Flashback, 1 month prior to the graduation date, Oakridge Academy____________________________________________________
Something which Jyn couldn't fully understand were her feelings for someone else. Of course, she wouldn't actually bother struggling with it if it wasn't necessary but if it would develop into something deeper, Jyn might actually have to consider on taking a serious note. His name was Chris and for reasons Jyn also couln't understand, his name alone had effortlessly attracted her in a very odd way. They were grouped together and was assigned to perform a special activity regarding their pre-graduation training. Supposedly, It was just a casual partnership wherein they should do what was needed to be accomplished. But after the activity, Chris had several casual hang-outs with Jyn which eventually made some of her friends think that they were actually dating. As much as for that small misunderstanding, Jyn actually liked the guy not only from his attractiveness alone but also from his kindness and sunny personality. There was a time when Jyn had actually mistaken him for Samuel but she then realized that no other person could ever be compared to him as he was the only one--specifically a male individual--who made her understand what it was to live life by loving someone.
She Still couldn't understand the feelings she was having recently, but even if she does, she wouldn't preferably like it in any other way. But it was bothering her and it kept her from preparing for the next following days which would be the grand evaluation exam. It's as if something which was helping her think properly was about to deviate from her system. Jyn needed some help, if anyone would bother giving some. Then she thought about going to one of her close friends whom she hoped to have some decent knowledge about the small problems that Jyn couldn't deal comprehensively.
Olivia. Even though Jyn has some close female friends whom she can freely share her problems with, Olivia was far the closest one among them. Jyn dug her room up to find her bag of personal belongings. Once found, she fished through some items until she fumbled her cellphone. She then brought her fingers rattling on the screen to send an immediate text:
Hey, Olive!
Mind if I come by to your room right now?
Love, Jyn~Jyn laid herself down on the bed, setting up a blank gaze towards the ceiling and eagerly awaited for Olivia's quick reply.
Olivia was spending her Saturday afternoon in a fashion accustomed to individuals who were either obsessed with external properties or those who were forced into such vanities by the world around them. The girl was seated in her unmade bed in nothing much than a jersey that blatantly supported the Oakridge Academy team, painting her toenails with a fluorescent white coloration that shone with the strength of a star when contrasted with her aureate skin, all the while attempting to prevent the white sludge in her mouth that was supposed to bleach her teeth from mixing with her saliva and dripping all over the sheets. It was an awkward moment in that Olivia was somewhat preoccupied, without her face on and looking like a witch. However, her superficial needs came second to her friendsβ desire to see her, especially Jyn. Olivia executed some ungraceful acrobatics and texted her dear girl back:
βNot at all, hon
Come on overβOnce Jyn received Olivia's reply, she gave herself a dear reminder about the photo of Chris that she intended to show. She smiled as she found and viewed the file in her phone but regretted on doing so after taking her eyes away from it. As she warily lifted herself up from her bed, Jyn wore her sweatshirt before grabbing the keys to her room and leaving.
"I can't believe I'm disturbing someone just for the sake of my immature ignorance" Jyn mumbled, sighing a bit heavily afterwards
Minutes later, Jyn arrived; standing in front of the door which led to Olivia's room. Clearing her throat, Jyn knocked gently as she tried to show a warm and non-hostile mood.
The knock on her door came as a relief, as Olivia could finally spit the awful sludge out of her mouth that was burning the back of her already inflated lips. She had to be careful with where she decided to tread so as not to ruin the vigorous work she had put in on her toenails, but the three or four steps to the tiny bathroom in her room was surely not a problem. The girl urged Jyn to hold on for just a second while Olivia rinsed her mouth with water and attempted to tidy up her hair, so that it would not sprout in every direction akin to some feral plant.
Only a few seconds passed before Olivia opened the door and displayed that wide, fluorescent smile of hers. βHello, darling,β she said and embraced Jyn as the girl entered. βCome in, come in,β Olivia continued. The room was the essence of chaos and destruction only ever relatable in the ruins of war. The golden girl could not help but to feel embarrassed and thus excused the mess: βWellβ¦ you know how it is,β she said and urged Jyn to have a seat somewhere, either on the floor or on Oliviaβs bed β the options were limited.
"Would this be a good time?" Jyn asked, assuming that it was. Just by taking one short glance at the slight mess made Jyn a bit uncomfortable but she was eager to figure out her problems and solve it as soon as possible. "Okay, I'll just make this asking-for-a-favor thing really quick since I'm guessing you were in a middle of something and exams are on their way next week, can't you believe that?" Jyn then sauntered her way to the room and sat on a chair near Olivia's desk. Her thoughts were clouded for a moment, whether or not she would be direct to her point of coming over or just act slow which might become unnecessary later on. But as her thoughts were cleared out, she decided to just be direct about her problems.
Staring meekly at Olivia, Jyn forcefully struck a weak smile only to give obvious hints that something was bothering her.
"Hey, uh, Olive. Is it ok if I tell you something? Just between us, don't tell this to anyone" Jyn asked but wasn't intentionally waiting for an affirmative reply.
"I....uh.." Between the lines that she was attempting to say, her reluctance to admit anything became a slightly difficult task to follow up. "I..I think there's a person that I..." Jyn then hanged up for a moment God! why is this so hard to admit? I'm not a child anymore! "....like. Yes. There's this person that I actually like and I have troubles expressing my feelings towards it. I don't know, I think I might be having some mental problems but I came here to ask you if you know something about this." Jyn paused, pondering carefully about what she just said "And I assumed you do, so yes, I'm a terrible person but can you help me out for a bit?" Jyn smiled, still not genuinely-looking. "I need to figure out what the hell is wrong with me."
Olivia made sure to make Jyn feel welcomed by persuading her that there was never a βbad timeβ for her to visit. Sitting on the side of her bed, kicking her feet up and down ever so slightly to speed up the quick drying polish, Olivia carefully heeded every word that came out of Jyn. It was written all over her and shining brighter than the sun itself, Olivia could see it before the girl had even thought about saying it, which is why Oliviaβs lips mounted to a promiscuous smirk as Jyn spoke.
At the end of her request, or should one say confession, Oliviaβs entire face smiled. βAww, someone is in looove,β Olivia teased with a childish voice and chuckled. βTell me, who is he? Do I know him?β
Jyn felt as if she was acting a bit childish with her confession and Olivia's expression was enough to tell her that. "No, it's not that I'm in-love or anyhing..." She was confused about what to say next in her defense. There was no path to escape what has been said. She could only hope that it wouldn't turn into something she feared, as though she would admit that she was actually in-love.
Jyn sighed, admitting a small surrender. "Never mind." Perhaps denying her feelings might prove she wasn't in love but she knew Olivia wouldn't be that oblivious. "His name is Chris. I don't know if you are familiar with him but he's like, obsessed with science. We were partners on a special activity last week. Since then, we often met casually, mostly at lunch or at the library. I don't know, he's really good-looking and all but..." Jyn scrolled her eyes down to her phone, then went to rattle her fingers on its screen to show the photo she was planning to show. Once she got it, she showed it over to Olivia and awaited her judgement. "And don't think I took this photo. He stole my phone for a moment and intentionally took a picture of himself. I don't know what's wrong with him but I also don't know what's wrong with me for not deleting it." Jyn carefully read Olivia's expression hoping she wouldn't again think that Jyn was in-love.
Olivia observed the shapes and forms of some handsome man who had taken a pretentious selfie with Jynβs phone. The dark haired girlβs excitement had since settled slightly and when she was finished with inspecting the photo, she handed the phone back to Jyn: βWell, you like himβ¦ obviously,β Olivia said and began to look about her room for something to wear other than a jersey and panties. βSo, why would you delete his picture? I mean, itβs a bit weird that he stole your phone to take a selfie, but Iβve seen crazier stuff than that,β she continued.
"Yes of course I like him but you see, I really can't understand why he took...." Jyn paused for a moment, cautiosly analyzing what she thought to have mistakenly said as she fumbled her phone on her other hand and placed it back in the pocket of her jeans. She stood up, slowly moving her gaze away from Olivia and glanced at a wall. Then her thoughts went back to what she previously said. Eyes squinted abruptly followed by a heavy sigh "Olive, tell me if I'm really out of my mind, because I think I might be." Jyn turned her head, glancing back at Olivia. "Do you think this might be some sort of disease?"
Olivia immediately stopped what she was doing, the clothes could wait. She shifted her attention to Jyn and approached the girl, as it was obvious that this was no laughing matter or fun and games. Olivia gently placed her hand on Jynβs cheek and gazed deeply into her eyes, following the irises of the girlβs every movement: βLook at me,β Olivia said, βYouβre not crazy and you donβt have a disease. What in the world makes you think that? β Because you like this boy? So what?β
A frown was drawn to Jyn's face but it was showing her sincere agreement to the things Olivia said. "Yeah you're probably right. I think I'm just making things a lot more complicated for myself. Maybe I just need to be sincere with my feelings and admit that I really do like him." She then inched back slowly and returned to sit on the chair. "He's really a nice guy...annoying at times but there's not much of a problem I can see being with him." Jyn grabbed a pen lying on Olivia's desk and playfully spun it around with her fingers. "Do you think it's alright for me to tell him what I feel? I know I might be doing stupid things but It's been a very long time since I felt something like this."
The aureate girl slips into a pair of phthalo jeaned treggings that tightly caresses her bipedal structure, and she changes her upper exterior to fit a sleeveless top. She attempts to tidy her benighted hair once again, but unsuccessfully so and thus surrenders to her ignorance of vanity and superficial things. Olivia sits on the precipice of the furniture of which the purpose is quiescence, however now chaotic and lacking tranquility; her feet balances on the chair native to her dear friend: βYou canβt just let him have it without earning it, sweetie β thatβs just not on the elemental chart. Make him buy you dinner, or take you shopping, or something,β she speaks.
The pen was dropped carelessly, landing abruptly on the desk where Jyn sat beside. "Wouldn't that make it much mor..." Jyn halted the moment she realized that Olivia's suggestion was a fact. "You're probably right but I do recall him asking me out to something whenever we meet each other. Call me an idiot but I was completely clueless about his attempts and I was a bit scared to say something childish so I just acted pretentious and told him that I was busy, which I am not." Jyn picked up the pen and went to do the same thing with it again. "Don't you think I missed out an opportunity? I think I just did." Jyn turned to look at Olivia who seemed to be slightly struggling with something regarding the things she was partially attending to.
Olivia effortlessly pushes herself into the bantam bathroom where a sufficiently presentable mirror reflects her image. She rumbles around her collections and finds that which can thicken her lashes and highlight her features enough to impose the illusion of a beauteous appearance. Olivia hears Jyn speak her words of doubt and disbelief and replies upon exiting to where she can see her: βMissed an opportunity? Hon, youβre the opportunity, not him. Call him up, ask what heβs doing, but donβt say anything about going out or whatever.β
"Gee Olive, I don't think I'm a sacred human being" Jyn said jokingly then brushed herself off with a short chortle. She then dropped the pen after a sudden whirl. Afterwards, her gazed followed to Olivia's movements which then made Jyn thought about her sudden negligence for studies. A few seconds of silence went on within the room but then broke soon as Jyn stood from her seat and cleared her throat. Olivia seemed to be resuming of what Jyn assumed to be a make-over before bedtime. "Hey Olive," Jyn's steadfast stare towards Olivia made it obvious that her next line would be her appreciation. But she thought something greater might be necessary. After all, Olivia's advice seemed to give Jyn an idea on what to do next if given the chance to meet up again with the guy. "Thank you, I really do apologize if I acted like a child who doesn't know how to deal with personal problems." Jyn took a few steps towards the door, still maintaining a sincere expression towards Olivia. "I think I'll be honest If I meet him next time. But for now, I'll just give him a good luck message for the evaluation exams next week." A smile was drawn to her face, not exactly her best one but doing so somehow gave her some decent confidence.
Before walking past the door, Jyn took a moment to give Olivia a quick sharp hiss. "Come have lunch with me tomorrow." She said, her voice sounding a bit coarse. "My treat, don't worry." it was obvious to say that it was something that Jyn wanted to repay for and thus, she slowly stepped out from Olivia's room.
To be continued