Look through my eyes

Chapter 23

I drop the books on the small counter, smiling at the librarian. She greets me, talking on the phone, holds up her finger to let me know she has something to tell me.

She hangs up the phone, takes a quick note, and then turns to look at me with a big smile.

"Sophia, did the books work for you?" I nod, touching the cover of one of them. "I'm glad. I wanted to talk to you about something. I know you usually come for books related to your career, but I've noticed that you keep looking at some modern literature books." My surprised face is answered by a smile from the librarian. "I'm very observant." I smile at her. "Tomorrow night a writer is performing at a coffee shop nearby; he's presenting his new work; it's only a few students who have signed up," the librarian grimaces sadly. "Would you be interested in supporting?"

I open my mouth to make up an excuse. The wave of a hand in the distance makes me look up, watching as Oli greets me animatedly. When he notices the fuss he makes, he lowers his hand. His cheeks are flushing.

I chuckle under my breath, turning to look at the librarian, who is staring at Oli.

"I'll think about it." I say, grabbing my purse from the table. The librarian gives me a small smile.

"I'll send you the data to your institutional mail; read it calmly. Something tells me you'll really like the book he's presenting."

I nodded with a small smile, waving goodbye to her.

I walk over to Oli, laughing at the sight of him holding a chemical physics book that might as well be upside down at his look of confusion.

The blond sees me approaching, puts the book back where he found it, and approaches me with an embarrassed smile.

"I'm sorry you were now related to me." he says, his words reaching a point deeper than he intended.

I force myself to chuckle under my breath.

"Something tells me after these months they know we're friends, Oli." The blond in front of me opens his mouth, as if the word friend on my lips is unfamiliar.

I look at him confused, tilting my head to tell him to walk out of the library.

"I guess so." Oli runs his hand through his hair, nervous. Nervousness rubs off, because although yes, we could be considered friends, our talks haven't escalated as one would expect after so many months. "Soph, I want to be honest with you."

My body stops as Oli steps in front of me, blocking my way.

Oli sees that there are guys wanting to enter the library; he raises his hand with the intention of grabbing mine, but then retracts his touch and points to one of the empty aisles. I walk there, turning around to face him.

"Sincere?" I ask, unable to help but think of everything I might have done wrong these past few months.

Damn, are there loose ends? Does Oli know something?

"Yeah, I wanted to tell you that Ash told us what happened between you guys." I blink, surprised at this small talk.

"Oh," is all I say, my brain still processing.

"He didn't say it in a bad way; he just let us know your decision, which is completely valid," he emphasizes, waving his hands nervously. "About the future of your relationship, I wanted to tell you that we already know." Our eyes collide.

"Oh, I understand." I nod. I look down at my shoes for a few seconds before working up the courage to look at him. "I understand, Oli. Thank you for telling me. I appreciate you getting me into your group of friends; I understand that your relationship with Asher has been going on much longer; I understand that my presence may be uncomfortable and-"

"Oh God, Soph, no!" I see horror on Oli's face. My mouth closes, grateful to be interrupted. "It wasn't to tell you that we could no longer be friends; how could you come up with that?" my head cocks in confusion. I blink unable to find the words, Oli lets out a sigh. "I just wanted to let you know that we already know, so you don't have to pretend anything or act weird about each other. We know that a breakup, whatever you guys have been, can be awkward, but we won't make it harder for you."

"Oh," the word of the day, apparently.

Oli chuckles under his breath.

"We don't want you to stop being our friend, Soph." His cheeks flush, and I'm sure my cheeks are twins to his. "Asher thinks so too; you made a really good impression on us from day one, we really want you to continue to be a part of our group...For a long time." my chest tightens, but my smile is genuine as I nod.

"Thank you, Oli, and I'm really sorry about everything with Asher." Oli waves his hand up and down, points to the door, and we start walking back towards the exit.

"Don't think too much about it; it's not strange that Asher was interested in you, but he knows that regardless of your feelings for him, now is not a very good time for him to pursue something more serious." I say and nod, thinking of ways that, even as his friend, we can help him with his family's situation. " Besides, if we were to let you go, Luna would literally kill us, she's been complaining about girl faults in our group for months now." I laugh at the mental image of Luna literally killing him, Oli seems to think the same thing because he smiles beaming, like every time he talks about Luna. "And, as surprising as it sounds, Ian doesn't seem so... Disgusted with your presence."

Oli makes a face that makes me laugh.

"I think that's the best compliment I've ever gotten in my life." I say, and Oli laughs.

We reach the end of the hallway, and I turn to look at him and ask him wordlessly where we are going. Because ever since we left the library, I've been following him.

"Oh! Sure." Oli smiles nervously, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. "Luna said to go to lunch outside the university; she's still in class, though, but she gets off in 40 minutes; do you have class?"

I walk over to Oli, to check the time on his cell phone. I rest my cheek on his arm, leaving me having little contact with him. Oli seems to tense slightly but doesn't pull away.

"I have classes until the afternoon; I was planning to see an exhibition in the art department; we could go and wait for Luna." I look up, seeing his blue eyes closer than they ever were.

"Sounds like a good idea. I'll tell Ian and Asher where we'll be." I nod, breaking away from him, walking towards the art department.

I say hello to a few guys I recognize from the exhibit, I smile when the dark-skinned guy who made the statue of the agonizing face recognizes me, giving me a slight nod by way of greeting.

We walk to one of the classrooms, where they have set up tables against the walls, displaying pieces made of clay. The class is not so crowded, Oli and I observe the figures in silence.

I turn around when I hear a familiar voice.

"Professor Garcia." The lady adjusts her glasses, smiles as she looks at me, approaches me, saying goodbye to some students.

"Miss Young, I'm glad to see you here. I'm sorry I haven't asked for your help lately; I had to go out of town for some seminars." she apologizes, I wave my hand to play it down. "Who are you bringing around here?" The lady turns to look at Oli, who smiles ruefully at her.

"He's a friend." I say cautiously, calculating the chances that she knows Oli's mother but not Oli.

Null, she is pretending not to know him.

Professor Garcia gives me a raised eyebrow with a face of mock disbelief. Thinking about us is just what I don't need anyone to believe.

"No." Oli and I say this at the same time, turning to look at each other before laughing.

"Oliver Morgan is just a friend; he has a girlfriend, and he's a no, no for me." I say, smiling. Oli looks surprised at me, but smiles the same way, seeing the teacher in front of him.

"The feeling is mutual. It's a no-no for me, too."

The teacher's laughter fills the place.

"I understand, I understand," she says, raising her hands in surrender. "Enjoy the display. I'll call you soon, Soph."

I nod, bidding her farewell. Oli and I turn to look at each other before laughing.