Status: Active
Dear Olive
The Fight
I cleared my throat loudly and suddenly the heat started to feel uncomfortable. Warmth was rising up from my core to my neck and face. My pulse was pounding in my head like a bongo drum.
Thump, thump, thump...
The sound filled my ears and I could hardly focus on anything else. My hands tightened on the railing that I leaned on. I didn't know what I was feeling, but my brain was rejecting it.
I was flooding with adrenaline and my blood pressure was going through the roof. I had to say something though. Olive was watching me expectantly.
She was waiting for a response.
After several long seconds, I stepped forward and said, "I'm sorry you're too late."
She wasn't to late too late me, but she was too late for me to care what she had to say. I honestly couldn't imagine that it was anything important or meaningful anyway. She had probably seen that the house was on the market and come to wish me an awkward goodbye.
I would spare us both the discomfort, or so I thought.
After I spoke, Olives perfect face started to twist into an awful expression. First her eyes crinkled at the corners. Then her painted lips pressed together tightly.
She looked genuinely upset, but that couldn't be right. Olive was reborn. She was in control of herself and her emotions.
She was probably relieved that she didn't have to face the boy that she used to love. I expected her to say goodbye and go about her business. What I did not expect was for her to start crying.
"I'm sorry," Olive wheezed as her body started to shake. Her face crumpled like paper mache in the rain and then she was sobbing. I moved to walk toward her, feeling like I should do something.
Then we both heard Natalie shout from the kitchen,"Charlie, are you coming back in?"
"Charlie?" Olive repeated like a question. Her expression turned confused as her green eyes locked on my dark blue ones.
My mother's eyes. The only thing I got to keep in the change. They were a really unique color and of course they gave me away.
Her lips parted and the tears didn't stop. As the recognition dawned on her, Olive's hands went up to grip the hair at the back of her head. Then she screamed. (Loudly, the neighbors probably heard.I wouldn't have been surprised if it woke Rose.)
"How could you?" Olive shouted. "After everything, how could you fucking do this?"
She stomped toward me in those pointy little shoes. Her hands released from her hair and flew out at me until they made contact. She punched at my shoulders, chest, anything she could reach.
I tried to catch her wrists and control her, but she wriggled away. Jumping back, she ripped of one of her shoes and hurled it at me. It missed (by a lot) and pounded against the front door.
Natalie was just coming out when it happened. She looked down in horror at the footwear that skidded across the porch. Then her eyes went back up to Olive and I.
We were both breathing heavy and facing each other tensely. We must have looked like we'd lost our minds. I was certain that Olive had gone completely insane.
She was angry as shit about something and I had no idea what it was. She'd attacked me like a wild animal with no apparent reason. I motioned toward Natalie and said,"I might need a minute. Would you wait inside?"
"Are you sure? You don't need me to call someone, do you?" she asked meaningfully.
She was probably thinking of the police. Olive really hadn't hurt me though. At least not compared to how much she had in the past.
"I'm sure," I said with more confidence than I felt "I'll be just a few minutes and we'll eat lunch."
Natalie nodded and went back into the house. She left me alone with Olive and the silence pooled in the space between us. It didn't take words to understand she was angry though.
"What the hell did I do to you?" I finally asked her. I was tempted to take another step back in case the other shoe came my way.
Olive sobbed a little harder into a clenched fist. She braced her other hand against the red oak tree and her knees bent like they were weak. Don't go to her, I told myself.
She doesn't need you.
She doesn't want you.
"It's not me Charlie," Olive responded after several long seconds, "It's what you did to yourself. You weren't supposed to change. That was the point of this entire fucking mess. You weren't supposed to be reborn."
Thump, thump, thump...
The sound filled my ears and I could hardly focus on anything else. My hands tightened on the railing that I leaned on. I didn't know what I was feeling, but my brain was rejecting it.
I was flooding with adrenaline and my blood pressure was going through the roof. I had to say something though. Olive was watching me expectantly.
She was waiting for a response.
After several long seconds, I stepped forward and said, "I'm sorry you're too late."
She wasn't to late too late me, but she was too late for me to care what she had to say. I honestly couldn't imagine that it was anything important or meaningful anyway. She had probably seen that the house was on the market and come to wish me an awkward goodbye.
I would spare us both the discomfort, or so I thought.
After I spoke, Olives perfect face started to twist into an awful expression. First her eyes crinkled at the corners. Then her painted lips pressed together tightly.
She looked genuinely upset, but that couldn't be right. Olive was reborn. She was in control of herself and her emotions.
She was probably relieved that she didn't have to face the boy that she used to love. I expected her to say goodbye and go about her business. What I did not expect was for her to start crying.
"I'm sorry," Olive wheezed as her body started to shake. Her face crumpled like paper mache in the rain and then she was sobbing. I moved to walk toward her, feeling like I should do something.
Then we both heard Natalie shout from the kitchen,"Charlie, are you coming back in?"
"Charlie?" Olive repeated like a question. Her expression turned confused as her green eyes locked on my dark blue ones.
My mother's eyes. The only thing I got to keep in the change. They were a really unique color and of course they gave me away.
Her lips parted and the tears didn't stop. As the recognition dawned on her, Olive's hands went up to grip the hair at the back of her head. Then she screamed. (Loudly, the neighbors probably heard.I wouldn't have been surprised if it woke Rose.)
"How could you?" Olive shouted. "After everything, how could you fucking do this?"
She stomped toward me in those pointy little shoes. Her hands released from her hair and flew out at me until they made contact. She punched at my shoulders, chest, anything she could reach.
I tried to catch her wrists and control her, but she wriggled away. Jumping back, she ripped of one of her shoes and hurled it at me. It missed (by a lot) and pounded against the front door.
Natalie was just coming out when it happened. She looked down in horror at the footwear that skidded across the porch. Then her eyes went back up to Olive and I.
We were both breathing heavy and facing each other tensely. We must have looked like we'd lost our minds. I was certain that Olive had gone completely insane.
She was angry as shit about something and I had no idea what it was. She'd attacked me like a wild animal with no apparent reason. I motioned toward Natalie and said,"I might need a minute. Would you wait inside?"
"Are you sure? You don't need me to call someone, do you?" she asked meaningfully.
She was probably thinking of the police. Olive really hadn't hurt me though. At least not compared to how much she had in the past.
"I'm sure," I said with more confidence than I felt "I'll be just a few minutes and we'll eat lunch."
Natalie nodded and went back into the house. She left me alone with Olive and the silence pooled in the space between us. It didn't take words to understand she was angry though.
"What the hell did I do to you?" I finally asked her. I was tempted to take another step back in case the other shoe came my way.
Olive sobbed a little harder into a clenched fist. She braced her other hand against the red oak tree and her knees bent like they were weak. Don't go to her, I told myself.
She doesn't need you.
She doesn't want you.
"It's not me Charlie," Olive responded after several long seconds, "It's what you did to yourself. You weren't supposed to change. That was the point of this entire fucking mess. You weren't supposed to be reborn."
♠ ♠ ♠
Boom!