Chapter Eighteen

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7 YEARS AGO

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Eden spent the rest of the weekend in her room, ignoring the world and listening to the saddest music she owned on repeat. Her mom had stopped trying to get Eden to tell her what was wrong. She barely ate. She only left her room to use the bathroom.

She had come home Friday night in tears. She was so upset she hadn't realized she ran all two miles back to her house. She'd run straight into her room, slammed the door, and practically ripped off her dress. She had cried herself to sleep that night, though she wasn't quite sure why.

Why was she so upset? Eden didn't have an answer. She mas mad at Gus for telling her secret to Oliver. She had trusted Gus not to say anything to him. She was having a good time, and then, BAM! Night ruined with just a few angry words.

As much as she was angry at Gus, she was more worried about what Oliver thought about her now that he knew. IF he knew. Which she was pretty sure he did. She was afraid they wouldn't be friends anymore, that he wouldn't want anything to do with her now that he knew she liked him.

Now, two days later, as Eden got ready for school, all her worries and fears were louder than ever. They took over her brains not letting her think about anything else for longer than a few minutes.

The feeling grew worse on the bus. Oliver's house was coming up in a few stops and Eden had no idea what to do. Her stomach twisted, making her feel nauseous.

He noticed her as soon as he stepped on the bus. She tried to duck down, but he was already making a bee-line towards her. He wasn't smiling like he normally was.

He sat down next to her.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," Eden said in a small voice.

Everything Eden had practiced saying to him in her head disappeared. Her whole weekend, wasted.

"Can you get up off the floor, please?" Oliver said impatiently.

Eden realized she was still crouched down on the floor of the bus from when she tried to escape Oliver. She sat back on the seat, cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

"Can we talk?" Oliver asked.

Eden mentally groaned. This was exactly what she had been dreading. Being cornered by Oliver with no reason to say she couldn't talk.

Without giving her a chance to respond, he jumped right in.

"Listen, I'm sorry about Friday. I should have told you why I asked you to go with me. I realize that now."

Eden stared out the window, pretending to watch the scenery go by. She didn't want to talk about this yet. Not while it was still so fresh. Oliver didn't share that mentality.

"About what Gus said..."

Eden stiffened. She knew he was going to bring that up yet she still wasn't prepared for it.

"Is it true?"

Eden turned back to him in mild surprise. That's all he was going to say? "That's it?"

She realized she had thought that out loud when Oliver's mouth twisted into a small smile. "What did you expect? Some grand speech?"

"No, just..." Eden searched for words. She didn't find any.

Oliver saved her from that embarrassment at least. "Is it true?" he asked again.

What to tell him? 'Yes, Oliver, I've liked you for a while now but I know you don't like me back so forget about the whole thing.'

No, that wouldn't work. But she didn't want to lie, either. It might give her a second chance, temporarily, but who knew how long that would last. Besides, she'd be calling Gus a liar. She couldn't do that.

"Yes," she said simply.

Oliver sat back and removed his eyes from hers. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Eden was about to say something about how the timing was never right and that she couldn't bear to lose him as a friend if he didn't feel the same. But before any of those thoughts could form coherent sentences within in mind, Oliver spoke up again.

"If I had known had bad you felt I would've canceled with Lara. I would've gone with you, Richie. All you had to do was say the word."

Eden was speechless. He thought she was upset about not going to the dance with him? But she thought Gus had told him she liked Oliver?

It dawned on her Gus had never said that. Sure, he had chewed Oliver out for leading Eden on, but he never actually stated that she liked Oliver. Gus had said she was devastated, but not about what.

"You think..." she said in awe before she stopped herself. She hastily added, "Nevermind."

"What?" Oliver sounded generally interested. "I think what?"

"Why would I say 'yes' to you if I didn't want to go with you?"

Eden regretted those words as soon as they came out of her mouth. Not only had her voice trembled when she said them, but now her eyes were tearing up and her chin was quivering.

'No,' she told herself. 'I won't cry in front of him. I won't.'

What she said hadn't affected Oliver as much as they had Eden. He just shrugged. "I don't know. Because you're my best friend?"

Eden thought somebody calling you their best friend was supposed to be a joyous time. But she didn't feel happy. Her heart hurt worse than she ever thought possible at the sound of those words. She was being friendzoned. And Oliver didn't even know he was doing it.

Fortunately, they made it to J.J. Holmes High School before her tears began to fall.

When Oliver saw she was crying, he put a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong, Richie?" he asked with concern in his voice.

She shoved past him without answering his question and pushed her way down the school bus aisle to a chorus of "Hey!" and "Watch it!" But she didn't care. Her only objective was to make it off this suddenly suffocating bus and as far away from Oliver as she could possibly go.