Disclaimer: I don't own Odd Squad. Duh.

This new girl freaked him out.

It really changed the circumstances, since he did skip the academy, and trusted close to no one, but teaming him up with someone this enthusiastic wasn't smart. He didn't even know how to respond to most of what she said.

Flashback

Otis landed in the lobby, trying to look serious (not a problem, you could tell, lol), but the girl next to him wasn't even trying.

"Hi, my name's Olympia! I can't believe I'm here! This is SO exciting! Aren't you excited?!"

He stared straight ahead, listening to everything the terrifying girl in front of him said. It seemed highly dangerous not to. Olympia however, didn't seem to notice. When Ms. O told them to go, she was only concerned with getting to know him better.

"But I didn't even get his -"

"Name's Otis." He continued to look straight ahead, imagining that the reaction to his bluntness would be puppy-faced. He hated puppy faces.

They were then sent off to who-knows-where. (He wasn't really listening)

They had to deal with floating people. Charts, math, all that stuff. This didn't scare him one bit. What scared him was Olympia's reaction. The girl who couldn't stop smiling mere hours ago was breaking down into a teary mess.

"I can't do this! There's nothing. Nothing! I knew I shouldn't have graduated early".She was broken by a challenge. Otis didn't know what to do. Challenges were nothing new to him. You try. A lot.

A-few-hours-ago Otis would have kept trying without her. It was just his nature. But something made him try. Otis heard his voice telling her that they were a team. Team? I barely know this girl! Whatever he said in a moment of sympathy worked. Olympia decided she would try more.

They did, and they succeeded. And Olympia regained that striking grin on her face.

End Flashback

He knew it then. She was obviously an easily pleased person. He wasn't. She wanted to be friends. He didn't. She was going to put all her effort into being the best she could. He wasn't.

He also understood that being a team with her would be hard. It was clear that he couldn't just blow emotions off. He had to feel, and act on how he felt, like she did. This was not in his nature, but he had to go with it. He didn't have much of a choice with someone this emotionally explosive.

All Otis knew was that this job would be just that. An act. He would never be friends with anyone, but definitely not Olympia. He could do a lot, but he could not change.