Help needed.

After having the time to cool down, I noticed a couple of things about my… encounter with Sarah. It was just like the time I had fingered her without ever having done it before. I just sort of… knew how to do it and it obviously worked wonders. The other thing was that, though my heart was beating quickly and my ears burned, I was sufficiently calm.

None of that sounded like me, but… I didn’t care. Why should I, I thought. Was it better to instinctively know what to do and please Sarah or have some kind of panic attack in the middle of it and leave her hanging? There were too many strange changes with me, but so far none of them were for the worse. I felt physically better. I was… being around more people. Not talking much, and hell if I knew why they were okay with that, but just having them close made me feel like I was making a bit of progress. I was experiencing things I thought only happened in scripted porn.

I found myself questioning things less and less, so when the bell to the second recess rang, I was eager to go back to the old music room with the girls.

But…

“Oliver, you here?” called my sister from the door to the classroom. She looked directly to my seat and found me there. “Come, I need your help with something.”

I had an idea of what it was about, and normally it wouldn’t have bothered me very much, but now it was cutting on my time with the girls. Nevertheless, I couldn’t bring myself to say no, so I shot the girls an apologetic look and went to Isabelle.

“What is it?” I asked in a soft voice.

“The prez needs help moving stuff from her office.”

Figured.

I followed Isabelle to where I was needed, a room on the third floor that served as the offices of the school’s student council. Remember when I said our school took a lot of influence from Japanese schools because the founder was Japanese? Well, in our school the student council was actually given a lot of influence. Not enough to be like what certain shows would have you believe, but if they put up a proposal to the principal, then it would be seriously considered. They also had many duties and responsibilities, which was why I didn’t get why anyone would want to be in the student council. That said, I also still don’t get why anyone would want to be president of a country.

Why is this relevant? Because one of Isabelle’s friends was the elected candidate this year, with the elections happening near the end of last semester.

“Oliver,” a girl said, her voice polite yet distant. Then her eyes widened ever so slightly at seeing me, giving me a quick look from head to toe. Had she noticed my physical changes? She was someone I already knew, if only in passing, so it wasn’t impossible.

Alice Knight had been friends with my sister since junior year, when they were in the same class. As such, she visited my house every once in a while. It didn’t mean we’d ever had a proper conversation, though.

The fact that she was an absolute beauty made things even harder. She was about as tall as me, meaning about 1.68; she had shoulder length, straight blonde hair; blue eyes; thin lips; and a sexy, curvy figure with a chest and hips to rival Grace’s. To add to the comparison, if Grace gave the impression of being a complete honors student while actually being very laid back, mischievous and a troublemaker, Alice Knight was an actual honors student, being one of the few people in school to rival Grace’s grades and always upholding school rules.

From this description, she sounded like the kind of girl I’d be head-over-heels for, yet I wasn’t. She was… way too perfect. Polite attitude towards everyone, great academic performance, no nasty rumors going around about her. She was perfect, but even back then I wasn’t as naïve to believe she actually was. To me that perfection meant she was keeping her distance from everyone else, like she didn’t want to be bothered, but for reasons different than mine.

“I hope we aren’t bothering you. We need help and Isabelle said she’d go get you,” she told me.

“It’s fine, Alice. He wasn’t doing anything important,” said my sister.

I had to swallow my response, which also made my face tense up. I think Alice noticed, because she shot Isabelle a disappointed frown. “Did you even ask him?”

Isabelle shrugged it off. “He never does anything during recess.”

“I’m sorry, Oliver,” Alice said, sighing. “We need help carrying these boxes with documents to the teachers’ office, but if you had plans already please don’t feel obligated.”

I decided to completely ignore my sister for the time being. I shook my head and went to grab one of the boxes. They were heavy, full of folders on top of folders. I always wondered how the student council collected so much paper. I could’ve carried one of these with some difficulties before, but now, with me feeling much stronger, I was sure I could manage three. I stacked them one on top of the other and lifted them with little issue. I didn’t think I could carry a fourth, though.

“Are you okay?” Alice asked, moving closer with her arms stretched to make sure I wasn’t wobbling. “Can you really carry all that?”

I nodded and turned towards the door to make my way down to the teachers’ office, when I heard someone yelp in surprise in front of me.

“Ah! Sorry… Eh? Oliver?” asked the redhead, moving out of the way after nearly bumping into the boxes.

Noelle Summers, student council secretary and Alice’s friend from a very young age, from what I had heard listening to Isabelle telling mom about her new friends. She was shorter than me, if you can believe that. About 1.58 meters, probably. She had shoulder length fluffy red hair and green eyes. She was, in simple terms, a shortstack. Her chest was technically a bit smaller than the president’s, but on her it looked huge. She was really cute, but I honestly didn’t know much about her. I was surprised she knew my name, though I guessed Isabelle must have mentioned me once or twice. To make fun of me, I was sure.

“Sorry,” I muttered a soft apology of my own and continued my way to the teacher’s office at the other end of the same floor.

“Fucking dammit, Oliver! Do you always have to be so rude?” my sister asked me in an exasperated tone. “Say something, for fuck’s sake!” I flinched and felt my heart shrinking. Was that how I came across? I guess I hadn’t even said hello. Dammit.

I didn’t know how to respond and I didn’t dare look back, so I kept walking and delivered the three boxes. On the way back, my eyes met Alice’s as she carried a single box on her own, and I instinctively looked away. I wasn’t getting the same reassurance as I did with Sarah, Grace and Mila, and felt too ashamed of my own silence. Was it too late to say anything?

I made two more trips, carrying a total of seven boxes by myself. I noticed that had been most of them, so I allowed myself to feel a little proud.

“Thank you for your help, Oliver,” Alice told me with a kind and polite smile. “Sorry we pushed you into it. It seemed like you really did have plans.”

She’s clever. I gently shook my head and **** myself to say what I wanted, even if my voice came out low and quiet. “I don’t mind. Ask me anytime.” It wasn’t like helping with this sort of stuff would kill me.

“Really? Because I might take you up on that.” Alice’s smile this time was more… genuine, I thought.

I nodded again. “If it’s something I can do.”

“Alright then. Thank you.”

I wanted to say more, but couldn’t find the words, and my own, typical overthinking made me hesitate. Should I apologize for before? But it was Noelle I had almost bumped into, so I should apologize to her, right? But had my silence made things awkward for them?

“By the way, Oliver,” Alice continued, studying my face, “did you…”

“Alice, we’re done!” called Noelle as she and my sister came into the council office. “Recess’ about to end, so let’s go to the restroom while we still can.”

“…Yes, lets,” Alice sighed and nodded. She turned to me with the same smile and said, “See you around, Oliver.”

Isabelle, Noelle and Alice left, and I didn’t grow the courage to call out to Noelle to apologize for before. I watched their backs as they walked away, my chest once again beating painfully from frustration.

Why couldn’t I just say things, for fuck’s sake!?