Songs from my Bewilderment

Chapter Eleven

Olivia gets off the bus and starts walking towards Sightglass, a coffee shop in the SoMa District that both her and June agreed to meet at. She feels so nervous to see June but knows that she wants to continue whatever they started over the summer. As she walks into the coffee shop, June waves at her as he already claimed a table. Why does he have to look so preppy? Olivia thinks to herself. He's wearing yet another pair of chino shorts with a denim button-up and Stan Smith Adidas.

As she approaches him, he stands up to give her a hug. "Nice to see you," he says as he kisses her forehead.

His touch feels different, Olivia thinks.

"Nice to see you, too!" Olivia says excitedly.

"Iced Latte with Vanilla and Almond Milk?" June says as he hands over a cup full.

"You remembered," Olivia smiles.

"Of course," June says, smiling back.

They start catching up on how each other's start of the school year was. June explains how he's living in Oakland now so he could get into the city faster and how he wants to apply for a job in retail to make extra money. Olivia tells him how she's taking another illustration class to fine-tune her skills. And he embarrasses her by saying, "You're already an amazing artist! Who needs another illustration class?"

I do, Olivia thinks. She's a perfectionist and always wants to do things at 110%.

"Anyways, are you doing anything next weekend?" Olivia brings up the question now because she knows that if she holds on to it any longer, she'll never ask him.

"Not really..." he says, nervously. Unsure of what she was going to ask him next.

"Uh... so, here's the thing. A family friend is getting married next weekend back home in Sacramento. And...." Olivia feels her heart beating, "I was wondering if you could come with me? I can drive us out there. It's only two hours north of here."

June starts smiling and finally thinks that this is the opportunity for Olivia to open up to him. He grabs her hand, and says, "I'd love to!"

"Oh, yay!" Olivia says excitedly. "It'll be a lot of fun." She leaves out the details of Max and Maddy going, but she doesn't think that June will care since he's only seen them a handful of times. She also leaves out the fact that her parents are going to be there. Why did I do that? She thinks to herself.

"I'm going to order a toast, want anything?" June says.

"Oh, yeah. Avocado?" Olivia says.

"Be right back!" June gets up and walks towards the ordering counter.

As she looks up, she sees two familiar faces parking their bikes outside of the coffee shop. She squints and sees Maddy's head. But, she also sees. Who is that? She thinks. She can't pinpoint who it is until she notices the leather jacket. It's Ryder. What the hell is Ryder doing with Maddy? Are they friends? She then sees them kiss after they lock up their bikes and she starts to feel a sense of anger inside. How could he do this to Chloe? SO many questions come up in her head, but she knows the best thing to do is to act like she doesn't see them at all.

When June finishes ordering, she adjusts herself and sips her latte.

"You okay?" June asks as he sits down.

"Uh... yeah, I'm fine," Olivia says. "Thanks for getting the toasts. I owe ya one." She brushes off the fact that both Maddy and Ryder are waiting in line to order coffee. Though, her heart is beating fast, because she knows that if Ryder sees her, something awkward can happen. So, she nonchalantly tries to continue a conversation with June.

"Oh, please. So, tell me more about this wedding," he says.

Olivia explains her relationship to Alex and Sage and finally tells him that it's Max's brother's wedding. June doesn't think anything of it. He gets interested in Sacramento and she explains how it's really not all that exciting. She leaves out the fact that her parents are going to be there, though. She also knows that instead of staying at her parents' house, she'll just end up driving both of them back to the Bay Area afterward. She liked to plan things like this, and think of every detail. Besides, her parents wouldn't approve of her having her plus one to Alex's wedding stay over at their house. That would just be awkward. Considering the fact that they weren't even boyfriend and girlfriend.

"Well, I'm stoked for it," June says.

"Same here," Olivia says while looking behind him to see that Maddy and Ryder are leaving with their coffees. She is relieved but has a gut feeling that she needs to tell Chloe. She doesn't know how she'll tell her, but it was her right to know. She's also questioning if Maddy knew that Chloe and Ryder had been on a few dates. Maddy wouldn't do that, would she? She continues to think.

As Olivia scrambles to find her phone after she says goodbye to June, she immediately calls, Chloe.

She doesn't answer. She calls her again. No answer.