Changing the Script -ON HOLD-

Chapter Two

That little brunch gathering was horrible. And I don't just mean bad, I literally mean HOR-RI-BLE.

The guy never said my name right throughout the whole thing - I was "Oh-liv-ia." for like three hours. Gail found this amusing, because every time she came in and heard him say it, she grinned from ear to ear.

Is it so impossible to say my name like a human being?

So now, here I am, sitting outside in the garden. There are bright colored flowers all around me, and a little rock path in front of the bench I'm sitting on. From the rock path, is a massive in ground pool with a jacuzzi on one side. There's a wall separating the pool and hot tub, you have to climb up a set of stairs that are built into the pool and climb over the wall - or just climb out and go around the other side.

I'm sitting on the bench - which is actually really hot, it's baking in the sun - in my neon pink string bikini and bare feet. My hair is pulled up into a pony tail at the top of my head and my black designer shades rest on my head too.

"Liv!" I hear a familiar voice screech. I look over to the entrance to the yard and see the bleached blonde locks of hair and know immediately that it's Cheyenne. 

"Shy!" I cry, jumping up. I see Cheyenne run into the yard, dropping her duffel bag on the deck where the lawn chairs are. The deck has to be - at the very least- forty feet wide. 

"Dude, I haven't seen you in forever!" She screams, running over and tackle hugging me.

"I know!" I scream back, hugging her.

Cheyenne is so hyper, she's like a three year old with candy sometimes. But that's why I love her. 

"Afternoon ladies,"

We turn to hear a voice. Gail is standing in the front of the yard, a young boy next to her. He looks to be at least seventeen.

"Girls, this is Brandon, the new gardener." She gestures to the boy. He's got dark eyes that seem to look directly into my soul. Does that sound too dramatic? His hair is just as dark, and isn't too long. He's not wearing a shirt, so he's showcasing his abs for us. He's wearing baggy shorts and sneakers.

"And Brandon, the dark haired one is Olivia, you know, Roy's one and only. And the other girl, the light haired one, is Olivia's other half, Cheyenne."

"Hi.." Cheyenne mumbles, shy.

"Hey," I say, excited to have a hot guy working for my dad. I extend my arm, "I think my dad will like you." I smile at him.

He smiles back and shakes my hand, squeezing it ever so lightly. "I think so too." 

Did he catch on that when I said 'my dad' I really meant me? And did he mean that he thinks I'll like him? Guys are so confusing.

But this one has some sort of a pull on me, I can't look away. Our hands are still intertwined.

Gail coughs, and he drops my hand.

"And over here is the garden..." She says, leading him away.

"A hot guy working for your daddy? What are the ODDS?" Cheyenne whispers, tugging me toward the pool. I sit on the edge of the diving board, dangling my feet over the edge. Cheyenne climbs on top of a pink raft.

"I saw that - the hand squeeze, I mean. Do I sense sparks?" She asks, a twinkle in her eye.

"Maybe...I hope so." I confess, looking into the water instead of at Cheyenne.

"He IS kind of hot." Cheyenne admits, staring at me.

"I know, r-" I start to say, but scream as I slide right off the diving board and plunge into the water.

When I come up, choking and coughing, Cheyenne is laughing so hard she's crying. And standing in the center of the yard, grinning at me, is Brandon...who must have seen the whole thing.

Oh, God...how embarrassing is that?

Cheyenne is still laughing, so I swim over as silently as I can to her raft. I hold my breath and swim under water until I'm directly beneath her float. I put my hands - palms up- on the bottom of her raft and push up with all my strength. I feel the raft get lighter, telling me that Cheyenne fell into the water. I come up to see her soaking wet, glaring at me.

"It's on." She says, throwing herself at me. She tackles me and we both plunge under the water.

Is Brandon still watching? I don't know, I just know that we're going back and forth, pushing each other under water. 

After a few minutes, we both come up laughing, and climb out of the pool.

I can't help but notice Brandon pulling weeds in the garden.

Slyly, I walk over to him and grab the sunglasses that I dropped on the bench when I jumped up to see Cheyenne earlier.

He doesn't even look up.

Ughh...I have the urge to talk to him, but I don't want to embarrass myself, so I just walk toward the deck, where Cheyenne is already stretched out on a white lawn chair, smothering herself in tanning oil.

I sit on the chair next to her and turn the radio on. Slowly, I start to put tanning oil on myself and lay down, letting the sun do the rest.

"I hate being pale," Cheyenne says.

"I know, same here." I reply, singing along to the radio quietly.

After a few minutes, a shadow blocks the sun above me. Shielding my eyes with my hand, I open my eyes to see Brandon standing there.

"Olivia? He says.

"Yes?"

"Could you come here for a second? I can't fine the watering can in the garage." He admits, looking a tad sheepish.

I grin and stand up, slipping my feet into a pair of flip flops and saying "Follow me."

I make my way across the yard and walk up to the large white shed that could pass as an apartment. 

I pull the double doors open and walk inside.

There are shelves lined with all sorts of things, from grass treatment to bird seed to refill the feeders. I glance over my shoulder to see that the feeders by the bird bath are in fact empty. 

I pick up the bird seed and then hand him the green watering can.

"Thanks." He says, and then notices the bag of bird seed in my arms.

"I can do that," He offers, taking the bag from me. Our arms brush against each other and I can't help but blush.

"Uh, okay." I mumble, handing him the bag.

If this is how I'm going to react every time he talks to me, I'm in big, big trouble.