Leather Jacket Girl (girlxgirl)

Chapter Twenty

The following morning, I got to art class quickly so that I could get on with some work. I wasn't expecting to find Courtney there, though. She barely ever got to class early. In fact, I was fairly sure this was the first time that I had even seen here there so early. I swallowed. I wished that I knew what to say to her after our last conversation. I didn't know whether she would ever like me. She had seemed to open up to me a little more the previous day but it didn't tell me much. I had a hunch that she had a bad relationship with her parents after she had come out but that was about all that I really knew on the subject. 

Courtney turned to meet my gaze and then looked down at her work again. 

"Did you do something with your hair?" she asked me. 

I touched a hand to my ponytail and gave a slight nod of my head in response to that question. 

"Yeah I did. Is it bad-" 

"No, It looks nice," she replied. 

I smiled after she said that. 

"Don't let it get to your head," she said, as she rolled her eyes and focused on painting more of her piece. 

"Who is that?" I asked her. 

"Are you really asking me who Maya Angelou is?" she asked me. 

I sat down beside her and pulled my art book out. 

"Sorry...I was never that good at history," I said. 

Courtney playfully raised an eyebrow at me at that statement. 

"Well get good, Clarke," she told me, "Do you have to sit right there?" she asked. 

"Yes," I replied, as I smiled and began to colour in my own picture. It was of a portrait I drew of Callie. 

"Who's she?" Courtney asked me, as her eyes scanned over my work. 

"My sister," I explained. 

Courtney gave a nod of her head in response. 

"Ah. Cool," she said, as the corner of her lips twitched up a little. 

It was difficult to get Courtney to smile but when I did, I found that it was so worth it. 

Soon enough, MIss Mack, the twins and Oliver all arrived, as well as the other students. They all took their seats. 

Miss Mack did a recap of what she wanted to see for our projects and soon after that, it was time to get on with it. 

We continued to work in silence for some time until it came time for the lesson to end. 

Courtney was quick to leave. I wasn't sure where she was going to go but in all honesty, I hadn't seen her most lunchtimes. Either way, she walked away. 

In the meantime, I took some time to speak to Elijah, who moved a hand through his black hair as he nonchalantly leant against the wall of the hall. 

"Hey, Phoebs. Are you okay?" he asked me. 

"I...yes," I said. 

"You're still going to be cool with coming to this dance, right?" he asked me. 

"Duh. I love dancing. Even if I am pretending to be your girlfriend so that your family stop wondering why you're single and-" 

Elijah simply gave me a stern look then, which indicated to me that it was probably time for me to stop rambling. He soon suggested that the two of us walk to the cafeteria which we did. 

Once we arrived, we joined Emmy who had this starstruck look in her eye. 

"What got into your chicken burger?" I asked her, as Emmy took another bite of it. 

Emmy quickly chewed it and then swallowed, before turning her attention back to me. 

"I don't know, dude! I keep thinking about Lois," she told me. 

"Ah yes, Lois Gracewood. Whatever would we do without your crush on a barista?" Elijah teased. 

Emmy just raised an eyebrow at him. 

"All I'm saying is that she's really cute and I want her to like me. Is that too much to ask for?" she asked. 

"No," I replied.

In all honesty, Emmy was probably talking to the wrong girl there. I still was working on moving on from my feelings. It didn't hurt as much anymore but it did sort of hurt to hear her talk about Lois. I wanted her to be happy, though, that was the important thing. Loving someone meant pushing away your own feelings to see them happy sometimes. I knew that was what I needed to do more than anything else. 

It wasn't long after that Oliver joined our table and came to sit down with us. 

"Hey everyone," he said, he then smiled as he pulled a box of cupcakes out of his bag, "Want some?" he asked. 

"We can always depend on you to bring the good stuff! Thanks, Oliver," Emmy told him. 

"You're welcome," Oliver replied, as he took one of the pink-iced cupcakes for himself. 

I was sure that they were delicious but I didn't really have an appetite. However, I wanted to appear kind, so I took one of the cupcakes and began to eat it for myself. I was glad that I did because it tasted delicious. Oliver was a good baker. 

"I love it. Thank you, Oli," I told him. 

"That's okay!" he replied. 

Emmy and Elijah soon had to go to their class together. So, in the mean time, Oliver started up a conversation with me. 

"How are you doing, Phoebe?" he asked me. 

"That's a good question," I replied. 

"Not good then, huh?" he asked me. 

"I'm still trying to move past these stupid feelings that I have for-" I stopped speaking then. I didn't want anyone to know. 

If I truly wanted to move on, maybe it would be better if nobody else knew. 

"A problem shared is a problem halved," he told me. 

"That doesn't change the fact that it's not going to solve the problem," I replied. 

"Ah, unrequited love can be difficult. Why don't you try to find someone new to like? I know it's hard but it might help. After all, you said a while ago you wanted to start dating, right? Be fair on yourself, Clarke. I have a good feeling that the right person will come around when you least expect it," Oliver told me. 

"Thank you, Oliver," I replied. 

"No problem! Now, we better get going to our next class," he said. 

So, the two of us moved out of the cafeteria and began to make our way towards the next class. 

I felt slightly more optimistic after my conversation with Oliver but I knew there was still a lot that needed to be done.