DEDICATED TO ONE OF MY REAL LIFE BEST FRIENDS NYDARIA BECAUSE IT'S HER BIRTHDAY. I'm still cooler than her but whatever. B)

Chapter 3

I'm sitting in last period with a tapping foot. I look at the clock and sigh. When does the bell ring again? I just want to get out of school, but I don't exactly want to go back to my aunt's house. Vivica's probably going to have Chelsea and Tracy over so they can get ready together. Then, at eight o'clock, we'll just come back to school for homecoming. I'm not exactly excited for it. I barely know Maddox, and he doesn't seem very fond of me. However, he hasn't cancelled on me and I have a feeling he would've by now if he felt like he wasn't going to show up. Unless he wanted to wait until the last minute so I'd feel like absolute and utter crap. Then again, if he said he didn't want to go, I wouldn't be that sad. I guess I just don't want to spend four hours with him, especially because I'm depending on Vivica for a ride home, and if she sees that I'm having a bad time, she'll refuse to take me home until the school staff kick us out at eleven o'clock. She's still mad at me for many things, most of which I'm unsure about. I stopped caring after Wednesday. As long as she brings me to school and back, I'm fine.

Even if Maddox ditches me, I still have to go. My aunt bought me a dress and shoes and as far as she's concerned, I really like this boy. I don't know how she came to that conclusion seeing as I've been here for barely a week but I don't ask questions. Simply put, it'd be embarrassing if he cancels on me. It's worse because I won't know until I get to homecoming. He could've already decided he's not going to go without telling me and just stand me up. Now that I think about it, I bet he won't show up. We haven't talked since Tuesday, and he didn't seem very happy with me then, probably because I led him on an unintentional wild goose chase to my house on Monday. Or maybe it was the fact that I bumped into him.

Once the bell rings, I immediately begin packing up my stuff. Everyone else does the same. Mrs. Reanna is the type of teacher to yell at you if you make a move to put something back in your bag before the bell rings, even if it's an eraser. I jolt in surprise when a voice speaks in the quiet classroom. "Are we still on for tonight?" Maddox wonders in a strained voice.

I turn around as I swing my bag over my shoulder. Cassidy and Winona stand behind him with large grins directed at me. "Yeah," I confirm as I give both girls a confused look.

He groans and Winona elbows him in the side. Through gritted teeth, he questions: "Do you need a ride?"

I think about it. Would I rather sit through a tense, awkward ride with Maddox or a loud, obnoxious ride with my cousin and her friends, where they'd make fun of me and I'd have to refrain from ripping the door off its hinges and slapping them all across their faces with it? It isn't much of a competition, to be honest. "Yeah," I agree since he's offering.

"What's the address again?" he questions and I have a feeling Cassidy's pinching his side by the way he's cringing away from her.

"I'll write it down," I tell him as I reach for my bag.

"Or she'll just text it to you," Winona suggests quietly.

"Or you can text it to me," he blurts and I feel myself cringing for him. The two girls are using him like a puppet, poking and pinching him to get him to speak.

"I don't have your number," I state the obvious.

He digs into his pocket and retrieves his phone. I guess Winona pinched him a little too hard because he tosses it at me as he lets out a girlish squeal. I shuffle to catch it, almost dropping it several times. He has a terrified look on his face as he watches me fight gravity to grab the phone.

I notice that his phone doesn't have a lock on it. Huh, unusual. "Don't touch anything," he tells me in his normal, threatening voice. I glance at him and watch as his back arches in reaction to Cassidy pinching him. "Or touch whatever you want." His voice raises with each word he says.

I take my time adding a contact, glancing up at him judgmentally every so often to give off the idea that I'm reading his messages. At one point, I did look up at him with genuine judgment when I saw that he had several different female contacts; he had four Emma's and five Jessica's, if that gives you an idea of the lengthy list he had. When I finish, I hand him back his phone and he snatches it, which earns a pinch from Winona.

"I'll just text you when I'm going to leave my house. Reply with the address then," he informs me me. Winona and Cassidy drop their hands and he sighs in relief, hunching over.

"I'll see you later," I grunt as he leaves the classroom. He doesn't bother to acknowledge my farewell as he shuffles out. Cassidy, Winona, and I exit the classroom and begin walking in the same direction. "What was that about?"

"He didn't want to talk to you about your plans," Winona explains with a shrug. "So we had to use some force to get it out of him."

"Oh," I mutter in a slightly disappointed manner. If he didn't want to go with me, why didn't he just cancel? I'd rather go alone than go with someone who'll just constantly complain about my presence, which is something I think Maddox would do.

When I reach my cousins car, I find her waiting impatiently. She mumbles something about not waiting on me again as I buckle my seatbelt and I huff noisily in response. Halfway home, I turn to look at her. "I don't need a ride to homecoming."

"Why? Did he cancel on you?" she smirks in a somewhat satisfied manner.

I roll my eyes at her. "No, he's bringing me."

She doesn't bother to respond and only continues driving in her angry, dangerous manner.

+ + +

I get ready much quicker than the other girls, who arrive at the house at four thirty. I started getting ready at six and was completely prepared at 6:30. Given, I showered at 3:30 and curled my hair at four o'clock, but I wasn't in my dress. It wasn't until six that I got into my outfit, put on perfume, and then packed a small purse. I didn't put on makeup, mainly because I never learned how to. I only have an older brother and a younger brother, and my mother never wore makeup. There was no one to teach me. And I don't want to try and end up looking stupid because I followed a professional YouTuber's tutorial.

I planned on watching a movie until 7:30 or so, which is when I thought Maddox would come and get me, but he came a lot earlier than I expected. At 6:40, I get a text from him telling me that he's leaving his house so I respond with the address and put on a few finishing touches. I grab my jacket, put it on, and walk downstairs with my purse over my shoulder. "You look so pretty!" Aunt Gen announces when I come into her view.

I smile at her, wondering if she only believes that because she helped picked it out. "Thank you," I comment awkwardly.     

"Red is your color," she winks at me.

I hear a car honking outside and assume it's Maddox. I starts towards the door and she quirks a brow. "That for you?" she wonders as she glances out the front window.

"Yeah, I've got to go," I tell her. I know Maddox will get frustrated and drive off if I'm not outside in a minute or so.

"You're to be home by twelve!" she calls to me as I approach the front door. My eyes widen as the number leaves her mouth. My mother and father would've given me until nine on a good day. Of course, I was never home by nine, but I usually gave them the satisfaction of letting them set a time without me arguing in response. I nod at my aunt before exiting the house.

As I walk towards Maddox's car, I'm surprised to find him in an actual tuxedo. I don't know what I was expecting him to wear, but it wasn't anything remotely formal. It was probably all black and leather because he seems to be fond of that. From what I've seen so far, his uniform is always accessorized with the two. When I get into the car and admire his outfit, he glares at me. "Don't say anything."

"A tuxedo?" I ask with a small smirk on my lips. I can't help but to tease. He glowers at me before he pulls off down the road. "Do you live far from here?"

"I'm not telling you where I live," he scoffs as if the idea of saying his address is preposterous.

"I probably won't know where it is, anyway. I was just assuming because it took you barely ten minutes to get here," I mutter as I stare out the window. We're silent as I continue to think. We never really introduced each other. I know his name thanks to Vivica and he knows my name... "Wait, do you even know my name?"

He looks at me with narrowed brows. "Yes, I'm not stupid."

"Oh, really, what is it then?" I inquire. He has to know, right? I mean, his friends knew.

"Olive," he announces confidently.

"It's Olivia," I correct him. At least he was close...

"I know. But Olive is better. It's a food," he mutters as he takes a left turn. Unlike Vivica, he turns normally, not with too much force or the goal of giving me a minor concussion.

"I don't like that nickname," I reply in hopes that he'll revert to using my real, birth name.

"It's not a nickname," he concurs with a slight head shake. "You have to like the person to give them a nickname."

We fall into silence again as he continues to drive towards the school. "Why'd you say yes?" I wonder aloud.

"You talk so much," he sighs.

"Answer the question and I won't talk again until we get to school," I propose as I pull at the end of my dress to yank it down. I forgot how uncomfortable these things are.

Instead of responding, he reaches for the radio. When I go to speak over it, he looks straight at, turns up the music, and rudely silences me. I dont bother to speak to him again.

+ + +

My question about why he came so early was answered when we drove in an unfamiliar direction. Rather than straight heading to school, we take a detour. Twenty minutes go by and we eventually arrive at a cute, white house. It's tiny and has a neat front yard with plants hanging from the porch. Two familiar girls emerge from the house and I can't help but smile. Cassidy and Winona slowly walk to the car, yelling out swear words when Maddox honks the horn. I swear I see him grin at that. I wait patiently for them to get into the car before we take off, but not without loud music, yelling, and terrible singing.

When we arrive to school, we go to the event hall after handing in our tickets, which were free thanks to a recent fundraiser. I was grateful; I only brought ten dollars in case we stopped for food. Barely fifteen minutes after Maddox, Cassidy, Winona and I arrive, Vivica and her friends show up. I'm standing off to the side with Maddox and we're both watching people silently. Speaking is awkward because he rarely replies. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, he'll nod. Other times, he'll outright ignore me. It's quite aggravating- all I want to do is make this event fun for the both of us but it's not going to work unless he cooperates. And every time he ignores me, my attitude towards him becomes sharper and sharper.

Giving up on conversation, I allow my eyes to wander around the event hall. I noticed a group of people making their way over to us. Leading the group of five or six is Winona and Cassidy. I recognize a few people. I know one of them is called Nicholas, and another is called Jackson. I think I have class with them. However, I don't recognize the two people in the back at all- a girl and a boy.

"Olivia!" Winona greets me before she turns and points at people, listing off their names as she does. "Nicholas, Jackson, Parker, Raven."

Okay, so Nicholas is the one with the boyish smile and surfer blonde hair. Jackson has brown hair, which rises up in the front, and bright blue eyes. Parker, like Jackson, has brown hair and matching eyes. He's at least a foot taller than me and I stand at 5'6", which is a bit tall, I guess. Raven, the only girl of the four "new" people, wears her light brown hair down to her shoulders and has bright green eyes, like Maddox's. She's a good three or four inches shorter than me and is wearing a straight, white grin. It takes me a second to notice that she has a nose ring.

Catching me by surprise, Raven walks over to Maddox, wraps her arms around his neck, and presses her lips to his. He return the kiss as he loops his arms around her waist. I awkwardly looked away and shoot a look to Cassidy, who laughs loudly. Nicholas, Parker, and Jackson, who all wear disgusted looks on their faces, excuse themselves.

"Don't worry, they're not dating," Winona whispers to me. My eyes widen slightly as I look back at her.

"Uh, good to know," I mutter as I look at the pair a few feet away. I honestly don't care whether or not he's dating her.

"You look so...okay with it," Cassidy adds as she examines my facial expression.

I shrug at her. "It's not like I like him."

"So...why'd you ask him?" Winona inquires with furrowed brows.

"I was dared to by my cousin," I confess with another shrug.

Winona blinks a few times, as does Cassidy. "Oh," they both blurt. I simply nod in response, happy that everything is cleared up.

They talk excitedly about all the cute boys among us and I agree occasionally.  I nod appreciatively when I see a group of cute guys having a conversation. I smile as couples dance to the song that's playing. "Who is that?" I question curiously when I see a tall, blonde boy saunter across the room.

"The blonde one?" Winona asks from beside me. I nod at her. "Adrien Warhol. He has a girlfriend."

"Well, that doesn't change the fact that he's cute," I mumble as I assess him once again. I mean, it's not like I'm going to go over there and try to talk to him.

It takes me a second to realize that Maddox has joined the conversation. Hearing his scoff, I glance over and he rolls his eyes. "If you want to go up against his girlfriend, be my guest. She does kickboxing," he adds as if I care.

I curiously look at him. "Do you know him?" I press as I look back at Adrien.

"Nope," he replies. Raven has her head on his arm.

"Then how do you know all this?" I inquire with a curious look on my face.

"I'm very observant," he excuses with a one-armed shrug.

"So... you're creepy?" I quirk an eyebrow. Winona and Cassidy laughs.

He glare at me before looking around. "Call it what you want."

"You like gossiping, don't you?" I smirk. He sets his narrowed eyes on me in the form of a glower. Instead of being intimidated like I should be, I simply laugh. He looks away with a scowl and again, refuses to acknowledge me.

After being dragged to the dance floor by Cassidy and Winona, we dance for barely thirty minutes before they ask if we can go back to where we were standing before. We return to the area where Maddox and Raven are with jubilant smiles on our faces. I cringe when Raven pecks Maddox's lips and I immediately turn away and join Winona and Cassidy's conversation. Once the discussion dies down a bit, I feel the urge to announce something. "I'm hungry."

Winona immediately turns to Maddox and I know I've made a mistake telling her that small fact. Maddox is talking to Raven, who has a large grin on her face, when Winona clears her throat. "Maddox! Your date is hungry!"

"That sounds like a personal problem," he responds as he turns back around with an annoyed look on his face.

"Take her to get something to eat," Winona demands. My face is red as I stare at Winona. How could she?

Maddox groans as he pulls away from Raven, giving her one last kiss before turning to exit the event hall. Winona shoves me in his direction when she sees that I haven't moved. I shoot her a glare and earn a laugh in return.

I follow after him with my head down and stare at my shoes as they clack against the linoleum. As we walk by a fan, I'm hit with the smell of cologne. I inhale deeply, unsure if it was Maddox or just a brief whiff of someone else. It smells good. I slowly inch closer to him in an attempt to smell him. When my face gets close enough to his back, he whips around faster than I anticipated.

"What are you doing?" he questions me and I immediately jerk my head back. I cough awkwardly as my face heats up from being caught.

"You smell good," I blurt.

He narrows his eyes at me before turning away.

Gee, now I've made things awkward.

+ + +

We get into an argument in the car about which fast food restaurant to go to. I want to go to Burger King but he wants to go anywhere else. For some reason, he's so against going to Burger King that he threatened to change the route of our drive so we wouldn't come in contact with any of the restaurants. "Come on! I have to pee! Can we at least stop at Burger King so I can go?"

"We're not going to this one," he retorts as we approach one of the fast food chains.

"I really have to pee!" I tell him. "I'll pee myself if I don't go now!"

"Don't you dare," he snaps in annoyance. I smirk in satisfaction as I stare out the window. I know his weak spot- his car.

"I can't help it. My bladder feels like it's going to explode. I shouldn't have drunk all those sodas," I complain as I dramatically press my hands over my stomach and cross my legs in the seat.

"Fine, we'll stop!" he barks. "But I'm not going in."

"Are you banned from Burger King or something?" I wonder. I thought it was just him refusing to get the food I wanted, but I guess it's something personal.

"Something," he responds mysteriously. He's a very open person, I've noticed. Except, not.

"Well, I'm going to run in and out," I tell him as he slowly pulls into the plaza. I sigh in relief as I exit the car and enter the restaurant. I walk up to the lengthy line and stare at the overhead menu, contemplating what I'm going to get. About ten minutes later, Maddox bursts into the restaurant with a hoodie on. I'm not sure where he got it from but it's on and up on his head. When he sees me in line, he walks over and begins to whisper angrily at me.

"I thought you had to pee," he hisses.

"I want Burger King," I reply with a shrug. What's he going to do? Drag me out of here?

"Welcome to Burger King, how may I help you?" a guy's voice asks and I turn my attention to the boy behind he counter. Maddox immediately looks down at the tiled floor. "Maddox, is that you?"

Maddox grunts and glares at me. I let my head bounce between the excitable boy behind the register and the miserable boy to my left.  "Maddox! I thought you vowed never to come to my place of employment!"

Upon further inspection, I realize that they guy behind the counter looks very similar to Maddox- the same full lips, dark hair, and green eyes. Except, the guy behind the register, whose name-tag reads "Abel," looks a lot happier. His eyes are wide and glowing, unlike Maddox's, which are usually narrowed and cynical. It's very, very likely that the two are brothers.

"And who are you?" Abel asks as he turns to look at me. Rather than saying it rudely, he seems curious, amused almost.

"Oh my god," Maddox mutters through gritted teeth as he glowers at the floor.

"I'm Olivia," I tell Abel with a small smile. Though I wouldn't mind this introduction had it been planned and anticipated, I can't help but feel awkward and tense. Maddox obviously didn't want me to meet his brother. Now, I see why he wanted to avoid Burger King. This was the first one on the road we were taking and I'd obviously demand we stop here to get food.

"I'm Abel, you could probably tell by my name tag," the guy grins. "So how do you know Maddox? Are you his girlfriend?"

With a bright red face, I shake my head quickly. "No," I concur.

"I should have assumed so. My brother can't get a real girlfriend to save his life. Isn't that right, Maddie?" he asks with a smirk. I can tell that Maddox is getting angry by the clenching of his jaw.

Abel leans over the counter, allows his legs to flail around behind him, and unzips Maddox's hoodie to reveal the tuxedo. He then glances at my dress as he returns to his standing position. "Isn't homecoming today?" he questions, though it's clear that he knows the answer. I nod slowly and he grins. "Did you guys go together?" Another hesitant nod from me.

"How cute," he coos as he examines our matching outfits. Abel yanks down Maddox's hood and grins at his brother, who glowers back. I thought his annoyance with me was bad; he looks like he wants to rip Abel's head from his body. As I continue to assess the two, I struggle to determine who's younger. Abel is shorter and immature but Maddox rarely shows any sign of emotion, so you can't exactly compare personalities. Plus, height doesn't exactly clue me in on much.

Maddox's hair is ruffled and his eyes look as if they can turn someone to stone; however, Abel doesn't look even slightly fazed. "When did you plan on bringing her home to meet mom and dad?" he wonders.

Maddox doesn't speak; instead he stands there with clenched fists. His brother continues to pick with him. Eventually, I decide to speak up. Though it's not my place to talk, I can't help but feel the need to stop the arguing before something goes wrong. "Uh, Maddox and I were just leaving." I step out of line and the lady behind me immediately took my spot with an annoyed look on her face, obviously not amused with the introduction.

When I see that Maddox isn't moving, I tug on the sleeve of his sweater, not at all surprised when he yanks his arm away from me. He storms out of the restaurant and I follow behind him with a quiet sigh.

And I thought that the night couldn't get any more awkward.