[completed] Nova Carter knows exactly what the next few years of her life will look like: she will work harder than anyone else (as she didn't get into New York University to slack off); she'll be keeping her head down and prioritizing getting her a...
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Chapter Ten | Pretty Boy
♫Pretty Boy by the Neighbourhood
I'm babysitting Olivia's breakfast as she gets me a glass of orange juice, perfectly balanced between her fingers as she returns to our table.
It's actually the first time she and I have done something like this together (have done anything together that isn't attending a party with Milo in the introduction week). We both woke up late and discovered we planned Fridays as our free days, and now we're here, well-rested in the dining hall.
"So, how are you doing? I feel like every time we talk, it's about me."
Olivia and I are on pretty good terms, considering the fact we've known each other for such a short period of time and we often only see each other at night, and she's very supportive. I just never want to be the type of friend to demand all the attention and then turn away before she can talk about her stuff. I've been meaning to ask since we woke up this morning.
"That's an exaggeration," she responds, sliding my glass of orange juice across the table top. She shifts in her seat. "But, I guess I've been hanging in there. I didn't think I'd have such a hard time being away from my parents because I've been their most independent child forever, but maybe it's all just now catching up to me. Like, how far away they are and how much I actually need them." She keeps her eyes trained on her breakfast, picking at the crust of her toast.
"What was your homelife like?"
She perks up. "Well, I have a little sister, Jane. She's a pain in the ass but also kind of my best friend in the world. And there's my parents, who both work from home. I wasn't home much because if I wasn't at school I was at cheerleader practice or at my friend's ranch or just like, in Waco doing community service for my college applications. Always on the move, keeping busy. I've just always been kind of scared of leading this... small kind of life, you know?"
"Yeah. Every day being the same, that sort of thing?" It's something I experienced back home, too. I can only guess it's what attracts so many people to New York.
Olivia nods her head, resting her chin in her palm. She's not looking directly at me, rather glancing around us at the dining hall and the girls a few seats over, claw clips in their hair and perfect messy buns. "I was always so unhappy, or ungrateful. I romanticized the shit out of colleges far away because the life my parents led just seemed so suffocating. Every day they woke up, made breakfast and got to work until dinner, and then they watched tv, went to bed, and did it all over again. For years." She finally looks at me. "I think I kind of despised them for it, too. How can they just be okay with being such simpletons? They just kept assuring me I'd understand when I got a job that made me happy, and a partner that made me happy, blah blah. Whatever."
"And now?"
"Now I miss it. I feel like I'm in a dream, and it's not in this cute way but in a kind of scary way. Like you're waiting to wake up but it never comes and everything just feels off and wrong and uncomfortable... You probably weren't as unhinged, huh?"
