13: Small World?

Like a completely different person, Olivia went to Mobi Street as if she was not just around there stealing jelly beans half an hour ago.

“Hi.” She gave them a smile as soon as they saw her.

Unlike earlier in which she had no makeup and was wearing a blue flannel shirt, a pair of gray baggy sweatpants, and dirty white sneakers—Olivia had a transformation over a short time. She suddenly had a cold because of the chilly weather of the last two weeks so she wore a surgical mask that was colored pink to match her fashion. She wore an off-shoulder long sleeved pink dress that was above the knee. Gold flat sandals. Different kinds of rings in each hand except the one Dakota gave since that belonged to her other self. Light makeup with an emphasis on the eyeliner along with gray contact lens that were lighter than her natural gray eyes. Lastly, a pink beret.

She was definitely not the same person who was stealing in a grocery store with Dakota Soul earlier.

“Hey! You came!” Theodore greeted in excitement as he quickly got up from his seat. “We thought you won’t be coming anymore.”

“You know I can’t just leave my house without properly fixing my appearance, right?” Olivia responded as she looked at the ice cream that their friends were eating at the table. It was very unfortunate that she had to suddenly catch a cold at that moment.

“Of course. We totally get you, Olivia. It’s just these impatient men who want to go play without you,” Lana said as she playfully rolled her eyes at James who was glaring at her.

“Why are you wearing a mask, though? Are you okay?” Theodore furrowed his eyebrows as he stepped closer to her and placed his hand over her forehead out of concern. “You could’ve stayed home instead if you’re not feeling well, you know.”

“I’m all right, don’t worry.” The blonde replied as she lightly pushed his hand away from her face. “I just got a slight cold from the chilly weather. Other than that, I’m physically fine everywhere. I might infect any of you so it’s better to wear a mask.”

“Well, if you say so.”

The both of them conversed as if they were alone, which made the six people that they were with give each other knowing looks and smirks before turning their eyes back on them. The power couple, it was what people call the both of them even though they were never a couple.

“Anyway…” James turned to face away from the table as he flashed a cheeky smirk while eyeing Theodore and Olivia who were the only ones standing. “Gasper, you look like a puppy meeting his owner after a long time.”

“I agree.” Mike snickered.

“Isn’t that how couples normally are?” Ethan innocently asked.

“We could say that since we all know they’re just denying it when they are actually dating,” James said as he shrugged.

The six of them laughed as they gave him high fives like he just said the cleverest thing in the world. Ashleigh gave Olivia a wink when they made eye contact though the latter did not react, which none of them noticed thanks to the surgical mask that she was wearing. If not for the mask, everyone would have stopped laughing immediately once they see her annoyed face.

On the other hand, Theodore was getting really irritated by them especially James though he just pursed his lips in to resist himself. But when he saw how James was giving him a teasing look while continuing to laugh as if he was making fun of him, that was when Theodore took a step forward and was about to speak but then his best friend was faster.

“Hey, James,” Olivia called.

“Yeah?” James responded while still laughing.

“What do you think about Ethan getting all the girls’ hearts in just a day? About Ethan’s name being the only one being screamed in the court? About Ethan being the likable person, which is the opposite of you?” the blonde spoke in a way as if she was ignorantly asking questions out of curiosity. “Oh, wait. You don’t like it when people compare you and Ethan, right?”

The table went quiet as everyone’s eyes were now on James who was looking at her in surprise and annoyance. He did not utter a word in response as he just gritted his teeth while glaring at her like he wanted to burn holes on her face with his gaze.

“Hey.” James turned to Theodore. “Don’t look at her like that.”

James glared at him before looking away as he returned his attention on his ice cream while the others tried to make things normal again by changing the topic. Ethan, on the other hand, looked clueless after being mentioned plenty of times as he stared at James.

“Stop looking at me and eat your ice cream, retard,” James growled.

Olivia smirked in victory behind her mask as she turned to her best friend to give him a wink. It was a good thing that she was Theodore’s best friend because that meant she was able to know stories from inside the basketball team; like how James loved women, how he got rejected by the three girls in a row in sophomore year, and how he was the least liked player since freshman year. James was a sympathetic bastard.

After James had cooled his head, they decided to leave the ice cream store and head to the arcade which was just a few steps away. The blonde could not help but secretly roam her eyes around while they were walking on the sidewalk in case her partner in crime might be around, which would make her dead if she gets caught.

“Ethan, you should try the basketball game! Win me tickets, please?” Lana clung on his arm as she batted her eyelashes flirtatiously.

“No, babe. Win the tickets for me.” Ashleigh clung on his other arm.

“Enough with basketball. Ethan, you literally play basketball every day.” Mia stood close in front of the taller boy as she looked up at him with a seductive smile on her face. “Instead, let’s dance on the dancing machine together.”

The three girls argued for the attention of Ethan, who just watched them in amusement, when James and Mike walked over to them and gently pushed the girls away from Ethan so they could stand next to him and put their hands on his shoulders.

“Why fight over who gets to be with him when we can just go play together?” Mike said with a grin.

The three girls quickly disagreed but the boys did not care as they pulled Ethan away to start playing some games. The girls then had no choice but to follow.

Theodore and Olivia were the ones left together as they turned to look at each before proceeding to laugh because of the silence between them.

“Okay, okay. Why are you awkward?” Olivia asked with a smile behind her mask.

“No. Why are you awkward?” the brunet asked back.

“No, you.”

Theodore chuckled and decided to not argue any more. “Let’s go play Dead Attackers. Like the old times, right?”

The blonde nodded as they went.

Ever since they became friends in elementary school, they would always go to the arcade together and play only one game for two hours or more—Dead Attackers, a shooting zombie arcade game. When they went to high school, it became seldom for them to have the chance to go to the arcade together like the old times mainly because Theodore always had practice in basketball and Olivia would always be hanging out with the three girls even though they were all just being fake to each other.

When they played again, the two best friends felt like becoming kids again as they enjoyed the game together. Even though Olivia was wearing a mask, Theodore knew that she was grinning from ear to ear because of how her eyes kept squinting in joy as she killed all of the zombies. Either she was happy to be playing that game with her best friend again or she was thrilled at the fact of killing.

“Damn. It’s over?” the blonde uttered when the screen read game over.

“Yeah, that fast.” The brunet took three tokens out of his pocket and inserted them in the slot. “This is a capitalist state.”

“And fuck this state,” the both of them said together before bursting into laughter.

Theodore stopped laughing as he just smiled while looking at him. He then suddenly leaned in to push her fallen hair strand behind her ear while she watched him do so in silence.

The brunet continued to stare into her gray eyes when the latter diverted her attention back on the screen as soon as she heard the game starting again.

The two of them played for half an hour until they got sick of the game as they decided to find their other friends again. Theodore could not forget about their moment earlier as he kept stealing glances on the blonde yet she looked completely relaxed which meant that the moment between them earlier meant completely nothing to her. The thought of it disappointed him.

“There,” the blonde uttered when she saw the three girls as she walked toward them.

“Oh, you two are back,” Ashleigh said as she just gave her a glance.

Olivia then turned her head to where everyone’s attention was and that was at James who was flirting with a girl by the basketball arcade game.

“What’s he doing?” Theodore asked.

“Trying to prove he can get a girl within a day,” Mike said as he shook his head.

The girl was five inches shorter than James. Had dark skin. Pretty dark brown eyes. A mole on her right cheek. A septum ring piercing and more piercings on her ears. Black shoulder-length wolf cut.

The girl was pretty and she obviously was not interested in the basketball player.

Just as they expected, James’s attempt was a failure as they watched how the girl walked away from him while he looked at the basketball arcade machine in dejection. For a brief second, Olivia had eye contact with her.

***

“Olivia, these are Lia and Leo. Lia and Leo, this is Olivia.”

The blonde forced a smile on her face as she looked at the girl’s face and down at her hand waiting for a handshake.

Olivia could not believe that Dakota was friends with the same girl whom James tried to flirt with last Monday.