The Pointe Of The Game

Chapter 10

I scoot down in my chair and Levi starts to show me a video on his phone. Then he pauses when he gets frustrated because he can't hear it, and grabs his air pods out of his pocket. He offers me an air pod and I grab it before he takes the second one and puts it in his ear. Then he continues to show me the video. Out of all of the guys, Levi is probably the one that I hang around the most. He's really chill and down to do whatever. The video ends and Levi shuts off his phone but not before he turns on some music for us to listen to while we pretend to watch the film. I look over at Ollie. I can tell by the steady breathing of her back that she's already asleep. She must be exhausted to have fallen asleep that quickly.

I turn my attention to the film on the projector trying to at least gain some insight because I know the teacher is probably going to make us compare the book and the film. I sit there watching for a few minutes when Ollie's phone starts to ping in with texts.

First it's a few then they start coming in faster almost every second. I finally cave and decide to look and see who needs Ollie so urgently. I open the text thread because luckily I've seen Ollie unlock her phone so many times that I figured out her password. I look at the contact and see that it's Ms. Ava. Great. She is blowing up Ollie's phone because she needs her to pick up Sofia who's been throwing up and she's not going to keep a puking baby. Even though it's not my phone, I answer Ms. Ava and tell her that after the period, we'll come and pick her up but we can't leave in the middle of a period. She gives a one word reply of fine and I turn off Ollie's phone and gently set it back down on the table but apparently I didn't set it down quietly enough, because ollie starts to stir and eventually shifts her head so her face is peeking out of her arms. I quietly tell her that Ms. Ava texted and she shoots up and grabs her phone. She reads through all the texts then turns to me and whisper-yells, "Why in the world would you tell her that I can pick her up?!? I don't have my car with me!" I can see the worry starting to form on her face, so I say, "Don't worry, I'll take you and we can pick her up together. It'll be fine"

I can see that she's still worrying so I tell her, "go back to sleep and don't worry, I'll wake you up when the bell rings." that seems to satisfy her so she lays her head back down to the original position she was in. She must be exhausted to listen to what I have to say so ungrudgingly. We stay this way until the end of class, her sleeping and me trying to pay attention to the movie.

The bell finally rings and I look over at Ollie. Everyone is quickly leaving and Levi says a quick "see ya later man" before taking off himself.

I don't want to wake up Ollie especially if she only got a few hours of sleep last night, but I know I have to. Right as I go to wake her up though, someone bumps into the side of her chair beating me to it. She lifts up her head and looks at me. I give her a smile and wait as she gets up. She stands up and looks at me still half asleep.

I laugh a little bit at how asleep she still is even though she's still standing up and ask her if she's ready to go. She gives me a small nod and closes her eyes again. I grab her and my backpacks from the floor and hoist them up onto my shoulders and stand back up straight. She instinctively leans her head and shoulder on my chest and because we can't stand here forever, I put my arms around her small frame and we start walking slowly out into the crowded hallway.

I slowly guide her to the parking lot where my car is and when we get there, she is still half asleep. Either that or she just likes to be in my embrace. I'm hoping it's the latter. We get to my car and I reach into my pocket to grab my keys and unlock and prestart it. I open the passenger door and gently slide Ollie into it, before closing her door and jogging to the other side and getting in the still cold car.

I gently nudge Ollie and ask her for the address of Ms. Ava. She sleepily grumbles that it's in Ms. Ava's contact and shifts her body away from me to grab her phone and give it to me. I pull out of the parking lot after getting the address and start the drive there. At the next stop sign, I look over at Ollie to see her softly breathing and curled up into a ball. She is completely out of it. But it's gives me gratification knowing that she feels comfortable enough to sleep and knowing I've got her and she's safe. She's kinda like my little hedgehog; they're very solitary animals and they're very shy and wary of new people, but once they form a trusting bond, they're actually quite playful and cuddly. I did a report on hedgehogs in third grade. She sighs quietly and contentedly in her sleep and I force myself to look away and continue driving.