Take Me as I Am

After a week of not speaking one word to each other, Summer and Olivia had finally made up after talking for numerous hours and a thousand apologies later. They realized that both of them were wrong, and they finally decided to forgive each other. They weren’t exactly like they were before, but they were getting there.

Olivia had tried talking to Jonathan on numerous occasions, but he would always find an excuse to leave. “Why didn’t I just tell him? God, I love him so much, and if I would have just told him, everything would have been just fine,” she said as she threw herself onto the couch. Summer looked over at her for a moment before answering. This was the first time she had ever heard Olivia say that she loved him. Sure, Summer had always assumed that they loved each other, but she had never heard either one say it out loud.

“Because you were afraid that you would lose him. You didn’t think that he’d want to date the coach’s daughter,” Summer told her. “And it wouldn’t even matter if I hadn’t have been a bitch and ran my mouth off.”

“Summer, I’ve already forgiven you for it,” Olivia told her. “And maybe it’s for the better.”

“Huh?” Summer asked. She hadn’t heard Olivia talk like this before.

“I mean if he wasn’t willing to stay with me through all of this, then maybe we weren’t meant to be together,” Olivia told her.

“Or, maybe this is something you two just have to work through, and in the end it will make you stronger,” Summer suggested.

“Maybe,” Olivia said.

Summer walked over to the table and saw a gift sitting on one of the chairs. “What’s this?” she asked lifting it up to show Olivia.

“Oh, that’s Jon’s birthday gift. Today’s his birthday,” Olivia replied. “I’d go give it to him, but I’m pretty sure he’d slam the door in my face.”

“How did I not know it was his birthday today?” Summer asked.

“I don’t know,” Olivia said shrugging her shoulders. “You’ve had a lot on your mind with everything with your mom.”

“Yeah,” Summer said. “Would you mind if I gave this to him for you?”

“Sum, he’s not going to want it,” Olivia told her.

“Do you mind if I try, though?” she asked.

“Go for it,” Olivia told her. “But I’m warning you, there’s an eighty percent chance that a door will be slammed in your face.”

“I’ll take my chances,” Summer said picking up the gift and walking out the front door.

Fifteen minutes later, she arrived at Jonathan’s apartment complex. She walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. She was surprised when it was Patrick that answered the door.

“You just couldn’t stay away from me, could you?” Patrick asked with a smirk.

“Where’s Jon?” Summer asked, ignoring his question, and pushing him aside to get inside the apartment.

“I don’t think Olivia would appreciate it if you tried to sleep with Jon,” Patrick joked.

“Ferme ta bouche! J’ai besoin de voir Jon. C’est important,” Summer told him.

“I don’t know what you just said, but it sounded like flirting to me,” Patrick said.

“She told you to shut your mouth, and that she needed to talk to me about something important,” Jonathan told him as he walked into the living room.

“Oh,” Patrick said.

“What do you need, Summer?” Jonathan asked.

“I want to know why you’re being such a dick to Liv,” Summer said bluntly.

“She lied to him!” Patrick exclaimed. “Why would he be nice to her after that?”

“She didn’t want anyone to know that Sokolov was her father!” Summer yelled turning around to look at Patrick. “It’s not like she lied only to Jon just so she could date him!”

“No, but she couldn’t bother to mention that her father was his coach?” Patrick yelled back.

“Do you not listen to anything I say?” Summer questioned. “Sokolov’s only her father because some scientist says their blood matches. He has never been in her life! He left before she was even born. He’s never tried to get in contact with her. He’s not her father! So, why does it matter so much that she didn’t tell him?”

“Because she lied to him!” Patrick repeated. He began to say more, but Summer interrupted him.

“Elle l’aime!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.

“What?” Jonathan asked, finally entering the conversation.

“She loves you, Jon,” Summer told him.

“How do you know?” he asked innocently.

“Isn’t it obvious? She may not have told you, and I’m pretty sure she’s going to be extremely pissed off at me for just blurting that out for her, but it’s true. She loves you.”

“Then why hasn’t she said it?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Summer said sarcastically. “Maybe because she’s scared?”

“Scared of what?”

“Scared of rejection. Oh, wait, you already did that,” Summer told him. “Seriously, Jon, she’s completely in love with you. I promise you that she never meant to hurt you by lying.”

“She should have never lied in the first place,” he said.

“Just forgive her already,” Summer told him. “She’s been miserable without you, and you can’t tell me the same is not true for you.”

“It doesn’t matter. If she lied to me about her father being my coach, how do I know she hasn’t lied about other stuff?”

“You know what? You’re an idiot,” Summer yelled.

“Hey, don’t get pissed at him just because he doesn’t want to forgive someone so easily after she lied to him for how long?” Patrick asked.

“Shut up!” Summer yelled. “This has nothing to do with you!”

“And in case you didn’t realize, it has nothing to do with you either,” he pointed out.

“Jon, just forgive her,” Summer pleaded. “She messed up, and she knows it. Just forgive her.”

“I can’t,” Jonathan told her.

“Fine,” Summer said as she walked toward the door. As she turned the door handle, she turned back around. Throwing him Olivia’s gift, she said, “This is from Liv. Happy fucking birthday!”