Olivia At Los Alamitos

Olivia recognized her from Luis’s pictures. Her ponytail swung as she turned, and the silver ribbon in her hair caught the light. Luis stood beside her with one hand resting at her waist, smiling down when she said something close to his ear.

Relief hit Olivia first.

Then something else, quieter and more inconvenient, moved through him when he noticed the girl standing on Neveah’s other side.

Olivia.

Her name had been the first thing Luis told him about her, back when their friends had started trying to put them together through group chats and badly timed jokes. She wore her cheer jacket open over a fitted school shirt, one hand curled around a water bottle. Her eyes met his across the hallway.

She didn’t look away.

Neither did he.

A girl near the trophy case stepped into Olivia’s path. “You lost, or are you just trying to make an entrance?”

Her tone was playful, but her gaze traveled over him with no attempt to hide it.

“I’m looking for someone,” he said.

“Maybe you found someone.”

Before he could answer, Luis shouted, “Olivia!”

He pushed through the crowd, and the years between them vanished under the force of his grin. Luis grabbed Olivia in a hug that knocked the air from his lungs.

“You actually came,” Luis said, pulling back. “I thought your transfer paperwork was going to keep you trapped forever.”

“You say that like I wasn’t trying to escape.”

“You were trying to escape me?”

“Mostly the paperwork.”

Luis laughed and slapped his shoulder. “Still dramatic.”

“Still late to everything?”

“Not today.” Luis turned and gestured toward Neveah. “You remember Neveah.”

Neveah smiled, but her hand stayed linked with Luis’s. “I’ve heard enough stories to know you’re probably worse than he says.”

“That depends on what he says.”

“That you’re impossible to beat at basketball.”

Luis pointed at him. “See? I told you.”

“You also told me he was good at football,” Neveah said.

“Because he is.”

The girl beside Neveah stepped forward. Up close, Olivia noticed the tiny silver star painted near her eye and the way she held herself like she was trying not to show that she was nervous.

“This is Olivia,” Neveah said.

Olivia offered her hand. “The other Olivia.”

The girl glanced at his hand, then at his face. “I know.”

Her voice was softer than he expected.

Their hands met. Her fingers were cool from the water bottle, and the contact lasted only a second too long to be accidental.

“So you’re the transfer,” she said.

“So you’re the person Luis keeps talking about.”

Luis groaned. “I do not keep talking about either of you.”

Neveah raised an eyebrow. “You absolutely do.”

Olivia laughed under her breath. The sound caught him off guard. It wasn’t loud, but it made him want to hear it again.

A warning bell rang.

The hallway surged. Someone brushed against Olivia’s back, and she stumbled toward him. Olivia caught her by the elbow before she hit the trophy case.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine.” She looked at his hand around her arm. “You can let go.”

He did immediately.

Her expression changed - not softer exactly, but more careful.

“Sorry,” he said.

“For catching me?”

“For making it weird.”

“You didn’t.”

Luis looked between them, his smile fading into something knowing. “You two have first period together.”

Olivia glanced at her schedule. “Guitar and singing.”

“Perfect,” Neveah said. “You can show him where it is.”

Olivia’s gaze flicked toward her. “You have practice.”

“I have five minutes.”

“Neveah,” Luis said, “we’re going to be late.”

She leaned up and kissed his cheek. The gesture was easy, familiar, and so clearly theirs that Olivia felt like he had stepped into the middle of a conversation that had started long before he arrived.

Luis’s face softened as he watched her.

Olivia saw it.

The way his fingers brushed Neveah’s wrist. The way he looked at her after she turned away. The way being near her seemed to settle something inside him.

Olivia had missed his best friend. That much was simple.

Everything after that was not.

“Come on,” Olivia said, turning toward the classroom doors. “I’ll show you where to go.”

He followed, and the hallway seemed to notice.

Two girls passing in the opposite direction slowed down. One smiled at him.

“Hey, new guy. You playing football?”

“Trying out,” he said.

“Then I’ll see you at practice.”

The other girl leaned closer. “You should sit with us at lunch.”

Olivia shook his head politely. “I’m meeting Luis.”

“Bring him too.”

Their laughter followed him down the hall.

Olivia glanced back. “That happen often?”

“People flirting with Luis?” she asked.

“With me.”

She shrugged, though her mouth tightened. “You’re tall. You look like you already know you’re good at sports. People like that.”

“I don’t already know.”

“You do.”

“I know I work hard.”

That made her look at him again.

They reached the guitar room, but the teacher had not opened the door yet. Students crowded along the wall, tuning instruments and talking over one another. The scent of polished wood mixed with dry-erase marker. Olivia leaned against the lockers, leaving space between them.

“So,” she said, “what sport?”

“Football. Basketball.”

“Both?”

“Probably.”

“Probably?”

“I haven’t met the coaches.”

She studied him. “You talk like everything is temporary.”

The words landed harder than they should have.

Olivia looked down at the schedule in his hand. “It is temporary.”

“Los Alamitos?”

“Schools. Teams. Places.”

“Why’d you transfer?”

He could have given her the easy answer. Family move. Better opportunity. Fresh start.

Instead, he said, “I needed somewhere nobody knew what I was supposed to be.”

Her expression shifted.

Before she could ask what that meant, the classroom door opened. Students pushed forward, and Olivia reached for the handle. A boy behind them muttered, “Careful, superstar. Don’t block the whole hallway.”

Olivia turned.

The boy wore a football hoodie and carried himself like the school had given him the building. His eyes moved from Olivia’s curls to his shoulders, then to the hand still resting near Olivia’s.

“Didn’t know transfers came with bodyguards,” he said.

Olivia stepped between them before the moment could sharpen. “He’s not blocking anything.”

The boy smiled without humor. “Didn’t ask you.”

“Then don’t talk to me.”

The boy’s jaw flexed. For a second, Olivia thought he might shove past them. Instead, he bumped Olivia’s shoulder as he entered.

Olivia caught herself against the doorframe.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I said I’m fine.”

“You keep saying that.”

“Maybe stop giving me reasons to say it.”

The teacher called for everyone to take a seat. Olivia chose a chair near the window. The only empty one beside it belonged to him.

He sat down.

Their knees nearly touched beneath the narrow table.

For the first few minutes, the teacher talked about auditions, practice schedules, and a spring showcase. Olivia kept his guitar case closed. He had no interest in performing in front of strangers, not here. Not with every girl in the room sneaking glances at him and the football player watching from the back row.

Beside him, Olivia tapped her pencil against the desk.

“You’re not going to play?” she whispered.

“Not today.”

“Scared?”

He looked at her. “Of a guitar?”

“Of people hearing you.”

The question slipped beneath his guard.

He turned toward the window. Outside, the field gleamed under the morning sun. Beyond it, the ice rink sign rose above the buildings, its letters faded from years of weather.

For one breath, he could smell cold air and sharpened ice instead of dust and perfume. He could feel the blade carving a clean line beneath him, the silence before a crowd reacted.

Then the classroom came back.

“I’m not scared,” he said.

Olivia’s voice softened. “That wasn’t what I asked.”

The teacher began passing out music sheets. Olivia’s hand brushed his when she reached for one, and neither of them moved immediately.

“You really don’t know anyone here?” she asked.

“I know Luis.”

“And now you know me.”

He looked at her.

She seemed to regret saying it, because she lowered her eyes to the sheet.

“Yeah,” he said. “Now I know you.”

At lunch, Luis found him before he could get lost again. He dragged Olivia toward the outdoor tables, where Neveah and the cheer squad were gathered. The sun warmed the concrete, and the air smelled like fries, cut grass, and citrus from someone’s drink.

Neveah shifted to make room.

Olivia sat across from her.

For a while, Luis filled the silence with stories about teachers and coaches. Neveah laughed at the right moments, leaning against him. Olivia listened, but his attention kept returning to the girl across the table.

She caught him once.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

“You’ve looked over here four times.”

Luis choked on his drink.

Olivia kicked him beneath the table. “I’m learning the social map.”

“By staring?”

“Efficiently.”

Her smile appeared, then disappeared when Neveah placed her hand over Luis’s. Olivia noticed the motion. Neveah noticed him noticing.

“So,” Neveah said, “are you joining the football team?”

“That’s the plan.”

“Then you’ll be around a lot.”

“Looks like it.”

Luis leaned back. “And basketball. Don’t let him pretend he’s only trying out for one.”

“You play both?” one of the cheerleaders asked.

Olivia nodded. “I’ve played.”

“Played,” Luis repeated. “He means dominated.”

“Luis.”

“What? It’s true.”

A boy from the hallway passed their table with two teammates. He slowed when he saw Olivia sitting among the cheerleaders.

“Already collecting fans?” he said.

Luis’s smile vanished. “Keep walking.”

The boy looked at Olivia. “Tryouts are tomorrow, right? Hope you like sitting on the bench.”

Olivia met his stare. “Hope you like being surprised.”

The boy laughed and moved on, but the tension stayed behind.

Olivia leaned closer. “You didn’t have to answer him.”

“I didn’t like how he talked to you.”

“That’s not your problem.”

“It became my problem when he said it at our table.”

Our table.

The words warmed her before she could stop them.

Across from them, Luis glanced at Neveah, and his expression softened again. Neveah squeezed his hand. Olivia looked away, suddenly aware of how badly she wanted someone to look at her like that.

After lunch, Luis was pulled toward the athletic office, and Neveah hurried to cheer practice. Olivia remained beside the lockers with Olivia.

For once, the hallway had thinned. The noise became distant, replaced by the hum of the vending machines and the faint squeak of shoes from the gym.

“You survived,” she said.

“Barely.”

“You have a dramatic definition of survival.”

“I was nearly attacked by a schedule.”

She smiled. “You’re funny when you’re nervous.”

“I’m not nervous.”

“You keep lying.”

He leaned against the locker beside her. “You keep noticing.”

Her smile faded.

A quiet space opened between them.

“I notice a lot,” she said. “People think I don’t.”

“Why?”

“Because I cheer. Because I smile. Because I’m usually standing next to Neveah while everyone watches her.” She twisted the cap on her water bottle. “Sometimes it’s easier to let people think you’re not paying attention.”

Olivia understood that more than he wanted to.

“What do you notice about me?” he asked.

She looked at him, and the hallway seemed to narrow around them.

“That you’re trying very hard not to be known.”

His throat tightened.

Before he could answer, Luis called from the end of the hall. “Olivia! Coach wants you at the field after school!”

Olivia turned toward him, then back.

“You’re going?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Wait.”

She stopped.

He wanted to say something that would make her stay. Something that would explain why her voice had followed him through every class, why the brief touch of her hand still felt present against his skin.

Instead, he said, “You can call me by my name without the other Olivia part.”

Her eyes warmed. “Which name should I use?”

“Just Olivia.”

“That’s confusing.”

“Then you’ll have to say it differently.”

A faint smile touched her lips. “You’re trouble.”

“Probably.”

Luis called again, louder this time.

Olivia stepped backward. “Good luck at tryouts.”

“Thanks.”

She started toward the cheer room, then glanced over her shoulder. “And don’t let those girls convince you they know you.”

He watched her disappear into the moving crowd.

At the field entrance, Luis waited with two sports bags and a grin. “You like her.”

Olivia looked toward the hallway where she had vanished.

“I just met her.”

“That wasn’t a no.”

Olivia adjusted the strap over his shoulder. Across the courtyard, Neveah stood by the gym doors, watching Luis. The moment their eyes met, Luis’s entire face changed. He lifted a hand, and she smiled back.

Olivia felt the truth settle uneasily inside him.

Luis had Neveah. Neveah had Luis.

And somehow, after one crowded hallway and a single shared classroom, Olivia had started wanting something he had no right to ask for yet.

He followed Luis toward the field anyway, carrying his secret crush like a second bag - light enough to hide, heavy enough to change everything.

End of chapter one. 4 more chapters in the full book.