The Life Of A Quarter

Five

Olivia gasped as Zach's head whipped back, the Skor bar dropping to the floor. His friends stopped and gave him weird looks as he sat down on the floor. "What the heck was that?" He cupped his hands under his nose as it started bleeding profusely. He looked at the candy sitting next to him on the floor, wrapped in a napkin. Just then, Olivia came running with a pile of napkins in her hands, with Becca following closely behind.

"Zach, I'm so sorry." She knelt down and handed him some napkins, "Oh, what have I done?" He put the napkins up to his nose to stop the bleeding.

His voice sounded all nasally as he asked, "Olivia? What? You threw that at me?" She handed him another pile of napkins to replace the other ones that were already soaked with blood.

"Yeah, listen, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to mess up your face. Becca told me to throw it, I shouldn't have listened." Olivia's cheeks were flushed and bright red as she replied.

"Girl, don't pull me into this. I meant a light toss, not a freaking touchdown pass." Becca replied. Zach laughed as he took Olivia's outstretched hand to help him up. His nose had mostly stopped bleeding, and he used the rest of the napkins to wipe his hands off.

Zach turned to his friends, who had just returned from throwing away all of the bloody napkins. "You guys remember Olivia?" He gestured toward her with his free hand. She gave an embarrassed half-smile and waved.

"I'll always remember this." One of his friends, Keith, Olivia recognized him from school, piped up.

"Dude, I think she broke your nose." Another one of his friends, Sam, pointed out.

"Wait, what?" Olivia panicked and looked at his now crooked nose. It was already swelling.

"Yeah, look at it, it's all crooked." Becca circled her finger around the bridge of his nose.

Olivia put her head in her hands, "Zach, I feel so bad. I didn't mean to break your nose. I was just trying to be funny and return the favor, and then you started leaving, and I felt rushed, so I just..." She trailed off, realizing she was talking too fast. She laughed at her own stupidity. "...chucked it as hard as I could."

"Olivia, it's fine." Zach told her.

"No it's not. I broke your nose. I don't even know how to make up for this." She replied.

He bent down and picked up the Skor bar. "I think this will do." He took the napkin off of the candy bar, and read what was written on it.

Dear Zach,

Roses are red,

My head is quite sore,

I bet you thought that those pop rocks

would be a Skor.

-Olivia

P.S. I hear the vending machines at the school

have breath mints for 25 cents now.

He put me in his pocket, and looked up at Olivia. She had a guilty look on her face. She thought that she had made him feel bad, but he just laughed. "You're one to be complaining."

"Yeah I guess it was funnier before I broke your nose." She grimaced.

Zach's friends looked at him expectantly, and he replied, "Thanks Liv. Can I call you that?"

"No."

"Okay." He walked outside, but then turned back, opened the door, and said, "By the way, Liv, I'm allergic to nuts." The door slowly closed as he rejoined his friends.