by Jason Vasha
"Finally!" Olta heard Alice's voice echoing through the hallway and somewhat embarrassed she tried to push Niall away. Niall wasn't being cooperative, though. He merely chuckled lightly.
"Just. One. More." He said between the butterfly kisses and chuckles before returning to her lips. He planted a soft kiss on them before stepping aside, giving her an mischievous smile. Wanting to avoid Alice as long as possible Olta ducked into her locker to gather her books.
"You know we were discussing whether we should lock you two in a room together already. But thank god the two of you figured it out." Alice said excitedly and Olta could hear her smile.
That was the only hitch with her drug-induced euphoria theory. It seemed everyone was on it. Including Olta herself.
Maybe she was still sleeping, in which case she really didn't want to hear her alarm clock just yet.
Olta closed her locker and looked up into the indeed very bright smile of Alice. She was positively beaming.
"Right, I'm only going to say this once, so listen up." Alice said and all of sudden she seemed to be channeling Mrs. Husk. Her smile had vanished instantly.
"You hurt him, you'll regret the day you were born." Alice said giving Olta a pointed look. Olta eyes widened. Alice didn't seem to be kidding. Then she turned to Niall with the same look.
"You hurt her, I'll have Peter and Ry make you regret the day you were born. So just do us all a favor and don't hurt each other." Alice gave Niall the same look and Niall gulped audibly.
He gave Olta a weak apologetic smile and opened his mouth but before he could say anything Alice had grabbed Olta's hand.
"Now I'm going to steal her for a moment. We'll be right back."
And with that Olta was pulled in the direction of the girl's room. Olta only hoped Alice wasn't going to press Olta to spill because Olta wouldn't know what to tell her.
"Sorry about that but that just was a little well deserved pay back." Alice said as they walked into the rest room. Olta gave her a questioning look but Alice ignored her.
"Now about tonight. What time does your mother expect us?"
Olta needed a moment to recall what Alice was talking about.
"I think she just figured you'd come along straight out of school. If that's alright with you guys?"
Olta said timidly. She had completely forgotten about her mother using David's arrival as a sort of general introduction evening for all her children's friends.
"Sure, cool. You know I'm really excited to meet your family. It's silly I know but I'm just really curious. Like do you wear wooden shoes around the house and stuff like that." Olta decided that Alice couldn't possibly be serious and just nodded.
"But anyways, is your costume ready for tomorrow?"
Actually Alice's famous Halloween party and David's arrival were the reason for tonight's get-together. For the past two years Alice had been throwing a Halloween party and by the sound of it, it was one of the most important social events of the year. When Olta had been invited last week she hadn't paid any heed to it. But as Alice had started nagging her about her costume Olta had realized that she had been serious.
And now her mother had found the perfect excuses for having Olta invite her new friends.
"No, everything should be arriving tonight." Olta said, smiling to herself.
She had considered several costumes. Going like a parody of a red-light district prostitute had been one of them but she been too much of a coward to even think that one out properly. No, she had opted to go for something a bit more respectable. And John had just the thing in her wardrobe. Now wasn't Olta just lucky that she had a personal courier service at her disposal.
"Oh, will you just tell me. I mean the way you're keeping a lit on it; you're building the suspense far too much." Alice pleaded.
"No, I won't tell you. But if you're nice and lay of the threats I might give you a peek tonight." Olta said playfully and Alice brightened at the idea.
"Okay, no more threats, got it. Be better get back, Niall will want to walk you to class." Alice said her bright smile in place once again.
Now that Olta didn't understand. They all had Math their first period, wouldn't they be going there together anyways? Olta shrugged.
"You know." Olta heard Alice say behind her as the walked out of the restroom.
"He likes you. As in really, really likes you." She looked up at Alice and noted that she wasn't joking even if she was smiling. Olta smiled shyly. She hoped against hope that Alice was right.
As they returned to her locker Niall was leaning against it. Peter and Bailey had arrived and were talking but Niall wasn't paying attention to them. Instead he was staring into her direction with a small smile on his face. When he spotted her his smile widened and Olta could swear she saw his eyes lit up.
Olta joined him keeping some distance between them. She was unsure about how to act. Sure, only a couple of moments ago he had her pretty much pinned against her locker but the corridor had gotten a lot more busy during her absence.
Niall, however, looked at her oddly for a moment before putting his arm around her waist lightly and pulling her closer. It was then that the Bailey and Peter noticed Olta and they both gave her almost identical sly smiles.
"Sorry to hear that we won't be locking you two up. Would've made a good story." Peter said with a grin as he drew Alice to his side. And did Bailey just give her a wink?
There was something to be said for everyone being on meds or for her to be still dreaming. Whichever one it was that was causing her life to be momentarily wonderful.
They were the last to arrive in class and Olta noticed Daniel and Jason sitting in their usual spots at the back. Daniel looked up at them and Olta felt the unpleasant but unfortunately familiar shiver run down her spine as their eyes locked for a second. Niall' small squeeze in her side, however, displaced the sensation immediately. Another small squeeze and Niall let her go so they could to go their respective places.
As Olta got her seat she heard Niall speak and looking over her shoulder she saw he wasn't anywhere near his seat.
He was standing next to Daniel and he was slapping him on the back.
"Thanks, bro. You really put in a good word for me. I owe you one." He didn't even sound sarcastic or malicious, he sounded …happy and sincere. Was Niall taunting Daniel?
Olta didn't miss the way Daniel's eyes darkened but he showed no other signs of his irritation.
"Anytime, bro. Anything to make you happy." Okay, and the Oscars go to.
Olta turned to the others to see what they were making of it. She caught Bailey's eye and he shook his head at her with his eyebrows raised and shrugged. He was just as clueless as she was.
Niall sauntered to his seat looking decidedly smug. Sitting down he gave Olta a reassuring smile.
Olta had all but forgotten about her encounter with Daniel the day before. Even if his name had come up rather frequently. She hadn't told Niall about what been said. She simply hadn't wanted to talk about it. And thankfully he hadn't pressed the matter.
And now Niall had been flaunting their encounter in Daniel's face. And instead of feeling uncomfortable Olta felt an odd sense of pride.
Class went by swiftly after that. Olta was really in no mood to pay attention to already dreaded formulas and equations.
Instead she was thinking of her morning because funnily enough they had never made downstairs. Instead Olta had woken up in the middle of the night only to find herself cuddled up against a solid body, still fully dressed and covered with the duvet from the guest room. In her sleep addled mind she hadn't given it much thought. She had only snuggled closer into Niall embrace and gone back to sleep.
It was when they woke up at around six-thirty and realized their position that a sudden awkwardness arose. Niall had been holding her tightly nuzzling her hair. Olta had felt the excitement of his body at their proximity against her buttocks. Surprising herself she wasn't disturbed or scared by it. She had known that Niall was awake when h
e had let out a very content sigh followed by stiffening completely.
Olta had turned her head to see his face. He had looked guilt-ridden, embarrassed, petrified and roguish all at once. It was adorable and her stomach had done some major flipflopping. Stumbling out of bed quickly he had muttered a lot things hoarsely and he had been out of her room before Olta had a chance to say anything. She had only made out the words shower, mother, later and mother again.
Olta had taken a quick shower assuming and hoping that Niall had meant something like that he was running home to take a shower before her mother found them and that he would pick her up later. She had smiled to herself as she guessed that Niall had never realized that it had been her mother who had put the duvet over them in first place. So it was safe to assume that she already knew.
And with that realization Olta had felt mortification wash over her. She had quickened her pace, hoping to avoid her mother herself.
On her way downstairs she had been greeted by the smell of pancakes, telling her that escape was futile. She had swallowed deeply and had entered the kitchen. She had stopped dead in her tracks and almost burst out into hystMatildal laughter as she had seen Niall sitting at her kitchen table drinking orange juice. He had looked up at her with same look he given her earlier but minus the roguishness. Her mother had greeted her brightly from behind the stove. She had told her that she expected them to be hungry seeing as they had missed dinner the night before. Then she had joined them for breakfast telling Olta that she had to run to pick up David from JFK. After her mother's sudden departure Niall and Olta had finished their breakfast in silence. Niall had then gone home and picked her up later.
Olta had been afraid that Niall was simply going to ignore the night before as he hadn't said a word to her during the entire ride and been tapping his dashboard and steering wheel frantically. She had been so very pleasantly surprised when she had moved to get out of the car only to be pulled backwards and have her neck nuzzled. He had whispered into her ear whether they could forget that morning had ever happened and Olta had nodded emphatically.
The school bell put an end to her reminiscing. Just when she was getting to the good part, Olta huffed silently.
As she was putting her notes away Niall sat down on her desk with a jump.
"You didn't seem your usual attentive self, something bothering you?" Niall asked with a knowledgeable grin, brushing a strand of hair out her face.
Olta faked a dreamy smile as she looked up at Niall. Okay, she had intended to fake it but it had turned real as soon as she felt his fingertips brush over her ear.
"Mmm?" she murmured. "Oh, I was just remembering my tenth birthday party."
She got up and felt Niall' hand on the small of her back as they left the class room.
"Must have been quite a party if it kept you distracted for the past two hours." Olta shivered a little as she felt his breath on her ear.
"It was Math. Thinking about turnips would be more interesting." Olta said as if it went without saying.
Moving his hand to her hip Niall drew her slightly closer.
"Liked your little display, though." Olta said with a small smile as she caught his eye for a moment.
"Did you now?" Niall said teasingly as he tickled her side lightly. Olta swatted at his hand but to no effect.
"Now tell me what is so interesting about turnips." Niall asked, trying to sound serious and he stopped his assault.
And talking about the always fascinating turnip Niall walked her to Latin.
Olta could have sworn she had only blinked her eyes once but all of a sudden it was Lunch period.
She and Niall were enjoying the pancakes her mother shoved into their hands before making off to the airport. The fact that the two of them had identical lunches was met with raised eyebrows but no questions were asked. Instead they talked about the party and costumes. Alice was put out to hear that Bailey and Niall would be wearing their usual mobster tuxedos.
"Why change a good thing?" Bailey said and Niall smiled in agreement.
Olta was silently rejoicing. As coincidence would have it, Niall and she would actually wear something close to matching outfits. There hadn't been a good bout of coincidence around this place for quite some time now. She actually started to feel excited about the party.
Suddenly Olta heard Altea's voice rise above the general noise of animated chatter and the clattering of cutlery. There was no doubt she wanted an audience.
"It's just so sad, the way she throws herself at him. Then again, what can you expect from such a Eurothrash ho-bag."
Olta snorted but the rest of her table more accurately chocked on their food and drinks. She could hear similar sounds coming from the tables around her.
Sure, Altea had just publicly insulted her. But come on, the girl was so delusional it was funny. A bit sad but funny none-the-less. Besides when bullied, feigning ignorance and bad hearing were always the best policy.
One glance at Niall, however, told her he didn't agree. Before Olta could properly register the angry twitch in his jaw, Niall had gotten up and turned towards Altea.
"That's it!" Even though Niall sounded pretty collected, his voice was trembling slightly. The whole cafeteria was shocked into silence.
"Let me make myself clear for those of you who didn't get the memo. Most importantly you, Altea." He spat her name with venom.
An angry Niall really was not a pretty sight. Actually it was downright scary. And by the looks of things he was only getting started.
From her vantage point Olta couldn't see Altea's reaction but she imagined she couldn't look good right now. Olta felt sorry for her.
"We broke up. Six fucking weeks ago. Will you finally get it through you thick skull that I don't want you."
So, it was like she had thought. Niall and Altea had dated. Olta decided to put that down to a severe case of temporary insanity on Niall' part. Even if the girl was very pretty.
"You have some fucking nerve to call Olta a ho-bag. I strongly suggest that you take a long, hard look in the mirror before you start throwing such insults around. And I suggest you do it now. And when you return I would greatly appreciate it if you were to keep at least three tables between you and me. For a very long time. " A collective gasp went through the cafeteria.
Olta could only sit in shock as she listened to his words. Did this mean Niall was sort of banning Altea from Daniel's table? He could do that?
She braved a glance at Daniel.
He was watching his brother with something akin to bemused anger.
Apparently Altea had acted in some way because Niall continued.
"And don't you dare turn to Daniel. Sitting at his table does not give you the right to bash me or mine so openly nor does it protect you from the consequences of such blatantly stupid behaviour. Now. Get. Out. Of. My. Sight."
Olta could hear Altea let out a strangled cry and she saw the back of Altea as she literally ran out of the cafeteria.
Niall glanced at Daniel before sitting back down; studiously ignoring everybody at the table. He blindly reached out for Olta's hand and grabbed it tightly.
Olta and the others just looked at him, still too stunned to speak.
Slowly the cafeteria came back to life with hushed but furious murmurs.
"That was.." Peter started slowly looking at Niall intently.
"Necessary." Niall finished for him, slowly meeting his eyes.
