Nothing Like You and I
Chapter Four
"Sooo...guess I'll see you around?"
Oli is currently standing outside of the door to the apartment. Matt is leaning in the doorway, flipping a few stray pieces of hair out of his eyes.
"I guess. Want to...exchange numbers? Christ, that sounds so cliche..."
With a small chuckle, Matt takes Oli's phone from his outstretched hand and types in his contact info. Seeing as Matt's own phone isn't on him, he grabs a pen from his back pocket and has Oli scribble his number on the back of his hand.
"Make sure to call me sometime, yeah? You're quite the interesting character, Olive. Yeah, I like Olive."
Oli's eyes light up at the sound of that name, a female name, coming from Matt's lips. It sounds so...right.
"I will. See you around."
As Oli descends the staircase, a feeling of overwhelming happiness surrounds him. He just made a new (and very attractive) friend who has no problem with who he is. He feels as though he can really be himself around Matt.
It's a feeling much different than right after the accident.
Sunglasses perched high on his nose, hoodie covering his head, Oliver walks nonchalantly into a pharmacy, heart hammering wildly against his ribcage. He's hot; it's too hot for this kind of attire, especially with all the uncomfortable bandaging around his middle. Why did he even dress like this? It's not as though anyone in the store will know his true intentions for the purchases he's about to make, but he's nervous as all high hell nonetheless.
It took him about three days to actually summon up enough courage to go out and do this by himself. He tried to persuade Jona and Lee to go out and do it for him, but both of them had told him the exact same thing.
"If you're going to do this, you really ought to do it yourself."
Adjusting his sunglasses, he grabs a basket, slinging it over his wrist as he goes over the list in his pocket mentally. Lipstick, eyeshadow, eyeliner, lipgloss, nail polish, perfume. Is he missing anything? Surely that's the most a girl would be wearing all at one time. And it should hold him over until he gets the whole thing mastered. He'd already fallen into the habit of waxing unwanted hair rather than shaving, and planned on giving his eyebrows a more feminine shape once he got home.
Arriving at the makeup aisles, Oliver becomes slightly overwhelmed. There are so many different colors of...everything. Even powders and blushes come in about twenty different shades. He takes a few deep breaths, thinking back to the countless magazine articles he's read about matching your makeup with your skin tone. His skin is tanned, so he reaches for an eyeshadow trio in earth tones. A delighted smile lights up his face. This isn't so hard after all...
After adding two sticks of black eyeliner, a bottle of green nail polish, a stick of crimson red lipstick, a tube of clear lipgloss, and a bottle of some fruity perfume to his basket, Oliver begins his walk up to the cash registers. This is when the worry he had walked into the store with comes flooding back.
What is the cashier going to think? And the other people in line with him? This whole thing will go to hell and then he'll never get the courage to do it again and he'll spend the rest of his days unhappy and uncomfortable in his own skin. Luckily, when he finally does arrive at the front of the store, he is the last one in his line, meaning no nosy shoppers behind him can peer into his basket. Now all he has to do is come up with a good excuse if the cashier looks at him oddly or makes a comment.
He strikes luck again, however, when he reaches the counter and the cashier, a young girl who can't be much older than him, begins ringing up his things. As she passes the lipstick over the scanner, she looks up at him and asks, "Picking these up for your girlfriend?"
All the worry Oliver had built up on his journey to the register drains away, and another smile adorns his face. That's it, then. He's the loving boyfriend, picking up some cosmetics for his girlfriend back home.
"Yeah."
The girl smiles. "How sweet."
After all of the makeup is rung up and safe in the tiny plastic bag, Oliver begins building his courage up once again as he heads out to his car.
"Next, skirts and blouses..."
The cell in his pocket vibrates. When he takes it out and checks it the screen displays,
New Text Message
From: Matt N.
hey, i'm not doing anything today. no potential jail time planned, at least.
coffee later?
Oli quickly types 'sure :)' as his reply, hits 'Send', and continues on his way home, smiling.
Oli is currently standing outside of the door to the apartment. Matt is leaning in the doorway, flipping a few stray pieces of hair out of his eyes.
"I guess. Want to...exchange numbers? Christ, that sounds so cliche..."
With a small chuckle, Matt takes Oli's phone from his outstretched hand and types in his contact info. Seeing as Matt's own phone isn't on him, he grabs a pen from his back pocket and has Oli scribble his number on the back of his hand.
"Make sure to call me sometime, yeah? You're quite the interesting character, Olive. Yeah, I like Olive."
Oli's eyes light up at the sound of that name, a female name, coming from Matt's lips. It sounds so...right.
"I will. See you around."
As Oli descends the staircase, a feeling of overwhelming happiness surrounds him. He just made a new (and very attractive) friend who has no problem with who he is. He feels as though he can really be himself around Matt.
It's a feeling much different than right after the accident.
Sunglasses perched high on his nose, hoodie covering his head, Oliver walks nonchalantly into a pharmacy, heart hammering wildly against his ribcage. He's hot; it's too hot for this kind of attire, especially with all the uncomfortable bandaging around his middle. Why did he even dress like this? It's not as though anyone in the store will know his true intentions for the purchases he's about to make, but he's nervous as all high hell nonetheless.
It took him about three days to actually summon up enough courage to go out and do this by himself. He tried to persuade Jona and Lee to go out and do it for him, but both of them had told him the exact same thing.
"If you're going to do this, you really ought to do it yourself."
Adjusting his sunglasses, he grabs a basket, slinging it over his wrist as he goes over the list in his pocket mentally. Lipstick, eyeshadow, eyeliner, lipgloss, nail polish, perfume. Is he missing anything? Surely that's the most a girl would be wearing all at one time. And it should hold him over until he gets the whole thing mastered. He'd already fallen into the habit of waxing unwanted hair rather than shaving, and planned on giving his eyebrows a more feminine shape once he got home.
Arriving at the makeup aisles, Oliver becomes slightly overwhelmed. There are so many different colors of...everything. Even powders and blushes come in about twenty different shades. He takes a few deep breaths, thinking back to the countless magazine articles he's read about matching your makeup with your skin tone. His skin is tanned, so he reaches for an eyeshadow trio in earth tones. A delighted smile lights up his face. This isn't so hard after all...
After adding two sticks of black eyeliner, a bottle of green nail polish, a stick of crimson red lipstick, a tube of clear lipgloss, and a bottle of some fruity perfume to his basket, Oliver begins his walk up to the cash registers. This is when the worry he had walked into the store with comes flooding back.
What is the cashier going to think? And the other people in line with him? This whole thing will go to hell and then he'll never get the courage to do it again and he'll spend the rest of his days unhappy and uncomfortable in his own skin. Luckily, when he finally does arrive at the front of the store, he is the last one in his line, meaning no nosy shoppers behind him can peer into his basket. Now all he has to do is come up with a good excuse if the cashier looks at him oddly or makes a comment.
He strikes luck again, however, when he reaches the counter and the cashier, a young girl who can't be much older than him, begins ringing up his things. As she passes the lipstick over the scanner, she looks up at him and asks, "Picking these up for your girlfriend?"
All the worry Oliver had built up on his journey to the register drains away, and another smile adorns his face. That's it, then. He's the loving boyfriend, picking up some cosmetics for his girlfriend back home.
"Yeah."
The girl smiles. "How sweet."
After all of the makeup is rung up and safe in the tiny plastic bag, Oliver begins building his courage up once again as he heads out to his car.
"Next, skirts and blouses..."
The cell in his pocket vibrates. When he takes it out and checks it the screen displays,
New Text Message
From: Matt N.
hey, i'm not doing anything today. no potential jail time planned, at least.
coffee later?
Oli quickly types 'sure :)' as his reply, hits 'Send', and continues on his way home, smiling.