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It had been a couple of months since the spelling bee, and William Barfée was sitting in math class, bored out of his mind. All he wanted to do was study for the next spelling bee. As soon as the bell rang, he quickly got out of his seat, 'excited' for his next class. It wasn’t that he loved English-though he didn’t hate it either-but because Olive Ostrovsky, his crush friend, was in that class. Ever since the bee, Olive had been on his mind constantly.
The words played on repeat in his head: “Olive… I love…”
Now, you might think that means he had a crush on her—but no. He didn’t have a crush. He just liked her smile, the way she did her hair so perfectly, and how her eyes lit up in the sun. But that wasn’t a crush. Definitely not.
When William entered English class, Olive was already sitting in her usual spot. He quietly went to his assigned seat, took out his notebook and pencils, and tried not to grin too much when Olive turned around and waved at him. He waved back, trying to make it look casual. It wasn’t.
Just before the bell rang, Chip rushed in, panting like a dog. He collapsed into the seat next to William and scrambled to get his stuff out.
“What’s got you all out of breath?” William asked, raising an eyebrow.
Chip looked flustered. “What? Oh—nothing. Yeah, nothing.”
William sighed. He knew exactly what had happened. Chip had been flirting with Leaf in the hallway and lost track of time. But he didn’t call him out. Not with the teacher about to start and Olive just a few seats away.
Halfway through class, William zoned out. It was reading time, or something like that. He found himself staring at Olive again, admiring her without thinking anyone would notice. But Chip did.
“Barfee?” Chip whispered.
William sighed sharply. “It’s Barfée.”
Chip rolled his eyes. “So… you and Olive, huh?”
William’s face turned bright red. “What do you mean by that?” he said, trying to sound clueless.
“You obviously like her. Trust me, I know what it’s like to be in love.” Chip said this dramatically, placing a hand over his heart.
“Oh yeah? With Leaf or Marigold?” William shot back.
Chip narrowed his eyes. “Both. But not Marigold anymore. Leaf has my heart.”
“Is that why you were almost late to class?”
“Maybe,” Chip muttered, looking away.
Thinking the conversation was over, William turned back to what he was doing—or rather, looking at Olive again. Not in a weird way. Just… admiring her beauty.
After class, William walked over to Olive.
“Hey, Olive,” he said, smiling. He never smiled like this. Only at her.
“Hey, Barf,” Olive replied, smiling back.
Oh, how William loved her smile.
“So Olive… I was wondering if you wanted to come to my house after school.” William asked the question very directly, just like he always did. That was one thing Olive liked about him—he never danced around what he wanted to say.
Olive looked at him and nodded. “Yes! I’d love to.”
William blushed at her response. But before he could say anything else, Chip smacked him in the back of the head and ran off, probably in search of Leaf.
William wanted to yell at him but stopped himself. Olive didn’t like loud noises.
She looked down at her feet, then back up at William. “So… shall we go to your house?”
William nodded. “Yes. Yes, of course.”
They walked out together and waited outside the school for Sheila, William’s stepmom.
“When we get to my house,” William began, “I was thinking we could read the dictionary. Or maybe watch a movie. Or… whatever you want to do.” He said the last part with a blush.
Olive smiled. Reading the dictionary sounded wonderful. Before William, her only friend had been her dictionary. But now, things were different. William was her best friend.
“Reading the dictionary sounds nice,” she said, and they both smiled at each other.
Soon, Sheila pulled up and rolled down the window. “Oh—hi, Willy. Who’s your friend? Is she your girlfriend?”
William turned bright red while Olive blushed.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” William muttered. “She’s just my friend. And it’s William, not Willy.”
Sheila made a face. She hated when William called her by her name instead of “Mom.”
“Well, are you going to introduce me to her?”
William sighed. “Olive, this is my stepmom, Sheila. Sheila, this is my friend, Olive.”
Olive gave a soft smile and waved. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“It’s lovely to meet you too,” Sheila replied. “I think I remember Willy saying something about you—”
That made William’s face go pale. He didn’t remember telling Sheila about Olive. Maybe she overheard when he told his real mom, Joan.
William quickly ushered Olive into the car and got in himself. As soon as they got to his house, he jumped out and helped Olive out too. Then, without thinking, he grabbed her hand and rushed to his room, both of them breathless when they arrived.
“Whoa,” Olive said, looking around. “Your room looks cool… I like the stars.” She pointed to the glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling.
“Watch this,” William said, turning off the lights. The stars glowed.
“Cool, right? Oh—actually, I have some extras.” He pulled out a plastic bag of leftover stars. “You can put them in your room and we can match.”
Olive smiled and hugged him. “Thank you, Barf!”
William smiled back and hugged her too, a slight blush creeping onto his face- not because of how close they were but because it was slightly hot in the room.
She tucked the stars into her backpack, and William pulled up another chair so they could sit together. He opened his dictionary and placed it so they could both see the pages.
They read fun words together like “snollygoster” and “flub,” giggling every now and then. As it got later, Olive started to look tired.
“Do you want me to ask Sheila to call your dad?” William asked gently. “I’m sure he’s wondering where you are.”
“I don’t really want to go home,” Olive said quietly. “He probably doesn’t even care where I am.”
William’s heart sank.
“Well… you can stay the night.” He swallowed hard.
Olive smiled. “I’d love that. Thank you, Barf.”
William turned on the TV and handed her the remote. “Pick a movie! I’ll grab snacks and drinks.”
After he left, Olive looked through the options. She didn’t watch much TV—her dad always had control of the remote. But then she saw a movie she used to watch with her mom: Beauty and the Beast. It made her feel warm inside.
William came back and placed snacks on the bed. “Did you find a movie?” he asked
.
“Yes! My mom and I used to watch this all the time. I thought you might like it too and—”
She stopped herself.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” William said with a small smile. “I like listening to you talk.”
He instantly turned away, blushing.
Olive smiled. “Aww, Barf.”
William hit play and sat quietly, hoping the movie would hide his embarrassment.
As the film played, Olive became completely absorbed. It brought back so many memories of her mom before she left for India. Even though her mom hadn’t written in a while, Olive still had hope she’d come back.
William kept glancing between the screen and Olive, making sure she was okay.
When the credits rolled, Olive yawned.“I’ll go sleep on the cou—”
“No. I’ll sleep on the floor. You take the bed,” William said firmly.
“But—”
“No buts.”
He had already set up a sleeping bag on the floor and was wriggling into it before she could argue.
Olive sighed and got into bed. “Good night, Barf.”
“Good night, Olive,” William replied, smiling to himself.
In the middle of the night, Olive woke up from a nightmare. She was shaking.
“Olive?” William sat up groggily.
She looked at him but couldn’t speak. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Without hesitation, William rushed to the bed and sat beside her, gently helping her breathe.
When she calmed down, she told him about the dream—about her mom and dad both being in India, happy without her.
“Do you… want me to lay with you?” William asked softly.
She quickly nodded.
They lay down together. Olive fell asleep first, curling into William and hugging him in her sleep. William blushed hard but hugged her back.
They both fell asleep like that, warm and safe.