Chapter 11 - Olivia: Just Different

"I'd rather not," Olivia looked away from him. "Oh."

She just realized she was already next after less than three minutes in the line. Maybe this is one of the minor differences in this world compared to her original universe: The fast serving. 

"What do you want for today's lunch, dear--Oh." The lunch lady (in her universe, is called 'Liz') squinted at her. "What's with the bandage around your head, and are you new here, dear?"

"Uhhh..." Olivia mumbled. "Yes?"

"You only answered one of my questions, and you sounded quite unsure about it," This version of Liz, the lunch lady, sounded apprehensive of her. "Oh, well! None of my business!"

'Liz' leaned forward at the counter and grinned.

"So what does the new missy with the bandage around her head want for lunch?"

Her nonchalance made Olivia's eyes widen, and her initial nervousness at being scrutinized disappeared. Why were the people here in Huxley kinder than the ones in her world?

Or was Huxley always been this kind to everyone, just not to her?

"Two slices of pizza and two water bottles, please," Maverick interjected.

"Hush, Amanda!" She reprimanded. "Wait for your turn!"

"It's Amada!" Maverick with an exasperated sigh. "Also, I'm treating her to lunch, so I might as well be the one in line already."

"What?" Olivia gaped at him. "You're treating me to lunch?"

"I did tell you that a while ago." Maverick frowned.

"Oh?" The lunch lady seemed amused. "Already got your eyes on the new girl, huh?"

"Don't be like that, Liz." He blushed. "Think of it as my welcoming gift to her."

'Her name is still Liz...' Olivia thought absentmindedly. 'For a universe called the 'Opposite World,' it isn't quite as 'opposite' as I expected.'

"So, Miss," Maverick flashed his pearly white teeth, probably trying to rizz (a term she learned from JaNyx) her up. "What's your name?"

Olivia hesitated at first.

This was the alternate universe version of Amanda Marivick, one of the girls who threw Olivia into the well. What if 'Maverick' was the same as the one in her universe? But then again, this is the 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 world, so he might be a nice person here.

"Twyne," Just to be safe, she gave her last name. 

Maverick raised an eyebrow.

"That's weird. I know another Twyne as well." But it seemed like he didn't dwell on it too much because he proceeded to ask her another question. "So, what pizza flavor would you like?"

"The vegetarian one, please." 

"Even weirder," He laughed heartily. "The Twyne I know is a carnivorous son of a b*tch! Oh, Liz, give me a Hawaiian."

"I bet he is," Olivia muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing," Olivia forced a smile. "Thank you, Amada. I know the food here in the cafeteria is expensive yet..."

She trailed upon seeing the expression on Maverick's face. Or rather, half of his face since he covered it with his hand. 

"You actually called me 'Amada'..." Even if his hand covered his face, his pink ears gave away his embarrassment. "Anyway, since I'm a varsity player, our food in the caf is free, so no worries on that part."

"Isn't that your name?" Olivia's eyebrows knitted together.

"People always call me 'Amanda' for some sick reason. So for someone..." Maverick spoke the next words in such a small voice Olivia barely heard it. "To say my name correctly means a lot to me."

Olivia didn't know how to react that the Amanda of this universe could be so soft-hearted. Maybe he was a good guy after all.

"Here's your slices, you love birds!" Liz handed them the newly microwaved slice. "Now go away, you're holding the line."

Maverick scratched the back of his head and said, 'Sorry.' Olivia was still contemplating what it felt like to be called 'love birds' with one of her bullies. 

Speaking of bullies, it made her wonder how her main tormentor was.

As they headed out of the cafeteria, Olivia couldn't help but ask Maverick about Badd.

"Is there someone named Badd here?"

Maverick blinked.

"Like their last name is actually 'Bad'?"

"Though it's a double-d at the end." She clarified.

"So Badd?"

Olivia nodded.

"Huh," Maverick exclaimed. "That's a weird*ss name."

Gosh, it was nice to be validated that her bully's name was weird as hell. What were her ancestors thinking, naming themselves as 'Badd'?

"Reminds of another student here with a weird*ss name; there's someone here named Goodd."

Olivia blinked.

"Like 'good' with another 'd' at the end?"

"Yep," He nodded. "Hey, do you wanna eat in the garden? It's the best spot in Huxley to eat."

"S-s-sure," She stammered, still finding it awkward to eat lunch with a person she had just met (kind of). But then again, he treated her to lunch, so she should be polite enough to eat with him.

Maverick led her to the garden as if she hadn't been there before. Just like in her version of Huxley, the garden was also frequented by students during break time. 

They sat at the bench (the specific bench she and JaNyx were sitting on before Badd dragged her to the abandoned site), and Maverick raised his pizza as if it were a wine glass.

"Let's eat?" 

Olivia nodded, taking a bite of her slice.

It tasted amazing, exactly like the cafeteria pizza in her universe.

Olivia still couldn't quite grasp how different this world was from hers. Aside from the glaring differences like Oliver Twyne, JaNyx (the male version), and Maverick Amada, of course.

But it seemed like there were also some distinctions here that were too insignificant to have an actual impact on this universe, like the cafeteria service being fast-paced and the Huxley nurse being called 'Glee,' only with a different personality but generally the same appearance.

Does that mean not 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 in the Opposite World was opposite from her world?

'That seemed like a false advertisement,' She thought as she continued munching on her pizza.

"You know," Maverick spoke as he continued eating. "I'm really glad that the caf offers free food to us athletes. Even if I can technically afford it with my allowance, the food here is three times more expensive than food of the same kind--"

Olivia choked; he concernedly gave her one of the water bottles and patted her on the back as she took a swig of its contents.

"You okay, Twyne?"

"Three times?!" Olivia exclaimed in disbelief.

"Too much, right?" Maverick shook his head. "But then again, this is Huxley. The food here is good, at least..."

So this was another one of those insignificant differences in this universe! In her world, the food in the cafeteria was two times more expensive than its regular price.

Judging from the little information Olivia had gathered, she made the initial assumption that this world wasn't necessarily the opposite of her world.

Just different.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask, what's with the bandage--" Maverick abruptly stood up from his seat when he noticed this smaller boy, cleaning scattered food under the shade of a tree. "Look who we have here! You cleaning the mess you made when you ran away from us?"

The boy had a bowl cut, thick-framed glasses, and freckles decorated his cheeks. He was short and skinny, probably just the same height as Olivia. But to summarize his appearance, this boy was the epitome of a depiction of a nerd in 2000s media. 

The boy shared glances with Olivia, and with just one look, she knew who it was.

The alternate version of Alexandra Badd.