Livia decided to walk to the elementary school that was only a few blocks away from her dorm. She met Oliver there, who had also walked from his apartment nearby. He greeted her with a half-hug. Livia hugged him back awkwardly and pulled away. She wasn’t good at affection. She always misjudged how long she should hold on to someone. Whenever she tried to give someone a quick hug it was too quick, and whenever she tried to give someone a longer hug it was too long. Her ex, Arik, was pro at physical affection and she’d thought that would be a good thing. It hadn’t been. Livia had only frustrated and annoyed him. She swallowed down her regrets over that and focused on the present.

She was actually excited about this activity. This was her thing. Hauling books was her specialty. Being Taurus house made her strong and durable and she was ready to work. That was until Oliver could barely heft a box of books, leaving Livia wondering how to play her cards. Did she pretend she was weaker than him to hide her exceptional strength so he didn’t ask questions? Or could she pull off being stronger than him?

Livia didn’t look muscular. She was about average height and her arms were lean and slim. She held most of her muscles in her thighs, which seemed to be a Taurus house trait. They were noted for their brawny legs. Something the plebian Taurus house members were allowed to show off, but since Livia was patrician she’d been held to a different standard. At least, that’s why she thought people freaked out the first few times she wore a short dress in Caesarea. She didn’t know any other reason why she’d attract so many negative comments. It wasn’t something that had ever happened to her outside Caesarea. Livia stopped the insane comments by wearing things that people didn’t comment on.

Livia realized that she hadn’t reverted to her pre-caesarean way of dressing. Being Taurus house meant she wasn’t sensitive to changes in temperature. Wearing long pants and sleeves in hot weather didn’t bother her. She watched Oliver struggle with his box with a sinking heart. She’d forgotten about this part of being outside of Caesarea. She was going to have to pretend to be a weak girl, who couldn’t haul a box by herself. It stung. It really did.

Livia resigned herself to her fate and pasted on a fake smile. “Oh, let’s carry them together! That way I can help.”

Oliver looked at her with relief, as Livia lifted the opposite side of the box. The boxes were small so it was awkward to walk and carry at the same time. It made things so slow that Livia’s excitement for the project ebbed away.

There was only one thing that made it worse. She looked away after faking another smile for Oliver as they carried their fourth box inside. She caught sight of Corvin, Terrance, and Felicity giving her confused looks. Livia’s eyes fell to the pavement as her cheeks flooded with heat. She was caught participating in this embarrassing charade. It was humiliating. She dreaded them posting videos on Tabula and having to endure savage mockery for months.

“You need a break?” Oliver asked, breathless.

He was out of shape. He wasn’t asking for Livia’s benefit but his own.

“Why don’t you find us some water?” Livia asked.

When he disappeared she hauled in a box all on her own. The guy on the truck handing boxes down laughed. “That guy was slowing you down!”

Livia hesitated, not wanting to draw attention to herself but she didn’t see a way to back out now. She’d committed. “He must not work out,” she said.

Livia felt anxious carrying the box to the school library, which was ridiculous. What if Oliver ran into her and called her out? What if someone noticed she was stronger than she should be?

“Ditched the guy, huh?” Corvin said behind her.

Livia jumped, heart pounding. “He’s getting water.”

“I’ll bet,” Corvin said.

Livia noticed he handled carrying a box without strain. His arms weren’t extremely muscular but they were well-defined nonetheless. Livia let her eyes linger on his attractive muscles a tad too long. She told herself it was to avoid looking into his eyes.

“How are you, Liv?” Corvin asked.

Her eyes shot up to his. “I’m good.”

She walked through the doors of the library and set her box down. Corvin followed and put his box on top of hers.

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“Who was the guy?” Corvin lifted one eyebrow, playfully.

Great, he was laughing at her. “A kid from one of my classes.”

Livia tried to see if slipping out into the hallway would end the conversation. They followed her, though, and she turned to face them when she came to a clear space.

“Are you dating?” Terrance asked, leaning casually against the wall. His bright purple hair looked awful under the fluorescent light. Livia disapproved. Hair color like that would make it difficult to get a decent job.

Livia glared at him. “No.”

“We tried to invite you to ice cream over tabula,” Terrance said. “We all left you messages but you didn’t respond.”

Livia’s cheeks heated again. She cleared her throat. “I-I deleted them on accident without reading them.”

Terrance’s eyes narrowed. He exchanged a look with Felicity that revealed he didn’t believe her. Livia looked at Corvin but instead of looking suspicious, he looked concerned.

“Well, this Friday maybe?” Corvin asked.

Oliver rushed up before she could answer.

“Liv! I got water!”

He handed her a mini water bottle. As soon as he’d handed it off to her, he broke the seal on his and drank the entire thing. Everyone watched him in silence. Oliver gestured after he finished drinking.

“Friends of yours, Liv?” he asked. The trio tensed.

Livia remained relaxed and explained, “They’re from back home.”

“Oh, how nice!” he held out a hand. “I’m Oliver. Livia and I met in class.”

Corvin reached out his hand. “I’m Corvin. Livia and I used to work together.”

“Sweet,” he grinned. He greeted Felicity and Terrance with equal warmth and friendliness.

“Liv,” Oliver bumped her hip with his playfully. “How come you never told me about them?”

Livia realized too late that she was supposed to give way when Oliver bumped her. She tried to imitate being knocked into and looked ridiculous. Terrance’s lips pressed together and his eyes danced with a laugh. Felicity didn’t hide her chuckle. Oliver shot her a baffled look. There was no way she’d be able to ever try and explain her weird reactions to him. It would mean revealing she was Taurus house.

Livia wanted to disappear. She had reached her embarrassment quota for the entire week in a handful of minutes.

She looked Corvin in the face and she found that he wore no expression. Typical. But at least he wasn’t mocking her. That was a relief.

“Unless, one of these guys is the ex you refuse to discuss,” Oliver joked.

Right when she thought it couldn’t get worse. “No,” Livia said, irritated.

Oliver took in her expression. “You don’t even like to joke about hating him?”

“Hate is too strong a word,” Livia said, glancing in Terrance and Felicity’s direction. She didn’t particularly want other Rattus house members to know how she felt about Arik. She was pretty sure that word would get back to him and she wanted to remain on good terms with his family. His brothers were good friends.

“So you don’t hate your ex but won’t talk about him?” Oliver asked.

“You realize that’s an extremely personal question?” Livia snapped, beyond annoyed.

Oliver’s brow furrowed. “I made you angry. Sorry.”

He was still curious. Livia could tell. She opened her water bottle and drank out of it hoping it would make the Caesarean trio get bored and walk away. No dice.

“Oliver has a twitch show.” Livia decided she could deal with them as long as they no longer talked about her. So, she threw Oliver to the wolves. Livia wanted to laugh. Corvin was Lupus so the idiom took on an amusing literal meaning. The situation was dire when you were laughing at your own internal monologue to survive an encounter.

“A twitch channel,” Oliver corrected her terminology.

“Makes money playing video games,” Livia explained.

Livia genuinely had no idea what other Caesareans would think about this. She was curious to see others' reactions. Arik and his family liked to play sports. She’d never seen them play video games.

There was a long silence. Corvin’s face showed an expression for the first time. He tilted his head to the side and pierced her with an intent gaze. Did she interpret that as disappointment? He was so difficult to read.

Corvin pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Fascinating,” he said, toneless. “We don’t have much more time. Let’s see what else they need help with.”

Terrance gave Oliver a thumbs up and a smile. “Good luck with that channel!”

Felicity gave a wave and they followed Corvin back out to the trucks. Livia wasn’t sure how to feel about their reaction. Polite and civil but unwilling to engage. Had she been snubbed? She couldn’t tell and that was frustrating.

That was how things always went with Corvin though. He was never overtly rude but he wasn’t friendly either. It irritated her more than the people who were outright mean to her. At least she knew she needed to avoid them to protect herself. Corvin’s lukewarm interactions made Livia feel uncertain around him.

Livia turned to Oliver. “I’m ready to head home.”

Oliver looked disappointed. “They have pizza when they’re done.”

“You stay. Enjoy. I need to get some studying done.”

“You sure?” Oliver asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Talk to you in class.”