Crushing on my Billionaire Best Friend - Jolie Day Page 0,37

none of my “new friends” ever spoke to me again, well, unless it was to get to him.

The girl gang quickly disappeared inside. That’s what happened with every letter delivery. The whole point was to not have to endure how Oliver reacted once he received and read the note. My heart would soar every time he laughed at one of the letters, often shooting me a wink. I wanted all the other girls to be laughable to him. I know, I was being pathetic. But it really only meant something to me if I was not laughable in his eyes. Of course, that wasn’t the case. But not in the way you’d think. I was just his friend. Not enough to even consider passing a verdict on.

But other times, he didn’t laugh at the note. Instead, his eyes lit up with arousal as he showed it to his friends. Like today. We stood in the schoolyard, and I’d just handed him a note from ponytail girl. I shifted my gaze away, trying to hide the hurt. Oliver pulled a pen and paper from his bag and quickly scribbled a response before folding it and handing it over to me. I knew what to do.

“Thanks, Laney.” He winked and grinned, melting me inside.

I had never given him permission to call me Laney. It made my heart jump with joy. Nobody else I knew ever called me that. But once he made the mistake of calling me “doll” in front of his friends, and they never let him hear the end of it. It had been Laney ever since then, and I knew it was the only pet name we could exchange. I would take it.

When I got through the front double doors, the note somehow slipped through my hands. I chased it as it floated through the air, landing in a corner. The moment I reached down to pick it up, I was hit with an urge. The voice whispered, Read it. I tried to shake it off, telling myself, No, Elaine. That would be wrong on so many levels. It had never once occurred to me before, so why now? Of course you can’t read it. Why would you want to read it? It’s not like he wrote back: “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m actually in love with the nerdy, chubby girl who’s playing messenger for us.”

Shoving the paper back into my pocket, my feet pivoted on the floor. Half of me was trying to move forward, while the other half seemed to be glued to the speckled tiling that matched the maroon-and-gold theme of our school. Then again, aren’t you dying to know what he says to these girls? You could pretend, just for a moment, that he wrote that note for you.

I rushed to the girls’ bathroom and locked myself behind the last stall. Taking a deep breath, my hands shook as I slowly unfolded the lined paper.

If all I was ever going to have of Oliver were fantasies, I might as well fuel them with as many realistic details as possible. Right? Nothing wrong with that. Against my good side’s better judgment, I read what Oliver had written back to the pretty, thin ponytail girl.

Hey, Rebecca…How about we take a ride after school? ;) -Oliver

I knew what he meant.

Fooling around on school grounds wasn’t good enough anymore, so Oliver had started taking girls out to a parking view instead. After dark, they had much more privacy.

I longed to be shrouded in the darkness with him like that. I could imagine music playing on his radio and the smell of his cologne as he leaned in close. The envy was getting to be too much to take.

I had never betrayed my role as his letter carrier. Like I said, it was sacred to me. But something was coming over me. I didn’t want to take it anymore. I couldn’t take it anymore.

My hands moved beyond my control, crumpling up the paper. I tossed it into the toilet and flushed it.

I couldn’t believe what I’d done. I started walking the halls in a daze, and I imagined Oliver waiting out in the parking lot after school for ponytail girl, feeling wounded when she never showed. He wasn’t used to being refused. As messed up as it was, I felt bad for him. His feelings would be hurt, and it’d be all my fault.

What have I done? Could I fix it? I could have gone and told the redheaded girl