Chasing Butterflies Chapter 48: Real Friends (Patreon)

The conversation turned to other matters as Olivia and Eileen continued dolling themselves up.  The tools in Eileen's arsenal were quite formidable, if definitely overkill for her needs. Though the quality left something to be desired. What Olivia wouldn’t give for one of those more modern style contouring sponges… But there was no way she'd complain. Especially when the other girls seemed so impressed by what she did accomplish.

“Are you sure you’ve never done wings before?” Eileen asked for the fifth time.

“Pretty sure. Though I know my way around an angled brush.” Olivia said.

“Apparently. Seriously. I was gonna tell you about this trick where you can use tape to make it look super clean, but I don’t think you need it…”

The other girls also joined in, touching up their own makeup conservatively at Eileen’s behest. Olivia had to hold her tongue a bit at that. She belatedly recalled a few health concerns about sharing makeup, but bringing it up now would be pretty hypocritical given she’d been doing it all morning. It would probably be fine.

By the time the bell rang, the entire group looked ready to take on the day. Olivia herself felt rather pleased at the result. The familiar style felt like donning an old shirt from her past life, with the wings giving it just enough visual interest to feel fresh. The other girls agreed, marveling at the novelty of what felt to her like the absolute bare minimum of effort. But apparently, styles from the future were more eye-catching than she realized—even the basic ones.

After a bit of very discreet drawing in Geometry that somehow went unnoticed, Olivia found herself in Algebra once more. She waved at Bryce as he entered the class and was pleased to see his expression brighten in return.

"Hey!" She greeted him as he slid into his chair.

"Hey."

"How're you feeling? Any lingering effects from this weekend?" She prodded.

Bryce chuckled. "Told you, I'm fine. I'm not some skinny twerp who gets knocked on my ass that easy."

"Hey, don't knock on skinny guys. I knew one that could drink a guy three times his size under the table."

He gave her an incredulous look. "Seriously? Who?"

She paused. "Er, college guy. No one at this school."

Jason's old roommate had punched far above his weight when it came to that stuff—and won them both quite a few bets because of it. At least, before the rest of the dorm got wise to his antics. He’d had to tone it down before they stopped inviting him to events, since his appetite shared a similarly nonexistent bottom.

Bryce's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Uh-huh. Sure. 'He goes to another school.' I see how it is."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Ok, fair enough. But it's true. I've also known plenty of big guys with really low tolerances."

"Sounds embarrassing." He shrugged. "Seriously, though. The party's over. You can stop worrying about everyone now."

She chuckled. Yeah. Not gonna happen.

Still, Bryce's reassurances did cause her to relax slightly. Though she had still irrationally harbored a bit of doubt about his health, he really did seem fine. Not that he should've still been hungover after a full day of recovery, but still.

He leaned back in his seat and stretched, its back squealing in protest under the weight of his bulk. "Did you have fun, though?"

Olivia thought for a second and nodded. "I did. More than I expected, actually. Everyone there was really cool."

"Yeah? Makes sense. Dom's got a good eye for people."

"Thank you. I'll take that as a compliment."

The boy let out a small snort of amusement. Olivia crossed her arms in mock offense. "What? Are you saying I'm not in that category?"

His eyes widened in panic. "That's not—"

"Relax, Bryce. I'm teasing. Lighten up a bit."

Olivia poked the junior in the arm. He just shifted in his seat. "Yeah. Right."

She expected him to say more, but instead Bryce remained silent. He seemed hesitant to meet her eyes as more students continued to file in.

"...Are you sure you're ok?" Olivia asked after a long, awkward moment.

"I'm fine." Bryce answered a little too quickly. "Just..."

"...Worried about the test on Friday?" Olivia guessed.

"Yeah. That's it." The boy let out a breath, paradoxically relaxing at the reminder.

"You'll be fine," she reassured him. "Have a bit of faith."

For a few weeks now, they'd been studying together during lunch in the library. Olivia tutored Bryce once a week on whatever Algebra topics he was having the most trouble with. That, combined with working together during class, had led to some pretty marked improvements. Bryce still wasn't quite at the point of acing tests, but he was making enough progress to make Olivia feel a bit proud.

He chuckled. "I've got faith. I think I can manage passing. But it's gonna be close. Some of this factoring shit still takes me long enough that I dunno if I'll finish the test in time."

"Want to do an extra session?" She offered.

"Can't. I'm busy this week." He sighed.

Olivia hummed thoughtfully. “That’s a problem. I forgot I’ll be out tomorrow morning for a doctor’s appointment, too. Not sure if I’ll even be back for our usual timeslot. Then… what about meeting after school?"

His eyebrows rose. "That... could work. I've got practice today and Wednesday, though."

Olivia pursed her lips. "Dang. I've got band Tuesday and Thursday... How late does practice go? Maybe we could meet up after?"

"After?" Bryce sounded a bit incredulous.

"Sure. The library won't be open that late, but we could meet up at my place. Or yours, if that's easier. Unless you have a better idea?"

Olivia noticed that Bryce was staring at her strangely again. Though she honestly couldn't tell why.

Going over to someone's house isn't that big of a deal. Right?

It had been for her, of course. Old Olivia had friends over so rarely she could have counted the events off on one hand. Excluding Lance's more frequent visits, of course.

But that had been a result of her own social troubles. She'd always figured it was more normal for other kids to spend time at their friends’ houses, especially after becoming a mom. She'd never blinked at inviting George and Cash's friends over to their place. Heck, they would've had someone over every other day if Jason hadn't needed a reprieve from the sheer rowdiness of a house full of boys.

Then again, that wasn't high school. The etiquette and expectations are probably different here. Maybe I overstepped? Or maybe his own parents aren't as gung-ho about company as I was. Or… maybe he hasn’t told his parents about the tutoring.

"We can also meet somewhere else," she quickly backpedaled, her cheeks coloring slightly. "I'm sure there's a cafe or a public library or something we can go to instead?"

"No, it's fine."  He cleared his throat. "We can meet up at my place. Well, if your folks are ok with that. It's pretty close to the school, I usually walk here in the mornings."

Olivia relaxed. "Really? That’s perfect, then. I'll have to ask, but I'm sure it'll be fine... Oh!"

She turned forward and quickly scribbled her phone number down on her notebook. Ripping the page off, she handed it back to Bryce. "Here. I probably should’ve given it to you weeks ago, but better late than never, right?”

Bryce nodded slowly, his face unreadable. "Cool. Thanks."

She didn't have time to say anything else as Mr. McCullough waddled to the front of the class. His marker squeaked against the whiteboard painfully as he began droning on, explaining factorization with simultaneously more detail and less clarity than Olivia had ever heard.

She set the matter with Bryce aside for the moment to take notes. No wonder the football player lacked confidence about this topic. Luckily, she recalled some tricks of her own that would make things far simpler. The obtuse lecture just meant it was up to her to explain it better—something she fully intended to deliver on.

***

By the time lunch rolled around, Olivia was starving. It felt like the day had already been substantially longer than most, and her stomach rumbled in protest at the time dilation. It was bad enough that she'd even briefly considered snacking in Biology, but decided against it.

Not that Mr. Ambrose would mind. But it's only another half hour. I can manage.

As the bell rang and the myriad paths of RHS flooded with students, Olivia headed toward the band room. Finally, after a full month of school, she'd finally been invited to eat lunch with the band kids. How long this took the first time around, she honestly couldn't remember. But at least it did happen.

Though the situation is so far removed from how things were before... Still. It's better to at least try and keep things a bit consistent where I can.

The development did leave her a bit uncertain of how to approach, though. Should she try and slip into her old self's persona again? That was what she'd been showing the band kids this entire time, after all. Or was it all right to relax a bit and leave that deception by the wayside?

As the structure came into view, Olivia settled on a middle ground. She'd settle down in an unobtrusive spot outside of the main group to start. However, if she was approached or invited to sit elsewhere, she would happily oblige.

By the time she arrived, a collection of kids from every grade and section were already clustered outside the band room. They gathered together like patches of thick moss beneath the awning's shade. It wasn't the entire band, of course. Many of them had other friends or activities vying for their lunchtime attention as well. Additionally, Mrs. Villanueva wasn't particularly tolerant of food inside the room, not unless it was raining or so sweltering that she took pity on the kids.

Still, the crowd that Olivia saw was a familiar one, including practically every kid who had a leadership position—or would in the future. Marcus, the elder drum major, traded jibes with the center snare and brass leadership while his younger counterpart Hannah smiled patiently at Emma's telling of some story.

"...And then he was like, 'whaaat?' And then she was like, 'what?' Then they both..."

Chrissy rounded out the little trio, nodding along eagerly as usual. Emma seemed entirely oblivious to how the other kids had moved on with their own conversations. That, or she was simply clinging to the one person too polite to interrupt her.

Emma stopped mid-story as she spotted Olivia approaching. The bubbly flute grinned and waved enthusiastically. Her mouth was already opening to call out in greeting when...

"Oh my gosh, Emma."

The flute's head whipped around at the mention of her name. Alyssa sat in a nearby group, far enough away that she clearly hadn't been involved in the conversation up until now. The section leader smiled. It didn't reach her eyes.

"I totally missed the first part of that story. What happened?"

Emma pounced on Alyssa's interest like a tiger. "Oh, right! Of course! Well, you see..."

The freshman started from the beginning of the long-winded story, Olivia's presence all but forgotten in her excitement. A look toward Alyssa showed the senior only half listening, turning to chime in with her previous conversation more often than not. She didn't so much as glance Olivia's way.

Hm. Still bitter about this morning, I see.

It wasn't a big deal. Olivia hadn't planned on becoming the center of attention anyway.

She shrugged and continued with her original plan, sitting close enough to hear but far enough away to not overtly impose her presence on any of the pre-established groups. The brown lunch bag in her backpack emerged after only a bit of rummaging as she started to eat and observe.

It didn't take long for Alyssa to more obviously lose interest in Emma's story. But to her surprise, the senior didn't stop. Every time Emma or Chrissy turned in Olivia's direction, an interjection or question from Emma would have their heads swiveling right back toward her.

"Chrissy? Could you do me a huge favor?" Alyssa held up an empty plastic bag. "Can you toss this in the trash for me?"

"Oh! Um, sure!"

The agreeable flute didn't hesitate to lean over and grab the bag, standing to deposit it in the trash. The can was closer to her than it was to Alyssa. But it was all too clear that wasn't the real reason the section leader had asked.

Alyssa was trying to wall Olivia out. It was clear as day. Over and over, she watched as the senior drew attention away from Olivia’s general vicinity and redirected it toward herself.

Olivia had to stop herself from sighing. The girl was definitely still bitter. Nor was she being nearly as subtle as she seemed to think.

Unsurprisingly, Olivia wasn't the only one who noticed Alyssa's antics. Hannah began to pick up on the senior flute's strange behavior, glancing over with suspicion after the second or third time. It wasn't long before a frown creased the younger drum major's brow.

Hannah glanced over at Olivia curiously. The look in her eyes was clear. She may not have known what exactly was going on, but she suspected something. All she was looking for was a hint that Olivia wanted—or needed—her help. 

Nah. I've had enough confrontation for one day. Besides, I don't want her to get dragged into anything. Drum major or not, a sophomore having to call out a senior is bound to cause trouble.

Before Hannah could make a more overt movement to talk with her, Olivia stood and stretched. She tossed her empty lunch bag in a nearby trash can and headed inside the band room. Thankfully, she'd wolfed down the food quickly enough that there was still a good amount of time left in the lunch period. Maybe she could actually do something useful with it. If nothing else, a bit of practice would take her mind off of high school drama.