Stitches

Lola opened the refrigerator and poured herself a glass of water. Her hair was pulled into two short pigtails and she hummed an unknown tune under her breath. I waited painfully for her to return to her room. She closed the fridge door and shuffled her way back to her room.

Maybe no one else noticed, but I did. I saw the bruises on her arm, the ghost of a forceful hand. I felt my face drain of color and my heart sputter then burst into flames.

“What in God’s name happened to you?!” I said, piling as much emotion into it as I could without yelling.

She never said a word, her blue eyes clouded with tears, “I didn’t know where else to go, Oli.”

I raised an eyebrow and suddenly I became worried. Forget anger.

“What happened?” I said, barely above a whisper. She sighed as she pulled at the frays around the holes in the knees of her pants. She was doing it to take her mind off of crying.

“You won’t say anything?” She whispered.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, “I won’t.”

“My boyfriend hits me and I didn’t think I could leave him until you told me you’d help me. I mean, I hate it there, Oli. I really do. I never even wanted the damn job, I still didn’t want it. At first I did it because I needed money for my tuition after my Dad died but then…well…I just couldn’t bring myself to go to school anymore.” She said ‘go to school’ as if it were a codename for something. I sat back against the couch.

-&-

I watched Oliver’s eyes search for the right thing to say. I didn’t expect him to find the right ones, he always struggled with that. Though I highly doubted either of us were the same people we were. Even if it had barely been a year since that summer…it was the best time of my life.

He pulled his lips into a straight line, “I’ll be right back.” He said then got up and went into what I’m assuming to be Matt’s bedroom.

I glanced around the dimly lit room, the glow of the television was the only light. It was tidy, you could tell a girl lived here. I looked down at my hands, perfectly manicured fingers, all paid for by a humiliating job and an abusive boyfriend. Don’t ask me why I didn’t tell Oliver the entire truth about by I was working this job. I suppose I was denying my downward spiral straight into the depths of hell. I didn’t want him to know. I already saw the disappointment in his eyes, I didn’t want to risk him abandoning me too.

I heard the door click shut, Oliver walked into the room and sat down next to me. He sighed, his shoulders heaving as he did so.

“You can stay here if you want.” He offered, running his hand over his hair.

I smiled and shook my head, “No, Oli. I can’t do that. I just wanted to talk…” I lied, straight through my pearly whites, I lied like it was going out of style.

“Are you sure? Matt and Lola said they didn’t care.” Oliver sounded disappointed.

“Lola? Your girlfriend?” I asked, hoping he would say no, but that opens a whole other can of worms.

He laughed a loud boisterous laugh, “Oh God no. That’s Matt’s girlfriend.”

My cheeks turned red, “Oh,”

Oliver smiled a kind smile, “As your friend I have to say, you shouldn’t stay with that asshole if he hits you. As your ex-boyfriend I have to say, you’re looking damn good.”

I laughed, something I hadn’t done in a while. I winked playfully, “You don’t look to bad yourself.”

He laughed, I got to see that smile I had missed so badly. i tried to replace Oli with Eddie but it was something that couldn’t be done.

His playful expression faded, “I don’t like this Brooke.”

I bit on my lip ring, like I usually did when I was anxious, “Me neither.”