by H, Caity
Nina shot me a glare as she exited the room, and then turned to the other guy with a much nicer expression on her face. “Come back if the swelling doesn’t go down.” The guy nodded, raising a hand as he left.
Alone, she sighed and turned her attention to me. The glare was back, but there was more confusion to it this time. “What happened to your head?”
I could almost see the red hair hanging over my forehead. “Long story.”
“Too bad I don’t have time for stories.” She pulled her hair into a pony tail. “What do you want?”
“I need drugs,” I said. “I’ve had a headache for eight hours.” It was technically true. I’d gone to bed with a headache, and I woke up with one.
She just rolled her eyes. “I don’t have a magic hangover cure, Mr. Diamond.”
I deadpanned. “I don’t have a hangover. I have soccer and required workouts. Add to that the crappy schedule of late night study sessions, early morning classes, and no time to eat between classes and it ends in a very big headache. One some fancy drugs would help take the edge off of.” I gave a tight lipped smile.
She just raised an eyebrow, eyes softening a little. “I can give you ibuprofen.”
It was more than I had in my dorm room. Or Alastair, for that matter. As a self-proclaimed nerd, I’d expected him to have stronger medicine for headaches.
“I’ll take what I can get.”
She smirked and stepped behind the counter. “You sound like an addict.”
“Good thing I’m not,” I replied.
She waved me over and made me put my palm out. Dropping two tablets into my hand, she got a paper cup and filled it with water and handed that to me as well. I swallowed the pills and downed the rest of the water.
“Thanks,” I said, tossing the cup in the trash.
Nodding, she dropped into the chair behind the desk. She started typing into the computer. “You can go now.”
Even though her bedside manner had turned me off somewhat, I stuck around a bit longer. Leaning over the counter, I waited until she looked up. When she didn’t, I said, “You know, I haven’t gotten any late night calls yet.”
“Fascinating.” She either really didn’t like me, or she liked playing hard to get. Either way, I continued to talk.
“I thought you were going to call.”
Without missing a beat she shot back, “I’d really hoped you could take a hint.”
“Do you have a boyfriend, is that why you didn’t call?” I asked, biting back a smirk.
She looked up. “Get to class, freshman.” Her eyes returned to the computer.
I made an O with my mouth. “I’m too young, that’s why you didn’t call.” I laughed and leaned a little bit closer. “If you’re worried about being a cougar, just remember that I play for the Leopards. There’s not a huge difference between the two.”
She muttered something under her breath. “How big is your ego?”
“Massive,” I replied with a grin.
Nina sighed and dropped her head into her hand, glancing up at me. “Are you really that into yourself?” I frowned. “The female population is not here to service your needs, Mr. Diamond. I am not here to help your ego become the size of Jupiter.”
“Jupiter is a cool planet, don’t knock it,” I said. I’d thought briefly about my telescope, wondering if it would be too nerdy to bring it from home. But then there would be an actual competition for biggest nerd in my dorm room. Alastair didn’t have a telescope, so I would probably win. Then again, he did have Star Wars sheets.
“I’m not going to call you.” Nina shook her head and straightened. “Go to class.”
It didn’t start for another twenty minutes, I had some time to spare.
“Why aren’t you going to call me?” I asked. “What’s wrong with me?”
“Listen, kid. You’re not the first freshman to waltz in here like he owns the place and flirt with me, or act like he’s doing me a courtesy by leaving his number. But do the world a favor and drop it down a notch. If you actually wanna find someone decent, you’re not going to do it by being the wrong side of a donkey.”
A scowl took over my face. “Gee, thanks.”
“You were cool at the soccer camps,” she continued, looking back to her computer. “I don’t know what happened to that guy, but the one parading around campus is a jerk.”
“You don’t even know me,” I scoffed, pulling away from her slightly. “And you’re not exactly the nicest girl I’ve come across in my time here at Bartlow.” Man, I have bad taste in women.
”If you come into my office, first time officially meeting, and act like you’re a hot shot, what do you think is going to come across?” she asked, crossing her arms. “Do you think I’m going to assume you’re some great guy?” she shook her head before she let me answer. “Yeah, I don’t know you very well. But with how you’ve acted, you’ve told me that you’re another player, another ego. And I don’t need that.”
She reminded me of Honeybee, and I hated it. And kind of hated myself a little. College was supposed to be different, but I was still in the same stupid rut.
“I mean, honestly, you need to think about what kind of person you want to be, and how you want people to see you in the long run. Do you want to be the jerk, or the nice guy? A friend, or someone who puts notches into his bed post?”
“Sorry,” I said, swallowing my pride.
Nina looked up and a small smile pulled at the edges of her lips. “There ya go, that’s a little better.” When I rolled my eyes, she just laughed. “Come on, I can’t be the first person to tell you off.”
Honeybee came to mind again and I found myself biting back a smirk. She would’ve loved to be there for Nina’s verbal beat down. She might’ve even applauded.
“No,” I agreed, “you’re not.” She was a little more forceful than Honeybee, though.
Nina leaned forward a little. “Good, cause if I was, I’d probably have to talk to your friends and ask what the heck is wrong with them.”
I smirked and shook my head. “Nope, pretty much the friends I have right now would all agree with you.” I was probably stupid for admitting it, but it was too late to retract the words anyways.
Before she had the chance to respond, someone else walked in.
“Hey, Nina. Here’s your coffee.”
I turned to see Ty behind me, two cups of coffee in his hands. He raised an eyebrow upon seeing me, the smile on his face dimming. “What’re you doing here, Lex?”
“I was just…” hitting on the team nurse. “Um, I needed some ibuprofen.”
Ty looked between the two of us, lingering on Nina for a little while before he said, “Seriously, what are you doing here? There’s that kind of pain killer literally everywhere.” He walked closer and handed Nina one of the coffee cups.
Nina sighed and took a sip. “Ty, you don’t get to ask those kinds of questions unless you’re the nurse. Now, what are you doing here?”
He paused and then looked at the coffee cup in her hands. “Obvious, isn’t it?” When he turned to me again, I rolled my eyes. “But really, Lex, that would take her like a minute to get, and you’ve clearly been here longer than a minute.” How could he tell that?
“Don’t you two boys need to get to class?” she asked pointedly, nodding her head toward the clock on the wall.
“Yeah…” Ty nodded, still watching me suspiciously. “Come on, buddy. Let’s go.” He put his arm around me and started to drag me toward the door. “Later, Nina!” he called over his shoulder.
When we were in the hallway he let go and paused, pointing a finger at me. “You hitting on her?”
He acted like he had some claim on her. But, Desmond would’ve told me if Ty’s single status had suddenly changed. So, they couldn’t have been dating.
“Initially, a little,” I answered with a shrug.
Ty groaned, walking down the halls. “How many times I gotta tell you people that my cousin is off limits!”
I raised an eyebrow, glancing back at Nina’s office. Cousins?
And when had he said she was off limits? I definitely wasn’t around for that.
“Watch your back, Diamond!” He called over his shoulder. “You hit on my cousin, and I hit on you!”
Somehow I didn’t think that was supposed to sound as sexual as it did. More likely, it meant I’d finish out soccer practice with a few more bruises to add to my collection. All because I flirted a little with his cousin. Dude had issues.
Fourteen: Street Fair Prizes
Sometimes I missed the days where Honeybee and I were still at ends with each other. She wouldn’t invite me to things I didn’t want to go to if we weren’t friends. As it was, I got an invite to practically everything she went to, like the street fair.
So, instead of sleeping in on Saturday, I was being pulled out into the heat to walk around for hours. Desmond had invited the majority of the soccer team to join. Most of them were smart. They stayed home to sleep in.
Ty had opted to come along.
I was still hurting from my new injuries curtesy of my team captain. He took every opportunity to run into me. I got a bloody nose and several bruises. But, once he got his aggression out of his system about my flirting with Nina, we were good. We’d left the field making jokes and laughing about the initiation night.
“Where is Olivia meeting us?” Desmond asked. For the tenth time. Ty was beside him, sunglasses on and a coffee cup in his hands.
“By Fourth Street,” I said, yawning through my words. I needed caffeine. Or a nap. The latter sounded more preferable.
Ty sighed, glancing around. “What does she look like?” he asked.
“Blond, blue glasses, tan. I don’t know,” Desmond mumbled with a shrug. How did he spend an entire summer with her and not know what she looked like?
Ty looked at us over his sunglasses. “She hot?” He sipped his coffee as he waited for an answer.
Desmond looked at me, but I just shrugged. It felt weird to describe her as hot, even if she was. She was Honeybee, not some girl that I would just describe with the words “hot” or “not”.
“Yeah, she’s hot,” Desmond finally answered. “I’m just waiting for that one to finally make his move.” I was too tired to even groan in protest.
Ty smirked, nodding his head. “What’s holding ya back?”
“Platonic feelings,” I replied.
“So, it’s like dating your cousin?” Ty asked, giving me a pointed look. I didn’t get what the big deal was, so I asked out his cousin. She didn’t even say yes.
I saw Fourth Street and the blond standing beneath the sign. “Please shut up before she hears you.” The two of them laughed as we walked over.
Bethany and Ryan were there, along with Honeybee’s roommate. She took one look at me and glared. It was kind of surprising that she recognized me since my hair was dark red now.
“Hello, Honeybee,” I greeted, wrapping an arm around her. “If you ever tell me I have to come to one of these things again, I will block your number. You do realize I haven’t slept in five days, right?”
She smirked, patting my chest lightly. “You’ll live.” She turned to Desmond and gave him a hug while I acknowledged the others with a nod. “You must be Ty.” I glanced back and saw the two of them shake hands. He smiled, lifting his sunglasses and setting them on top of his head.
“You must be the infamous Olivia. I’ve heard a lot about you.” He shot her a wink, grinning before dropping his sunglasses over his eyes again. “What does one do at a street fair? I’ve never actually been.”
Honeybee shrugged and glanced around. “You explore, eat food, and buy trinkets. You’re in college. You’re supposed to have tokens and stuff that you can look back on. Like that blanket over there,” she said, pointing to a red and white blanket. “You’re supposed to buy that blanket and in twenty years, remember how warm it kept you.”
Ty shook his head with a light laugh. “If I buy a blanket and think back on it in twenty years, those fond memories better include a woman.” He shot her another wink. “Almost the same thing as warmth.”
“I guess,” she said, then looked at me. “Well come on, let’s explore.” Without waiting for the rest of us, she took Bethany’s hand and started off. Ryan walked after them.
Ty held back a moment, lifting his sunglasses again to watch the three of them, eyes narrowing in on Honeybee. “Tell me again why you aren’t going after her?” he glanced at each of us.
“Not my type,” Desmond said, eyes already on another girl who passed us.
“We’re just friends,” I replied.
“Well,” Ty said, dropping his sunglasses. “If you guys aren’t going to go after that, I will.”
My stomach dropped and suddenly I understood why Ty didn’t want me dating his cousin. He couldn’t date Honeybee. That would be weird and uncomfortable. What if he talked about her at practice, or went in depth about anything they did together? It would make me physically sick. That was my best friend he was eying up. My best friend he wanted to go after. It wasn’t right.
“Come on,” Ty said, starting off to follow them. I shot Desmond a glance but he was already gone. I sighed, hoping that Honeybee wouldn’t be dumb enough to fall for a guy like Ty. He was nice enough, but in the end he was still a massive ego with legs.
***
The morning bled into afternoon and the heat was awful. I could feel my skin sizzling and wished I’d thought to put on sun block before I left. Hopefully it wouldn’t burn too badly. That would be the icing on top of the cake if I was sore from soccer and the sun.
“Olivia, what are you going to school for?” Ty asked. She’d been talking to Bethany about the flowers when he asked. She paused and turned to him.
“Journalism, you?” she smiled up at him, always so polite. Debby trained her well.
“Business, with a minor in computer science,” he told her. He’d probably meant it to lead into more conversation, but Honeybee just said cool and turned back to Bethany.
Almost like he wasn’t sure what to do with himself, Ty stood there for a moment, jaw slack. He walked back over to Desmond and me, shaking his head. “Not much of a talker, huh?”
“I can’t get her to shut up sometimes,” Desmond laughed, missing the frown from Ty. “She doesn’t know you. Don’t take it personally.”
I walked past them to stand next to the girls. Ryan glanced up at me over Bethany’s head, but I ignored him. I was still mad at him for what he’d said, and the fact he said it to more than just me. Maybe Desmond felt the same way as Ryan, but that didn’t give them permission to gossip about it like a bunch of preteens.
Honeybee looked up as I came over and smiled. It wasn’t the polite smile she gave Ty, it was the genuine one. The one she reserved for her friends. For me.
I smiled back, dropping an arm around her shoulders. “When can we eat? I’m starving.”
“Soon, if you promise to win me a pony.” She had an obsession with stuffed animals that I didn’t really understand. How did she even have room for all of them?
“Another one?”
She nodded and took my hand, pulling me behind her to another booth. I didn’t miss the fact that Ty nudged Desmond and then walked after us.
Honeybee pointed to the bright yellow pony that rested on top of a shelf. “That one, you need to win it for me.”
It was a ring toss game, and those kinds of games were never my strong suit.
“You know I’m bad at those games,” I said as Ty and Desmond came up.
“Please,” she cooed, jutting her lower lip out. “I’ll buy you a milkshake.”
“Is that an offer to anyone, or just Lex?” Ty asked, propping his sunglasses up on top of his head.
Honeybee glanced over at him and grinned. “If you win me that yellow pony I will buy you a milkshake.”
Without a second of hesitation Ty went up and gave the guy in charge a few bucks to play.
It took him
a while, and way more money than it would’ve cost him to buy his own milkshake, but he did it. He won Honeybee the stupid yellow pony.
She squealed when he gave it to her, wrapping an arm around his waist quickly. Ty glanced at Des and me over her head and grinned.
“Looks like I owe you a milkshake,” she said, pulling back, the pony clutched to her chest, and a grin attached to her lips.
“Heck, if you give me your number, I’ll win you another pony and we can double date,” he said and winked at her. I glanced at her to see her reaction, but she didn’t look affected, cheeks still a neutral color instead of blush red I was used to seeing so often.
“Let’s start with a milkshake ,” she laughed, shaking her head.
“That’s not a no to the phone number,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“It’s not yes either,” she reminded him.
“Give me another few hours and it will be,” he replied.
Ego. On. Legs.
They all started off toward the food stands, but I trailed behind them slowly. Ty was up with Honeybee, talking to her like they’d been best friends for a long time. Why did it feel like everyone was in a race to replace me?
What I really wanted to know was why Honeybee seemed so oblivious to what was happening. Ty didn’t look at her like she could be the love of his life one day. She was no longer a person, just something he wanted to win. There were plenty of prizes at the street fair, but only one that Ty had his eye on.
Fifteen: Tough Love
It felt like the past four weeks had gone agonizingly slow. My legs were like lead as I walked to practice. I didn’t want to keep going. The idea of dropping into a comatose state for a while sounded a little too enticing.
Desmond walked beside me, whistling like he didn’t have a care in the world. I kind of wanted to punch him in the face. But I wouldn’t. Unless he really started to piss me off with the whistling. Then all bets were off.
