I waited for Olivia outside the school. Jimin was right, I was totally in love with her. Suddenly, people started whispering and pointing at a girl walking down the street. Is she new? She looked up and smiled when she saw me. Olivia? She looked beautiful. I’ve never seen her dressed up like this. She walked to me and everyone still stared. She huffed and looked at the floor.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her.
“Do I look stupid? First my dad insulted me and now everyone’s whispering about me. Am I just that ugly?” She asked quietly, almost in tears.
“Olivia, I think it’s the exact opposite.” I assure her.
“What do you mean?”
“You look really good.” I reply shyly.
“No way. I look like a-“
“K-pop idol. You’re really pretty.”
“You think so?” She asked with a cute expression on her face.
“I do.” I smile.
“Olivia!” Yuna called from behind her. She turned around.
“Umm.. hi.” She said quietly.
“You’re trying too hard, girl. You really think that just because you dress up and wear makeup guys will find you attractive?” She scoffed. “You look ridiculous.” She and her gang snorted and Olivia looked at the floor. “Do you really think that Taehyung will-“
“Would you just hush?” I interrupted her. “Just because you’re jealous, doesn’t mean you get to insult her.” She looked at me with a stunned expression on her face. Then she rolled her eyes and walked away. I looked back to Olivia and she brushed past me.
“Wait.” I grabbed her arm. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes.
“What?”
“Don’t listen to her.” I said. She rolled her eyes.
“Whatever. I’ll see you at lunch.” She turned and walked towards the library. I sighed and followed her. She sat at her usual table in the back corner of the room. I joined her.
“Taehyung why are you-”
“I’m not going to just let you sulk in here.”
“Why not? I’m used to being alone.” She says, fidgeting with her fingers. Then, one of Yuna’s friends walked over to us.
“You know, Olivia, you’re not going to get attention from him,” She nodded towards me. “by dressing nicely. Just stick to-”
“You know what?” She stands up and grabs her backpack. “You’re right, ok? I get it. I’m just trying too hard to get everyone’s attention. Now just please leave me alone.” She wiped her face and hurried to her first class.
“Taehyung, you really should just go back to Yuna, she’s way better.”
“Shut up.” I snapped at her before heading to my own class.
During biology, we were getting a bunch of studying material for our tests next week. I was scribbling down as much as I could and Jimin, as usual, was sleeping right through it. I nudged his shoulder.
“Hmm.” He mumbled.
“Jimin, you better take notes. Tests are next week.”
“I can just look through yours.” He replied, going back to sleep.
“Ok.” The bell rang signaling the end of class. I hurried to the gym and found Olivia sitting by herself. I walked towards her but she looked away from me. I sat next to her until class started. When she finally looked at me I saw her face. She had a red and purple bruise on her cheek.
“Are you ok?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“What happened?” I walked over to her.
“I just got hit in the face with someone's book. They threw it at me and-”
“Olivia, I’m not stupid.” I took her hand. “What actually happened?”
“It was Yuna, ok?” She replied quietly, pulling her hand away from mine. “But don’t worry about it.”
“Oh I’m gonna pound her.”
“No. Don’t. It’ll just make her even more mad at me. Please don’t.” She looked at me with a pleading expression on her face. Her eyes were huge and she looked really cute.
“Ok, fine.”
“Thanks.”
She avoided me for the entire rest of the class and quickly left the room when class was over. We just had one more class until lunch.
Finally lunch arrived and I rushed to the cafeteria. She was already sitting at the table with her head down. I quickly grabbed my lunch and joined her. When she looked up, her face was stained with tears.
“Olivia-”
“Taehyung, I think we should stop being friends.” She said before I could say anything else.
“What?” I heard her but I was shocked.
“I said I think we should-”
“No, I heard you, but why?”
“Yuna and her friends won’t leave me alone.”
“But you know what they’re saying isn’t true.”
“I know, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.” She sighs.
“Olivia, she’s just jealous.”
“I know. But she has nothing to be jealous about. We’re just friends. But maybe we shouldn’t even be that.” She said the last part quietly. “It’s bad enough that you’re my only friend. You’re the only person who’s been kind to me and what do I get for it? Bullied and picked on and gossiped about all day long.”
“Well, just don’t listen to them. They’re-”
“They called me a slut and a whore, Taehyung.” She said quietly.
“Oh.” Is all that came out of my mouth.
“Yeah.”
“You should tell someone then.”
“No Taehyung. I just think that we need to take a break from each other.” It felt like she was breaking up with me even though we were never dating. If this is what she really wants, then I should respect her.
“Is this really what you want?” I ask, looking her in the eye.
“No, it’s not.” She said as a tear slid down her cheek. “But I can’t take it anymore, I’m sorry.”
“I understand.” I replied.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” I stood up and she did too. “If you need anything you know where to find me.” She hugged me tightly. I wrapped my arms around her before pulling away. Then I took my lunch and sat with Jimin.
For the whole rest of the day, Olivia avoided me. She only smiled at me when we passed each other in the hallway. I felt like my life crashed and burned. Maybe that’s a little dramatic but I love her. I went through the day sulking to myself. Jimin tried to cheer me up but it didn’t help any. I still felt miserable.