Page 70 of Waking Olivia

“If you like her so much, then why are you still with Jessica?”

“I don’t know. I figured I should wait until after Thanksgiving since she told her family she wasn’t coming home. But it’s going to make things a lot harder.”

“Harder how?”

I exhale. Sometimes I think the only thing that’s kept me from messing up more than I already have is the fact that I have a girlfriend. I’m with Olivia way too much and keep finding myself in situations where it would be so easy to make a mistake, like I did last night. But these are things I can’t tell my mother. “I’m around Olivia a lot,” I tell her, hoping she’ll understand.

“Then maybe you need to come up with a better solution, honey. Maybe you need to not be sleeping here before meets.”

“Areyougoing to tackle her when she runs off, Mom?”

“Obviously I’m not going to be able to stop her, but Brendan could.”

“No.” My voice is cold and certain, my fist clenching reflexively.

“Why not?” Dorothy asks. “He’s as big as you, and nearly as fast. I’m sure he’d be willing.”

“Yeah, I’m sure he’d be all too willing,” I sneer. “I’m sure he’djumpat the chance. That’s why he’s not doing it.”

“If you can’t be with her, maybe you should move aside for someone who can.”

“I’m not stopping her from being with someone else. But I’m sure as shit not going to encourage her to be with someone when I’d be forced to look on. And it sounds like you are.”

“I want to see her happy and in love, and if it were one of my boys, it would be the best of all possible worlds.”

“Do you think …” I exhale, steadying my voice. “Do you think she likes Brendan?”

My mother sighs. “I think we’ll never know until you get out of his way.”

I’m not getting out of the way, that’s for damn sure.

Brendan. Evan. The entire fucking world is full of guys who can take her away from me, and one day one of them will.

50

Olivia

Everyone wantsto know how the date went. It’s the first thing they ask from the moment I walk on the track.

“You’re such girls,” I groan. The date was fine but the truth is that I’ve already sort of forgotten it, and I don’t feel like wasting time discussing it now.

“Ha! She’s holding out on us!” screeches Nicole. “That means they got busy.”

“Do you think you ladies could do a little less jabbering and a lot more stretching?” Will snaps, but it’s as if he hasn’t spoken.

“What’s he look like with his shirt off?”

“He’s a swimmer, Nic.” I laugh, trying to mask my irritation. I already feel like I’m on edge and my teammates’ girlish bullshit isn’t helping. “You can just Google him if you want to know what he looks like with his shirt off.”

“Yeah, I know. But I wanted you to admit you’d seen it firsthand.”

“A lady never kisses and tells,” says Erin.

“No,gentlemennever kiss and tell. Ladies can kiss and tell all they want,” Nicole responds.

That afternoon Evancomes to the track to watch us practice. It’s Erin who sees him first, but Will’s eyes follow hers and turn cold immediately.

“Olivia,” he says, “please inform your boyfriend that he is not welcome at our practices.”

---