Olivia woke up early on Thursday morning, remembering that she had to prepare for that art scholarship. What kind of piece would she do? What would be her subject? She knew she had to think this through, considering it could possibly lead to her dream school.
Although the actual day that the Scouts would come was many months away, she was too excited to start any later. Yesterday, before heading to the cemetery to visit her late father, Olivia headed into the school to gather some of her supplies in the special art room that Mrs. Walsh had given her the school year before. It was her getaway; she went there sometimes when she wasn't feeling all too well, or when she was bored. She painted away any feelings she had and it was one of the greatest things in her world. The art room was located in one of the school's old buildings. They were going to tear the building down but kept it for storage instead, and since one of the classrooms used to be Mrs. Walsh's old classroom, she asked Principal Meddler if she could keep that room for herself. When Olivia first attended her class as a sophomore and she realized she didn't really need the room for anything, she put it to better use; Olivia's talent impressed her and she realized that the room would be perfect for an aspiring artist like Olivia.
"Chances are, I can win this thing. I just have to think positive." Olivia thought to herself, carrying the supplies from her art room in her arms. She placed them onto the passenger seat of her car and drove off to school.
Once she entered the halls of BFHS, she headed straight for her art room and put her supplies next to the easel that she bought last summer. Then she remembered she had to turn in that form to Mrs. Walsh.
"Good morning, Mrs. Walsh." Olivia knocked on the open door before entering.
"Morning, Olivia. So you talked to Principal Meddler yesterday?" She questioned Olivia as she nodded.
"I did. And…" She began to rummage through her bag, and pulled out the form, "I'm in." Olivia smiled from ear to ear.
Mrs. Walsh clapped her hands, grabbing the form from her. "That's great! I think you have a great chance at winning this scholarship, you know. You're one of my strongest students and I believe that you can do it."
"Thank you. I'm quite nervous."
"It's okay to be nervous, it's a really big deal. But you have the determination, which is why I chose you."
"I'll be sure to give it my all." Olivia said, taking a seat as the bell rang.
Nothing could possibly ruin this year for her. This was her year. Popularity and gorgeous looks had nothing to do with this and that's what made her even happier. It was only the second week of her senior year and she felt that she was having a better two weeks than the other three school years. Not even Noah Sanders and his barbaric friends could mess this up for her, all she had to do was block him and almost everyone out, which is kind of what she's been doing since the start of her high school career.
"I'm exhausted, dude, you don't even know." Noah rested his head on their usual lunch table. He was having such a rough day that he felt he couldn't even function right.
"I know, yesterday's practice was torture." Dylan said, sitting across the table.
"It's not just practice, everything I did yesterday just drained all my energy. Especially having to help out Mr. Ziegler move practically EVERYTHING all the way across campus." Noah complained. "I'm gonna go grab a Gatorade, you want one?"
Dylan shook his head before Noah headed for the vending machine.
At least today wasn't as bad as yesterday for Noah.
On the other side of the cafeteria, Olivia sat there writing in one of her notebooks. She jotted down some ideas of what painting she should do, but she already had something in mind.
"Hey you." Isaac appeared into the cafeteria, taking a seat at the same table.
"Hey," She looked at him.
"What's that?" He peeked over at her notebook. "Painting ideas? For the scholarship, right?" Isaac questioned her as she nodded.
"Yeah, but I think I know what I'm gonna paint about." Olivia grinned to herself.
Isaac sighed, trying to make it obvious to Olivia since she was consumed in her notebook. "Okay, I've got to ask before I get interrupted again. Do you, maybe, wanna hang out this weekend?" He was hopeful that she would say yes. Olivia took her eyes off of her notebook and could see the nervous look on his face.
"This weekend?" She thought about it, but then she remembered that her mom had talked to her about a surprise this Saturday. "I can't. My mom has this surprise for me and she even requested the weekend off. She never requests days off." Olivia laughed.
"Oh… okay, maybe some other time?" Isaac's tone was a little different this time.
"Sure, I'd love to." She turned to him, and she could sense he was feeling a little awkward for being turned down. Olivia noticed that her lunch tray was taking up all the space on the table and Isaac had to hold his backpack in his lap. "Sorry, let me throw this away." She lifted the tray off the table, and as soon as she turned around, she bumped into someone and her lunch splattered all over him.
Olivia's mouth formed an 'O' and she picked the tray off the floor as quickly as she could. "I'm so sorry about that, I didn't see you…" Looking up at this guy that she just ran into, she realized that it wasn't just anyone.
"God, you're kidding me right now!" Noah's shirt was splattered with spaghetti, making him furious. Olivia stood up, still in shock, trying to apologize. "Why don't you watch where you're going next time?" He said before turning away from her.
Just as he started to walk away, the strap on Olivia's bag caught his leg causing him to fall. She covered her mouth with her hands as he hit the floor.
By now, everyone's attention was on the two of them. Noah looked up and could see how hysterical all the people were getting. They laughed as he lay there on the floor, his arms at his sides.
He stood up quickly, brushing himself off. Everyone could tell he was humiliated, and to be laughed at by a huge crowd? In Olivia's mind, she couldn't help but think this was karma for embarrassing her in front of the same crowd, but she wouldn't wish that on anyone else because she knew what it felt like.
"I'm so sorry, Noah, I didn't mean for that—"He cut her off as fast as he could, running his hand through his short hair.
"Save it, Black Sheep!" He exclaimed, "I'll get you back, don't worry." Noah took off running out of the cafeteria with all the other students pointing and laughing in his direction.
Isaac sat there with his mouth hanging open, not believing what just took place. Olivia was practically frozen, in shock of what he just said to her. He made it seem like she was the bully all along and he was just some innocent victim.
Dylan found Noah sitting down at the football field player bench, twirling a football in his hand.
"You okay? That was pretty rough." Dylan asked.
"No shit, it was. She humiliated me in front of everyone back there." Noah sighed, glad he wasn't being laughed at right now.
"But did you really have to say that to her?"
"Say what? That I'd get her back?" Noah questioned him, "Did you not see what she did to me back there?!" He yelled at Dylan, making him take a few steps back.
"I saw it clearly, but did you ever stop to think you did the same thing to her? We all know she's an outcast but she was humiliated by you before this happened."
Noah wasn't listening. All he could hear was that his own friend wasn't on his side right now, which made him feel like his day was getting worse.
"Whatever, man. I'm over today." He stood up from the bench, leaving Dylan to stand in the stadium by himself.
Olivia pulled up into the driveway, parking next to her mom's car. She left school right after in fear that Noah would try to mortify her, but he was absent during fifth period and she didn't see him in the parking lot after school like she usually did.
"Hi, mom." She closed the front door behind her and found her mom in the dining room looking through the mail.
"Hi sweetie, how was school?" Her mother, Emily, asked.
Olivia shrugged, "I don't know." She turned around trying to leave the room.
Her mom sat up straight, "Olivia, what's wrong?"
"Okay, well," Olivia took a seat next to her, "Everything was going fine today... until lunch." Her mother nodded, waiting to hear more.
"And then, I was getting up to throw my lunch tray away when I bumped into this guy. My food spilled all over him and he got so mad that when he was walking away, he didn't see my bag on the floor. The strap got tangled on his foot and he ate it in front of everyone!"
Emily's eyes widened. 'High School' was all she could think.
"Then he started to say he would get me back and… I don't know, I feel like he's going to do something worse to make me look like a fool in front of the entire school."
"Do you want me to talk to the principal about it? Because I will if you want me to. Who is the boy anyways, and why would he talk to a girl like that?" Emily questioned.
"Noah Sanders, mom." Olivia hung her head low. "That same boy that's been my worst enemy for years."
Emily raised an eyebrow, "Maybe he likes you?" Olivia's facial expression went from worried to baffled within seconds.
"Are you serious, mom?" Olivia began to laugh hysterically. "That would never happen in a million years!" She sat there still chuckling to herself. "How absurd. And he doesn't tease me, he basically hates my guts for what happened our freshman year."
"Well, don't boys tease girls when they like them?"
"Mom, I am not in elementary anymore. Noah may be, but I'm not." Olivia replied.
"You should be fine, honey. I'm sure he wouldn't actually do anything to get you back. He probably feels like he's been defeated." Emily shrugged, changing the subject as if they never spoke about it. "There's some Chinese take out on the table if you're hungry already."
Olivia glanced at her mom, who was already consumed in one of the magazines that came in the mail.
"Oh! Just to let you know, your orthodontist set up an appointment for you on Saturday. Maybe you'll finally be getting your braces off!" Emily squealed for Olivia, then quickly began to read her magazine.
"So much going on this week…" Olivia whispered to herself before heading upstairs.