Hello Sheffield

“Liv, will yeh ever quit yer fuckin’ sulking? They’ve been gone for two bloody weeks already. Can we go out?”

Kate had been complaining for the past two weeks that I wasn’t being any fun. I wasn’t even being that bad. The day we’d gotten back from Bristol I was somewhat sulky, yes. The two days after that I was probably a bit boring too.

Since then though, I’d been functioning normally and going shopping with her nearly every time she had off. In fact, she’d gone so crazy with clothing that I eventually resigned to just being her personal shopper and wandering around stores, helping her choose clothes.

Kate was eager to go out and party though and I would most likely go with her this time. I was tired of being home anyway. I glanced out the window to see the sun setting and leaned back against my head board.

She looked up eagerly over my laptop before taking it off her lap and setting it on the bedside table. I sighed and then grinned at her. She launched herself off of my bed and into the bathroom, screaming “I call shower!”

I shook my head and went over to the door. “Should I invite Tom, you party hungry animal?”

“No! Let’s have a girl’s night tonight!”

I shrugged and attacked my closet, choosing a short black skirt and a grey top to go over it. I sat down and started straightening my hair, deciding that the shower I’d taken this afternoon had been more than satisfactory.

I was already halfway done when my phone rang from across the room. I sighed and put down the flat iron. I leaped over my bed and grabbed it. When I saw who it was, my minor frustration went away.

“Hey Oli!” I greeted brightly, bouncing down and laying on my bed.

“Hey baby, what’re yeh up to?” he asked. Occasionally he would give me a little pet name and my insides would become this weird mess. Butterflies would just shoot through my veins. I always had a weak spot when it came to boys calling me babe and I couldn’t wait to hear him use it in person.

“Not much. Kate and I are going out tonight.”

“Is Tom goin’ with yeh?” he asked, an anxious edge to his voice. I rolled my eyes.

“No, we’re having a girls night.”

“Yeh should bring Tom.”

“Oliver, please. I can take care of myself, okay?” I retorted with an agitated air. He was acting like I was a child.

“It’s not that I don’t trust…I just don’t, I don’t like being so far away from you. Is that weird?”

“No, it isn’t weird,” I said quietly, my heart beating so fast and rushing adrenaline through my body.

“Well, be careful okay? I want yeh in good condition fer when I get back,” he said. I smiled just thinking about the day he would be back.

“I’m severely lacking a social life without you all here. It sucks.”

“Hey, what the fuck am I?” Kate yelled, opening the bathroom door wrapped in a towel. I flipped her the finger and scoffed.

“A flaming piece of shit,” I answered while Oli chuckled in the background. Kate stuck her tongue out at me.

“I should let yeh get ready then. Yeh’re probably wearin’ some skimpy little dress and I’m missin’ it,” he said, a tone of disappointment in his voice.

“Mmm, you should see it,” I said seductively, Kate rolling her eyes and laughing. I pulled the phone away from my mouth and snorted. She started dancing seductively in her bra and underwear and I rolled my eyes.

“Ugh, stop. I don’t wanna hear about it.”

“Aw, are you sure? It’s new. I was thinking about not wearing it because it’s so short and then the top has a bit of a low—”

“Olivia,” he growled, sending a shockwave of lust through me. I sat up and shook my head. It was silent for a moment before I could completely recover.

“Okay, okay,” I said normally, “I do have to get ready though.”

“Alright, behave yourself,” he said, “I’ll see you soon.”

“Not soon enough,” I responded and then hung up. Kate rolled her eyes as she looked through my closet. I went back to my vanity to finish my hair.

“Annoying little fuck isn’t he?” she commented and I snorted.

“He really kind of is. I mean, God, it’s not like we’re dating or anything and I can take care of myself,” I complained. I brushed through my hair as she came to lean on the wall next to me. I glanced up at her.

“I know. We should make him jealous.”

As soon as the words came out of her mouth I knew it was a bad idea. It had disaster written all over it but it seemed just like the type of thing Kate would do. I shook my head vehemently as I unplugged my flat iron.

“Nah, that’s a bad idea. He’s just overreacting that’s all,” I said, reaching for my makeup. She shrugged and pushed herself from the wall. I sighed, content that I’d warded her off for now.

We got ready quickly and silently beside the music she’d put on. She insisted that we go to a party her friend was throwing. I didn’t really care. I told her that I would be designated driver but she assured me we’d be able to sleep there.

In any case, I decided to save a little bit of sobriety for myself and keep an eye on her. When we got there, the party was more of a rave than anything else. People were going completely crazy and I watched two guys snort lines off of a girl’s stomach simultaneously.

This wasn’t exactly my scene but I followed Kate around as she introduced me to people and then to the kitchen, where she handed me a beer. The house itself was gorgeous and quite large. The people inside it were all punks and hardcore kids.

I talked to a few people while I drank my way through three beers and I was starting to feel a little buzzed. Kate, however, had been downing shots of anything and everything since we got here.

“Hey babe, why don’t you slow down?” I suggested, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, “Let’s dance.”

“Yes Liv, let’s d-dance!” she yelled, grabbing my hand and pulling me into the living room. There weren’t that many people dancing, and I was sure that some of them were having sex. A party was a party though, and now that I was feeling a little loose, everything seemed great.

“I-I have to pee, okay?” I said, practically screaming over the loud dubstep. She nodded and sat down on the couch, signaling that she would wait for me. I wandered around for a few minutes before I finally came across the bathroom. Of course, someone had just shut the door in my face so I waited.

“Hey sexy, what’s up?” a voice asked. I turned to my left and saw a guy standing there. He was definitely on some hardcore shit. He was sweating bullets, nearly soaked and his face was as red as an apple.

“Hey,” I said quietly, brushing him off and looking away. He stepped in front of me and put his hands on either side of my face.

“Wanna have some fun?” he asked in what he probably thought was a seductive voice. I grimaced and tried to push him away.

“No.”

“Oh, c’mon. Don’t be like that. Yeh’re right fit,” he whined, pushing his body up against mine and trying to kiss me. I pushed at him again, yelling for help this time. Panic shot through me as I started to realize exactly what could be happening.

All of a sudden, the pressure of his body was gone and I just saw him sprawled on the floor.

“She said no, fucking douchebag.”

I knew that voice. Or, at least, I thought I did. As I looked up at my savior with wide, teary eyes I realized that I knew the person whose voice it was. Daniel was standing there, looking quite out of place.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and led me back down the hallway, through the kitchen, and into the backyard. Instead of saying anything I just wrapped my arms around him and cried. He held me gently and at some point sat us down on a swing.

Eventually I calmed myself down and rubbed the tears off my face. It was surprisingly warm outside. He left an arm around my shoulder and started swinging us gently. I sighed in the quiet, the music thumping loudly from inside the house.

“Thanks,” I said, smiling up at him. He didn’t smile but he did nod his head. His jaw was clenched tightly.

“Maybe my little sister should stop throwin’ these parties,” he commented dryly. My heart slowed down.

“This is your house?” I asked, shock coloring my tone. He raised an eyebrow.

“Well, really it’s my parents but they’re away and sent me over to inspect. This is what I came to find,” he explained and I nodded. Apparently Sheffield was a small world—too small for my liking.

“I saw yeh throw away my number,” he commented, giving me a sideways glance. I smiled sheepishly at him and then leaned my head on his shoulder.

“Sorry. I was being a dick that day and Kate was just…bothering me,” I explained lamely, running a hand through my hair nervously. I’d counted on never seeing him again.

“It’s fine. I was the over confident twat. Do yeh think this incident will give it a prized place in yer contact list?” he asked. I snorted and handed him my Blackberry. The grin on his face as he typed in his number was adorable.

In fact, Daniel could actually grow on me.

“Thanks Liv,” he said, handing my phone back to me, “How’s the car?”

“It’s great, thanks. Not that I know much about cars,” I trailed off, laughing.

“Yeh’re really pretty,” he said, “And I’m honestly not just sayin’ that.”

I felt myself blush and I looked down at my lap. I tucked a strand of straight hair behind my ear. Daniel was a whole different ballgame than Oliver Sykes and I immediately could see my mother’s face if I brought this British boy home. She would proud and exceptionally happy.

“Thanks. You’re not so bad yourself,” I said quietly, nudging him with my shoulder. He laughed loudly and I chuckled. My phone vibrated and I looked at it. I had a text message from Oli.

In it was a picture. It was of me and Daniel, just a few moments ago, my head leaned against his shoulder and him looking down at me with a small smile on his face. Underneath was what he wrote, And I thought you were decent.

My heart plummeted. Who would do something like this? I looked up from the direction the picture was taken and strained to see. Behind the glass doors I’d walked out of only minutes before was Kate. She held up her phone and smirked.

I saw red.

“Liv, what’s wrong?”

“I’m going to fucking kill you!” I screeched, lunging off the chair and slamming the doors open. She was standing there in all her drunken glory, the smirk still evident on her face. Daniel was right behind me, monitoring.

“What the fuck?”

“I told yeh to make him jealous. What good is it if he can’t see it eh?” she asked, grinning now. I lunged at her, pulling her closer to me by her hair. I slapped her across the face and her expression darkened.

She was pulling my hair and that was about it. Daniel was trying to break it up while some other drunken idiots started screaming and laughing about it. I finally broke free of her death vice on my hair and punched her once in the face, then again, for good measure.

She stumbled back against the wall, her nose slightly bloody. I grabbed her shoulder but Daniel had a firm grip around my waist and was holding my arm back.

“You always know a pussy when they go for your hair,” I sneered. “Stay the fuck away from me, and stay the fuck away from Oli because you just started shit with the wrong person.”

At that, I stepped out of his grip and walked out of the house. I went around the back toward the front while Daniel ran after me, calling my name. I ignored him and got in my car. He stood and tapped on the window. I rolled it down.

“Just leave me alone okay?” I said, before speeding off.

I made it home quickly, barely making it in my house before I called Oli. He didn’t pick up. I sat on the living room couch, calling over and over again. He didn’t pick up a single time. Eventually his phone went straight to voicemail, signaling that it was off. I took up calling Lee then, to which he didn’t answer the first three times.

“Olivia, he’s right pissed right now and certainly does not wanna speak with yeh,” was all he said. No greeting or hello. In fact, he sounded as if he were at a funeral. I heard yelling in the background and then someone with a soothing voice.

“It was just Kate being a bitch!” I cried, “There’s a story and it isn’t an excuse. Please, Lee, try to get him to talk to me.”

“I’ll try. I hope it’s not some dumb excuse Liv because we all really, genuinely loved yeh.”

At those words I just curled up on the couch and broke down sobbing. Zeus jumped up and curled into a ball next to me but I ignored him. I had to talk to Oli and straighten out this whole mess.

“What the fuck do yeh want from me?” I heard Oliver spit harshly through the phone. I sat up and tried to keep my voice even.

“I’m going to explain what happened and I want you to, please, listen and hear me out,” I begged. He didn’t answer for a moment.

“Yeah, I realleh wanna hear this one.”

“I haven’t really gone out since you guys left and Kate was begging me to go party all day. When I talked to you earlier I thought we were going to some club but she said some friend was having a house party that she wanted to go to.

“So we went and it was crazy, like a rave or something. I left her to go to the bathroom but someone was in there so I waited outside. Some guy came up to me and he was on some heavy shit, ya know? And he was like, pushing himself onto me. Daniel happened to be there and he explained that that’s his parent’s house and that his little sister was throwing the party.

“We went outside so I could calm down and we were just talking and I was thanking him for everything. I swear on my fucking life Oli, I would never do something like that to you. Kate was talking about making you jealous earlier but I said no. When I realized she did it, I went inside and punched her so hard in the face she may or may not ever feel her face again.”

It was silent on the other line. I didn’t breathe and my heart didn’t beat. I heard him breathing so I knew he hadn’t hung up. I wanted to cry and rewind time to when I was sitting on my bed with Kate and say no to her.

“Just…just gimme some space, alright? I’ll talk to yeh when I get home,” he said. My heart dropped.

“Oli, that’s in two weeks,” I protested.

“Don’t call me, okay? I’ll call yeh when I’m ready to talk or whatever.”

“Do you believe me?” More silence.

“Yes.”

“Then why can’t we talk?”

“I dunno. Just leave me alone, alright?”

“Alright.”

“Bye.”

The line was dead before I could even say anything back. I lay on the couch, my chest wracking in sobs, wondering how the world could be so cruel and kicking myself for ever befriending Kate Morris.