Felicity grabbed her calculus book from her locker, stuffing it in her book bag. She caught her reflection in the tiny mirror Iris had given her as a gift freshman year. Her eyes were bloodshot, her blonde hair limp and unwashed, but even after a long night spent crying and one still unanswered text to Cooper, she felt… okay.

She wasn't great, but she was fine. She even planned to hang out with Caitlin and Iris after school today. Maybe. Felicity still wasn't comfortable talking about Cooper, and talking about him to his sister? No, thank you. But if Caitlin brought it up she could just change the subject. Caitlin wouldn't press if Felicity didn't want her to.

Probably.

Maybe it would be best to just keep to herself for a few days. At least until she was feeling a little more up to talking about it.

She still wasn't sure what had happened with Cooper. He'd seemed perfectly happy two days ago when he was over her house. They'd had fun, making up for the weeks he'd been in Boston. He'd kissed her goodbye and told her he'd see her tomorrow, but then all she'd gotten was a breakup text and a whole lot of confusion. Had she done something wrong? He'd been so… present that day at her house, but then maybe… Maybe Oliver Queen was right. Maybe he'd met someone in Boston and was just having one last hurrah with her before he left.

She hated how used she felt. She hated how she couldn't shake the feeling that she hadn't been good enough. That he'd met someone better. She hated… him.

How could he do that to her? They'd been friends for over a year. She'd loved him. She'd lost her virginity to him and he just left her.

"Smoak!"

Felicity squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that if she didn't respond then maybe he'd go away.

"Earth to Felicity," Oliver said, walking up beside her. Her eyes were still shut, but she could tell he wasn't alone. "What are you doing?"

"Wishing very hard that you'll go away." She peeked one eye open to see him and his friend Tommy Merlyn watching her curiously. She opened both of her eyes and sighed. "No such luck."

Tommy laughed and shook his head. "She really is something, Ollie."

But Oliver was watching her with a crease between his eyes. "You alright? Still upset about Seldon?"

It was like a punch to the gut and Felicity grit her teeth against the pain. "What do you want, Oliver?"

"Just to know whether you want to work on the essay after school today. Seeing as how it's twenty percent of our grade and all."

Felicity rolled her eyes, surprised and irritated that he wouldn't just let her write the stupid essay herself. It wasn't like he needed to worry about their grade. Felicity hadn't gotten below a 95 on an assignment… ever as far as she remembered. And he seemed like the kind of guy to always take the easy way out. He certainly did with the girls he surrounded himself with.

Even now, Helena and her gaggle of groupies were stalking him from the lockers down the hall. Helena's eyes were dark and possessive as she watched them talking, and Felicity made sure not to make direct eye contact. No way did she need that kind of drama in her life. She seemed to have plenty of her own these days.

"Yeah, sure." She flung her bag over her shoulder and slammed her locker. "I'll meet you in the parking lot after the bell."

Oliver blinked, maybe in surprise that she wasn't fighting with him on this. What was the point, though? The project needed to get done and he was her partner, for better or worse. Might as well get it over with. Besides, it was a great excuse to get out of hanging out with Caitlin after school.

"Alright," he said, shooting her a small nod. "See you then."

She leaned back against her locker, watching him and Tommy head off down the hall towards their next class. As unenthusiastic as she was to spend time with him outside of school, she was sure that this would only be a one time thing. He'd get bored and allow her to finish the essay up on her own, she was sure.

"Making friends with Oliver Queen?" someone asked and Felicity startled, before turning to see Helena and her friends grouping around her.

"Oliver Queen doesn't have friends. He has… floozies," she said, giving Helena a pointed look.

Helena bristled at that, but only for a moment. Then her cool, dismissive demeanor fell back into place and she threw Felicity a nasty smile. "Just remember that boys like Oliver don't end up with girls like you. So keep your fantasies in check. We wouldn't want you to get your little heart broken, would we, girls?"

A chorus of snide 'of course not's rang out, and Felicity could barely be bothered to roll her eyes. Before Helena could say another word, she had already turned away, heading for her calculus class.

###

It took every ounce of willpower she had to meet Oliver in the parking lot after school, but she did.

Or, she would have if he'd bothered to show up on time. The bell had rung a little over twenty minutes ago and Felicity was getting ready to call it and just walk home, when a friendly voice called out to her.

"Hey," a guy maybe a little older than her said, hurrying over with a small wave. He had dark hair that reminded Felicity of a pompous Disney prince, but his face was open and friendly. "Sorry, I seem to have gotten turned around. I was looking for the office—it's my first day and I was supposed to stop over and pick up my ID card—but somehow I ended up out here." He gestured around the parking lot. "Figured I'd ask someone before I spent the next twenty minutes wandering in circles."

Felicity found herself grinning, drawn in by his infectious friendliness. "Don't worry about it. I got lost my first day, too. Besides, the office is easy to miss. It's tucked into a corner near the front entrance."

She gestured back to the building and noticed Oliver finally coming their way, his arm wrapped around a sophomore that shared her gym period. They were giggling with each other and Felicity barely suppressed an eye roll.

"Just head back inside," she said, turning back to the new kid, "and follow the hall until you're forced to make a right. Then it's just at the end of that hall on your left."

"Thanks," he said, smiling widely and giving a goofy shake of his head. "I'm Ray, btw. Ray Palmer."

"Felicity Smoak," she said, shooting him a smile just as Oliver finally arrived.

He was watching Ray with narrowed eyes, but quickly lost interest and turned back to his… friend. "I gotta go work on some English project."

The girl jutted her plump bottom lip out, pouting like that was the worst news she'd ever received. "But Ollie, I thought we could hang out today?"

He simply shrugged. "I'll text you later if I'm up for it." Then he nodded towards Felicity. "Come on, Smoak. You ready or what?"

If Felicity had less willpower she probably would have hit him. Instead, she smiled back at Ray, telling him if he needed a tour of the school she'd be happy to meet him there a little early tomorrow—to which he eagerly agreed—then slowly turned back to Oliver with a smug smile.

"Now I'm ready."

The look Oliver shot her was unimpressed to say the least, but she could see a slight twitching in his jaw that he couldn't quite suppress. He nodded for her to follow, then headed off in the direction of his car.

###

Oliver was rich.

It was something she knew, everyone knew, but she'd somehow never quite understood the full extent of it until she was in the passenger seat of his Porsche, driving up his long, winding driveway as his mansion—or more accurately, castle—rose up before them.

"Wow." She didn't even bother to pretend she wasn't impressed by this place. It was like something out of a fairytale. "I cannot believe you live here. This is like the kind of place they take us on field trips. It's basically a castle."

"They did take us here on a field trip once," Oliver mused, pulling the car up under an overhang in front of the large entrance way. "I think it might have been a castle at one point. Full disclosure: I didn't pay a whole lot of attention on that trip. Me and McKenna Hall snuck up to my room and—"

"Ack!" She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her palms over her ears. "I don't want to know."

Oliver laughed, shutting off the engine and hopping out of the car. "Come on, Smoak. We've got work to do, and I texted Raisa to let her know we were coming so there should be snacks ready."

"Who's Raisa?" she asked, getting out of the car and following him towards the front door.

"She's our housekeeper." He pulled the door open for her, gesturing her inside. "She makes a mean nacho platter so I hope you're hungry."

The moment she stepped into the house she realized her earlier thought—that this place was out of some fairytale—was correct. Only, this wasn't the warm, loving castle where the long lost princess found her home. This place was… cold.

The foyer was covered in dark wood from floor to ceiling, not an ounce of personality to be found. Felicity couldn't deny it was gorgeous, with staircases twisting up to the second floor on either side of her and beautiful—and no doubt expensive—marble floors spreading out before her. As she followed him into the kitchen she was enthralled by the paintings hanging in the hallways, and the lush furniture expertly placed to make the most of each space. Yet, there something so off putting about the house, so… lonely, that she almost wished she'd asked him to meet her at her house. Maybe it was haunted. Oliver did say he thought it had been a castle at one point. Or maybe it was just the way it was devoid of any personal touches, like photos of Oliver and his family. It was almost as if it were a hotel or something.

Of course, she didn't say anything to Oliver, simply followed him into the kitchen where a dark haired woman was wiping down the counter.

"Mr. Oliver," she said, shooting him a big smile. "I'm so glad you bring a friend over today. I never get to cook for guests."

The woman smiled warmly at Felicity and introduced herself, before pushing a large plate of nachos—gooey, warm cheese melted all over them—across the counter as Felicity hopped up on one of the stools. Oliver took the seat beside her, digging into the nachos while Felicity got out her laptop.

"So cyberbullying, specifically targeting women," she said, pulling up a blank Word document. "It's actually a pretty decent topic," she admitted, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she typed their names along with a title for their essay. "We should start with an overall look at cyberbullying before diving into—"

"Smoak," Oliver chided through a mouthful of nacho. "Chill. Eat first. Then we'll write whatever you want."

She huffed—because of course he'd made a big deal over doing the essay together and then didn't want to do it at all—but pushed her laptop to the side and grabbed a chip, dipping it into the bowl of salsa Raisa had put in the center of the platter. It was delicious and she found herself grabbing a few more before tugging her laptop back over and insisting they get to work. Oliver agreed with a beleaguered sigh, though he didn't let up on the nachos until the platter was nearly empty.

Strangely, Felicity found that they worked pretty well together. Oliver listened intently and took notes as Felicity read him articles and studies about cyber bullying and sexism. He even had a few good ideas for points they should bring up in the essay. Soon enough they had finished their research and outlined everything they wanted to discuss. By then it was starting to get late and Felicity still had to finish up her homework for all of her other subjects so she texted Iris to see if she could come pick her up.

"You know, I can drive you home if you need a ride," Oliver said, walking to the fridge. "You don't have to wait for Iris to drive all the way here."

He pulled out a bottle of water, offering her one as well.

"I'm fine," she said, waving off, both his offers as she bookmarked all of the sites they'd been using, making a neat list for when they were putting together their citations. Her phone vibrated on the counter and she grabbed it, reading Iris' text.

Sorry. Went to a movie with Barry. Did you ask Caitlin yet?

But she didn't want to ask Caitlin. That's why she'd texted Iris even though Caitlin's house was closer to Oliver's. Just the thought of being stuck in a car with her best friend for the thirty minute drive back into the city made Felicity's palms sweat and a lump form at the back of her throat. She swallowed it down along with her pride.

"Uh…" she said, putting her phone back on the counter. "Actually, maybe I could use that ride after all."

Oliver didn't seem to notice the way she grimaced because the words actually left a bitter taste in her mouth. He just nodded, putting the cap back on his water bottle and grabbing his keys from his pocket while she put her laptop in her backpack.

"I can finish writing the first draft tonight if you want," she said as they walked outside to the car. "And then—"

"Stop trying to shake me, Smoak." He rounded the car, clicking open the locks and pulling open the driver's door. "But if you're that eager..."

"I'm not eager," she said, climbing into his Porsche. "I just want to get this done."

Oliver turned the key in the engine, and the car purred to life. A huge difference to the guttural sound her mom's car made when the engine turned over. But she supposed that was to be expected when comparing an eight year old sedan to a brand new luxury sports car.

"I can meet up again tomorrow if you want to finish it," he said. "But only until six. I have plans with—"

She pulled a face, begging him, "Please don't ever tell me about your plans," and he laughed, waggling his eyebrows.

"Don't worry, Smoak. I won't try to pull you out of your prudish little world."

"I'm not a prude. I just don't get the appeal of sleeping with strangers." She crossed her arms, watching as he started down the driveway. "I'd rather have someone who actually cares about me."

"Like Seldon cared about you?"

He might as well have punched her. Her stomach twisted, that feeling of being used, of not being good enough nearly overwhelming her. She was glad she'd only had a few nachos or else they might have threatened to come back up.

Felicity wasn't sure what face she made, but Oliver looked like he might have regretted saying that. Still, he didn't apologize and she didn't bother speaking to him for the entirety of the drive to her apartment.

When he dropped her off, hesitantly asking whether they would be meeting up tomorrow, she said yes, then slammed the car door in his face. The sooner they were done with this project the better. Then she'd never have to speak to him again.