Just Another Teen Romance [Periodical & Virginia]

[Virginia Greene]

Her debate teacher had said that the skills she learned in that class would help her for the rest of her life, and Olivia Miller was calling BS. It had done nothing to help her with the principal, a talk with the man had only ended in the suspension of the guy who had been harassing her in the first place, not done anything to help lessen the suspension of the teen she was currently considering her savior in the whole debacle. So she'd had to resort to a lesser way of helping. Collecting all the materials for the things he was missing.

And so at lunch several days later she sorted blank worksheets, assignment instructions, and copies of her neat, handwritten notes that she'd made while doing something in the staff supply room for a teacher. All the relevant stuff was paper-clipped together with fish shaped paperclips, so that he wouldn't have to hunt for anything from biology or social studies. She didn't have all the notes though, because they didn't have all the same classes, and was currently trying to press her best friend her one of the things that was missing. It wasn't working. "You're interpreting this completely wrong, Ollie. I've known him since sixth grade and Trevor has never done a single thing for anyone else." Hannah shot her friend a disapproving look over her water bottle, not even bothering to answer whether she'd lend her notes or not, before setting it down a little bit too noisily on the cafeteria table they were sitting at. "You basically just got here, you wouldn't know." Which was dramatic, Olivia had started the year with everyone else, but Hannah was always dramatic about pretty much everything. When Olivia wanted to compliment it she said that the brunette was 'born for the stage', which was a thing Hannah seemed to like. Presumably that same general desire for drama was why Hannah was bringing this up again now, three days later. Or maybe it was because Olivia had started to collect homework for him from their teachers because it was Friday and she thought maybe it would be easier for him if he wasn't getting all his homework when he came back from his suspension. Or... however it got delivered? Honestly she wasn't sure. She was self aware enough to recognize that it was mostly just because she was curious about Trevor.

“This isn’t going to go well. Aaron Anderson says--”
“Aaron Anderson snuck up on me and tried to unhook my bra in the hallway on a dare,” and then got slammed into the locker by the teen they were currently talking about, leading to this whole situation in the first place, "I don’t want to hear his opinion." It was a little bit more of a shut-down than she had intended it to be - Olivia didn't think she'd said it sharply or harshly but conversation had ended briefly after that, until Olivia had switched topics. Then they'd spent the rest of lunch chatting about a variety of things that felt less relevant at the moment but that were enjoyable nonetheless.

Now here she was, making her way up Trevor Walker's driveway, clutching the blue folder with a ‘hang in there’ sticker on it. She wasn't concerned about anything beyond the fact that she didn't really know if he was home. Olivia didn't know where someone would go if they were suspended, but she supposed anywhere but school was an option. If he wasn't home, maybe she'd bend the folder and shove it in the mailbox with a note. She fidgeted for a moment, tugging her sunflower yellow sweatshirt down over her thick black leggings a little bit more with her free hand before reaching up and knocking on the door.

 

[Periodical]

The so called "troubled" student wasn't sure why he had done it. He couldn't put his finger on what led him to the point of slamming another student's head into a locker a few times before he let him crumple on the tacky linoleum floor the school had likely had from when it was first build in the sixties. Trevor honestly couldn't recall the situation, why he had done it, or what had propelled him into the action. All he did know, was it landed him in the principal's office, and subsequently landed him an entire week at home due to the suspension. He hadn't even seen the girl there until she was thanking him for doing it. It was unintentional that he had slammed Aaron's head into the locker a few times with helping her as the intent, but at the time he tried to keep a straight face. He knew she tried to help lobby for a reduced sentence for him, but ultimately he was still given the week long suspension. It was odd, the school punished delinquent kids who didn't want to be at school and who weren't interested in learning with forcing them to not go to school when they did something that was against the rules. It wasn't a carrot, it wasn't a stick, it was just something that didn't make sense. Trevor had long given up doing the school thing, and it seemed as though a trade school would be the best bet for him. He had always enjoyed working with his hands, but his parents were adamant he continued to try. His parents were certainly unhappy when word came back he was suspended.

At first when she had knocked on the door, she was greeted by the sound of a dog barking and going absolutely crazy at the door. The barking was soon followed by the sound of a woman yelling at the dog. "Down! Down Buster!" She said as the door cracked open a little bit. An middle aged woman with too much make up and too much perfume poked her head out as the white german shepard that was barking was being held back by the collar. Looking Olivia up and down for a moment, she turned around. "Trevor, I think your homework is here!" She called as she struggled to pull against the fully grown german shepard. "I don't want that shit!" A voice called from upstairs before the woman turned back to Olivia. "One moment dear." She said with a warm smile before she turned back to the stairs. "Trevor, get your ass down here now! You haven't done anything this entire week but sit around and play video games. You haven't done your chores, you haven't done your homework, you haven't done anything! Do you want me to have dad.." Before she could finish the sentence, Trevor appeared at the top of the stairs, making his way down in a huff. As he walked by his mom, she mumbled at him "Don't forget to thank her." She said before pushing outside and closing the door.

From the other side of the door, Trevor could still hear some idle sniffing from the dog. SHaking his head, he cursed under his breath before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes. Even though they were in a box, Trevor had a habit of packing them like they did when soft paks were still a thing. Pulling one out, and lightly holding it between his lips, he lit it with a red BiC lighter before taking a drag and glancing at her. "So you are the unlucky sucker that got conned into bringing me my homework, huh?" He asked her as he looked her up and down for a moment. It took him a second, but he actually recognized her. She was the one that tried to lobby for him to not be suspended! It was all coming together now. Reaching out his hand to gather the well organized papers tucked into the folder, he put it on the ground before sitting on the steps. Ashing his cigarette, he glanced up at her. "Thanks... I guess." He said, wondering why he had to thank the person who had brought him work to do.

Taking another minute, he glanced up at her. She was just standing there! What was she doing? "I said thanks for the homework." He said, reiterating once more.

 

[Virginia Greene]

The door closed and she was left alone with Trevor, who did not seem at all pleased about it. Or maybe that was just his face? Hard to tell. He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and Olivia looked surprised, dark eyes darting from him to the door. "Your mom is like... right there." She gestured towards the house, expression slightly baffled. "You can't just--" or maybe he could? She didn't know. If her mom caught her smoking she had no doubt the cigarette would be ripped out of her hand so fast she might lose the fingers holding it, too. "I mean, I guess it can't really get any worse." He was already suspended and probably grounded (she would have been, for sure) and if he was confident enough to smoke out in the open either he was stupid or he didn't have to deal with consequences that meant anything to him. Probably the latter, though she couldn't imagine a life like that.

This was the most she'd spoken to him the entire year, even if she added up everything in total thus far. And here he was calling her 'the unlucky sucker' for being here to help him. That wasn't at all how she would describe herself, and Olivia shook her head quickly, dark curls bouncing. "I volunteered before finding out they wanted someone to anyway. It seemed like the least I could do." And she wanted to know how he was doing, but she wasn't quite sure how to ask someone who was basically a stranger - and who she wasn't sure was actually upset about missing school - how they were holding up. They didn't have anything in common that she could think of to talk about since he wasn't in any clubs and didn't do any sort of extracurricular activity. Did he have hobbies? She didn't know. Was there a subject he cared about? She was equally in the dark about that. Friends? She didn't want to assume the answer was 'no' but it certainly had no crossover with her friend group, and she rarely saw him hanging out with other people.

Was he trying to dismiss her with his thanks? Olivia couldn't quite tell, but she was pretty sure he was. She wasn't ready to go though, so she just smiled at him with a friendly warmth and gestured towards the folder on the ground. "All the notes are photocopies of mine, and I'm not sure if they'll all make sense to someone who isn't me, but I only realized that while overthinking things on the way here so I figured it might help if I gave you my phone number so you could text me any questions you had?" Her handwriting was neat and easy to read, but she didn't always write in full sentences and if he didn't have the in-class experience and knowledge to back up the notes it might make less sense sometimes. She wanted him to succeed, and the best way to get that to happen would probably be to make sure he could contact her with questions if he needed.

"Can I meet your dog?" she asked abruptly. Oops was that weird? Yeah probably. "Sorry I-- I just haven't seen mine in months, I had to leave him behind when dad when we moved to New York." She missed her dog. And her dad, but maybe him a little less at least for the moment.

 

[Periodical]

For some reason, the girl on the porch didn't seem to be taking the hint. Thinking for a moment, he searched his brain for her name. He had heart it a million times before in class. What the fuck was it? Oliver? No, that was a boys name. Olive? Maybe, though he didn't think he knew or had met anyone named Olive. It seemed like kind of an old timey name. Olga? No, she didn't seem like she was Russian or Eastern European, though he was basing that on absoultely nothing. What the hell was it? The fact that he didn't know was starting to make him a little upset at himself. He fought the urge to hit his own head, especially in front of her. He didn't know how she thought about him, but he certainly didn't want her speading rumors that didn't exist. He had enough trouble with that already.

Taking another drag, he glanced up at her when she mentioned his mom. He shook his head, for a moment. "She knows." He said, dismissing her comment. It was true to some extent. He was suspended and he was grounded. His mom had said when his homework showed up, he'd have to get his ass in gear. He had enjoyed his time off from school, eating whatever he wanted and playing video games, and while he knew it wouldn't last, he had enjoyed it nonetheless. This... this girl showing up signaled a couple of things. Her mere presence signified the end of his freedom. It signified his home life getting being marred by arguments over homework and how he was going to spend his time and it signified the coming end of his suspension. As she spoke, he as only half listening to her, but when she said she volunteered, he perked up a bit.

"You.. you volunteered?" He asked her, clearly confused. "Why would you do that?" He asked her, his question and his gaze probing. "I mean, I personally wouldn't have, but thanks and thanks for the notes." He said, trying to cover up his confused tone. By this time, he was finished with his cigarette. Putting it out on the step, he tossed it towards a little metal bucket on the bottom of the steps. The butt itself bounced off of the rum, and landed next to the bucket. Shrugging, he just figured he wasn't an athlete before he turned at her. Before she could answer the question, however, her name popped into his head. "Olivia! Your name is Olivia!" He said with more of an exclaimation. "I mean, I knew it was, I knew your name was Olivia. I just, you know..." He said, trailing off for a bit before an awkward silence developed between them.

Glancing at her, when she asked to meet Buster, he nodded. "Sure, you can even take him for a walk if you want." He said, standing up before holding up one finger towards her and disappearing inside the front door. As he opened the door, his mom immediately got on him. Outside, while she likely couldn't hear what they were saying, Olivia would probably be able to tell the two were arguing about something. A few moments later, the door opened again, and Trevor stepped out, holding his leash. "Alright, fine!" He said before slamming the door. "What a stupid bi-" He muttered under his breath before seeing Olivia once more.

The kid was awkward, there was no doubt about that. He hadn't had many friends, at least many friends who liked him for him. Due to this, he often spent his time trying to impress them as well as dealing with his own inner demons. He knew his problems were insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but he couldn't help himself. He had often overheard his parents talk about potential mental issues he had, and the notion kept him awake most nights. As soon as the german shepard made it's way out the front door, however, it made it's way towards Olivia. It's large, black, wet nose, in her face as he vigorously sniffed the new person. The dog's tailed wagged back and forth fairly quickly, and it was clear he was happy to see her. Handing the leash over to her, Trevor forced a smile, somthing else clearly on his mind.

"This is Buster." He said before handing her a poop bag. "Just make sure you bring him back." He said, not fully realizing he could go with her. Taking another seat on the steps, he began gathering up the folder and the papers she had given him.

 

[Virginia Greene]

That his mom knew was not the answer Olivia expected, and it showed on her face. She let out a distant "oh" and then let it drop, not really sure where to go from there. It wasn't really her place to lecture him on smoking, he'd been in the same health classes as she had - unless he skipped them - and so he knew. Plus it wasn't any of her business, and she couldn't complain about it being a bother for her because she didn't mind.

Why had she volunteered? It felt like it should have been obvious, but maybe it wasn't. She was considering the best way to answer, when he interrupted with her name. "Hey!" She smiled brightly, not seeming at all bothered by the exclamation. "It sure is, and we've only talked like once so you didn't have to remember." When had they actually spoken, and not just heard the other's name at the beginning of class or in conversation. Or when she got called on, she couldn't remember a time Trevor had raised his hand in a class they shared. Still, it meant that Hannah had been sort of right. But not completely! Because he knew who she was, it had just taken him a moment to remember her name and that was fine. "I wanted to check in and see how you were doing. and I wanted to do something to help, even though I couldn't get you to be.... less suspended." It made sense, regretfully. She'd read the student handbook and even if her argument felt valid it didn't matter. Maybe it would have mattered if he had been someone the principal really liked, or she had been, but neither thing seemed true and rules were rules. "My friend said you probably didn't care about the fact that you helped me, but you did. A lot. So I'm here now." She shrugged. Maybe that wasn't a good enough explanation, but it was what she had at the moment. She didn't really want to have to talk about the situation itself, that had been mortifying and violating and it still made her feel sort of uncomfortable.

He was strange. Seemed surprised and confused by her volunteering, but also had been... enthusiastic almost? to remember her name. But he also seemed so negative and she'd heard so many things about him that just didn't at all match up the way he'd said her name just now. But it was doing the opposite of deterring her from spending time around him, it was making her curious. While he was inside she dropped down onto the step he had been sitting on before, setting her bag down so she could pull a pen out of the front pocket and write her phone number down on the first page of notes with a 'in case you need help!' because she didn't want him to think she was just giving him her phone number for no reason. Then she closed the folder, and looked up when the door opened again.

Her lips parted to say something but then the dog was there, and instead Olivia let out a high pitched, excited squeak. "Well hello there handsome," she chirped immediately. His nose in her face drew a giggle from the curly haired teen, who spent a few seconds cooing at the dog and scratching him behind the ears. "I'm not talking your dog out without you Trevor, that's weird. Plus I might not bring him back," she lowered her voice, doing her best to look a little bit shifty, "you don't know whether or not I'm a dognapper. So, reluctantly, I must return this dog to you or ask you to come with me." She held the leash out towards him gravely, though her dark eyes did a poor job of hiding her amusement. "You look like there's something on your mind anyway, maybe a walk and talk would be good? Or just a walk where I talk a bunch and you don't talk at all. Or, third option, walk and I struggle very hard not to talk." She was chatty and she knew it. She wanted to be able to provide some kind of support but chattering didn't work for everyone.

 

[Periodical]

There was something about Olivia's bubbly personality that just made Trevor want to stand up, smile brightly, and lose his lunch all over the front stoop. How could someone be so happy all the time? Trevor had seen her walk around school and he noticed that she had had a pep in her step that put the Easter Bunny to shame. In more ways than one, Trevor was jealous of her. Jealous of the fact that she was, or seemed anyway, generally and geniunely happy. Trevor hated school. He hated the cliques that "owned" the school. He hated most of the kids that went to school. He walked around with his own personal rain cloud. The way he walked around, shoulders drooping and face twisted into a permanent scowl, he put Ebenezer Scrooge to shame. He was generally and genuinely unhappy and pissed off a majority of the time.

The long haired boy knew he was privileged in ways he would never truly appreciate. His parents had told them about their time in the Peace Corp, building schools for underprivileged kids who had to walk three miles barefoot through rain and mud just to get to school. Kids that had to fight for every meal, and a roof over their head. Kids that all they wanted to do was read and feel safe, but without seeing it himself, Trevor had little sympathy for them. He was a teenager. He had his own problems, and he couldn't be bothered to worry about the problems of someone else. Especially someone he didn't know. As he listened to Olivia, he decided it wasn't worth either of their time to fight it or argue. She was doing her best, and even if she stood for everything he hated, Trevor knew she was trying to be nice. While he had been inside, he had grabbed a couple plastic bags to clean up Buster's poop, and he was honestly grateful she was going to take Buster for a walk. It was one less thing on his plate.

Glancing up, he watched as she handed the leash back to him. The german shephard, only four years old, was fully grown standing at a muscular and beefy 90 pounds. It's shoulders were fully rounded out, though he still hadn't quite grown into his large and oversized ears. Trevor was beginning to think Buster was ever going to grow into those things. People say german shepards were one of the smartest breeds of dog, though Trevor had yet to see it. Buster was a clumsy oaf, As a matter of fact, just the other day, Buster walked through their sliding screen door like it was nothing. He hadn't even noticed. Trevor shook his head, if there was one thing he did love in the world, it was Buster. He listened to her speak, and he realized it was a little weird if she had taken him out. He figured he wasn't going to lose her, and she had already seemed to decide that she was going to accompany him. Trevor thought about opening his mouth to protest and to argue, but again, his better judgement kicked in and he just nodded. When Olivia did her best to try and look shifty, the idea actually drew a genuine laugh from Trevor. The idea of Olivia, the girl that fought and volunteered to give him his homework, doing something wrong was ridiculous to say the least. He thought about warning her that the walks he took ended up being pretty long, but she'd probably be all for a long walk. His time with Buster was one of the few opportunities he had to be alone and think, but he supposed today he'd have some company.

As Trevor was mulling over his options for how much Olivia was going to chat with him, Buster began to pull against the leash and whine. Trevor had the audacity to get him all harnessed up, grab the treats and the poo bags, and just sit on the front steps? No, Buster wasn't having any of that. The muscular dog pulled and pulled, and easily got Trevor up on his feet. It was in Olivia's best interest to hand the leash back. Buster was like Trevor in many ways, untrained and undisciplined. The strong dog would have dragged the poor girl throughout town. Hell, even Trevor had trouble controlling his dog at times. Reaching into his pocket, he handed Olivia a bag of treats, before the walk officially began. For the most part, Trevor allowed Buster to lead him. The dog knew where he wanted to go, and Trevor liked seeing his animal happy. It was one of the few things the boy took joy in.

A short ways away from the apartment was a small park. Normally Trevor had some toys he could take with Buster, but Olivia's presence threw off his whole routine. The park was fully fenced in, and when Trevor noticed there didn't seem to be anyone else out, Trevor let Buster off the leash. Normally, even if Trevor didn't bring toys out with him, his dog would find someone's lost tennis ball and they'd play with that for awhile. As Buster ran out to look for toys and to relieve himself, Trevor turned towards Olivia. He was starting to warm up to having her around a little bit, the laugh she coaxed from him going a long way. He wasn't ready to call her his friend, or even his acquaintance yet, but then again, there weren't many that had the pleasure of being one of Trevor's friends, If she was coming along Trevor figured he may as well talk to her. "Don't you have something else to do than to hang out with me?" He asked, as the words just kind of came out. He knew they sounded rude, but in his defence he wasn'tused to talking to too many people. "I mean, don't you have other friends? You don't have to slum it up with me." Again, the words sounded confrontational. Trevor fought the urge to hit himself on the top of his head. "Wh..what are your hobbies?" He asked, finally settling on words that made it seem like he didn't want her around. He did.

 

[Virginia Greene]

She had never heard him laugh before. Admittedly Olivia had a lot of schoolmates she had probably never heard laugh. but this felt different. She liked it, and she was going to hear it again.

"Oh no don't make me in charge of these, I will horribly spoil your dog for things he doesn't deserve and then you''ll have to deal with the consequences." She still squirreled the treats away into her sweatshirt pocket before Trevor could take them back, grinning. She had to move quickly to keep up at first, but she found an even pace that kept her about even with him even though she gave the other teen more space than she would have one of her friends. Without knowing more about him, she couldn't really gauge where his personal bubble ended. But based on how she'd seen him moving through the hallways at school and the space other people tended to want to give him, her assumption was that it was bigger than hers. Because barring displeasure towards specific people, Olivia's personal bubble was pretty small to nonexistent. He was right that she was generally pretty happy at school - it was an environment that generally suited her and she adapted well to the teenage social hierarchy. She mostly understood it and how to navigate through it without feeling the need to participate as fiercely as some others did. She existed on the outskirts, or somewhere in the middle, generally content with things.

Though she had suggested the possibility of a constant stream of chatter, the almond skinned teen tagged along silently until they reached the little park. It felt like if she was going to say something it should either be important or at least something that interested Trevor and she didn't know what sorts of things interested him yet. When he spoke she turned her face up towards him, brow furrowing slightly. "I do have other friends, but I'm not slumming it," she said indignantly. "This is where I want to be right now and I'll do all the things I could do instead of hanging out with you when I'm done." Was that supposed to be an insult or judgment towards her? Because she was taking it a little bit more as him thinking negatively about himself, whether that was true or not.

What are your hobbies was a question that always frustrated Olivia a little, because what counted as a hobby? But Trevor was showing active interest in talking to her so she wasn't going to hassle him about that question and instead tilted her head to the side slightly to consider. "I listen to a lot of music, does that count as a hobby?" Probably not, everyone liked to listen to music. "I like to paint. And I'm trying to teach myself to juggle." But she wasn't sure if she was doing that right because it was hard to self-monitor that sort of thing. How was she supposed to know if her hands were always in the right place? "And I'm on an eternal quest to find the best pizza recipe. What about you?" She'd probably heard more about Trevor than he'd heard about her, but Olivia didn't really know anything about what he liked to do or what his interests were.

 

[Periodical]

Surpringly enough, the bulk of the walk so far had been pretty quiet. Things were almost awkward between the two of them. At times, Trevor opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it rather quickly most times. Periodically, the walk would stop as Buster smelt trees, around the bottom step of other stoops, flower pots, and anything he could get his nose near really. He also had to stop to mark his territory a few times, though that was perfectly normal for Buster or any dog. Buster seemed pretty proud of himself, and when they reached the park, Buser quickly found an abandoned tennis ball. Taking it back to Trevor, he was soo happy when his long haired owner tossed the yellow ball for him. Lazily, his tongue hung out of his mouth as he trotted back, holding the tennis ball for him to take and throw again.

Honestly, his words hadn't been a slight against her, and she was right to think he was slighting himself. Part of it was that the dryness and the self deprecation was just his brand of humor. The other part of it, was that there was no way a girl like Olivia would hang out with a guy like Trevor unless they were forced to, or had nothing better to do. While the basis of his words were mostly unfounded, Trevor considered it a poor attempt at a joke at his own expense. With her indignant reaction to it, he made a mental note not to make another joke, at least of that nature. Thankfully, they began to talk about their hobbies.

Nodding as he threw the ball for Buster one more, he smiled. "I like music as well!" He said, almost as if he was taking a subtle victory in the fact they both liked music. "I like working with my hands." Trevor said, thinking a little bit about some of the stuff he liked to do. "I like to play video games also." He said, feeling himself sucking the air out of the conversation. That was just something he did. He didn't bother to mention how he had never finished a puzzle, model, or anything he tried to fix or how he hadn't beaten any of the games he "liked" to play no matter how hard he tried. He didn't feel sorry for himself though and he had accepted the fact that there were alot more talented people in the world. Hell, he was probably talking to one right now. "Is cigarettes a hobby?" He asked. another poor attempt at a joke

Another brief and awkward silence developed between the two. What was this? Was this a date? Was this just them hanging out? There wasn't any way she could have possibly been having fun, right? The boy thought, picking up the slobber soaked ball and throwing it once more. He had gotten pretty goot at throwing tennis balls as far as he could. Playing with Buster was probably the one thing he was actually good at.

His mind shifted once more. He remembered there was a dance towards the end of the week and his mom wanted him to ask a girl to it. As a matter of fact, she had threatened him with it. If he didn't find and ask someone to go with him, she would. As much as Trevor didn't care about his social reputation at that high school, he also knew there was much that could come from his mom showing up and asking girls for him. Now, he just needed to get himself together and ask her.

Opening his mouth, he shut it quickly. Now wasn't the time. Asking a girl he had just met to Homecoming? One that had given him his homework? It was true, she had said that she volunteered for the job but that was still crazy talk, right? Grabbing the ball, Trevor threw it one more time, this time bouncing it against the ground so Buster would have to jump after it. When he trotted happily back, Trevor reattached the leash to his collar before turning back towards her. "Like I said at the house, I like to take him on long walks. this is just step one." He said, by now, he had a whole routine he took Buster on every day. "You sure you want to come along?" He asked, giving her another opportunity to back out. "It's not very exciting.."

 

[Virginia Greene]

"What kind of music do you listen to?" That was good enough place to start, she figured. Maybe they had some kind of crossover in genres - or even better, artists or specific songs. It was hard to imagine they'd have music in common, but that was an unfair judgment because anyone could enjoy anything and it didn't matter what they looked like or acted like. "Work with your hands like building stuff? That's super cool." Would he like painting? Maybe not like... on paper painting, but she didn't do much of that either. "What kind of games? I'm terrible at video games, but I like to watch people play them." Olivia was into games for the visuals and the story so just being in the room while someone else played was good enough for her. Especially if she could give advice that she might or might not be qualified to give. "And uh, no. Cigarettes are not a hobby." Her tone was playful as opposed to judgmental. "I would count collecting fancy expensive cigars, but I'm pretty sure that's not what you do. Going on walks though, that can be a hobby." And it was healthy and something that she could insert herself into easily, so that was an additional positive.

It hadn't crossed her mind for even a fraction of a second that this could be considered a date. She barely knew Trevor, and the idea someone could go on a date with a person they barely knew had never occurred to her because it wasn't how her brain was wired. She was hanging out with him because she was curious and because he'd made no attempts to stop her from doing so. Olivia wanted to get to know him, she was having fun so far, and she was pleased at the idea that they might get along. And be friends maybe? She wanted to be friends with him. I wasn't a thought based on much at all - him standing up for her, the sound of his laugh, and his willingness to spend time with her. But she didn't need more reason than that, she thought. She'd started out friendships that had gone for years on less.

The Friday night dance was also far from her mind. Her plan had been to attend and hang out with Hannah, or maybe another small group of girls who she felt comfortable with. That was what she'd almost always done - even at her old school she had rarely attended with anyone but her friends. Not because she wasn't interested in the idea of romance or going to a school dance with someone, it just hadn't come up very often in the past. And now she barely knew any guys anyway.

Trevor gave her an out to stop spending time with him and she looked up towards him again, eyebrows furrowing. "Do you want me to leave? Because if you want to be by yourself I could go," she gestured back the way they came, and shrugged. "But if not, I said I was going on the walk and I'm doing it." Everything she knew about him second hand would lead her to assume he'd want her to go away but it didn't really seem that way. He was trying to engage her in conversation (she was pretty sure anyway), he had said absolutely nothing that she would consider unkind beyond his initial prickliness when they'd first met at his place, and his dog was super cute. “It could definitely make it more exciting if you gave me the leash though.” She fixed Trevor with the best soft puppy eyes she could muster at the moment, and even held out her hand for the leash. "And then also promise to save me if Buster tries to drag me away."

She wouldn't carry the ball though. That was something she didn't miss. Dog slobber was the one sort of unappealing part of dogs. Plus Buster had found it at the park so they could technically just leave it here, right? That wasn't littering because it was a dog toy in a space for dogs. "How long have you lived around here?" It seemed like a lot of the people she'd run into had been in school together since middle school if not elementary school, and it felt sometimes like that made it harder for her to step into the already built social structure. Coming in for the last year probably didn't help either - her options were to befriend people who were her age and already had friend groups and dynamics, or hang out with fifteen year olds. Which... uh, no thanks.

 

[Periodical]

When the two finally started to talk, the questions began coming in quite quickly. To some, the two were engaging in a rousing game of twenty questions. To Trevor, this was just how he had a conversation. He allowed Olivia to run it and he answered the questions with a little return of his own. "I listen to almost everything. A little of this, a little of that." He said before they moved on. "I like to play a little music, I like building, working with tools, fixing cars. Things like that." When she asked about games, he thought about it. "I play whatever, not too picky. Lately I've been playing some classic Mario games." Was he a hipster trapped in an awkward high schooler's body? Perhaps, he never could tell sometimes.

The boy was honestly quite surprised how they actually formed a conversation from his short remarks about what he liked to do, and the conversation was actually both ways. "What kind of music did you like to listen to? Favorite bands?" He said with a smile. Music was the thing they were likely going to connect on most, and while Trevor didn't have many things he was good at, he had become quite the musician. He had already mastered the acoustic guitar, his favorite instrument, and he had and dabbled on an electric guitar, a drum set, an ukelele, and an electric keyboard. He had been experimenting with recording himself playing an instrument, and combining the sound with himself playing other instruments. It was hard work and he needed a bass guitar, but it was fun nonetheless.

When she put him on the spot and asked if he actually wanted her to leave, something inside of Trevor broke down. Was he actually enjoying spending time with her? Was it that she was the first person to give him any kind of attention, or was it an actual budding friendship that was forming between the two of them? Trevor couldn't honestly tell. What he could tell, however, was the fact that he wanted her to stay and he wanted to continue to talk to her. He opened his mouth in order to tell her how much he wanted her to stay, but thankfully, she gave him an out this time.

"Oh, Buster isn't going to drag you away." He said handing the leash over to her. Buster didn't seem to notice or mind who was actually holding the leash, instead he went about his merry way. Sniffing what he could and investigating whatever she would let him investigate. He was pretty unruly, and when he wanted to mark his territory, he'd pull hard on the leash. "Unless he sees a cat." Trevor added underneath his breath as the two began to actually walk once more with the detour being over. Glancing back towards her, he smiled. "I've lived in that apartment for as long as I can remember." He said after a brief thought. "What about you, how long have you lived around here?"

Trevor's inquiry would go unanswered though, and it wasn't because she was ignoring him. Instead, while Trevor had been trying to make less awkward eye contact with her, Buster caught a sniff of something and began to sniff at the ground to find out where it was. For a block or so, Buster dictated a fast and frantic pace. His wet and black nose, glued to the ground as he intensely sniffed, looking for whatever it was that had caught his nose. On the next block, Buster took off, dragging Olivia with him as he caught a strong whiff of whatever it was he wanted to chase.

For a moment, the dog and it's current handler left Trevor in the dust. With a shake of his head, Trevor knew he needed to catch up to them. He wasn't a great runner on account of the smoking, but he pushed through it. He was actually quite quick when he ignored his lungs constricting. He felt like he wasn't getting enough air, but he caught up to them quite quickly right before Buster dragged his unfortunate leash holder across a busy street. Reaching out with his left hand, he grabbed Olivia around the waist. He didn't want to grab at her clothes and risk any damage. Trevor had been down that path before with someone else. He had learned from his mistake. Pulling her towards him, he grabbed the back of her hand holding the leash with his right hand, and with his added strength, Buster stopped in his tracks. The german shepard coughed and glanced back at them before coming towards Trevor with his head down and his tail wagging.

On the other side of the busy street ontop of a stoop sat an orange tabby. Almost in a taunting manner, it licked it's paws. The dog, of course, was quite pertubed, but quickly forgot about it. Trevor, still holding Olivia around the waist and her hand, struggled to catch his breath before he took the leash from her and let go. "Heh. Sorry about that. Cat." He said through deep pants.

 

[Virginia Greene]

"I've never actually played Mario," she admitted, "but I've seen it played and I feel like it's been around long enough I know the story even without having experienced it first hand." Which said something for the impact the game had on pop culture. "My mom doesn't really... believe in video games." The curly haired teen filed away the fact he played an instrument as something to inquire about later, because she wanted to do more than swap questions if possible. It was just hard to settle on a specific topic while they were feeling out what they had in common besides liking dogs and listening to music.

"That's not an answer," Olivia half-squeaked indignantly, but didn't really push it. Instead she let him keep talking, content with the fact that even if he wasn't giving her a lot he was at least talking with her seemingly comfortably. When he inquired about her tastes in music she tilted her head slightly in consideration and let out a tiny "ah, hm" of thought. "Clean Bandit? And Walk the Moon. And The White Stripes. My dad really likes Ice-T so I listen to him a lot too I guess, even though he'll only ever be the Law and Order guy to me. I think I like pop music and rap, but I'll give pretty much anything a try at least once. If I can sing to it slightly off-key while washing the dishes, I'm probably into it. What about you? No being vague this time," she didn't want another answer that didn't give her any information, "give me a band name!"

When Buster took off she was dragged along with him, not willing to let go of the leash. As a child her mother had advised that she drop a leash if she was ever in danger of getting dragged too far or falling over, but in the moment and with a dog that wasn't hers, it didn't seem at all like a good idea. Her high tops skidded along the cement a little every few steps as she tried to brace herself and get the dog to stop, but she was small and there was nothing to grab onto so she was just sort of stuck going with. She was sort of managing to figure out how to at least slow down the large dog when suddenly an arm wrapped around her waist and both she and the dog came to an abrupt stop. Olivia could both hear and feel how heavily he was breathing. "Please don’t die, I have no upper body strength so I’d have to leave you here.”

He smelled like cigarette smoke and something she couldn't identify, and she... liked it?

She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks, and was thankful for the fact that blushes showed up much less obviously for her. It was all about expression because the color didn't show up on her skin. But if he touched her face he'd know. Not that he would, that'd be weird, and it was weird to think he would. When he let go she took a tiny step back and shook her head. "Well I was right, giving me the leash made it more exciting," Olivia quipped. "Thanks for catching me." Yet another, this time more socially acceptable, saving of sorts. "I think it's probably better if I uh, don't walk the dog." Her arm hurt a little, from that initial strong yang and she bet it would have hurt worse if Trevor hadn't grabbed the leash right after he grabbed her. "He's strong." And so was Trevor? Maybe? It felt like he was strong to her.

 

[Periodical]

By the time he had caught her, he was desperate to make her stop. His arm was securely wrapped around her stomach just above her waist, and her smallish hand fit almost perfectly in his much larger hands. His dad had always said he had a guitar player's hand, and it was something he took to heart. He huffed and puffed. He wanted to say something else, but the words got caught in his throat. Even her joke, which was funny, wasn't enough to pull Trevor out of the "fish out of water" phase he was going through, gasping for air. It took him a little longer than he would have liked to recover, but he was happy she was safe.

His german shepard by now had just sat down on the pavement, waiting for the walk to continue. As Trevor peeled his arm off her mid section, he glanced down to notice a little bit of a streak of sweat leftover from his arm. He hoped she wouldn't notice, but there was really no way she couldn't realize it was there. After a few more moments, he was almost normal. At least, normal enough to force a laugh at her joke. "Don't sweat it." He said, taking the leash back from her. The last thing he reluctantly let go of was her hand when she handed back the leash.

It was the first time he had had any real contact with a girl, and he liked it. He figured she thought he was repulsive in many ways. The smell of the cigarette smoke mixed with the pine smelling soap his parents bought him often times made for an interesting interaction smell wise. Trevor shook his head. "Yeah, you gotta watch out for this one. We call him trouble where I come from." He said with another laugh. The walk had certainly been exciting, and he was honestly surprised that she seemed to be eager to contine and walk with him, especially after his dog had almost pulled her into oncoming traffic.

Continuing to walk, they passed by a little mom and pop flower shop. As they walked by, an older woman who was clearly the owner poked her head out and smiled. "Hey Mrs. Baptiste!" Trevor said with a smile raising his hand. "Ooh, Trevor. I was wondering when you would show up today." The older woman said, patting Buster on the head before slipping him a treat. The woman glanced between the two of them, before smiling a big toothy smile. "You've got great taste Trev. Your girlfriend is beautiful!" She said, and before Trevor could actually respond, he turned to Olivia. "My name is Patricia Baptiste, I own Baptiste's Flower Shop. He's such a good boy, isn't he?"

The boy could tell, this was going to get a lot worse before it got better. He knew he had to do some quick thinking. Reaching down, Trevor grabbed Olivia's hand. "Whelp, we better get going." Trevor said in an attempt to cut Mrs. Baptiste off. Unfortunately, the flower shop owner stopped them. "Alright then." She said before plucking a lilly from one of her displays. Handing it to Olivia, she smiled. "Make sure you keep him out of trouble now!" She said as Trevor pulled on her hand and continued the walk. When they were out of eyesight from her, he let go before wiping his sweaty palm on his pants. "Sorry about that." He said as they approached their next destination, a park with a little stream running through it.

 

[Virginia Greene]

Laughter, again! This trip was a success and she couldn’t be convinced otherwise. It was going so much better than she could have imagined on the bus on the way here. She had expected to exchange words with him, maybe briefly sit on the porch at best.

For a moment, Olivia wanted to joke about how he was the only one who was sweating, but she didn’t really know enough about Trevor and his sense of humor to know if that would go over well or hurt his feelings. And there were a lot of things that had been said about him and even if they mostly weren’t true she didn’t want to make him angry or anything. “You could have warned me ahead of time, relevant pet nicknames should always be disclosed even if it’s only because they’re always cute." She kept pace with him, rolling her shoulder while she walked to shake off the slight discomfort. Then it was fine, and she was perfectly content to tag along in silence until they reached the small shop.

She glanced between Trevor and Mrs. Baptiste, hoping her companion would say something to clear things up. When he didn’t, she let out an awkward “Yes?” entirely unsure of how to respond to the misunderstanding but not wanting to say something that would insinuate Trevor wasn’t a good dude because that wasn’t the issue she had with the statement. “He sure is... a... boy.” That was weird and awkward, she needed to say something better! “We’re still getting to know each other.” Which she meant literally but could be taken as two people who had just started dating. There were a lot of things Olivia was learning to shut down but ‘sweet older woman who misinterprets a relationship’ was not one she’d had practice with.

“Oh, um, thanks?” She was being given this gift under false pretenses and it truly didn’t matter in the scope of the bigger picture but in the moment it mattered to her and she felt like she should give it back and explain because this was a free thing hinged on a relationship that wasn’t real. But doing that would also be uncomfortable, and Trevor interrupted her train of thought on the matter anyway. He grabbed her hand and she let him pull her away, moving quickly to keep up and giving the best version of a wave she could when her free hand was holding a flower.

Once they were out of sight and he let go of her hand, she quirked a dark eyebrow at him. “I feel like grabbing my hand probably didn't do a lot to clear up her assumption," she chirped, though she didn't sound at all bothered by it. "Hold this." Olivia all but shoved the flower into his free hand and dug into the pocket of her sweatshirt, fishing around for a hairband. Once she found it, she twisted her thick, curly hair up into a pile on her head and wrangled it with the hairband before plucking the flower from Trevor and pushing it through the bun she'd made so that it flower stuck out one side and the stem stuck out the other. She made an amused noise when she realized how long the stem was and struggled for a moment to half snap, half tear it so it was a little shorter. Still long enough to put in water later and probably still long enough it might be little silly, but not bothersome. "There! Hands free." To prove her point she held up her hands, wiggling her long fingers as a demonstration of how free they were.

 

[Periodical]

It was clear from his actions and his posture that Trevor was starting to settle in a little bit. He was opening up to the idea of Olivia hanging around and being more than just "the girl who was bringing him his himework." She had seen parts of his life that even his closest friends hadn't seen, and she was making him genuinely laugh in ways he hadn't in quite some time, even when he was stoned off his ass. They fed off of each others energy and she was able to hold down actual and meaningful conversations with her.

If this were a cartoon, hed have little stars for pupils. Doing as he was told, he held the flower for her and watched her quick and tiny hands make her hair look completely different. Once the flower was inside, he smiled. "Wow, you look so pretty." He said, letting his brain run a little wild before he shook his head. "Unfortunately, this was the last stop" Trevor lied as he found a picnic table to settle down at.

"You dont have to walk me all the way home." He said knowing there was a subway station and a bus stop not far from the park. A brief silence took hold once more, Trevor had gotten stuck watching his dog sniff at a flower as well as tangle himself around the picnic table. Looking up at her, his words got caught in his throat.

"So, uh, before you go." He said as he struggled to come up with the words to convey what he wanted to say. It was a problem he had had, and one of the reasons why he turned to fighting. "I was wondering, I'm still suspended but I think I may need help with some of the homework." He lied. He hadn't looked at it, but he was just looking for an excuse to see her again.

 

[Virginia Greene]

He called her pretty, and she froze for a second, brown eyes darting over to Trevor and then away from him. She felt the heat rising in her cheeks and then glanced back over at him with an almost shy smile. “Thanks. I have good flower energy.” That’s what her mom said, anyway. Probably because Olivia liked wearing things that had flowers on them, or actual flowers. A compliment was not a thing she thought she’d hear in a million years from him and she wasn’t sure how to handle it. Sure her mental image of Trevor was adjusting quickly, but it hadn’t swung so far in that she has at all prepared for being called pretty and she wasn’t sure how to handle it. She didn’t get compliments that often anyway, and she fidgeted slightly with the one of the drawstrings of her sweatshirt hood a little awkwardly for a moment. When he said the park was the last stop she let out a tiny “ah boo, really?” She had been having fun, it felt like sort of a tour of the neighborhood. Wasn’t her neighborhood she was touring, but still. It was comfortable, and she hadn’t gotten that in her own neighborhood when she’d arrived.

She knew he hadn’t had time to look at the homework yet but didn’t say so. It didn’t seem at all weird that he’d assume he’d need help with it. “I thought you might.” Olivia paused and frowned and then lifted her hands in gesture of surrender, quickly adding “because you missed a bunch and I don’t know if my notes will all make sense since I wrote them mostly for myself, not because—“ not because she thought he was stupid or anything. “I wrote my phone number on a sticky note inside your homework folder so you can text me whenever you want if you have questions. Or I can come by to help out after school or over the weekend, except Saturday morning. And Sunday night I have to study for an AP test - not that my mom would let me be at a boy’s house too late in the evening anyway - but other than that!”

How did she end this conversation? She didn’t really want to, but Trevor had sort of excused her so Olivia shifted slightly and then offered Trevor a warm smile. “Also even if you don’t have questions you should text me YouTube links to songs you like since you were so unspecific about it before. I need new music that isn’t recommended by my parents. It was uh, really nice to get to spend time with you!” She almost told him that he wasn’t what she expected, but those words might sound unkind. There was no way Trevor didn’t know what people expected him to be like, after all. “And thanks for letting me hang out with your dog, I feel recharged and all filled up on puppy love, ready to go deal with the rest of my cold, dogless life.” She moved to give Buster a few good scratches behind the ear and then straightened up. “I’ll see you later? Maybe before you come back to school.”

((Sorry for the wait! I’ve been struggling with some hardcore burnout. I’m pretty sure it’s temporary and just from current events))

 

[Periodical]

Her reaction after his compliment wasnt too bad. As a matter of face, Trevor thought things went fairly well. She didnt seem too repulsed and if he didnt know any better, he would have thought he saw a blush spread across her caramel skin. He had given her and out though, and he too struggled with the final piece to their day together. He didnt want to read too much into the fact that she said her mom wouldnt allow her at a boys house later? What was this? What were they? Obviously they weren't dating or an item yet, but she acted differently around him than most girls his age. When she said she'd see him later, he nodded with a smile. Did they just end with a wave? "Thanks for coming with us!" He said with a smile. Another awkward silence enveloped them, and as much as he wanted to go for a hug, he chose not to.

"6th street station is down at the end of the block. From there, you should be able to switch to any route you need to get home." He said before he turned and started moving with Buster. Something caused him to stop, and he knew he wanted to see her sooner rather than later. "What are you doing tomorrow?" He asked her before turning around and facing her. "Maybe, it you wanted, you can come over again and help me with some of that homework?" He asked her with a little bit of hope. "If you are lucky, maybe I'll play some guitar for you?" He asked, trying to sweeten the deal. "If not, whenever you get a sec. I'm not really doing anything." He said before he smiled and waived goodbye one last time. "I'll text you." He said, ending their encounter with a simple statement of fact.

From there, the walk home was crucial to calming his own nerves. His heart was pumping, and his face felt warm even in the cool breeze. He wanted to get home, get her number, and text her. He wanted to show her he was different than his reputation. As he got home, he unhooked Buster before grabbing the homework folder and heading up to his room. Putting her number into his phone, he picked up his guitar and began to idly strum. He had to get practiced.