Write Me A Letter

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CHAPTER THIRTY | H I D E

          ACCORDING TO THE INTERNET, chocolates and blue-inked pens help a lot when preparing for tests. They make memorizing easier, they said. Yet as Brie kept re-reading the third paragraph on page 126 on her Physics textbook in the comforts of the corner table at the library, she was beginning to doubt the accuracy of that statement.

She was gonna fail the test, she was sure. There was a thirty percent chance that she'd miraculously somehow pass if she'd actually make an effort to clear her head and fill in her brain with all the right formulas, but she was failing at that.

It had been a rough weekend with a lot of contemplating, confusion and overthinking. If last week she was bothered and almost screaming at the thought of Ollie, now she was sleepless because of both Ollie and Xander. She wasn't even dating any of them, neither have directly even said that they liked her or that she was rejected yet again, and that was what's confusing.

She was suspended on a chopper, unsure whether to jump or to stay floating in the air. Clouds hid her destination, masked the doom that was waiting for her at the bottom, and she was actually contemplating whether or not it was worth the jump. As if it was worth thinking about. She could be just paranoid. She might not have been on a plane, even. She just thought she was. It was just an illusion, right?

She was just overthinking things just like she always did. So what if Xander was suddenly nice and sweet? Who cares if Ollie hugged her so tight it felt like her heart was gonna implode and burst into bright sparkles of hope. It didn't matter that Troy and Paula were teasing her. They were just being... friends. She was just paranoid.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Startled, Brie let a small scream that had half of the library glaring at her. She placed a hand to her chest and frowned at the grinning blonde-haired boy who was hunched over her table. "Ollie, you scared the shit out of me."

Troy, who was shaking his head behind Ollie, pulled out a chair and sat across her. His brow arched in surprise. "Are those Snickers?"

Brie pulled her bag closer to her and shot both boys with a look of warning. "These are mine, okay? Go get yours."

"Possessive," Ollie said, chuckling as he plopped down next to Troy. "I love it."

Troy grimaced. "Ew. Will you shut up. You're making me gag."

"What's so gag-able about that?"

Troy looked like he wanted to hit Ollie with Brie's thick Physics book but huffed instead. Then, he turned to Brie. "So, why are you all by yourself?"

"Paula is getting tutored by Noel Garcia at the bleachers."

That produced a whistle from Ollie who was now leaning back casually in his chair. "Damn, does she still have the hots for that guy. The last time I saw them together was months ago."

"Yeah, well, he's tutoring her now." And it was probably the best thing that happened to Paula in a while. Brie liked Noel. He was a decent guy, with decent grades and decent principles. Sure, he lacked a social life and could work on his awkwardness, but Paula could help him with that.

When Noel texted Paula with the prospect of tutoring when he heard that Paula was struggling with Physics, it was a pleasant surprise. They were headed back to her place then in Paula's yellow Beatle, talking about how Xander dropped his girlfriend's call when the text came. They had to park by the curb just to scream and giggle.