Olivia
Chapter three
Ten Years Ago
“Pull over here,” I instructed my sister Nicole.
It was nice of her to offer me a ride to my best friend Annie’s house, but that didn’t mean I wanted everyone to see me getting dropped off by the goth queen over here.
Her naturally blonde hair was dyed black, her clothes all black, and her fingernails? You guessed it, black.
I could have walked the two blocks from our house, but I had my overnight bag stuffed to the seams and didn’t want to carry it even that short distance, especially because I was running late.
Nicole parked at the curb three houses down from Annie’s. As I climbed out, dragging my duffel with me, I waved to my sister. “Thanks, Nicole!”
“No problem.” She waved back. “Have fun.”
I shut the door of the car—a light blue sedan that would be mine in three long years when I was finally old enough to drive. Grinning, I walked across the lawn to the Carters’ house.
Annie and her twin brother, Gage, were having a pool party for their fourteenth birthday.
It felt weird that they had just turned fourteen considering I turned thirteen only two months ago.
I had a summer birthday and theirs was in September, which put us all in the same grade at school even though I was nearly a year younger.
When my family moved into this new neighborhood last summer, Annie was one of the first kids I met. She was quiet in a way that paired nicely with my loudness, and we became best friends right away.
Annie was excellent at making up elaborate stories for the games we played in the woods behind my house, and I was always ready and willing to act the stories out.
So, because we were best friends, not only did I get to join the pool party, Annie also invited me to spend the night, hence the duffel bag.
We’d started eighth grade together a few weeks earlier, which meant high school was around the corner. Thinking about it made my stomach churn. School was … not my favorite.
But today was Saturday, it still felt like summer in central Texas, and I refused to think about school.
Instead, I dropped my duffel bag off in Annie’s bedroom and headed to the backyard.
Kids I knew from school and church were scattered across the Carters’ yard—splashing in the in-ground pool and running on the deck, hanging on the tire swing tied on the huge oak tree near the back fence, sitting in deck chairs eating pizza and chips.
Only the treehouse in the oak remained off limits, the rope ladder pulled up to discourage entry.
Annie and Gage didn’t even let me go into the treehouse. It was their own private clubhouse.
Their backyard was chaos, and I loved it.
I spotted Annie, dangling her feet in the water in the only quiet corner of the pool. Her light brown hair was tied up in a ponytail, and her blue eyes matched the pool water with their sparkle. She wore a long gray T-shirt, but I could see the straps from her swimsuit tied behind her neck.
I might have thrived off this kind of lawless energy, but I knew Annie hated it. She’d rather be curled up on the couch watching a movie and eating popcorn, which was what we’d do later that night, I was sure. The crazy party was undoubtedly Gage’s idea.
I shucked off the shorts covering my bathing suit, and with a piercing yell, I ran full speed toward the pool, leaping into the air as I reached the edge.
I tucked my knees up to my chest and crashed through the surface of the water in a cannonball.
I came up laughing and swam toward Annie’s corner.
Hanging on the wall, I looked up at her. Her T-shirt was dappled in water droplets.
She wiped the water from my splash off her forehead, a wide smile on her face. “Olivia! You’re here!”
I threw both hands in the air and shouted, “I’m here!” while treading water with my legs to stay afloat.
Gage paddled over on a giant inner tube shaped like a flamingo.
“Nice entrance!” he called to me before adding a quiet, “You good?” to his sister.
His hair, normally a sandy blond only slightly darker than mine, looked nearly the same shade as his sister’s when wet and tousled like it was.
His eyes matched hers, too—one of their only physical similarities.
Annie nodded, flashing him a thumbs-up. Unsatisfied, Gage placed both his hands on top of my head and dunked me underwater.
I spluttered to the surface, ready to tip Gage’s stupid float over. But he grinned at me from his flamingo perch. “Don’t splash Annie,” he ordered. “She doesn’t want to get wet.”
I turned my head toward Annie, who waved away her brother’s concern. “It’s fine. I’m having fun.”
Gage shrugged and paddled away.
I set my hands on the side of the pool and hauled myself up to sit on the wall next to Annie. “Are you really okay with this loud party?” I asked her.
She tilted her head. “I am. It’s what Gage wanted and, to tell you the truth, no one’s paying attention to me anyway, only to him.” She smiled. “It works for both of us.”
“Well, I’ll pay attention to you,” I promised. “I don’t care about Gage.”
Annie grinned and laid her head against my shoulder.
“He’s actually pretty entertaining.” She lifted her head and pointed to Gage on the far side of the pool, standing on the pool deck.
“Watch this. He’s been obsessed with his abs for weeks, ever since his baseball coach told him he’s a power hitter because of his strong core. ” She rolled her eyes.
I watched as Gage approached a group of girls from school. I couldn’t hear what he said, but he gestured with his hands, made a fist, and pantomimed punching himself in the stomach. “What is he doing?” I asked.
Annie giggled. “He’s trying to get someone to punch him in the stomach to show how strong his abs are. So far, he hasn’t had any volunteers.”
I laughed, still watching Gage across the pool. “I’ll do it.”
Annie looked at me. “Do what? Punch my brother in the stomach?”
“Sure.” I shrugged. “Why not?” I was pretty strong, mostly in my legs because of soccer, so it’d have been better if I could kick him in the stomach, but I bet my punch could do some damage, too. Plus, he deserved it after dunking me underwater like that.
I hopped up and held out my hand to Annie. “Come on.”
She grabbed my hand and let me pull her to her feet. Giggling, she followed me around the pool until we stood behind Gage, who was entertaining half a dozen other kids.
I propped a hand on my hip and tapped Gage on the shoulder. He turned around.
“Aren’t you going to ask me?” I said.
His eyes darted over my shoulder to Annie and then back to me, his forehead pinched. “Ask you what?”
I smiled brightly. “To punch you in the stomach. You haven’t asked me yet.”
His eyes widened, but he quickly crossed his arms over his bare chest. He raised his eyebrows and smirked. “You want to punch me?”
I nodded my head slowly, eyes narrowed.
Sensing something about to happen, kids came from all over the yard to circle around us. The girls were giggling, while the boys nudged each other and laughed about Gage fighting a girl.
“Fine.” Gage dropped his arms to his sides. “Go for it.” He pulled his shoulders back and tensed up his core.
I pulled my fist back and then quickly shoved it forward into Gage’s stomach. It did feel pretty solid. I had to hide my wince as I pulled my hand back. Gage, on the other hand, could not hide the shock on his face when my fist crashed into him. I smirked.
Gage doubled over, trying to catch his breath.
My smirk turned into full-on laughter. I stepped back and glanced over at Annie.
She laughed so hard that literal tears ran down her face.
Gage finally straightened back up to his full height, his cheeks red as his friends elbowed him, laughing and teasing.
None of it fazed him, though. He shook his head and laughed with other boys.
He caught my eye and grinned, highlighting a row of freckles across the tanned skin on his nose and cheeks.
A flurry in my stomach caught me by surprise.
My heart almost leapt out of my chest; it was beating so fast. I took a deep breath and slowly smiled back at him.
I was so distracted by my body’s new reaction to my best friend’s twin brother that I didn’t even notice that he had crept back to my side. Next thing I knew, his arms were around my waist for a moment before my body blasted through the surface of the pool water. I came up sputtering. Again.
“Oh, you’re asking for it now!” I shouted to Gage, who stood smugly on the edge of the pool, hands on his hips.
Annie rammed a shoulder into his back, and Gage was soon submerged next to me.
He came up grinning. He put up his arm and one of his friends tossed him a water gun, which he caught easily.
“Water fight!” Gage called gleefully.
Soon, every kid at the party had a water gun or bucket, splashing and tossing water at everyone else. Even Annie joined in. She ran to the side of the house and turned on the garden hose, aiming it at Gage and laughing.
I made my way to her through the crowd of kids and water.
“This is the best birthday ever!” she squealed in my ear above the chaos.
I grinned back at her. It was a great day, one I would always remember. It was the day I fell in love with my best friend’s twin brother.