretty secluded from others. I smile internally and sit down, ready to get to work.