by Mary Smith
I laughed. “My parents are saints when they aren’t drinking.” I paused. “But, the moment the bottle of vodka or gin touches their lips,” I closed my eyes, as all the memories pushed to the forefront.
Oliver continued to stare at me and I could finally see the shock on his face. “I can’t believe it.”
“You don’t believe me?” I could hear my voice squeak. How could he think that?
“I know you’re telling the truth. I’m usually very good at reading people. What I meant was, Mom has been to your house a hundred times, and she never said anything.”
“Mrs. Thomas never saw it. My parents are able to hide their drinking very well. We always knew ahead of time when people were coming over,” I explained.
“So, this has been going on your whole life?” Oliver’s voice was low again.
I answered by pointing at the end of the table. “It’s all right there.”
“Your sister, too?”
“Yes,” I closed my eyes. Even though she and I weren’t close, I had done my best to save her, time and time again.
“Did you ever tell the Princess or Gia?”
I shook my head slowly. “If they saw me with bruises, they thought I was training too hard or I made some lame excuse to them.”
Oliver’s face lost all color. “When we first got here, you were hurt, weren’t you?”
I nodded. “Mom and Dad weren’t that happy about the attention I’d brought to our family.”
He squeezed my hand. I hadn’t even noticed that he was holding my hand. I stared at his green eyes. I truly wished that I could tell what he was thinking. Oliver kept running his thumb over my knuckle. He wasn’t using his powers, but his touch was keeping me calm.
“I’m going to lay down.” I left him sitting at the table.
“Why did you tell me?” he softly asked.
“Because no matter how much Xaviera misses me, she’ll still banish me for breaking the Rules. My word doesn’t mean anything anymore.”
I rushed away from him. I had finally said the words I’d been hiding all this time.
Chapter 20
Day 45 of 90
Oliver was called away to Unit on business and had been gone for a few days. I wasn’t sure if Xaviera had called him or if it was one of his clients. All I knew was that I missed him.
I’d made it to the halfway mark of my punishment. I continued to remember Oliver’s words about how Xaviera missed me, but I knew that she was the future Queen of Unit. She needed to show the citizens that she was able to lead them.
I was going to be banished. I knew it. I could feel it. I needed to accept it. I took a deep breath as I finished my dishes and cleaned up my mess.
I was so bored. I watched as much TV as I could stand. I didn’t even want to write in my journal. Surprisingly, I’d had no nightmares, but every time I’d thought of Oliver, my heart dropped.
I couldn’t believe I’d told him about my parents. However, I meant what I’d said to him. My word was nothing anymore. Deep down, I felt better since I’d told him. For over a decade, I’d kept that secret close to my chest. No one knew, and I’d just broken the silence.
Nonetheless, I trusted Oliver not to tell and knew he wouldn’t say a word. He was loyal, that was something I had grown to like about him.
Liked.
Yes, I did like him. He’d been here for me since day one. Of course, I’d treated him like dirt, but he’d stayed. I was so lucky to have him in my life.
I turned, seeing the journals still on the table. I wondered if Oliver had read any of them after I left him the other night. If I had been him, I would have, and I wished I knew the answer.
I stalked over to the edge of the table. I ran my fingers down the edge of the spines. I grabbed one in the middle, pulling it out.
My hands shook a little as I opened the first page. Reading the first paragraph, the memory came back to me. I could already feel the tears and emotions building up in me.
Sixteen.
Shouldn’t a girl have a huge party or get a car?
Oh wait, that was only in movies or books.
My gift is two bruised ribs and a sprained ankle. I spent an hour in the Unit Urgent Care, but my parents explained it away as ‘training too hard’.
I guess they couldn’t tell the truth. I mean, how could you tell a doctor you beat the shit out of your daughter because the dishes weren’t ‘clean enough’.
I wiped the tears away from my face. Mom was the one who had hurt me that night. All I wanted to do was eat dinner and go to my room to rest. I had trained all day and done a lot of homework. It was my birthday, and I thought if I did the dishes quickly, I could rest. The dishes were clean. There weren’t any spots or anything.
It wasn’t good enough for Mom. It never was.
I rook another deep breath and flipped a few pages. The journal entry was one I remembered well.
Today in English, Mrs. Peterson asked us to write a paper. It was going to be based on one question. If you could ask Mother Nature any question, what would it be and why?
Naturally, I wanted to ask why do you allow my parents to treat me like a punching bag?
I figured Mother Nature would say something to the effect that I was a worthless child and therefore I needed learn how to be stronger.
Or maybe she would tell me that I was just an unlucky kid. Maybe I was born into the wrong family. Could it be possible that I was adopted?
Of course, I would never know the answer. Mother Nature wasn’t the type to drop everything and answer my silly questions.
On my paper, to hand in, I asked: why are roses red? I explained that I wanted to know because purple was my favorite color and I thought roses would be prettier as a purple flower.
Yep, it was silly, but it was easier than my real question.
The tears continued as I thought about what I wanted Mother Nature to tell me. There was no doubt that I could never ask the question.
I was sure she’d never claim me as a child of hers. I’d broken the Rules laid out to keep our community unified.
Yep, I wasn’t worthy to be Protector of Unit or Mother Nature.
Chapter 21
Day 47 of 90
My heart jumped into my throat when I heard the door open. It had been a long five days without Oliver. I’d actually missed him. I wondered what was going on in Unit to keep him away. I was curious if he would tell me.
“Hi,” I smiled as he walked through the door.
“Um… hi,” Oliver answered me back cautiously. He took off his jacket and put it in the closet.
“How was your trip?”
“Interesting,” he frowned.
I stared at him, hoping he would tell me more, but he walked past me to the kitchen. I studied every move he made as he reached for a bottle of water from the fridge. When he turned, he noticed that I was gawking at him.
“I can’t tell you,” he said as if reading my mind.
“Er… of course.” I waved my hand as if it wasn’t a big deal even though I was dying to know.
“What do you have planned for dinner?”
“Me? Nothing.”
“Well,” he sat the bottle down and stepped up to me. “Would you like to go on a date with me?”
“We’re going out?” I asked with more elation than was needed.
“Not outside, but we could create a date night here.” Oliver’s voice was sad; I knew it was because we weren’t going out in public. I didn’t know how I was aware of that observation, but I knew it in my heart.
“What did you have planned?” I asked shyly.
When did I become shy? Especially around Oliver. Even he wasn’t sure what to say.
“Um …,” he stammered. “How about takeout and we’ll see what else we can do after that?”
“Perfect,” I beamed. “I’ll go get ready.” I raced up the stairs to my bedroom.
When I shut the door, I started thinking about what I was going to wear. I picked up a
pair of my dark, skinny jeans, and a pink sheer top. I knew that Oliver would flip out about it because it was so see through, so I grabbed a white camisole.
I blasted the hot water in the shower. I washed off all the grime since I hadn’t showered that morning. I shaved, washed my hair, and felt very refreshed when I finished.
When I got out, I stared at myself in the mirror. I had lost some weight. I noticed my cheeks were sunken in more and my skinny jeans were a little loose.
Maybe I was working out too much.
My parents had never thought that possible, but I knew it was true, for me, at least. It had happened to me more than once. I couldn’t count the times I had been admitted to the hospital for exhaustion and dehydration.
I shook my head. I didn’t want to think about my parents right now. I was getting ready for my date. I quickly finished getting dressed, started on my hair, and then my makeup.
Once everything was in place, I went back into the bedroom, and found a pair of black flats. I rushed back to the bathroom to double check and make sure everything was perfect.
After I looked myself over for a moment in the mirror, I wondered why I cared. Oliver had seen me in my pajamas since I’d been here. Why did I care all of a sudden? I never had before. Could it have been because I’d missed him? That might have been one reason.
A knock on the bedroom door pushed all my thoughts away. I gasped, after I opened the door, at Oliver’s appearance as he stood in my doorway.
I studied every aspect. His dark hair was still damp from his recent shower. His green eyes stared back at me as I continued down his body. He had on a white button down shirt that he’d paired with a dark blue jacket. It went perfectly with his light colored jeans, and his black combat boots.
“For you.” He pulled a single red rose from behind his back.
“What’s this?”
“A date. If you remember, I brought you one on our very first date.”
I carefully accepted the rose.
“Of course, you tossed it on your coffee table and rolled your eyes.”
I blushed. “I remember.”
Oliver shrugged.
“But,” I smiled. “This is a new decision period. So, thank you, Oliver. This is very nice of you.”
He held out his elbow and I gracefully took it. He led me downstairs to the table where there were several Chinese takeout containers.
“I wasn’t sure what you liked; so, I ordered a little bit of it all.” He pulled the chair out for me.
“Thank you.” I sat and couldn’t wait to dive into the food in front of me.
Oliver sat at the head of the table, next to me, and began to go through everything. He had ordered a lot of food, so I took a little of each.
“How’s work?”
He stopped chewing after I asked my question.
“You can’t tell me about Unit, but you can tell me about your job,” I reminded him.
“True,” he nodded. “It’s going good. My brother, Oscar is helping me out right now. I’ve been here and traveling so much, my clients are starting to notice.”
I hung my head. Like Xaviera, Thaddeus, and everyone else in Unit affected from my Rule breaking, Oliver was feeling the burden, too.
“I’m sorry.” I meant it. I hated that I’ve hurt so many people.
“It’s worth it.” Oliver stared at me. “Oscar doesn’t mind helping either.”
I nodded. I thought of Rebecca. She would be eighteen in a couple of weeks, and of course, I would miss it. We had never been close, not that she hadn’t tried. I wondered if she would leave. She had that choice when she turned of age.
“Oliver,” I cleared my throat. “Could you be rebellious for one question?”
He didn’t say anything.
“Please,” I begged.
“One.” He held up his finger.
“How’s my sister?” I felt the tears creeping up, and I wasn’t exactly sure why.
“Amaya,” he took a deep breath. “She’s doing very well. I,” he paused, looking at me, “saw her the other day. She’s good.”
I released the breath that I had been holding. “Good.” I rubbed my hands together to stop the shaking.
“She asked about you.”
I looked down at my plate.
“I told her that you were doing okay.”
I nodded.
“Oh, and she said, ‘words over pictures’.”
Instantly, I laughed, loudly. I continued, until the tears finally fell, this time not from sorrow.
“Would you care to share?”
Once I composed myself, I didn’t know if I could tell him. “It’s another deep dark secret of mine.”
“I’m intrigued.”
“Rebecca loved to read old, classic British novels.”
“Okay.” Oliver seemed more confused.
“On the other hand, I don’t read that sort of stuff at all.”
“What do you read?”
“Um,” I felt the heat rising up to my cheeks. “I love graphic novels, especially zombie.”
“What?” he chuckled.
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t make fun of me.”
“I’m not. I swear. I’m actually a little shocked, but it’s nice to hear something about you.” Oliver smiled brightly at me.
“Anyway, Rebecca would say that ‘words’ were better than my ‘picture books’.”
Oliver nodded understanding and went back to eating,
“Thank you for showing your rebellious side again,” I told him softly.
“Anytime.”
We continued eating, talking about Oliver’s computers. They were top of the line. He almost glowed explaining how he’d built them all on his own.
“Oliver,” I touched his shoulder as we cleaned up the kitchen. “Thank you. This is a great first date.”
He leaned in. “It’s not over.”
“Really? What’s next?”
“Well,” Oliver’s cheek flushed slightly. “Do you remember at Gia’s party we danced?”
I nodded.
“Er… I really enjoyed that and was wondering if you would like to go dancing?”
I remembered that dance. My mother forced me to do it. She’d told me that if I didn’t, she would break my leg. Since I knew she could, I quickly got up and danced with him.
This time was different. This time I wanted to. I had missed Oliver over the last few days and dinner had been fantastic.
“Okay.” I smiled.
Oliver beamed, and I followed him into the living room. He put his iPod onto the speakers and turned on a song. “All of Me” by John Legend began to play softly around us.
His green eyes pinned me with a serious look and I wondered what he was thinking. He reached for my hand and I gently placed my hand in his. A small shiver ran through me when he touched the small of my back. I didn’t remember this the first time we danced.
I placed my other hand on his strong shoulder, and we began to sway to the music. I don’t know what came over me, but I pressed myself closer to him, as the words continued floated around us.
For the first time in my life, I felt safe. It was because of Oliver. I knew it. His heart was pounding against my chest. He clutched my hand tighter, but he wasn’t hurting me.
I looked deeply into his green eyes. They were smoldering as released my hand. I placed both of them around his neck, softly toying with his hair. Oliver glanced at my lips and I instinctively licked them.
My breath hitched when he leaned down a little. He laid his forehead against mine and gripped my waist a little tighter.
Vulnerability overtook me. Usually, I was more controlled than I was at the moment. I stopped swaying. We both just held each other, listening to the potent words of the song.
I leaned my back. “Oliver.”
He opened his eyes. “Yes.” His voice was low and husky.
“Kiss me,” I whispered.
Oliver inhaled sharply.
“Please,�
� I moved closer to his mouth.
Our lips were millimeters apart from each other. Our eyes still connected. I waited for him to make his move. I was screaming in my head for him to kiss me.
He closed his eyes and touched my lips. It was the faintest of touches, but it was as if a lightning rod had struck me. Oliver jerked my hips closer to him, making my body flush with his.
We tilted our heads, and I opened my mouth, giving him more access. Oliver moaned as his tongue touched mine. I dug my nails into his neck tasting his essence.
I couldn’t tell if we kissed for one minute or one hour. When we broke our connection, neither of us could breathe, and my lips were swollen.
Oliver’s gaze darkened, full of lust, and his breathing was heavier. I caressed his cheek, feeling his light stubble. He still hadn’t said anything, and I was little concerned.
“Are you okay?” I asked gently.
“More than you know,” he whispered.
“Good,” I smiled.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. He did the same around my waist. We picked up our swaying until the song ended.
“Thank you, Amaya.”
I furrowed my eyebrows. “Why?”
“This was a great first date.”
“Yes, it was. Our other first date wasn’t all that great, huh?”
Oliver rubbed his hand up and down my back. “Let me walk you back to your rom.” He ignored my comment.
“The date is over?”
“Yes, I’m tired; I’ve had a long few days.” Oliver gave me a sad smile.
I wanted so badly to force him to tell me what he was talking about, but something deep down told me not to push it. Typically, I ignored that voice, but tonight I listened.
He held my hand all the way up to my room. He opened the door. I wanted him to kiss me again, but instead, he hugged me.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” he whispered in my ear.
Chapter 22
Day 48 of 90
I woke up refreshed and felt like a brand new person. I wasn’t sure if it was because I’d slept through the night with no nightmares, or if it was Oliver and his lips.
