Olivia drops me off home after school, and I spend the rest of the afternoon eating what's left in the fridge and then taking a fat nap. I wake up around dinnertime, and to my surprise, my mom hasn't come home yet. She told me earlier that she would be home around this time.
___________________________________________________
mom <3
where r u?
delivered
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I take out one of the frozen meals from the freezer and examine the box. Frozen lasagna meal. I pop it in the microwave and sigh, reminiscing about the first dinner we had over at the Rodrigo's. I miss it so bad - Jennifer's cooking of course.
After dinner, I check my phone. 8 pm. No replies from mom. Hmm, maybe she's taking someone's shift and working a late night.
I walk back to my bedroom and start doing my English assignment. After a good five minutes of studying, I feel the boredom take over. Suddenly, anything and everything else other than my homework becomes interesting.
I look over to Olivia's bedroom to see what she's up to. She's sitting on her bedroom chair, one leg up with a book in her hand.
I grab my notebook and marker and start writing. I jump and wave like an idiot, trying to catch her attention. Her eyes are too focused on her book.
I take out my phone and turn my flashlight on and off repeatedly. This catches her attention, and she faces towards me. I push the notebook up to the window to show her my message, "I DIDN'T KNOW YOU CAN READ :O"
Olivia glances over and catches my message. She lightly chuckles and puts her book down. She grabs a notepad and a marker and writes, "I'M FULL OF SURPRISES :)". I smile in response.
She turns the page in her notepad, starts writing again, and then presses it to the window: "021-XXX-XXXX." Simultaneously, she makes a 'call me' gesture with her hand.
I type the number into my phone and press call. After the first ring, she answers.
"You know, neighbour, if you wanted my number, you could've just asked," I tease, a suggestive tone in my voice.
Olivia chuckles on the other end of the line, and I immediately smile. I'm starting to get used to hearing her laugh. It's so much better than the bored expression she used to give me all the time.
"Oh, shut up. You're lucky to have my number on your phone. You better change my contact name to something cute."
"Alright, how about 'my fake girlfriend'? Sounds cute, right?"
Olivia laughs again, and I see her throw her head back through the window. She has such a pretty laugh. Haha, I mean that in like a friendly way, of course.
She lies down with her back on her bed, with her phone pressed to her ear. I do the same. We continue bantering for a bit as I stare at my ceiling while talking to Olivia. I start to wonder why she decided to give me her phone number all of a sudden.
"So, why did you want me to call you?"
"Actually, it was your note earlier, when you said you didn't know I could read. It made me realise that we actually don't know much about each other."
I reflect on what Olivia said and realize that it's true. I really didn't know much about her, aside from the superficial details I've gathered during our dinners at her house, like when she moved to Westview. That and the fact that her favourite Taylor Swift song is 'Picture to Burn.'
We've talked to each other about what we would say to other people like how we met, who made the first move, in case someone at school asked us. But I realise that if anyone actually asked me anything about Olivia, I wouldn't know what to say.
"Yeah you're right. Should we play 21 questions?"
"Yeah but none of that 'whats your favourite colour' shit. I want the deep stuff"
"Sure, sounds fun. You go first."
"Alright," she says. "What's your biggest fear?"
I take a moment to think. "Ending up with the wrong person."
"What do you mean by that?"
"My mom..." I hesitantly answer, "She chose my dad at a young age. She got pregnant with me when they were still in high school. My grandpa - her dad - disapproved. So, my mom moved away with my dad. They had me, and then they got married. Years later, we found out that he was having an affair."
I sigh, feeling sorry for my mom. "She gave up so much for him—her family, her youth. She did all that only to realise that she ended up with the wrong person."
"It shattered her to the point that we had to leave Westview because she needed to distance herself from him. I don't want to end up like that," I confess.
"I'm sorry your mom went through that," she says sincerely. "But... even though she went through all of that with your dad, at least she got something good out of it."
"An alcohol addiction?" I ask, confused.
"Oh my god, no," she panics. "I meant you! You're the good thing that came out of their relationship," she reassures me.
I smile. That was a really sweet thing to say, and it was genuinely comforting to hear.
"Thank you, neighbour. That was like the nicest thing you've ever said to me," I joke to try and lighten the mood.
"Don't get used to it," we both laugh.
"Okay, miss popular. What's your biggest fear?"
"Hmm my biggest fear? Well, I guess...it's losing the people I care about. You know, friends, family, anyone close to me. That terrifies me."
Is that why she's putting all this effort to get Josh back? Hmm, makes sense. But I think she could do a lot better than Josh.
"I'm very picky with my circle. That's why I'm usually a bitch to everyone I meet. If I don't get close to them, I won't risk losing them."
"What about me? We seem to be getting close. You're not afraid of losing me?" I feign offense.
She laughs, "I couldn't escape you. You kept bothering me through my bedroom window."
We both laugh it off, enjoying our banter. "You seem like you're worth the risk, though," she says more quietly in a serious tone.
I keep quiet and smile to myself. I guess my charms have worked on Olivia. It seems that I've succeeded in breaking down the popular girl's walls. I feel proud that she sees me as a friend now.
Our conversation continues into the night, and we find ourselves opening up more than we expected. We ended up ditching the 21 questions and just started talking about anything and everything.
After a while I check the time. It's getting late. I glance at my unfinished English assignment. "Hey, I should probably get back to my homework. We've been chatting forever."
"Yeah, yeah, go be the responsible student," Olivia teases, with a playful tone in her voice. "I'll see you tomorrow, loser"
I sit up from my bed and glance at Olivia through my window. She's already sitting up, staring at me.
How long has she been looking at me? I get a warm feeling in my chest. I smile at her and she smiles back.
"Goodnight, neighbour," she says, closing the curtains to her window. I stand and walk back towards my desk. I really have to get this assignment over with, or Mrs. Reynolds will be pissed.
Surprisingly, after the talk with Olivia, I feel super productive. I manage to finish the assignment quickly within an hour and a half. While making some quick edits to my work, I hear shuffling from downstairs. Glancing at the clock - 11 pm. That must be mom. Wow, she's home really late.
Curious about my mom's late arrival, I decide to head downstairs to greet her. As I reach the living room, I find her sitting on the couch, with her head down. She looks up and notices me.
"Hey, sweetheart...sorry, I didn't realise it got so late," she says, giving me a warm smile.
"No problem, Mom. Everything okay?" I ask, concern in my voice.
She takes a deep breath and nods. "Yeah, just had to cover a colleague's shift. You know how it goes."
"Did you eat?"
"Yes, I did. Don't worry about me. I'm stumped. Goodnight, honey," she says, giving me a quick pat on the back before quickly walking to her room.
That was odd. She's probably just really tired and wants to be alone. I go back upstairs and go to bed. I open my phone and go to Olivia's contact details. I change the name to "neighbour <3".