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Chapter 18

Laura is going to be pissed Olivia thought to herself.

She had forgotten to text her friend that she wouldn't need a ride until they were halfway to the mall. By "they" she meant herself, Hannah and Jake.

Definitely not a date she mused, glancing up at Hannah, who kept her eyes on the road no matter how much Jake tried to goad her into looking at him.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to ruin your date," Hannah carefully eased into a parking spot and then looked back at Olivia, "I just need to pick out some shoes for Prom, so you can do whatever you want. I drove because I have no faith in my cousin's ability to do so and we drove to school together since this was an impromptu event."

"It's not a date," Olivia felt the need to clarify and the need to defend herself from Hannah's judgy eyes, "Jake asked me if I wanted to hang out and I would have said no if I had anything better to do."

"Ouch." He clutched his heart, pretending her words had caused him pain as she looked on annoyed. "No need to be so defensive. One might think you had no interest in me."

"I don't," She turned to look at Hannah, who was busy fixing her eye makeup in the mirror, "I think Jake and I would love to join you in looking for shoes. Laura and I were in the other day doing just that so I know exactly where to look."

"Really?" Hannah couldn't hide her surprise. Thankfully for her, it quickly transformed into smugness as she noticed the effect Olivia's suggestion had on her dear cousin.

"Hannah-" Jake tried to protest but Olivia beat him to it.

"Of course," There was something about Hannah that Olivia liked, nevermind how gorgeous the girl was, "You guys were kind enough to let us join you for Prom so the least I can do is help you find some shoes."

"Well who am I to look gift horse in the mouth?" She eyes shot right at Jake, daring him to say something, "If you don't mind Jake?"

"Of course not." He bit back, but Olivia seemed oblivious to it.

"Great!" Olivia clapped her hands together and looked excitedly at the two. Shopping wasn't something she minded when she wasn't the person they were shopping for, "Then we have to start at..."

She trailed off as the two girls planned their shopping spree, completely ignoring the groans of the teenage boy in the front seat.

Poor Jake, this was totally a date.

He was begrudgingly lead into the mall, eager for the two to find a stupid pair of shoes. Hannah, it seemed, fed off of Jake's obvious discomfort as she meticulously went through every store. Olivia or the salesperson would bring her shoes, which she would try on and admire for a few minutes before disparaging them over one tiny flaw.

They made her too tall. They didn't make her tall enough. They were too cheap, too expensive, too green, too ugly, too something or another.

It wasn't until Olivia expressed her hunger that Hannah settled on a pair of shoes. She shot Jake a knowing look as Olivia went to wait by the store's front door. Hannah paid and quickly joined them, subtly remaining a few paces behind.

"Thank god we're finally done," Olivia grinned over to Jake, "I thought she'd never find a pair she liked."

"You and me both," He muttered, shooting his cousin another dirty look.

"At least we're done now," She continued on, "I am so hungry. Totally random, I know, but I was wondering how any of you ever ate anything with Tomas around. Between telling the funniest stories and stealing anything remotely good off my plate, I don't think I need to go on a pre-Prom diet. He's doing all the work for me."

Jake saw an opening, so he took it, "You should see Cheryl. She's always complaining about how she needs to lose weight because she's too heavy for the top of the pyramid but I think that's just a ploy. If you leave her alone with any food, she'll steal it right off your plate."

He had expected her to smile at him and laugh. His story was the perfect way to open up a little to her and it tied into her own. Once he got her talking, he was hoping she'd really open up and start to see him as the guy he wanted her to see. There was a quality about her that he liked, he just couldn't put his finger on what it was.

However, that wasn't the reaction he got. She sped up, and he suddenly found himself a few paces behind her, struggling to catch up.

"Are you talking trash about me again Jake? I swear, you need to stop spreading rumors about me."

The voice behind them led Olivia to a screeching halt and Jake to knock right into her. He was a big guy, but she managed to keep herself upright. He spun around and looked at Cheryl apologetically as Hannah caught up to the group.

"Hey Cheryl." Jake said bashfully.

"Hey Jake, who's your friend?" Cheryl sauntered up to the two, interested in the girl who refused to look at her.

Jake spun Olivia around, "Oh, this is Olivia. I think you mentioned you were..."

"French partners." Olivia and Cheryl answered, looking away from each other.

Hannah stepped between them, anticipating some sort of conflict. "Whoah, I'm sensing some tension."

"A little," Olivia admitted, "I think it's probably all the time we spent on French last semester. You put people together for a period of time and they either mesh or they blow up."

"We both did well in French," Cheryl added, shooting Olivia a look, "But it ended in a screaming match over something. Who knows? I think we were both stressed about exams."

"Yeah," Olivia nodded, but she didn't look like she agreed, "That probably added to all our other problems."

Hannah looked between the two suspiciously, there was something going on, but she figured it wasn't her place to step in. She could always ask Cheryl about it later, though Cheryl tended to be very private when it came to things like that. Judging from all the heated looks they were sending each other, the fallout had to have been bad.

Cheryl glanced down at her watch and then back up at the three of them, "I better get going. A couple of the girls from drama are getting together to shop for a little while. I was on my way to meet them when I spotted you Hannah and as soon as I heard your cousin here talking shit about me, I knew I had to come over and set him straight." She grabbed the shopping bags she had placed at their feet when she arrived, "You still owe me an apology Jake, but I shouldn't expect much." Her eyes found Olivia, "We all know how you are when it comes to apologies."

She left the three of them shocked, but Cheryl couldn't help but feel pleased. She enjoyed fooling around with Jake because he made it so easy. Whenever she said something that flustered or embarrassed him, his ears would turn just the slightest shade of red. Hard to see if you didn't know what you were looking for, but once you did, you couldn't stop seeing it. Hannah was the one who pointed it out to Cheryl and since then, with the support of Hannah, she had taken to teasing her friend whenever she could.

Though she claimed to be shopping with her drama friends, the truth varied a little. Hannah had text her that they were going shopping and to join them if she was free, which she was. Her plans had changed slightly when she found out Olivia was there, a fact Hannah hadn't shared with her. All Hannah had told her was that she and Jake were shopping, no mention of anyone else, and Cheryl prefered not to stay in the presence of a certain someone too long.

Not with their history.