Not a Love Story

Four // Sorry Dude

Oliver Greene

I woke up to my usual alarm, groaning as I slammed my hand down on my phone to turn it off. I got out of bed and got dressed before heading downstairs to grab a granola bar.

"Hey, mom." I greeted her at the kitchen table.

"Hi, sweetie." she replied with a smile.

"Is your big meeting today?" I asked her. She nodded.

"Yes. It's going to take a while so I probably won't be back until late tonight." she said. My mom is a director at an engineering consulting firm and has a big review meeting today.

"Okay. Good luck, you'll do great." I said, giving her a quick hug as I headed towards the garage.

"Thanks, Oliver. Have a good day at school!" she replied.

"I'm just gonna grab something to eat real quick." Henry said as he passed me on my way to the garage.

"Fine. But hurry up. I'm leaving with or without you in two minutes." I said.

"Yeah, yeah." he mumbled, waving me off as he went to get breakfast. I got into the car and started it, pulling out into the driveway to wait for Henry. I sighed and pulled out my phone to check it while I waited.

Unknown Number

hey it's Ben. sorry for being a dick yesterday. if you're still willing to help me i could start today after school

Ben? How did he get my number? Just as I was about to type a response Henry got into the car.

"How was practice last night?" I asked Henry. He shrugged.

"Same old. Oh, actually one kinda weird thing did happen. Ben asked for your number. Said you're helping him with bio or something?" Henry responded.

So that's how he got my number.

"Yeah, Mrs. Newsome asked me to tutor him so he can get his bio grade up. Otherwise the coach said he'll bench him for the rest of the season." I saw Henry's eyes widen when he heard that.

"What? Coach is gonna bench Ben?" I nodded as I turned into the school parking lot.

"If he doesn't get his grade up, yeah." I replied.

"You better do a good job, Oliver. We really need him this season." Henry said, dead serious.

"So I've been hearing." I replied, pulling into a parking spot.

"I'm not joking, Oliver! We really need him, don't fuck it up." Henry said, huffing as he got out of the car, grabbed his bag and headed into the school. I rolled my eyes and turned the car off before grabbing my bag and heading into the building.

When I got to my locker I suddenly remembered the text from Ben. I re-read it, making sure I read it right before responding.

it's fine. today works for me. want to meet in the library right after school?

I sent the message and shoved my phone in my pocket, realizing I'd be late if I didn't get going. I felt my phone vibrate as I sat down in English.

sounds good. see you then

I sighed and pulled out my notebook, ready to read some Shakespeare to hopefully get my mind off of Ben and the whole tutoring situation.

When it was time to go to biology, my palms were sweating and my heart was beating. I wasn't particularly sure why, but I had a suspicion it was because I was nervous about seeing Ben after yesterday. I sat down in my usual seat in the front row, glancing at the door from the corner of my eye every so often. I saw Ben saunter into the room as the bell rang, joking around with one of the guys from the football team. I immediately looked down, avoiding eye contact. I felt his eyes brush over me as I looked down at my notebook, suddenly extremely interested in writing the date on my paper.