Background Character

Chapter 23

She waited a few moments in the hopes Laura would return, but when she didn't Olivia decided to walk back to Psych class. She had only missed thirty minutes if her clock was correct. The teacher said nothing as she slipped into class and fell into the desk with her backpack.

At no point in the period did Laura return, not even to pick up her things. The rest of the day, she spent avoiding both Olivia and Tomas. Whenever their paths almost crossed, she would duck into a classroom or quickly turn the other way.

Tomas was obviously curious about the startling change in behavior, Laura had gone from insisting he walk her to every single one of her classes to running away if he came within fifty feet of her. It was a little insulting, but Tomas figured it probably wasn't personal.

"So, why is Laura avoiding us?" He broached the subject at lunch, hoping to discuss it before Jake and the others got to their table. Jake had texted him that they were going to merge the two groups and there was nothing Tomas could do about it. "It isn't just me, right? I've seen her running away from you too."

She sighed and sipped her soda, "She and I talked about something, I won't tell you what because it's her secret. She did something she isn't proud of, and hurt someone not related in the process." Olivia's heart ached for B, guilt welling up in her for her own part in B's torment. "Today, she thought I knew so she confessed to me in the bathroom and I told her that I would stick with her, but she had to set everything straight. She had to apologize to the person she hurt and tell everyone the truth, but she told me she cared more about what other people think than me."

"I'm sorry," Tomas felt bad for pushing her.

"No, it's not your fault." She laughed bitterly, hating it's taste in her mouth, "I just can't believe she'd turn on me like that, even after I was willing to move forward. She went on about how guilty she felt, and yet she got angry at me because I wanted her to apologize."

"Was it really that bad?"

"Worse, much worse than it sounds." She nervously played with the food on her plate, "I can't tell you much without giving it away. I just hate the person this made her."

"I get what you're going through, to an extent. In my case, I wasn't willing to forgive them so they avoided me." He leaned back as if there was a backboard behind him and lay his hands behind his head, "I can't say it was too bad because we would never have become friends."

"So this has something to do with Jack and Hannah?" He nodded, "If you don't mind me asking, what happened? You can leave out as much as you need."

"I imagine you're aware that I have feelings for Hannah," It was Olivia's turn to nod, "Well I gave her this snowglobe for her birthday and I wanted nothing more than to confess my feelings to her and have her tell me she feels the same way I do. She does. I try to kiss her and she stops me. Is that how it happened? Ugh, I don't remember. That's the general idea. She says she has this huge secret and tells me this whole story.

"I'm so mad, and not because of the secret itself." He took a deep breath, readying himself for the big speech, "I have loved her for the longest time and I thought I knew her better than anyone else, not including Jake because they have this whole weird sibling-cousin thing going on. I knew her so well, or so I thought, and then she opens up and tells me such a personal secret,

"I can see that it had hurt her so much and that hurts me. She was in this much pain, and I never knew, she just keep it to herself. And Jake. She told me and it hurt, because this secret hurt her and because she waited so long to even consider telling me. I'm not sure she would have ever told me, not if I hadn't confessed.

"Sometimes I think about what would have happened if I hadn't gotten angry with her, I wonder if that would have been better. It certainly would have been easier short-term." Olivia knew this was directed at her, he was trying to connect the two, "But I push that idea away because it wouldn't have been fair to me."