Chapter 3
Three
Olivia
I stare at the box in front of the tree and look around for Hayden, but I don’t see him anywhere. I can’t stop the smile spreading as I sit on the grass next to it.
I flip the tag over to see if there’s a note or name, but all it says is.. H.
Lifting the lid, my smile turns into a full grin. I take another look to see if I can see Hayden, before turning back to the box, and taking out the daisy and smelling it. Putting it on top of my bag, I pull out the unicorn iced cupcake and turn to my dad, who is smiling at me.
“You like your gift?”
I’m startled when Hayden jumps out from behind the tree.
“I love it.” I look up at him, and he helps me to stand up. After I put the cupcake back in the box, I hug him. “Thank you, no one's ever given me anything before.” I pull out of the hug and look at my dad. “Well, except for my parents, of course.”
When I first met Hayden, I thought he was going to be a mean boy like all the boys at school, or he was going to make fun of my dad being his gardener, but he didn’t. Hayden is different and is now my best friend. I could never ask for a better one than him.
“Do you want to share it with me?” I sit on the grass, take the cupcake back out, and look up at Hayden staring at my dad. “Hayden, you okay?”
“Does your dad like me? He never talks to me, and never says hello.” He finally looks down at me, and now I look over at my dad and remember the words he said when I first started talking to Hayden.
He told me, “People with money are never friends with people like us, and when he finds out, he’ll make fun of you, and stop talking to you. I was so happy when I did tell Hayden about our money situation, and all he said was, “I’m friends with you, not your money.”
It was then I knew no matter what happens, he’ll always be my friend, but Dad isn’t convinced about it.
“He doesn’t talk to a lot of people.” I break the cupcake, put the bottom half on top of the icing, and look up at Hayden when I hear him talking.
“What are you doing?” He looks at me with a puzzled look, and I laugh.
“This way, the icing is even all the way through.” I break it in half and hand it to him, but he doesn’t take it from me. “I promise you’ll be eating cupcakes this way after.”
“I’ll be right back,” Hayden tells me, then walks toward my dad.
Why is he talking to my dad?
I watch them, and Dad looks over at me, then back to Hayden, listening to everything he’s saying. I wish I were closer to him so I could hear what they’re talking about. Hayden didn’t tell me he needed to talk to Dad.
Did I say something wrong to him?
Is he telling my dad not to bring me anymore?
Why would Hayden do that? Is this gift a goodbye gift?
I see Dad nodding, and Hayden puts out his hand to shake, and he does.
Hayden walks back over to me, and before he can tell me what that was about, I start talking.
“If my reading out loud is annoying you, I’ll stop, or if you hate me talking so much, I promise I’ll try to talk less—
“Olivia, what are you talking about?” Hayden cuts me off and takes his half of the cupcake and eats it in one go.
“You're telling my dad not to bring me anymore.” I look over at my dad watching us, but then I turn to Hayden, who bursts out laughing, shaking his head.
“That’s not what I was talking to your dad about.” He tells me through laughter, and I tilt my head to the side.
“Oh, that’s good, because I don’t want to lose my best friend.” I smile at him.
“I don’t plan on losing my best friend either. Before I asked you, I wanted to ask your dad.” He looks behind him at my dad. “Olivia Banks, would you like to go with me to my dance next week?”
I stare at him, and then at my dad with a small hint of a smile. I know I won’t be able to get a new dress to go, but for some reason, my dad has said yes to Hayden.
“Really?” Is the only word coming out of my mouth.
“I’m going to have more fun there with my best friend than anyone else. So?” Hayden asks again.
“Yes, this is going to be so much fun.” I wrap my arms around him, and he pulls me in for a hug. “We're going to have so much fun.”
Present Day
I lay in bed looking up at the ceiling in my bedroom, never thinking I would be back in this town, but we had no choice. It hurt so much to leave. I never wanted to, but Mom and Dad both said we have to.
“Olivia, do you need anything for school?” Dad asks, popping his head into my bedroom. I turn to face him, and I can see the worry in his eyes. I’ve tried everything to make it appear that I’m okay, but I’m not. I’m nowhere close to being okay.
“No, I have everything. I could’ve gone to a different college, Dad, we didn’t need to go to this one,” I try to plead with him again, which seems like all I’m doing at the moment.
“I know, but it’s the best private college in the state, and getting you to finish your law degree there will give you so many opportunities.” Dad walks into the bedroom and sits on the edge of the bed. “He might not even—”
“I know, but—” I shake my head and say nothing.
I understand why Dad is doing it, five months. I just have to push through five months, and then I'll be free from everything.
There's no way we could afford the college, but dad got a job there as the janitor, and my grades were so good from my old college, which helped get me in here, and if the situation was different, it would be the best thing to happen to me, but not now.
Because every single person who ruined my life will be there, and I’m all alone.