Only If You Want by BashfulScribe..,

This was written as a side story to my largest work, Being More Social, following another character and their story. This story will make a lot more sense if you’ve read Being More Social, although I hope it works as a standalone story too. All characters depicted in sexual activity are 18 or older. I hope you all enjoy! , Had the schoolkids of Hazelwood High ever met Phil Love and Olivia Wilde, no one would have guessed that the two would be friends. ‘Incongruent’ didn’t do them justice – whereas Phil was a groomed, well-dressed, preppy fit Student Council President, Olivia was one with the shadows. A baggy hoodie, messy shoulder-length black hair and a quiet disposition was enough to suit her. The only thing she would ever be president of was Council of People Who Didn’t Want to be President of Anything.

And yet, in their final year, as if an act of divine inspiration, the two happened to click. It was nothing large at first – Phil was returning a textbook he had borrowed from the school library, when he spotted her sitting alone on the library’s barely-used couch.

Something about her struck him. He couldn’t see her face, but her body language was practically yelling, “Not interested.” She was hunched up, her relatively small frame contained in a much smaller shape than needed. Phil loved a challenge – perhaps it was the easily-seen lack of availability that made him want to try.

He may have been popular, but he was still in high school – new encounters were still slightly awkward for him. It took him several half-steps forward before he finally cleared his throat.

Then once more. She remained unmoved, not looking away from her book. Phil huffed inwardly – now that he began, he couldn’t back down, even though he had no clue what compelled him so strongly to do this in the first place.

“Nice book.” he began. “Carrie, huh? What’s it about?”

The girl was silent for a few seconds. “A girl with special powers that hurt people, which she doesn’t use until the people at her high school annoy her too much.” she said with a surprisingly low, surprisingly calm voice. She lowered the book, allowing her brown eyes to stare holes through Phil’s.

“Woah.” Phil found himself muttering out loud. He ran a hand through his short red hair, almost nervously. As Student Council President, he was used to enjoying a position of inherent power over other students. Whenever he didn’t have one, he would seek one – it was pretty much his hobby. Having a girl, much less a girl who had a misleadingly cute and innocent face – beautiful brown eyes, black hair framing her cute, childish face perfectly, and what he bet would have been a beautiful smile – reject his advances was a new sensation to him. It was a sensation that only made him want to try harder. “Do you relate to the character?” he attempted to joke.

She shrugged. “A bit.”

Phil waited for her to elaborate, but it was clear that wasn’t going to happen. “How?”

“She’s a shut-in like me.”

“A shut-in? You mean like shy?”

She put the book down. “I’m not shy. I’m introverted. I’m fine having this conversation and I’m fine being myself in front of you. I just like being alone.”

A beat of silence followed. “Am I intruding?” Phil asked, figuring he should at least be polite.

She stared at him for a couple seconds. “No. If you have nowhere you need to go you can take a seat if you’d like.”

Phil smiled to himself. To him (and he was willing to bet money this was true for her too), this was a game. A game he was all too happy to play. Wordlessly, he sat beside her as she resumed her reading.

“So…” he began, noting he had a lot less confidence than usual. “What’s your name?”

“Olivia.” she replied immediately.

“Olivia, great.” Phil nodded his head. “Do you know who I am?”

“How many times has ‘I’m student council president’ worked as a pick-up line for girls?” Olivia asked, looking him dead in the face. She then smiled sweetly, the first time she did so to Phil, sending a shiver down his spine. “Or is this purely a friendly thing that you do to guys too?”

Phil liked to believe he was a guy prepared for anything, but as he attempted to spill any of several less-than-truthful answers out of his mouth, barely any came. “N-no, it’s nothing like that.” he sputtered.

“Really?” she asked, challenging him. “You don’t just want me to go out with you or have sex with you or something?” She now had her book down and was intently looking him in the face.

Phil had no idea what to make of this girl. She wasn’t confident, she was just direct. If hey knew any better, he may have even said forward. “I just want to get to know you.” he replied, a little less confidently than he wanted.

“I’m sure ‘nice book’ tells you all about me.” she rebutted. She never scoffed, never spoke with a sassy tone, she just kept it even and almost monotone the whole time, whereas Phil was struggling to even approach the same level.

“Well, okay… What’s your favorite color?” Phil asked.

Olivia shot him a look. “Blue.” she replied as she got up.

“Oh, do you have to go?” Phil asked, noting her sudden change as she reached for her backpack.

“No,” she replied as she left. Just like that, it was over. Phil sat for a while longer, collecting his thoughts. The whole school knew him, and appreciated him, and yet here she was. He reasoned to himself that she was part of the introverted community that didn’t care about the extroverts of the school – maybe even a kingpin figure in the introvert community. Presuming they had a community, if they could bother to meet up and talk to each other enough to form one.

Whether it was intentional or not, Olivia Wilde had now won over the interest of Phil Love. And Phil always got what he wanted.

***

Phil had finished up with everything he had to do that day, a bounce to his step. Things were going well in his life. He had recently gotten to go to the Halloween dance with his dream girl, and nothing was standing in his way, for once. He didn’t want to jinx things, of course, but then again, what was there to jinx? He was the top dog, the head honcho. There wasn’t a student alive in the school who had more power than him.

Phil opened his locker, absentmindedly whistling to himself. He checked his watch – 4:12pm. He let council off early today, knowing how much they’d appreciate it, and him. The council looked up to him, and liked him as a leader. Some days Phil was more humble, but god damn, it felt good to have power.

As Phil walked down the hallway, going towards the east exit, he noticed something odd. His whistling didn’t sound right. He stopped whistling while keeping up his pace for only a moment, to realize why – he was in the music hallway, and someone was in the main rehearsal room, playing the piano. Unable to vanquish his curiosity, he walked up to the room’s door and peered in through the window.

A girl was sitting at the piano, facing away from him, playing some piece he couldn’t recognize. He could recognize the girl though – Olivia.

The piece she was playing felt curious. Literally, if music could embody curiosity, this was the piece. A little bitter and sad, but mostly a feeling of unnerving atmosphere with a feeling to drive on. Each note felt surprisingly perfect, and each second would have pulled any on-listener into the song more. Phil found himself smiling at what he was hearing, despite it being muffled through the walls. He couldn’t help himself as he opened the door and entered.