you belong with me - Olivia Rodrigo

so cliche

On Saturday, I catch up on sleep. When I finally wake up at 2pm, my head is throbbing. I shouldn't have drank all that vodka.

After mustering up the courage to get out of bed, I take some paracetamol and chug a glass of water. I shower and eat breakfast to power through the throbbing in my head.

I avoid Olivia for the rest of the day by keeping my curtains closed so that she doesn't see me through my window. I lay in my bedroom, listening to music and debriefing the night with Isa over text.

___________________________________________________

bestie 👹

hows ur head lol

ughhhh

im never drinking again

🤥🤥

olivia kissed me again 💓

yeah bitch we all saw it 💀

I couldn't stop thinking it about it

for like the whole night

im so gay

keep it in ur pants

but she's a great "actress"

??

what's with the ""

nvm

have u talked to her?

im kind of

avoiding her rn

I closed my curtains

so cliche

___________________________________________________

By 9pm, my mom still isn't home from work. Another late night? Jeez, why is she taking so many double shifts?

Concerned about my mom, I decide to give her a call. After a few rings, she picks up.

"Hey, sweetheart. Sorry, I'm working a late shift again. I'll be home late. Don't wait up for me, okay?" she reassures me. There was something off about her voice. Like she was almost mumbling. I hear faint music in the background of her call.

Not thinking much of it, I respond, "Yeah, Mom, it's okay. Just take care of yourself."

After hanging up, a sense of unease lingers. I contemplate calling her back, but I dismiss the thought, convincing myself that it's just the exhaustion playing tricks on me.

---

I sit in Olivia's car as we head to school, Taylor Swift playing softly in the background. The atmosphere was somewhat tense, and I couldn't shake the feeling of awkwardness. I subtly bobbed my head to the music, trying to appear nonchalant, hoping Olivia wasn't feeling as uneasy as I was. My mind was all over the place, making it difficult to come up with any engaging conversation starters.

Olivia glances at me briefly before refocusing on the road. "How was your weekend?" she asked, breaking the silence.

How was my weekend? Terrible. I spent it rotting in my bed, attempting to accept the fact that I'm an idiot for falling for my neighbour, jeopardising our grand plan of fake dating to win back our exes, and potentially risking our friendship.

"It was great, how was yours?"

I hate this. I hate how awkward I'm feeling. I hate this small talk. I just want to go back to when I didn't know I liked Olivia.

"Josh texted me again"

Olivia looks hesitant before adding, "He....he asked if we wanted to go on a double date. You and me, with him and Maya."

"Oh"

"I told him I would ask you first. Did you wanna go?" She looks nervous, as if she's afraid of my response.

I pause for a moment, trying to process the idea of a double date with Olivia, Josh, and Maya. This sounds like my worst nightmare.

"I don't know, Olivia..."

She nods, her expression understanding but disappointed. "Yeah, I get it. Forget I mentioned it."

I start to feel really bad. This was the whole aim of the fake relationship, right? To get Josh's attention. I take a deep breath.

Oh, the things I would do for you, Olivia.

"Can we go somewhere that has lasagna?"

Olivia's face lights up, and she grins widely. "Absolutely. We'll head to the spot with the best lasagna in town."

"Ah, so we're going to your place then?" I tease. Our laughter fills the car, and, thankfully, the awkward tension fades away.

---

I spend the morning unable to focus in class, my mind consumed by thoughts of the upcoming double date that Olivia has organised between us, Josh, and Maya.

The fact that it's happening tonight catches me off guard. This is technically Olivia and I's first date. It sucks that Josh and Maya are going to be a part of it. I have a bad feeling that it's gonna be super awkward. It's stressing me out.

During lunch, I catch Isa before she reaches our usual table. "Isa I need your advice" I ask in a hushed tone.

I fill her in on the details of the planned double date, and she bursts into laughter at the sheer chaos of the situation. A double date involving a couple in a fake relationship and another couple, where one member is the ex of the person in the said fake relationship.

"Hey, stop laughing! This is really stressing me out"

Isa composes herself, wiping away tears of laughter. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. This is a mess"

I agree, puffing my cheeks out. This really is a mess. But I'm doing this for Olivia.

"What do I do?"

"Well...just have fun, I guess"

"Have fun? That's all you can say?" I look at her in disbelief

"Yeah, just think of it as a date with Olivia. Who cares about Josh and Maya."

I glance down, self-doubt creeping in. I care about Josh and Maya, but only because Olivia does...

Isa gives me an encouraging smile. "Seriously, Y/N, Josh and Maya are just side characters. The main plot is you and Olivia."

Isa nudges me and playfully pokes my cheek, "The Y/N I know would show Josh that she could be a better partner to Olivia than he ever could be."

Isa's words lighten my mood, and a small smile starts creeping up on my face. "There's that charming smile of yours," she laughs, and I join in.

If there's one person in this world who can cheer me up, it's Isa.

"Don't let this whole thing put you down, Y/N. I don't like seeing you sad."

"I love you, Isa."

"I know you do. Have fun on your date with Olivia and update me ASAP," she smiles.