Confessing to Her (And other Olympic-level Feats)

Chapter 5

"DUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!" Olivia shouted. She was sporting a neon shirt decorated with black thunderbolts. She had a track sweater tied around her waist, along with blue jeans. 

Chelsea didn't feel too welcome at the lunch table along with everyone else. The glasses-girl was periodically checking her phone, playing some games on it to pass the time. "Dude, Chelsea though..." Olivia said. "She can sing, man! Dude, it was so amazing. Hey Chel!" Chelsea raised her head.

"Yes?"

"Sing a little song for us!"

"I-... I don't feel comfortable," She said.   That was a lie. She needed some mental rest after the emotional gymnastics she put herself through.

"Really?" One of Olivia's friends said. "Why not?" They asked. Chelsea silently panicked. Think of something, she thought. Anything.

"Oh, uh, I was just up all night doing homework," She said. "My voice still feels hoarse."

"Huh? Wazzat mean?" Another friend said.

"...My throat feels rough."

"How does your voice get hoarse from doing homework-...?" Another friend said.

"It-...I... had a lot of video speech assignments..." Chelsea was surprised on how fast she thought of that. "I had to talk a lot."

"Ohhh," The friend said.

"Heh, I like how she used the word 'hoarse.' She's so smart she's using smart words," Olivia said. She was happy she said something nice. But, to Chelsea, knowing that one word didn't make her anything special.

"Anyway..." Olivia turned to talk to her friends again. Chelsea turned off her phone for a bit. It was time to do one of her other hobbies: People-watching.

"She's so cool, too. She plays the piano so well, dude, I almost cried, for real!" Olivia was continuing to gloat about her. While she felt great that Olivia of all people was complimenting her, in fact, she was overjoyed- she couldn't help but feel she was exaggerating, just a little bit. She couldn't help but blush, though.

Soon, lunch was over, and the cafeteria doors opened for the students to come out as though the floodgates were released. Chelsea found herself alone, treading along with the gigantic crowd of students. She was eyeing for Olivia, but deep down, she felt she wouldn't show. Why would she? She thought, sulking. She'd have her other friends to talk to- why would she talk to her of all people over them?

"Chel!" The moment Olivia's hand lightly hit her shoulder, Chelsea's head rose from startlement. Before she could react, the athlete pulled her close.   An indescribable warmth pulsed through her body, but she kept herself as calm as possible, attempting to hide her face fearing her face was glowing with redness. 

"You didn't talk much at the table." Olivia said.

"...I didn't feel very welcome." Chelsea mumbled.

"Wait- Oh jeez that's right, you do seem like the quiet type! Oh man, I'm so sorry! I didn't think about that..."

"It's okay," Chelsea said. Her eyes wandered to her own fingers as she fiddled with them, attempting to distract herself from the billions of thoughts in her mind. "I...It-It was nice of you to say what you did about me."

"Uh, what?" Olivia said. "I said a lot about you, you're gonna have to be specific." She said with a chuckle.

"Uh, the time when you said that you almost cried while I was singing.."

"OH!" Olivia cried. "Yeah, I really did almost cry. It was that amazing. Dude, you should be a professional."

"It's not that simple.."