The Unexpected Path

Chapter 19 - Olivia

I should have just skipped class. I know I should have. But I didn't really have a choice because we have to hand in our progress reports today to Professor Warren. There's no way Lucas would have done it because A) he doesn't give two shits about this project or our mark and B) I'm avoiding the hell out of him so I didn't bother asking. My only option is to just hope he doesn't show up but even I know how unlikely that is. After our kiss on Friday, something tells me he'll only let me avoid him for so long.

I fight the urge to close my eyes otherwise I'll go right back to that moment like I've been doing all weekend. I'm pathetic. I stayed holed up in my bedroom and did nothing but replay that kiss in my mind over and over again. I can't stop feeling it even days after it happened because that's how deeply embedded the memory of him is in me. It's not even a memory because I haven't put it behind me yet. It's at the forefront of my mind and I've abused the amount of times I've relived it. I could almost swear it feels like it's still happening. He struck me like electricity and I'm still lit up. That's what Lucas does me and I absolutely loathe it.

"Crap," I mutter and rub my temples. My brain hasn't shut off in days and now I have a headache. I think I'm hungover on the bastard.

"You okay?"

I jerk in my seat, eyes snapping open. The voice brings me back to reality and I turn around to face Beck, who asked the question.

"Hi," I manage to say when I get over my initial shock. I didn't expect him to talk to me so soon. "Yeah, I'm fine. Head hurts."

He nods and hastily looks down at his notes like he didn't think this through. There's a beat of awkward silence until I can't take it anymore.

"How are you?" I ask timidly, not wanting to send him running by doing too much too soon.

"Good," He clears his throat and glances up at me. Automatically his eyes go to my lips and he quickly looks down again. I know before he even has to say it that we're not past our lump. "Sorry I didn't say hi to you at the bonfire."

"That's okay," I fight a smile because even when he's upset with me, he's nice. I can tell his parents raised him with good manners. "It was your party. I'm sure you were busy."

"It was Drew's party," He corrects, referring to one of his teammates. "But yeah, we were kind of all over the place."

I nod and try to think of something else to talk about. Regardless of what happened between us Beck was my friend and that's what I miss the most. I might be a social person but I pick and choose my friends carefully. More often than not I come across people who are fake and are only interested in my image, or better yet my dad's image. It's hard to come across others that genuinely want to know me and Beck was one of them. I appreciated it that much more because I know how rare that is.

"When's your next game?" I finally ask after a minute.

"This Friday, actually. It'll be the one that decides if we're selected for the frozen four this year."

"No pressure, huh? I'm sure you guys will win."

"We better. We aren't working our asses off for nothing," The barest smile peeks through and I smile back.

"Let's get started class," Professor's Warren announcement forces me to turn around but I don't mind. That was a good conversation — not awkwardly short or awkwardly long. "I'm going to start off by coming to your groups one by one so you can update me on the progress of your major project. We're halfway into the semester so hopefully you've already started because there's a lot to do for this one. After that I'll give a brief lecture on the history of Pluto and why it's no longer categorized as a planet."