Chapter Text
Oliver sat with Tommy on the playground. They were both being quiet as they sat in front of the swings. Then again, Tommy had been quiet ever since the funeral. Two weeks ago his mom died. A week after that they buried her. He’d been at Oliver’s house more than ever, but Oliver didn’t mind so much. He was eight and his best friend practically lived in his bedroom now. How could that not make him happy? Well, it would make him happier if Tommy was happy. He offered to share his mom with Tommy, but that didn’t seem to help.
“Want to go down the slide?” Oliver asked.
“Sure.” Tommy shrugged.
They stood and walked toward the playground equipment. When they got there Tommy stood in front of the entrance and stared at it as if it were too difficult to climb. Oliver frowned. A girl came walking toward them. She stopped and waited for a long moment. None of them said anything. She stood there in baggy pink pants, a blue NASA t-shirt, and her mousy brown hair done in pigtails. She wore glasses that were too big for her face.
“Move!” she pushed Tommy to the ground.
“Hey!” Oliver pushed her back. “His mom just died!”
“My dad left and never came back.” The girl smacked his hands away.
“Dying is worse,” Oliver said.
“Either way,” she pushed up her glasses. “You never see them again.”
Tommy brushed himself off and stood. “It’s okay.”
“Can I go on the slide now?” she asked.
Oliver pulled Tommy away from her. “Go on.”
The girl ran up the plastic steps and went down the slide with a squeal.
“What’s your name?” Tommy asked when she hit the bottom.
“Felicity.” She sat on the slide. “Why?”
“Just asking,” he said. “My name’s Tommy. This is Oliver.”
“Shut up.”
“My mom and I just moved here. What school do you go to?”
“Starling Elementary.”
“Me too!”
Oliver rolled his eyes. Great. They were going to go to school with some mean girl. He didn’t understand why Tommy even seemed to like her. She pushed him on the ground! Tommy pulled away from him and climbed on the slide with Felicity. Oliver clenched his fists. This was not how the day was supposed to go. Tommy was his best friend and now he was going down the slide with some girl?
On Monday, Oliver discovered that Felicity not only went to his school, but she found her way into his and Tommy’s class. She also sat at his table; Queen, Ramirez, Sampson, and now Smoak. He sulked as she sat down across from him with plastic pencil case and her dumb smile. Rene shot her a smile from beside him. Oliver rolled his eyes again. Did everyone have to like Felicity right off the bat?
“Do you like hockey?” he asked.
“No.”
“Oh.”
Wendy Sampson made a face at Rene. “Girls don’t like hockey.”
“Yes they do! My mom watches with me!”
“She only watches because she feels bad for you.”
“You’re a liar!”
Felicity sunk low in her chair. Oliver watched her, wondering why she was hiding. At least that’s what he thought she was doing. He shook his head and turned around to look for Tommy at the M table. He waved at Tommy who waved back.
“Alright everyone, settle down.” Their teacher waved her arms like a bird.
At lunch, Oliver and Tommy sat together like they always did. He spotted Felicity wandering around with a little Avengers lunch box. She looked lost and confused. He turned away from her, hoping she wouldn’t see them. Tommy, however, waved his arms and called out to her. Oliver sighed and poked at his grilled cheese. He suddenly worried that Tommy was going to replace him with Felicity. They had been friends forever, but what if he started liking this new girl better than him?
Felicity smiled and sat down beside them. “Thanks. I thought I was going to have to sit on the floor or something.”
“Ew.” Tommy stuck up his nose.
Maybe you should. Oliver picked up his sandwich and took a bite, so he would keep his thought to himself.
Felicity opened her lunchbox and pulled out a cheese sandwich and a pickle.
“Why didn’t you just get a sandwich here?” Oliver asked.
“It might not be kosher.”
“What does that mean?”
“Food cooked to Jewish requirement.”
“What’s Jewish mean?”
She gave him a dark look. “It’s my religion.”
“Oh.”
Felicity ate lunch with them everyday from then on. Oliver did his best not to be rude, but he didn’t like her. Everyone else around him seemed to. Okay, that wasn’t true. He caught some kids being mean to her, making fun of her clothes because they were hand-me-downs. He didn’t know what that meant until she told him a lot of her clothes came from older cousins. All of his clothes were brand new. He didn’t understand why hers weren’t.
“Did you see what she’s wearing today?” One of the girls said as she walked past him. “That belt is on so tight, if you grabbed it I bet her pants would fall off.” Three different girls giggled.
He looked over at Felicity in her purple corduroys. They were being held up by a plastic belt, on a notch so far down that there was plenty of belt hanging loose on the other side. Her Lion King shirt was old and worn. The picture of Simba nearly washed away. He frowned. Oliver may not like her, but they shouldn’t say things like that about her. They wore perfect clothing out of the same story his mom bought his clothing. Frilly pink dresses and fancy slacks. But that didn’t make them any better than her.
“Shut up,” he hissed.
They paused and turned to look at him. “What did you say to me Queen?”
“I said shut up, Helena. You’re being mean.”
“Ms. Andrews. Oliver told me to shut up!”
“Oliver!”
Oliver’s mouth fell open. Not only was Helena mean, but she was a tattle tale!
Oliver, Tommy, and Felicity sat on Oliver’s bed. It wasn’t his idea. Tommy had invited Felicity over.
“Why did you get in trouble at school today?” Felicity asked.
“I told Helena to shut up.”
“Why?”
Oliver’s cheeks turned pink and he looked away from her. “None of your business.”
She recoiled. “Okay.”
There was a knock at the door. “Come in, Raisa!” Oliver called.
Moira Queen opened the door. “Oh, who is this?” His mother gestured at Felicity. She gave her a look that was reminiscent of the girls at school.
He tried not to think too hard about it. “This is Felicity.”
“Hello, Felicity.” She said with a weird smile. “Do you go to school with the boys?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Interesting.”
Oliver frowned at his mother. She was never this way with Tommy.
“You have a beautiful house. I’ve never seen one so big!”
“I don’t doubt that.”
Felicity wilted like a flower.
“Did you wanna tell me something mom?”
“Oh yes, your father and I are going out tonight. We’ll be late. I expect you to get yourself into bed at the proper time.”
“Yes, mom.”
She gave Felicity one last look before disappearing behind the door.
Felicity looked to Oliver. “So your mom isn’t around much either, huh?”
Oliver shook his head. “Raisa spends more time with me.”
Tommy flopped back onto the bed. “I haven’t seen my dad since the funeral. That was weeks ago, I think. Maybe months. Who knows.”
“My mom works all the time. I pack my own lunches every day and make my own dinner.”
“You do?” Oliver gave her a horrified expression.
She nodded.
Suddenly all three of them had a lot more in common.
After that day, Oliver decided Felicity wasn’t so bad. He spent more time standing up for her, though he soon figured out she didn’t need that much help. She almost got suspended for punching Helena Bertinelli in the nose after she told Felicity her glasses were ugly. Helena was even taller than Felicity, but that didn’t stop her from wailing on her face. It was probably the funniest thing Oliver had ever seen. Helena cried. Felicity got in trouble. Both their parents came. Helena’s dad was one of the scariest people he had ever seen. Oliver was sure he worked for the mafia.
Felicity’s mom on the other hand was like no one else. His own mother was a business woman. She wore suits and practical heels. That’s what she called them anyway, practical heels. When he saw Felicity’s mom walking toward the principal’s office his eyeballs nearly fell out of his head. She reminded him of one of those pretty Vegas girls he saw in a movie once. Bright blonde hair, a really tight dress that showed off her, well Oliver was eight and became very embarrassed when he even noticed that she had boobs. Her high heels were higher than any he had ever seen.
After both parents entered the office it got loud.
Children lined up in the hallway to listen to both of them argue. It was after school hours and they were all supposed to go home, but they leaned against the glass of the office and listened to the fighting. The receptionist spotted all the little eyeballs staring inside and got up to shoo them away. Oliver ducked down below the glass and waited for Felicity to come out.
“Your daughter is a menace.” A man’s voice boomed.
“Your daughter started this whole thing. She’s a bully,” a woman spat.
“Both of you stop it. It’s over, go home!” The receptionist yelled.
Oliver stood up in time to see the blonde woman holding Felicity’s hand and leading her out. Felicity’s face was red and puffy from crying.
“Felicity.” He ran up to her. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I can’t go on the field trip next week with you and Tommy. Neither can Helena, but who cares.”
“Oh.” Oliver deflated. “I’ll stay back with you.”
“You don’t have to. Go to the zoo with everyone else.”
“I’ll get Raisa to take us to the zoo some other time.”
“Really?” She brightened up.
“Yeah!”
“Wait a minute. Who said you could go to the zoo?” Felicity’s mom said.
“Sorry…” Oliver looked up at her with his big blue eyes and batted his eyelashes. “I’m Oliver Queen, Mrs. Smoak. Felicity’s friend.”
“Oliver Queen? As in the son of Robert and Moira Queen? The heir to Queen Consolidated the big tech company?”
He blinked at her like she was speaking another language.
“Never mind. You can call me Donna. I suppose since it wasn’t really your fault you can go to the zoo with Oliver.”
“Thanks, mom!”
Oliver and Felicity grew closer the more time they spent with each other. Soon he was spending time at her apartment too. It was not as nice as his house, but he never said anything about it. It was small, but cozy. Felicity’s room was a lot different than his. She had posters of planets and astronauts all over her walls. Pieces of computers littered the floor. None of it made sense to him, but it seemed very Felicity.
Donna seemed to like him and Tommy a lot. She wasn’t around very often because of her job, but when she had time to spend with Felicity and them, she was really fun to be around. Moira on the other hand, never seemed to warm up to Felicity. She always looked at her very suspiciously. Oliver even caught her checking Felicity’s backpack before she left their house once. When he asked her why, she wouldn’t tell him.
He wouldn’t figure out why his mom acted like this until he was older.
Oliver, Tommy, and Felicity started middle school together. The first two years had been great. They shared a few classes together and made new friends. At the end of the day, though, the three of them always came back to each other.
They were thirteen now and starting their final year of middle school.
They stood in the entrance hall of the Queen Manor in new clothes. Even Felicity had something nice to wear. She stood there in a plaid skirt, knee high socks, a white blouse, mary-janes, and a brand new white backpack with little embroidered sunflowers. Her brown hair was pulled back into a loose braid. Oliver thought she looked really pretty, but he would never say it out loud.
Moira and Raisa came down the stairs with a camera ready to take pictures of the three of them. His mother gave Felicity the eye. He crossed his arms over his chest. He knew she was going to say something, he just knew it. For some reason his mother didn’t like Felicity. It had something to do with the fact the Smoak family didn’t have much money. He now knew that Moira thought Felicity was going to steal from them and thought she was using him. He didn’t know how long he had to be friends with Felicity before his mother understood none of that was true.
“You look nice, Felicity.” Moira stood in front of all three of them. “Where did you ever get that ensemble?”
Felicity knew what Moira was insinuating. Oliver could see it in his friend’s face.
“Donna bought it for her, mom.”
“I was talking to Felicity.”
Tommy squirmed between them.
“My mom did buy these clothes for me. She worked a few extra hours at the restaurant.”
“How nice.” She motioned for Raisa to start taking pictures.
The three of them smiled and posed for pictures. It seemed to be going well until Moira asked for Felicity to step aside, so she could have a few of just Oliver and Tommy. Felicity walked around Moira and Raisa. She left out the front door, to wait for them outside. Moira’s demeanor brightened as soon as Felicity was gone. Oliver had to force his smile for the rest of the pictures.
“I’m sorry about my mom.”
“You keep apologizing for her. It’s not your fault.”
“I still feel bad.”
“Yeah, well, stop.”
Oliver scowled at her.
She elbowed him.
They both raised their hands and play slapped each other in the back of the limo.
“You’re both stupid,” Tommy said without looking up from his phone.
They turned toward him and play slapped at him instead.
“Fuck off,” the thirteen-year-old laughed.
“Who are you even texting?” Felicity asked.
“Laurel. Helena. Dinah. Oh and Adrian.”
Felicity rolled her eyes.
“Just because the only person you text is Oliver doesn’t mean you can roll your eyes at me.”
“That’s not true… I text you… and my mom.”
“Sad.”
“Be quiet.” She smacked him in the arm.
“Ow.”
“You deserved that.” Oliver laughed.
“What high school are you going to go to?” Felicity asked one day at lunch.
“My mom wants me to go to Starling Prep.”
“My dad said the same,” Tommy said with his mouth full of food.
“Oh.” She looked down at her own lunch.
“Why?” Oliver felt his anxiety rising. “Where are you going?”
“Roosevelt probably.”
“Wait, why?” Both boys exclaimed.
“Starling Prep is a private school…”
“So?” Tommy scoffed.
Oliver elbowed him in the ribs.
“Ow. Oh. Sorry.”
Oliver didn’t want Felicity to go to another high school. She was his best friend. They did everything together. They hung out every day after school, they studied, they watched movies, and just did everything. How could she not be there when he got to school every day? How could she not be in class with him? He knew that when they got to high school a lot of her classes were going to be AP smart people classes, but that didn’t mean they still couldn’t have some of their elective classes together. And lunch.
“Can’t, can’t you get a scholarship or something?”
“They only give out one a year and my chances are astronomical.”
“Felicity, you are the smartest person I know. You have to try!”
She looked up at him, meeting his gaze. He looked into her sparkling blue eyes and felt his heart stutter in his chest. He couldn’t imagine not seeing her every day at school.
“Please?”
Oliver paced back and forth in Felicity’s living room. She sat on the couch holding a letter from Starling Prep. They were both afraid to open it. He stopped to look at her. Her fingers shook as she held the big professional looking envelope. He took in a deep breath. They had to do it. They had to suck it up and open the damn thing. It was the only option. Oliver had to know if they were going to different high schools in a couple of months.
“Rip the bandaid off.”
She nodded slowly and tore the envelope open. Her eyes flicked over the page, but her face gave nothing away. There was a reason he never played cards with her.
“Dear Felicity Smoak…” she read. “We regret to inform you…”
His heart sank.
“That you will never be rid of Oliver Queen.” She looked up at him with a wide smile. “I have a full ride scholarship!”
“Fe-li-ci-ty!” He couldn’t even bring himself to be mad.
Oliver threw himself at her, hugging her as tightly as possible. He didn’t think he had ever been happier to have been punked.
High school was a different beast. For once, Felicity didn’t have to worry about her clothes. She was on a level playing field with everyone else in their uniforms. The bad part was both Oliver and Felicity hated their uniforms.
“These are the ugliest things I have ever seen,” Felicity said, standing in front of Oliver’s full length mirror.
Felicity wasn’t allowed to wear pants anymore; navy blue skirt, blazer over a white button up, black shoes, white knee-high socks, and a ponytail held with a matching navy blue ribbon. Oliver matched with blue slacks instead of a skirt. He offered to wear the skirt with her, but she told him no one wanted to see his hairy legs. He assured her that his legs were fabulous.
Although they were now on an even playing field, kids still seemed to find a reason to be mean. Helena was still as mean as ever. Felicity could wear the same exact outfit, but her glasses were still stupid and her hair wasn’t good enough.
“Fuck off, Helena.”
“Suck a dick, Queen.”
“That’s your job.”
Felicity hid her face in Oliver’s arm and sighed. “You don’t have to do that for me.”
“Yeah, I do,” he said. “Unless you want to punch her in the face again.”
She laughed. “That was so long ago, I can’t believe you still remember it.”
“Remember it? That was one of the best days of my life.”
“You’re so full of it.”
“Nope.”
The sixteen-year-old stood outside of Felicity’s class. He was as nervous as he had ever been. The homecoming dance was just around the corner and he wanted to ask Felicity to go. It was kind of an assumption they would go as friends, but he didn’t really want to go as friends. God, he felt like a fool. He looked like a fool too. He needed a haircut. His hair had grown out to a weird length. His face was greasy and he had a zit on his cheek and forehead. The other day his voice had done this weird squeaky thing and he nearly died.
Oliver didn’t know when it happened, but he kept noticing Felicity. The way her laugh sounded so pretty. The brightness of her smile. Her stunning eyes and the pout of her lips. Suddenly her legs were so attractive and he barely understood it. It wasn’t an overnight thing, no. He knew it wasn’t. But over time he started seeing these things. He guessed it started in middle school. That plaid skirt outfit had been so pretty. It wasn’t the outfit that had been pretty, it was her.
He wondered what was taking Felicity so long. This was her last class. Some AP technology class. He could see her through the window, talking to her teacher. It seemed like a serious conversation. When she finally exited the classroom, she looked upset. As soon as she saw him her face brightened.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
He frowned.
“I’ll tell you later, okay?”
“Okay.”
There was an awkward beat of silence between them.
“Are you okay?”
“Will you go to the dance with me?” he blurted out.
“I thought we were already going?”
“I mean will you let me take you…”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “What’s the difference?”
He looked toward the sky and willed someone to strike him down. Oliver wanted to explain it to her as a date, but he couldn’t get the words to come out of his mouth.
“Never mind. I’m being dumb.”
“Okay.” She watched him for a moment. “You want to come over tonight?”
“Yeah.”
When Oliver was invited to Felicity’s apartment, he didn’t think he would be standing in the bathroom with a blue, clay mask on his face. He had to admit that it was tingly and nice. It smelled good too.
“You keep complaining about your face… I thought I would show you my secret,” Felicity said as she slathered the mask all over her own face.
He poked his nose as he stared at himself in the mirror. The mask was already drying. “This stuff makes the zits go away?”
“Yep. Keeps you from being a greaseball too.”
“Witchcraft,” he whispered.
He watched her in the mirror. She was so cute, pouting her lip out while she put the mask on. She crinkled her brow as if it was a serious matter. She usually made that face when she was studying really hard. Oliver’s heart pounded in his chest. He was really falling for this girl.
The day of the homecoming dance came. Oliver was a bundle of nerves. He pulled up to Felicity’s apartment building in the limo. He decided a while ago, he was done subjecting Felicity to his mother. He wore a tux, dark green with a white button up and a sleek black tie. He and Felicity had color coordinated, but that was all he knew about her dress. Oliver walked up the steps and nearly ran all the way to her apartment. His knuckles hit her door and he took a step back.
Donna swung the door open and pulled him in for a tight hug. “Hi, Ms. Smoak.”
“It’s Donna and you know that.” She yanked him inside.
Oliver smoothed out his tux and turned. His mouth fell open. Felicity stood in a shining green dress. It was dark like his tux, but when the light hit it just right it sparkled. Her glasses were missing and her hair was blonde. It was pulled back into a neat bun with a few strands purposefully falling down in her face.
“Your hair.”
“Do you like it?”
“I liked it before.”
Her face fell. “Do you hate it?”
“N-no. It’s beautiful. You’re beautiful.”
“You look nice too. You cut your hair. It was looking pretty shaggy.”
He ran his fingers through his short locks. “I know.”
They left. Oliver couldn’t keep his eyes off of Felicity. He thought she was beautiful before and he thought she was beautiful now. He was pretty sure he would think she was beautiful if her hair was bright pink or if she were goth.
“You keep looking at me, are you sure you like it?”
“I do… you’re just really pretty.”
“C’mon. Stop it.” She blushed.
Oliver and Felicity stepped into the gym and all eyes were on her. She blushed and leaned into him.
“I told you that you were beautiful.”
“They’re staring at me because I’m a freak not because I’m beautiful.”
“Bullshit.” He tugged her into the middle of the dance floor. “Forget about everyone else.”
Felicity looked up into his eyes and nodded. They ignored the rest of the students. They forgot they were even there. It was just the two of them dancing to some top forty bop. To Oliver, it was the most perfect night. He got to spend hours dancing with his best friend, drinking cheap punch, and every so often the two of them would spot Tommy trying to flirt with every other person and either making off with someone to go under the bleachers or getting smacked. They started taking bets on which would happen.
By the time the night was over, Oliver was sure nothing could bring him down.
“I have to tell you something,” Felicity said as they sat in the limo.
“Yeah?”
“It’s really important.”
His heart sped up.
“I’m graduating early.”
Oliver’s world came crashing down.
In a couple weeks, Felicity would be leaving Starling Prep and heading to MIT on another full ride scholarship. She was just too smart for their little school. He was hurt. Who did she think she was leaving them behind like that? It wasn’t fair for him to feel like that and he knew it, but they were his feelings. He cared about her so much and she was leaving him and Tommy behind. She was breaking up the trio.
She was leaving him.
“Why are you so mad at me?” She yelled. “I thought you would be happy for me!”
“I am! It’s great. You’re leaving us behind to go be so smart.”
“Oliver!”
He threw his hands up in the air. “It’s not fair, okay?”
“Oliver, please. I don’t want to leave with you hating me.”
His heart ached. He could never hate her. Quite the opposite. His feelings for her were so strong he didn’t know what to do with them.
“I just don’t want you to go.”
“You can’t ask me to stay.”
“Why not?”
“Because this is my future. Oliver you have money. You have opportunities. This might be my only chance. Please.”
He looked away from her. Tears welled up in his eyes. “Fine. Go.” He yelled.
“Oliver…”
“Go! Get out of my room.”
A sob fell from her lips. She picked up her things and left his room and the house in a hurry. Oliver sunk down to the floor, wrapping his arms around his legs. His best friend was leaving. What if she left for good? What if he never saw her again? And he left it like this. Oh god. Tears rolled down his cheeks.
Oliver didn’t get the chance to apologize before she left. They avoided each other like the plague. It was the worst two weeks of his life.
And it didn’t get any better after that.