Everything Sucks! • Toliver

Six

"Tyler, no."

McQuaid leaned forward in his seat, shaking his head at me in annoyance. "He does not like you. Again, might I mention that he's had a girlfriend. He's straight, and just because he gave you his trenchcoat doesn't mean he has feelings for you. It means he wanted you to have his trenchcoat."

I sighed in exasperation, looking down at my lunch tray. I didn't have a chance to eat any of it because I was busy telling Luke and McQuaid what happened when Oliver came over to my house yesterday. Of course I left out the part where he ran away, I knew he didn't want people knowing that, but I told them the rest. I grabbed my fork and started to eat just when Luke spoke up.

"I think McQuaid is right, and plus, he's still heartbroken over Emaline. If he does like you, he doesn't even know it yet. So just chill about it, okay?"

I shook my head, swallowing what I had put in my mouth and standing up. It was only the three of us now, after Kate started to sit with Emaline at the drama table. Despite them breaking up, Oliver and Emaline still sat at the same table, although they moved seats so that now Oliver was next to Scott, Scott was next to Jessica, Emaline was on the other side of Jessica, and Kate was next to Emaline. I could tell Oliver didn't actually like anybody he sat with, which was part of the reason I decided I'd rather sit with him over McQuaid and Luke.

"Hi!" I exclaimed, setting my tray down on the table and looking down at Oliver.

"Oh, hey," he says calmly, turning his head and cringing when Scott noticed me.

Scott was the guy that always picked on me and Oliver, saying we were dating. "Oh damn, this turning into a triple date?"

Oliver jabbed him in the side with his elbow, and Scott sighed and started to eat again. I sat down cautiously, I didn't want to annoy the other people at the table too much. I smiled at Kate, who was on the other side of me, and she smiled back.

Not much happened after Emaline and Kate started dating, aside from Kate moving to the drama table and Oliver getting angry. I figured the reason nobody really picked on them was because Emaline was pretty intimidating. If it were any other lesbian couple, I knew people would be mad. But people left them alone, mostly, and that was good. Even I thought they were pretty cute together and I kind of hated Emaline.

Emaline didn't acknowledge me sitting down. Not that I expected her to.

-

"Kate?"

Kate looked up from the textbook she was reading and forced a smile. "Oh, Tyler. Um, you need to sit down?" she asked, but pulled her backpack down from the chair next to her anyway, so I could be near her.

At first I thought Kate was a little weird, when Luke started to have a crush on her, but after that I decided she was actually kind of cool. I pulled the chair out a little further and sat down.

"So, how are you and Emaline?" I asked, I needed advice and I didn't know how to ask, but I decided to make myself look like an idiot and just wing it.

Kate smiled and looked down at the table. "Really good, actually. Um. We're really happy together, you know..." she trailed off, but I could tell she really did mean it. It made me smile, too. I didn't know her that well but she seemed like a nice person, so it was only good that she was happy.

"That's good!" I said, maybe a little loud for a library, but I didn't care. "So... you good at keeping secrets?" I asked. The only other people I told about my crush on Oliver were McQuaid and Luke, and neither of them were really supportive of me. Kate was a girl, which meant she was way better at relationships, and she also had a girlfriend. I valued her opinion way more than Luke and McQuaid, anyway.

She looked hesitant at first, but she only nodded, unsure of what I was going to say. I didn't blame her, since I was pretty unsure too.

"Okay," I lowered my voice. "Well, I like Oliver, and I don't... know what to do. About it." My eyes darted around the library, realizing nobody was close enough to hear us. We were good. "So can you help?"

She stared at me, her expression skeptical, but her face softened as she came to terms with it. "Oh. Sorry, I..." she looked away and chuckled awkwardly. "I didn't really expect that from you, well... you should just go for it."

"Go for it, like, how?"

"Well..." Kate mumbled, biting her lower lip in thought. "You shouldn't wait for him to ask you. You should ask him. Because he might be scared, too, and if you guys sit around waiting forever, um... nothing would happen." She gave me a reassuring smile, but I could tell she wasn't sure of her answer. Maybe that was because Emaline asked her.

I smiled back. "Okay. Thanks, Kate!" I said, standing up and grabbing the strap of my backpack.

Now I just had to find a way to ask Oliver out. How the fuck would I do that?