Just a Page in a Book

I walked through the doors of the large school to see a hallway lined with multicolor lockers. The halls were filled with noisy teenagers. I pushed passed them and headed to my locker. I spun the combination and opened it to grab my notebook, pen and textbook. I shut the locker and turned on my heel to see Sage. Her smile glowed upon her tanned face.
“Hey Air!” She used my old nickname which made me giggle. They used to call me that in grade school and were now just starting to get back into it.
“Hello Sage.” I said while looping my arm through hers and pulling her to the school lobby where we found Oliver talking to none other than, Zoey Mills. I rolled my eyes and said, “Let’s go.”
“What’s wrong?” Sage asked with a worried glare.
“Nothing, let’s jus-”
“Air! Sage!” Oliver cut me off by waving at us. I groaned as Sage dragged me over.
“Hi.” Zoey said with a wide smile. I gave a small polite small and nodded. I looked at the grinning Oliver and then back to Zoey who was biting her lip and blushing. Had I missed something?
I raised my eyebrow at his next words. “Zoey and I are going to the movies tomorrow night and I was wondering if you and Iris wanted to go?” Oliver asked Sage.
“Like a double date? Sure.” Sage bubbled. I looked away, pretending not to care that I was utterly forgotten about.
“You could come too.” Zoey said with a friendly smile.
“Yeah! We could find you someone to go with.”
“No!” I blurted out; I quickly breathed and spoke again, “Its fine. I’d rather not.”
“Nonsense! We’ll find you someone.” I wish he’d just shut up.
“How about my friend Trinity?” Zoey’s smile grew wider as I groaned. Just before I could protest the bell rang and Iris came running up and grabbed my other arm, walking down the hall with Sage and me. I’m such a pimp.
I plopped down in my seat and sighed. I glared over at Oliver as he sat next to me.
“I’m not going, Oliver.” He turned to look at me and his mouth hung open as his eyes widened.
“You have to come! I’ll be the only guy there!” I raised my eyebrow at him and he linked his hands together. “Please, please, please.”
“Whatever,” I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Sure. But I’m getting a ride with you.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” He wrapped his arms around my neck while squealing. Fuck sakes.
By the end of the day, I was exhausted. I got off the bus and walked up my driveway. I went into my house and straight up the stairs to my room. As I walked in, I dropped my bag and crashed onto my bed.
“Honey? It’s time for dinner.” A familiar voice awoke me from my nap. I flung my legs over the side of the bed and stood up, yawning and stretching. I walked downstairs and into the kitchen. The smell of sushi washed over me and I literally ran to the table, nearly slipping on the hardwood floors. I pulled out my phone and checked the time. 8:46 PM. How can I still be tired?
“We always eat so late.” I mumbled while putting my phone into my jeans pocket. I grabbed a piece of sushi and stuffed it into my mouth. Mmmm, sushi.

So, fast-forward to the following night and you’ll see Oliver and I getting out of his mothers car in front of the Cinema. It was starting to get dark and the October air was chilling. We walked through the metal doors, the heat hitting us with a welcome. We found the others in the lobby and hurried off to see our movie. I didn’t need to speak, thankfully. Trinity was there, of course. And she smiled at me the whole time.
We bought our tickets and went into the theatre to find our seats. We decided on an empty row in the middle. Iris took the farthest seat, with Sage next to her. I sat next to Sage with Trinity right beside me. Zoey sat beside her and Oliver right next to Zoey.
Throughout the movie, Iris and Sage held hands. Trinity and I barely spoke. She’d throw friendly smiles my way whenever she could and I just smiled back. Zoey and Oliver were giggling, and at one point he put his arm around her. And for some reason, I got annoyed. Really annoyed.
As the movie ended, we exited the Cinema and stood outside in the cold night. Things were going fine, everyone was laughing and talking. Until Ethan Richards started to walk over.
“Oliver.” Ethan’s voice was a deep rumble. Two boys stood at his side. One had dirty blonde hair and was tall and lanky. The other was tall and filled out, looking quite strong, he had short brown hair and a scratched up face. Ethan had long, thick, wavy hair that he covered with a hat that he wore backwards. His face carried a look of hatred that no one could dismiss.
Oliver spun on his heel, looking shocked. Oliver and Ethan were about the same height and their eyes locked. “What the fuck do you want?” He spat the words with disgust. Ethan and Oliver had hated each other for years. Ethan has always wanted the opportunity to beat Oliver’s face in. With that fact running through my brain, my heart leaped into my throat, pounding like mad.
“I wanna know why you’re hanging out with queers?” His words were dark. Until he took a step back, a deep laugh erupted from his throat and his words sounded more like he was enthusiastic with joy rather than hatred, “Oh wait, you are one!”
I could see Oliver’s jaw clench and the anger meet his eyes. This would not be good. “At least I’m not a piece of shit that loses a girl to a ‘queer’.” Oliver was referring to Zoey. Zoey and Ethan had dated for about three months until two weeks ago.
“I’m warning you, Reed. Don’t say things you’ll soon regret.” Ethan’s face was only a few feet away from Oliver’s. And his smile was full of wicked hatred.
“I’m not afraid of trailer trash, Richards.” Oliver gave Ethan a full blown smile that just screamed ‘Come on bitch, try and touch me.’ My eyes grew wider as Ethan gritted his teeth and grabbed a handful of Oliver’s shirt. Oliver laughed and pulled himself away. He took a few steps back, grinning from ear to ear. Ethan took a few swift steps forward and connected his fist with the side of Oliver’s face. Oliver pressed his hand to his cheek and Ethan turned around, laughing and walking away. I reached out for Oliver but he shrugged me off and dropped his hand.
“Hey, Richards.” Oliver yelled out. Ethan turned and raised his eyebrow, taking a few steps forward. Oliver filled the gap, and in one swift movement he pulled his arm back and smashed it into Ethan’s jaw. As Ethan touched his jaw, Oliver pumped his other fist into his ribs, sending him to the cold concrete. He kicked him in the ribs, Ethan let out howls of pain. Sirens blared in the night and I screamed for Oliver to stop. But, I was too late. The cops had pulled into the parking lot as Ethan’s two friends pulled him to his feet, shoved him in the car and they drove away. The cop grabbed Oliver’s shoulder and wrists. He pushed him against the side of the car. His cheek was pressed to the trunk as they cuffed him. His wide eyes were filled with undeniable fear as they pulled him up and shoved him in the backseat.
“Aaron!” He screamed in fear. The window muffled his worry and I felt my heart drop. As they drove away, he turned around looking at me through the back window.
“The manager must have called the cops…” Iris whispered and gulped. Zoey opened her mouth to say something but her mother drove up so she stayed quiet and just got in the car. “We’ll drive you home, Air.” Iris put her arm around me and smiled, but the worry never left her eyes.
After Iris’ mother dropped me off, I went to straight to my room without saying a word to anyone and got under the covers. I stared at the dark, seeing Oliver’s fear-filled eyes, until I let my fatigue consume me.