Page 14 of The Casualty of Us
Both of which are reactions that make them okay in my book.
Everyone discusses the classes they have for the day on the way to the mess hall and who else they know is starting at the school this year. It gives me some more insight into the little group and allows me surmise that Kennedy has her sights set on grad school while Evie has no clue who I am because she’s apparently in love with math and devotes all her time to it.
Her obvious love for the subject has me wrinkling my nose as we push into the mess hall, and I get my first look at the inside of the place. Bright morning light comes in through all of those windows and casts a warm glow across the multitude of tables lining the room. Rows of students stand in front of a long counter that stretches out on the left side and seems to be broken up by the alphabetical signs above it, sectioning everyone up as people wait to pick up their orders.
The sight of it has a curse slipping past my lips with the reminder of instructions that I definitely didn’t follow. “Dammit.”
Marley looks over at me. “What?”
“I forgot to order food.”
“Sorry.” She cringes, looking both longing and lost as Evie and Kennedy go off to join the lines.
“It’s fine, I’ll—”
“Baby sister!”
I turn around at the sound of Ollie’s voice, quickly finding where he’s standing at a table near the center of them all and waving at me. Crooked grin in place and delight on his face as he stands there in a uniform that’s the reverse of mine, with a dark green jacket and black pants. The sight of him alive and well instantly eases some of my anxiety.
“I’ll go sit with my brother and order something.” I turn back to Marley, noting that she’s followed my line of sight. “Come find me after you get your food?”
“Yeah.” She smiles, looking back at me with a nod. “Perfect.”
I lift my lips with a quick grin before turning to head for Ollie, reaching back to dig through my backpack along the way. Thankful for the morning rush that’s distracting everyone from looking at me too long. I finally find the tablet and pull it out just as I’m sliding into the empty seat beside my twin. Barely sparing a glance for the two roommates that sit across the table before looking down at it because, well…I’m too sleep-deprived for all that.
A finger boops my nose. “You look tired.”
I refrain from looking up at Ollie, desperately scrolling through the tablet while informing him. “Didn’t sleep great.” Steadfastly ignoring the scowl that I’m sure is adorning his face in the silence that follows and supplying instead, “And I forgot to order breakfast before coming down.”
“You won’t get it in time.” I look up at Holden’s quiet voice and find him eyeing me nervously. “There’s a thirty-minute wait time after you order, and your first class is at nine, right? Same as ours?” A blank stare is all I give him before he cringes. “You won’t get food in time.”
I drop the tablet to the table with a sudden breath. “Fuck.”
“Now, now.” Ollie pats my back. “Don’t worry, just give me a second and I’ll go steal someone’s breakfast for you—”
“You can’t steal some—”
“Yes, I can actually,” he snorts. “It’ll be easy—”
“Oliver—”
“Here.” The single word is punctuated by the slide of a tray against the wood table, and I turn back to find a pair of hazel eyes all lit up with amusement that I don’t appreciate. His tray now stretched out vertically between us. “I ordered too much. Help yourself.”
I scowl at him out of principle. “Dimples.”
“Dimples?” He punctuates the word with a laugh before nodding with something like appreciation. “That’s a new one, but I’d expect nothing less from the girl named Ophelia.” His hand moves to the tray and he pushes it closer to me, finishing more insistingly. “Now eat.”
My scowl deepens, and the grin starts to fall from his lips before Ollie sighs.
“Okay, I’m going to go find—”
“No,” I cut in, something about the challenge coming out to play on Hayes’s face sparking the stubbornness in me. “It’s fine, I’ll eat his food. It’s not a big deal.”
A few more seconds of silence pass before Holden mumbles uncomfortably, “Right.”
But I’m not really paying attention.
Instead I look down at the tray with a typical breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon laid out across it, debating for asecond before grabbing a slice of bacon and lifting it to my mouth while giving him a sarcastic grin. Not sure why I’m feeling so contradictory about him being nice to me. His dimples twitch as we continue to stare at each other, and I’m about two seconds away from spitting out the bacon when Ollie’s hand comes down between us.
