••••••••••••••

"Winnie, I love you, but you're an idiot." I chuckled to my older brother, earning a grin from Kara. "Aliens don't exist."

"Don't mock me, Livie." Winn stated with a roll of his brown eyes, before slightly shoving me. The action causing me to lose my balance and fall from my previous seated position on Winn's desk, to the floor.

"Don't you people have jobs to do?" I snapped at my brother's co-workers who were staring at me with judging gazes. I simply rolled my hazel eyes and picked myself up off the floor.

"Don't you have school in twenty minutes? Why are you still here?" Kara asked me, tilting her head to the side.

"Because my dear Kara, that hell hole is a waste of my time and my money—" I started before being interrupted by Winn clearing his throat. "Winn's money."

"Bingo, kid." My brother chuckled with a raised eyebrow and a smile, before ruffling my hair.

"Hey! Careful with the hair!" I warned the older Schott sibling as I started to correct my brunette curls. "You have no idea how long it takes to get it to look this good!"

"Trust me, Olivia, I know exactly how long it takes. Considering I have to wait outside the bathroom for an hour, just so your indecisive ass can look decent enough to see people you don't even like every day."

"Rude." I muttered with a small pout. "True, but rude nonetheless."

"You can mope about it on the walk to school." Winn teased me before asking. "Do you want me to walk with you there?"

"No, I'll be fine." I told my big brother with a warm smile. "Besides Cat would definitely notice if you were late again and I don't want you to get fired because of me."

"I wouldn't get fired because of you, Livie." Winn said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and placing a kiss on the top of my head. "Are you sure you'll be alright walking to school alone?"

"Yeah, I'm sure Winnie." I chuckled, wrapping my arms around my brother's torso and giving him a hug.

"Okay, I'll see you later, kiddo." He said as he handed me my backpack and kissed my forehead.

"See you at home, Bubba!" I said as I started to leave CatCo, before turning around and waving to the blonde adult that stood at her desk. "Bye, Kara!"

"Bye, Olivia."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

           When I arrived at National City High School, I saw my two best friends, Hunter and Lauren, by their lockers. I noticed that Lauren's back was to me and got an idea. After sharing a mischievous grin with Hunter, who had seen me enter from the West entrance, I carefully crept up behind the Latina girl.

       I then quickly placed my hands on her shoulders as I jumped onto her back and yelled. "Rennie!"

       The ebony haired girl let out a shriek of surprise, earning a cackle from her boyfriend and a string of uncontrollable snorts from me.

     "Wow, I didn't know that my best friend is secretly a pig." She told me sarcastically, whacking my shoulder as I got off her back.

       "I'm offended." I gasped in mock hurt, placing a hand over my heart.

      "The pigs are the ones who should be offended." Hunter snickered.

     "Wow! Thanks asshole!" I exclaimed, punching the taller boy's arm.

      "Awe, you know you love us, Ollie!" He laughed as he quickly picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder.

     "Hunter James Martin, you put me down right now!" I laughed, slapping his back multiple times. "You're going to hurt somebody!"

    Neither Hunter or Lauren did anything but laugh as I silently praised myself for wearing jeans instead of a skirt today.

    "Hunter, please put Olivia down!" Our English teacher, Mrs Twist, told him with a laugh. "I'm sure Coach Avery wouldn't be very pleased if one of her cheerleaders were to get a concussion from you dropping her."

"Thanks, Mrs T!" I told the middle aged woman with a grateful smile as Hunter put me back on the ground.

"Get to class guys." She chuckled, before disappearing into her classroom.

"Off to Econ?" Lauren asked me, holding out her arm.

"Off to Econ!" I confirmed with a nod, before looping my arm with hers. We both then turned to the Martin boy and waited for him to say his bit.

"Off to Econ!" He chuckled, looping his arm with mine, before we all started skipping to class.

•••••••••••••••••••••

"Don't look now, but Nick is totally staring at you!" Lauren whispered to me, as I was taking notes in Algebra 1.

I subtly used my hand to part my hair on the other side, so that I could see if he was really staring. To my surprise, Nick Connors was indeed staring at me.

I suppressed a grin when I saw that he didn't realize that I'd noticed his stare. I casually turned my head to look at him and quietly laughed, when he realized that he'd been caught. His brown eyes grew wide and he quickly averted his gaze to his desk, muttering something I couldn't quite hear.

I bit my lip to muffle the laugh that threatened to escape my lips. A blush rushed to my cheeks to accompany the wide grin on my face. To say that I was ecstatic that I'd caught the boy I'd been crushing on since fourth grade staring at me, was an understatement.

I turned back to the notes with a massive grin on my face and tried to focus, despite having found a cute guy staring at me.

"I told you so." I heard Lauren whisper as I kept my focus on the lesson.

"Shut up." I muttered, my eyes not leaving my notebook and the grin never leaving my lips.