Where Are You, Olivia?

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

H O L L Y | forty days after

I could not promise what he wanted me to because I would tell this to dad and if I tell this to dad then that would mean, he would come with me personally just to get this Olsen Parker. He would not allow me to go alone. If he knew everything that was happening to me then there was no point of promising because even if I promised things to him if he saw that I said something to dad then that would mean I had broken my promise.

Olsen Parker was someone I had to meet personally but I could not do that with what he was requesting. I had to meet him but I was not going to promise. I would not answer to his e-mail just so I could not promise. But then again, we had not had a complete deal on when and where were we going to meet.

I wondered how Olivia was. I wondered if he was still hurting her. I wondered if she was still alive. That's a question everyone was still asking... if she was still alive.

There was a knock on my door. I put my laptop down and opened my door.

"Holly!"

"Hope?"

She gave me a tight hug. "I missed you so much! We didn't get to hang out in a while now because of Olivia's case. I hope you are eating well," she said, squaring me in the shoulder.

"Hope, it's unexpected to see you here but I'm good, you know. I've been doing great," I said.

She looked sad. "Are you sure? It was the talk of the school."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, confused.

"You and Shawn? Shawn said that you already broke up with him. He was so sad about it. We visited him yesterday and he didn't look good. If he was not that ill and wounded and beaten out then he would have been in the bar drinking his butt off. He would have kicked every one of his teammate's butts as well," she exclaimed. She pushed me inside my room and locked my door. "Why did you break up with him?"

I opened my mouth to say something but I could not say things to her. I could not tell him about Olsen Parker even if I was itching to do it.

"Is there someone else?"

I shook my head. "Of course there isn't. You know I love Shawn so much. It hurt me to break up with him but after everything that happened—"

"Exactly. After everything that happened, I don't understand why did you break up with him. We all know he cheated with Olivia but who cared about that? Shawn loves you so much and you love him so much. You have to take those words back."

So he said it to everyone. That should reach Olsen Parker. Why would he say that it was all fake when it was circling around school that we broke up already? I still didn't get how could he know those things about me. Maybe he was only assuming things. He was assuming things that was close to possible.

"I love Shawn, tell him that only. I love him dearly. I love him so much but there are things I have to do to..." I stopped. It was one thing to tell it to dad but it's another to tell it to Hope. I could not let Olsen Parker beat her to death like what he did to Shawn. So instead, I said, "There are things that are not permanent and we're not one of those permanent things. I love him and I would have kept him with me but he's better off with someone else. I am better off with someone else. Someone who would not cheat on me and lie about it."

"But Holly, are you even hearing yourself? It's Olivia's way to ruin relationships because she didn't have a permanent one. She might be with Beckett now but Beckett doesn't trust her anymore. That was why she's been doing those things to those guys because no one loves her. No one, Holly. No one wants to be with her because she's not a loveable person."

"Hope, don't say those words. I know you don't like her—"

"God, I hate her, you know that."

"Yes, I know that of course. But saying those words, that she isn't loveable is something we should not say to someone we know. We know her situation to her family, where she is standing at so we have to understand why she's doing those things."

She patted me on my cheek, smiling. "You're too nice, Holly, that's what everyone likes about you. But then again, you have to be bad sometimes. Being good to people most of the time doesn't actually mean them being good to you as well. That's not it."

I pulled her in a hug. "Of course I know that, Hope. Of course."

We settled on my bed and talked more.

"Beckett was sad that nothing's coming to a conclusion to Olivia's case and that he could not get any answer from her family because he was not properly introduced. Her father and mother don't like him even though he was so good just because she didn't try to convince her to introduce to them," she said, sighing. "I always thought Olivia's parents going to love him because he is that kind of a person, loveable. But he fell for someone who isn't."

"They will accept him for sure, only if she comes back," I said, looking down at my hands. "How is everyone at school? I mean, about Olivia? How was everyone about Olivia's case? Are they still talking about her? I mean, Olivia was long gone, like for almost two months now and no one has ever point to where she is or who kidnapped her."

"People are moving on, Holly. I think it's only us who has a clear connection to Olivia who still cares about the case. Not unless something interesting will come out, I don't think people will take notice about it," she said.

She was right. It was only us who were asking about the case and not another person cared about it anymore. Even Pepper didn't have care about it. I didn't think she could move on that easily because it was her best friend missing but they were not that close to begin with so it astounded me that they were considering each other as best friend. It was clear that they didn't care about one another when Olivia was still around.

Hope stayed for a while and I forgot about Olsen Parker all through those times. I had to because I could not open the topic to Olivia. Now I wondered how dad break up to Shawn that I would be breaking up with him because a guy who was e-mailing me said it.

Sometime around nine pm, Hope bid her goodbye. Dad wanted to drive her home but she insisted not to. She brought her car anyway so she would not be in danger. Her dad would be waiting outside their house like what she said. Dad told her to text me when she's safe home so he could actually fall asleep properly.

After what happened to Shawn, dad was careful with his every move. He was also making sure that everyone close to me and Olivia was being on the look out of his team. He didn't want to have another missed out incident like that to happen because it didn't point anyone. In fact it just added another confusion.

Sometime around past ten, I received a text from Hope. Only, it was not something like I got home safe. It was something scarier.

I got your friend Hope.