Undercurrent

Chapter 18

I didn't get a reply from Ollie until Tuesday morning. To be honest, I wasn't sure whether he would reply at all since he clearly seemed to be avoiding me. I couldn't blame him – what was I thinking, questioning him about where he was? It was nothing to do with me and he didn't owe me an explanation. He didn't owe me anything, especially after how he'd rescued me from the beach after my stupid moment of madness. Truth be told, I owed him.

My phone buzzed in my pocket halfway through English. Pete had been talking us through the chapters of Emma we'd had to read for today's lesson. It was kind of comforting to know that even in Jane Austen's time, navigating friendships wasn't plain sailing.

I was pretty surprised to see Ollie's name pop up on the screen. I'd expected it to be Mum, asking me to pick something up on my way home. I opened it, curious as to what he wanted.

OLLIE: Hi. Sorry I didn't reply the other day. Wasn't feeling great. How are you?

Well. This was new.

NINA: No problem. I'm ok. You feeling better now?

OLLIE: A bit. How's the foot? No more daring escapades I hope?

I snorted a little and Pete looked over towards me. I glanced down, embarrassed to have disrupted the lesson. Considering how anxious I got when I attracted any attention for the wrong reasons, it was safe to say that daring escapades really weren't in my repertoire.

NINA: Pretty good. No more crutches. And no – daring isn't really my style.

OLLIE: Could have fooled me!

NINA: Don't worry, I won't be doing anything like that again. Definitely not anytime soon.

OLLIE: Good :)

OLLIE: How are your sketches coming on?

Ah, ok. This made more sense. This was the kind of familiar ground I could navigate. At least, I could navigate it a bit better than small talk anyway.

NINA: Not bad. I've nearly finished the church and I'm back at the café on Sunday so hopefully I'll finish that one then. You?

OLLIE: I've still got to do quite a bit of the high street but the rest are nearly done. Reckon we'll be able to put them together soon?

NINA: Yeah. Do you want to bring what you've got on Friday so we can see where we're at?

OLLIE: Sounds like a plan.

Well, I wasn't much further in finding out where Ollie had been for last Friday's art lesson but at least I knew he'd be there this week. Messaging was one thing, but I still wasn't sure I was prepared for the embarrassment I might feel when I saw him face to face.

I put my phone back in my pocket and tried to focus back on the lesson. Pete had moved on and was talking about the dynamics in relationships between characters. I couldn't help but think I could do with knowing a bit more about the dynamics in my own relationships – particularly the one with Ollie.