Olivia

I groan as my alarm clock goes off. Why do we have to get up so early for school anyways? Can't we all just select what time we get to go at. I roll over and turn the alarm off. As much as my body and mind don't want to, I throw my blankets off and get out of bed. The cold bitter air greets me and a shiver runs through my body.

I go through my regular morning routine of getting dressed, eating, brushing my teeth. All the boring getting ready for the day, activities.

I pull my jacket on as Sasha thumps down the stairs. "Sh!" I urge her. "You know mom will still be asleep."

She rolls her eyes and grabs her runners. "So? Mom should be the one driving us to school."

"But dad's already up," I tell her.

"And at the bakery, getting ready for the day."

I cross my arms. I don't know why we're fighting about this. This has been the routine since we were little. "It just makes sense. He'll be in between batches right now and waiting for the first ones to harden."

She rolls her eyes. "Whatever."

"Why are you caring about this now?"

She shrugs, but I know there's a reason behind her question. I poke her in the shoulder. "Why are you asking?"

Again, a shrug.

Again, I poke her. This time in the neck.

She swats my hand away.

I poke her on the nose.

"Stop!" she cries.

"Tell me why." I cross my arms and try to appear taller than her.

She shoves her face into mine. "Why should I?"

I try to think of what I have to blackmail her with. "I'll tell mom that you snuck out of the house to go to a party."

Sasha's mouth opens and closes like a guppy. "How do you know about that?"

I smirk. "I have my ways." My ways were Naomi being at the same party and seeing Sasha.

She sighs. "Fine. I just don't understand why mom's never really in our lives besides when we're at the bakery."

I tilt my head. "What do you mean?"

"Well, we never see her outside the bakery, when we do it's for the little amount of time we're in the living room or dining room with her. She never comes to school events and she makes dad drive us to school."

"Oh. I never noticed that." I place my hand on my chin. I hate to admit it, but Sasha's right. I don't know how I didn't notice it before. Maybe because I was okay with not having to see mom much outside of work, it gave me space to breathe and not worry about her worrying over my future.

Light shines in through the door's window. We grab our bags and leave the house. I lock the door behind us and hop into the back of dad's car.

"Morning girls," dad says as he pulls out of the driveway.

I finish buckling up. "Morning," we say in unison.

"Excited for school?"

I chuckle. "Nope. I've got a bio test today."

"Good luck, bug. And you, Sas?"

I can see Sasha's grin in the side mirror. "We're playing baseball in Phys ED today!"

Dad grins. "Bet you're excited for that."

She nods.

Dad glances at me in the rearview mirror. "How's your mother been?" he asks.

"She's been pestering me more about my career choices," I tell him.

He shakes his head as best he can while driving. "I told her to lay off you."

I notice Sasha seems more upset now that we're on this topic.

I rub my arm. I didn't want to tell him yet, since mom shot the idea down. But it hasn't left my mind since Charlie told me about it. I've been weighing the pros and cons. On the pros side it might get mom off my back and show her that I have a plan and that I won't be staying at the bakery. On the cons side is a lot of what if's that end up with me not finding a career and working at the bakery for the rest of my life. "I... I actually might have a way to get her off my back."

He raises an eyebrow. "Oh? And how's that?"

"A boy come into the bakery-"

"A boy?"

I roll my eyes. "He's just some annoying kid from school." I don't know why I threw annoying in there when I've never talked to him in my life before. "Anyways, he come in and offered to help me try out and explore different careers that could interest me."

"What did your mother say?"

"Mom shot him down instantly," Sasha tells him. "She really wants Olivia to work there forever."

Dad sighs. "She just wants to keep the bakery in the family. You girls don't realize how hard it was to get it up and running in the first place."

"Then have me take over!" Sasha cries. "I know that I want to work there. I want to take care of the bakery."

Dad sighs. "I wish it was that easy to convince her."

Sasha crosses her arm. "This is so unfair. If I was the oldest there'd be no debate about it."

I nod. It's true. "I'm sorry Sash."

She rolls her eyes and slides down her seat. "Let's just get to school," she mumbles.

Part of me wants to roll my eyes and call her a drama queen. But I know how much the bakery means to her. And how happy she would be to take it over. So I don't. Especially because I agree with her that mom is being ridiculous about not letting her take over and letting me do what I want.

When we pull up to the school she doesn't even wait for dad to finish pulling up before she says goodbye and hops out of the car.

Dad looks back at me. "She's really that upset about this?"

I nod. "It's been her dream since she was five." Wish I knew what that was like.

"I'll try and talk to your mom about it."

I smile a sad smile. "Thanks. But I'm not sure it'll do much. Once her mind is made up there's no changing it."

Dad nods. "I'll see you later?"

I nod and hop out of the car. "Love you."

"Love you too."

I close the door and watch him drive off before turning towards the school.

Now my real mission begins. I have to find Charlie and take him up on his offer. I know he has math with Naomi in the second period, but I don't know if I want to wait that long. I could, since we probably wouldn't start the process right away. And I don't know if he'll be at the bakery after school today since I kicked him out yesterday. Which might not have been the right thing to do, but he was acting stalkerish.

I weave my way through the people in the halls. All the boys are pushing each other around, groups of kids stand in the middle of the hall. Others stop right in front of me, almost causing me to crash into them. I shake my head. The halls are the worst, and if I wasn't on a mission to find Charlie I'd be in my class right now sitting on my phone or reading while waiting for class to start.

I know that if I wasn't looking for Charlie right now I would be seeing him everywhere. But since I am looking for him and now know who he is, I won't see him anywhere.

"Olivia!"

I spin around and smile when I see Naomi. "Morning."

"Are you looking for someone?" she smirks.

"Actually, yes. Have you seen Charlie?"

She shakes her head. "I don't see him till math. Why are you looking for him?"

"Do you remember how I told you he offered to help me find a career?"

She nods.

"I think I'm going to take him up on the offer so I can get my mom off my back and maybe help Sasha."

Naomi smiles. "I might know where he is."

I grin. "Really? Show me! Show me!"

She laughs. "You won't like it though."

I raise an eyebrow. "Why not?"

But she doesn't answer. She only turns down the hall, leaving me to have to catch up with her.

***

I hate this.

I haven't even seen the reason for why I hate this but just standing outside of the gym shows me why Naomi said I'd hate this.

"I'm not going in there."

She rolls her eyes like I'm being dramatic.

"Can you go in there and just find Charlie and tell him to come out?"

She shakes her head. "You got to do this yourself."

I groan. "But I don't want to see him."

"You don't even know if he's in there."

I raise an eyebrow. "I know he'll be in there. He's there everyday."

Naomi rolls her eyes. "I'll go in with you. Will that make you feel better?"

I sigh. "I guess."

I take a deep breath before walking into the gym. I'm hoping I won't see him. But as I look around the gym my gaze goes straight towards him.

My ex.

He's the sporty popular type. With all the muscles a girl can admire. He's got green eyes and blond hair.

Still can't believe I ever dated that jerk. I look away before I can make eye contact with him and continue to look for Charlie. The sport that seems to be popular today is basketball. Great.

I spot Charlie in the farthest corner from the door.

Why did he have to be there?

I turn around and ram into Naomi.

"Where are you going?" she asks.

"I'm not going in there. I'll just wait for the second period."

She shakes her head. "No. You have to ask him now."

"Why?" I ask. "It's not so desperate that he needs to know now."

"What if you get held up and can't ask him before the second period?"

"I'll do it after."

"And if you can't find him after?"

I sigh. I hate to admit it but she has a point.

"Will you come with me?" I ask. I pull out my puppy dog eyes.

She uncrosses her arms with a sigh. "I guess."

I grin and turn back around. We take the long way around the gym. And I try to keep an eye on the flying balls at all times so that they can't come and attack me. We finally make it over to where Charlie's playing and wait for him to notice us.

It takes a few seconds after he makes a basket for his eyes to flick towards me. He smiles, runs to grab his runaway ball and joins us by the bleachers.

"Olivia!" he greets.

I wave. "Hey."

"Naomi, good to see you. Ready for math?"

She chuckles. "I'm never ready for that class."

He laughs. "I feel you there." His eyes flick to me.

I avert my gaze and look at my feet.

"What's going on?" he asks.

Naomi elbows my arm. I shot her a glare and rub at the spot.

Her eyes are wide and her pupils flick towards Charlie.

Why am I shy all of a sudden? I'm normally never like this. I take a deep breath and look up to meet his eyes. "So, I've been thinking about your offer."

His eyes light up. "Really?"

I nod.

"So? What's your take?"

I try not to let his excitement get to me. But somehow a smile slips onto my face. "I was thinking that I would take you up on your offer."