Lavcrots School for Girls
The third chapter of an in-progress book about friends, love, struggles, and how to overcome them.
The previous chapter can be found here.
Chapter Three
Ollie and I woke up early and excited for the farmers market today. It normally took Ollie a little more time to wake up, but today was different. We had been studying all last night and doing all our homework so that we could have a stress-free day at the market. But anyways, Ollie woke up excited and was quite chatty as opposed to her normal crabby and quiet self. It was rejuvenating to see her so excited to be alive.
We wore the outfits we had planned out yesterday with Maggie and headed down the hall to pick her up from her dorm room. She opened the door before we could get a second knock-in and smiled widely at us.
“Ready to go?” I asked.
“Yes! Let me just grab my bag real quick.” Maggie left the door ajar as she ran behind the corner to grab her brown hand-crocheted sling bag. I peeked my head into her room and looked around. You could obviously tell which side was hers, it was decorated with paintings and drawings that I was sure she had done. The other side was pretty bland, but a school uniform was laid out on the bed.
Maggie locked the door behind her and skipped up next to us as we neared the stairs.
We made it to the gate with lots of chattering about what we wanna buy and where we should eat for lunch. Ollie stopped by the front desk to sign us out and get a stamp while Maggie and I waited at the gate for her.
“So,” I broke the silence first, “How do you like the school so far? I know it’s only been like two days or so, so you don’t need to answer if you don’t know yet.” I laughed awkwardly, tucking my hair behind my ear.
“I like it a lot, actually! I’m glad I found you and Ollie to hang out with! My roommate is kind of a dud.”
“Who is your roommate?”
“Her name is Janice.” Maggie hiked the strap on her bag up to her shoulder, “She’s super sweet but we haven’t clicked yet, I guess. And she’s sick right now, so she’s been at the hospital ward so she doesn’t get anyone else sick.”
I glanced back towards the office, wondering what was taking Ollie so long, “Oh, gotcha. I don’t think I’ve met Janice. It’s a big school so I wouldn’t be surprised if I haven’t. But I hope she feels better soon.”
Ollie was walking up to us when I said that last part, “You hope who will get better?” She showed her stamp to the guard and we walked out the gate and started on our way.
“Oh, Maggie’s roommate, Janice. Maggie said she’s been sick.”
Ollie looked at Maggie, brows furrowed, “Janice Osterfeld?”
Maggie mirrored Ollie’s expression, “Yeah, Osterfeld is her last name.”
“I’m trying to remember,” Ollie paused and looked at the ground as we walked, pondering, “Yeah, I guess I haven’t seen her in my Latin class for a while. Yeah, that is too bad then. I hope she feels better soon too.”
Maggie looked oddly relieved, “Yeah, me too.”
We arrived at the farmer’s market about twenty minutes later, a little earlier than expected but we would be some of the first people in. Some vendors and sellers were already inside the enclosed area, setting up various items. Jewelry, food samples, clothing, art, you name it. I guess it was less of a farmer’s market and more of a local market. Not really sure what to call it but we’ve always just called it the farmer’s market.
After a few minutes had passed the gates opened and the small crowd that had formed was let in. Maggie skipped to the left side of the street where a few art booths had been set up. She browsed before talking to the people who ran the booth, laughing and shaking hands before finding her way back to Ollie and me.
“What was that all about?” I asked, adjusting the soft neck of my sweater that traveled up too high on my neck to rest comfortably.
Maggie looked back at where she had come from and smiled, “Well, they’re artists. I told them I was an artist too and if I could show them some of my art sometime and they said yes! I wrote their phone number on my arm, see?”
Sure enough, a ten-digit number was scribbled on her left arm, covering the little number of freckles she did have.
Ollie glanced at the number then back at the vendors, “Well, that’s awesome! Hopefully, they like it and you can sell some of your artwork.”
Maggie nodded enthusiastically, carefully placed hair strands falling out as she did so, “Let’s keep looking around!”
About an hour had passed, we all were carrying multiple bags and had watermelon-stained lips from the sugary watermelon juice drinks we had just consumed too quickly. Ollie’s eyes went big in the middle of her sentence and she turned right around. Maggie and I looked at each other then ran after Ollie, looking behind us to see what she had seen.
“Ollie!” Maggie yelled after her, I was still trying to figure out what she saw.
Finally, we caught up and grabbed her arms, stopping her. “Ollie, what is your deal?” I questioned her.
She pointed back the way we came and I finally caught sight of what had made her run. A mop of dark red hair sat atop a head that was connected to the body of none other than Asher Hub.
He saw us looking at him and waved to us, pulling the arm of another male next to him who furrowed his eyebrows then looked up to see us huddled in a small circle staring at them. He looked to Asher then back to us, hesitantly waving.
I squinted, inconspicuously I hope, at the second boy. Something about him seemed all too familiar until I realized it was Sage.
Out of the corner of my mouth, I whispered to Ollie, “That’s Sage. The guy we met at the coffee shop the other day.” I waved back shyly, hoping it wasn’t too late to do so.
Maggie looked between us as we conversed quietly, waiting for a pause to be able to jump in, “Hey Uhm, guys. They’re walking over here.”
“Oh no. Oh my goodness. I can’t believe this is happening.” Ollie tried to smooth her frizzy hair down, only succeeding in making it more frizzy. “How’s my hair?”
I looked at her pathetic smile and matched it, “Yeah, it looks great.” I gave the ‘It does not look great’ face to Maggie before turning to face the approaching boys.
“Well, hello ladies.” Asher’s earrings swayed to a stop. “You all look lovely today. Ollie. Rosemary.” He smiled his crooked smile at us, making Ollie turn a deep red. He turned to Maggie. “And who might you be?”
Maggie didn’t seem to realize he was talking to her until I nudged her hard in the ribs, quickly growing impatient. “Oh, hi. My name is Maggie! I take it you’re Asher?”
He raised his eyebrows expectantly at Ollie, seemingly pleased with himself, “I am him, indeed. I shouldn’t be surprised you guys talk about me.”
“Oh, no-no-no.” Ollie stammered into the conversation, ready to defend herself, “We don’t talk about you. We said your name when we saw you over by the produce.”
I glanced at Sage as Ollie, Asher, and Maggie all talked over each other about who talks about who and when and why. He met my eyes only just, smiling faintly, his dimple chin pulsing through.
Still not meeting my eyes he raised a question, “How are you doing? Last time I saw you you were crouching on the floor.” He chuckled at that, amusing himself.
“I’m glad you find that funny.” I attempted to sound intimidating but smiled all the same. “But I’m doing great. You?”
“I’m good too.” He paused and listened in to the other’s conversation right as Ollie was saying, “Oh my goodness, yes! I’ll go to the ball with you!” Sage glanced back at me, “That was a quick change of pace, am I right?”
I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, they’re like an old married couple already.”
“Yeah,” Sage laughed and shifted his feet, wiping his hands on his jeans before turning back to me. “So speaking of the dance. Or ball, or whatever. I know we don’t know each other very well but, would you like to go with me next month?”
The others had stopped talking and were listening intently to my answer, leaning forward onto the balls of their feet. “Yeah, sure. I would love to.” I tried saying this last part with a smile, not wanting to sound too nervous.
“Awesome! Here’s my number and socials and you can text, or call if you’re into that, and we can work out some details.”
I grabbed the paper, accidentally, I reassured myself, accidentally touching his fingertips with mine. “Sounds great.”
We talked with them a little longer until the pauses between subject changes grew increasingly longer and more awkward. Then we said goodbye and walked to a nearby cafe. Mind you it wasn’t ‘The Timeless Cafe’ as Ollie and I like to call it, its real name is ‘Coffee on Third,’ (though it wasn’t actually on third street) that Ollie and I normally go to. It was a different one, one that had more lunch-like foods. Sandwiches, soups, salads, and the like. Pretty decent coffee too.
We settled at a table outside next to the plant wall, enjoying the extra fresh air that they provided.
I could feel Maggie’s eyes boring into Ollie and I’s heads bent deeply into the menu, “Well,” She drew out the “L” a little longer than needed, “Are we going to talk about what just happened!”
I saw Ollie’s concentrated frown twitch upwards, “No, we’re not. Not much to talk about.”
“Oh, not much to talk about!”
Ollie answered again, “Nope.” She allowed a smile to creep onto her face.
“Listen, guys,” I felt the words tumble out of my mouth without permission, “There’s nothing to talk about. Ollie and I just got asked to the dance which is in a month, mind you. It’s just a dance.”
Maggie and Ollie looked between each other, smothering a giggle, and came to a stalemate. “Alright.” Maggie finally spoke up, breaking the standoff. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“Thank you.” Ollie said this “thank you” like a proper English woman, higher than everyone else, pretentious.
I stifled a laugh and turned back to the menu. They had some good vegetarian options, veggie sandwiches, veggie soups, tofu salads, impossible burgers, mac n cheese. I honestly couldn’t decide. I didn’t have much money left because I spent a lot of it at the farmer’s market. I ended up getting a bowl of mac n cheese and a side salad with ranch. It was the perfect comfort food for a soggy and overcast day.
The other two girls split the meat pizza and a chicken salad. Their food arrived shortly after mine in all its gooey and greasy glory. It almost made me want to eat meat again after twelve years of not eating it. I laughed that thought off and instead focused on the creamy plate of cheese and carbs in front of me.
“Do you guys mind if I pray before we eat?” Maggie’s bright eyes were clouded with worry, “I normally say a silent prayer at school but do you mind if I say it out loud today? You don’t have to pray with me or anything.”
I glanced at Ollie and after receiving a small nod I said, “Yeah sure, of course, Maggie. You don’t need to ask to pray.” I giggled awkwardly trying to fill the air, “We’ll wait to eat until you’re finished.”
Maggie smiled gratefully at us, stars were in her eyes now, “Okay, thank you, guys.” She inhaled deeply before starting, “Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful food you have provided for us today. Thank you for the beautiful cloudy weather and each other’s company. Bless our food and the rest of our day. In your name, I pray, Amen.”
Ollie and I echoed a quiet “Amen” and began eating our food ravenously.
“Thank you,” Maggie looked between us, “I appreciate it. I hope that didn’t make you uncomfortable in any way.”
Ollie swallowed a bite of pizza, a dot of sauce on the left corner of her mouth, “Oh no, don’t worry about it. My family is Catholic, I strayed a little from the faith, though. And I can’t speak for Rosemary.”
“I’m agnostic. I don’t believe that there is or is not a god of some sort out there.” I met Maggie’s listening eyes, “I’m open to whatever, though. I love to learn about different religions and just learning in general. So, no need to feel guilty or awkward for praying in front of us. Do what you need or want to do in that regard, for sure. No judgments from us.”
The three of us laughed, but not at anything specific. I think it was more of a relieved “I can be who I want in front of these people” laugh. It was a freeing laugh.
We each simultaneously took a bite of our food and allowed the quiet bustling ambiance to fill the silence for the rest of lunch.
Maggie, Ollie, and I walked back to campus shortly after lunch on Saturday. It was filled with giggles and reap snorted noodles. I won’t go into detail about that. We spent the rest of Saturday watching old scary movies, “Scream”, “Jaws”, stuff like that. They were actually pretty good, not too scary since we were watching them in broad daylight and the graphics were horrible.
We finished watching them all around nine o’clock that night. Which means we skipped dinner. Maggie was so hungry that we could hear her stomach growl from a few feet away. She insisted that she wasn’t hungry but Ollie and I both knew better. To be honest, I was getting pretty hungry myself.
“Okay guys, why don’t we just order some pizza. I doubt the dining hall or the cafeteria is open right now.” I said after glancing at the comically large clock on Maggie’s wall that now read a quarter to ten.
“No,” Ollie whined, “Maggie and I had pizza for lunch.”
“Alright then,” I sighed, “How about we get some food from me and Ollie’s dorm room, we have some breakfast-type stuff.”
Once the other girls reluctantly agreed we crept over to my dorm room, careful not to wake any of the other girls up, room curfew was at nine-thirty.
We shuffled to the door and Ollie unlocked the door, giggling uncontrollably over the fact that we were breaking the rules, and pushed her way inside. Maggie and I followed closely behind her into the room, also stifling hunger-induced rule-breaking laughs. We all stopped dead in our tracks, shoulder to shoulder, the smile that was once on our faces faded, the only traces of them ever being there were the creases that were left at the sides of our mouths up to our noses.
