Текст книги "After Forever Ends "

Автор книги: Melodie Ramone

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Текущая страница: 18 (всего у книги 39 страниц)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The following January, Alexander left Wales to finish his architecture degree stateside at the University of California in San Diego. He was supposed to be gone for ten months, but the twins began to miss each other bitterly after only three weeks. They had never been away from each other for more than a few days and I know both of them were lonely and lost without their brother to lean on. Oliver was busy finishing his own degree at Cardiff and working at his job, but neither kept him from calling his brother at six o’clock in the morning…noon stateside…to catch Alexander at lunch and have a chat. Or Alexander would ring him at midnight his time to reach him just before Oliver’s supper.

It was strange watching Oliver without Alexander. It wasn't as if he couldn't function or survive, but it was obvious that there was something different in him. I'd never known another set of twins and even though I accepted them both for their differences no matter how closely they resembled the other, it was difficult at times to think of them of being anything less than two parts of the same person. Oliver would tell me I was being unfair with that statement, but it's true. Their relationship wasn't far off from a marriage of sorts and after all the years they'd spent with each other nose to nose they had a real sense of the other, even from afar. For instance, Alexander would set his alarm to wake him at seven am and Oliver would sit straight up in the bed at one o'clock in the morning UK time and look about the room disoriented.

“What is it?” I asked the first few times.

Oliver shook his head, “Alex is up,” He’d mumbled, easing back onto his pillow, “He's getting ready for class.”

Events like this happened again and again. He'd know when Alexander was sick without him phoning. Another time Oliver was injured at work when a ladder slipped off a lorry and struck him in the shoulder. Alexander was ringing us before Ollie was even out of the doctor's office. The bond between them was beautiful and astounding. It was truly one of the most amazing things I ever observed in my life, the way those two knew and loved each other.

I didn't speak to Alex often myself. Our schedules never coincided. We'd chat occasionally on the internet or I'd catch him on a Saturday, but Oliver would keep me updated with news. A few weeks after he got there, Alex visited Las Vegas with some people he met. He said the city was something like the tube in London combined with Piccadilly Circus and filled with drunks. He hadn't enjoyed it, except that he'd seen Cirque de Soliel and loved that. Alex was enjoying the US, but said it was too damn hot and too damn sunny in California. It was unnatural for winter and he missed the snow. He mentioned that he fully understood how I felt when I arrived in Wales because no one could understand what he was saying. That went both ways, but he was catching on to the slang. On a brighter note, America had amazing food and he had discovered something called Southern biscuits with sausage gravy. A girl he knew was going to teach him to make so he could make it for us at home. She was his new love interest and he talked about her in a way Oliver had never heard his brother speak of any woman.

“It's serious,” Ollie told me about them, “I can hear it in his voice. He's mad about this one, he is.”

“He's been mad about others.” I just could not take Xander in any relationship seriously.

“No,” Oliver replied knowingly, “This one's different, Sil. This might be it for him.”

“Do you think?” I didn’t believe it for a single second. And if it were true, I had the distinct feeling deep in my gut that it wasn’t a good thing.

I could tell by the look on his face that Oliver felt the same, but it flashed away as quick as he smiled again, “I think it might, but mind this is Alexander we're speaking of. We'll give him his time to find out for himself.”

Time was definitely available for him to find out. The weeks seemed to peel slowly in Alexander's absence. There was a real sense of something missing. Not just in Oliver, but in his parents and in the quiet that filled our weekend nights and in the silence that followed the mention of his name. We all we all missed his presence.

In March, he went to hospital with the flu because he had no immunities to the viral strains overseas, but he recovered quickly and was back at school in no time. He said his courses were rough, but he was learning all sorts of skills he wouldn’t anywhere else. In the summer, Alexander survived an earthquake that took down a department store on his street. Bloody terrifying, he said, the ceiling in his flat cracked right above his head. More weeks ground past and just when it seemed we may be getting used to not having our boy around, Alexander finished his degree and was coming home in a few weeks with a big surprise.

I was not sure that I wanted to know what his surprise was. Knowing Alex, it could be anything. I put it out of my mind and set about finishing my own degree and settling into my new job. I'd gotten a position as an electron microscopy technician, which was not my dream position, but was a start in the right direction. It kept me occupied and interested in something instead of feeling the restlessness and boredom I so often felt back then. As happy as I was and as satisfied as I felt with all my accomplishments, there was still that ever present “It” lurking in the background of my mind. That nagging empty space that I somehow always felt no matter how hard I tried to fill it. I brushed it off as I always had and I focused on what was at hand. Work, school, Duncan, Oliver...the cabin...whatever. Anything so I didn't have to pay it mind and feel it for real. Anything so it would be a shadow off to the side and not a cloud that would envelop me and swallow me whole.

Still it was very exciting that Alex was on his way home. He was my dearest friend and I had missed him so much. It was good to have something to look forward to instead of lingering in the same mundane occurrences day after day. And I knew Oliver was excited. His mood had improved. He seemed more up than he had in ages, more like his old self, cracking jokes and laughing it up.

We were supposed to collect Alex from the airport, but he rang us just before we left to get him and said that he'd been delayed and not to bother. He'd phone again when he got to his apartment.

He finally did ring Oliver back that Friday evening and told him to get me and come to his flat that night for dinner. It was an odd demand. Alexander’s flat was about the size of a postage stamp and he rarely had anything more than a couple of packages of Japanese noodles, cereal and half gallons of milk in his entire kitchen pantry. Normally, we would have met at his parent's house or at one of their favourite pubs. Still, I didn't think much of it at the time. I just wanted to see my brother and I knew Oliver did as well.

“Boyo!” Alexander whipped open the door before we'd even knocked and immediately embraced his brother, pulling him from side to side in a bear hug. They pounded each other on the back lovingly, “It’s been too long, Brawd!”

“It has!” Oliver agreed. I hadn't seen a grin on him like that in forever.

“Silvia!” Alexander released Oliver and opened his arms to me, “Lovelier than ever! I swear, you just get prettier and prettier!” He drew me up off my feet. “You smell like tulips,” He mentioned as he squeezed me tight and gave me a friendly kiss, “How are you?”

“Excellent!”

“Well, get in here!” He set me down, but didn't let go of my hand as Oliver entered the room, which was tidier than it had been the last time I’d been over. I stared up at him as if he were a stranger. Alexander looked fantastic. He was smiling and suntanned, freshly shaven, and dressed in black from head to foot. He released me and crossed the room where he drew two bottles out of a small bucket of ice, “For you, Sil, pear water, and for my brother, what else but Woodpecker cider?”

Oliver took the bottle from his hand, “Thanks! Been awhile since you got a haircut, yeah? Don’t let mum see you looking like that.”

He shook his head, still grinning, “No, haven’t seen her yet, but I suppose unless I want to get told off I should trim it up a bit.”

“What is that wonderful smell?” I asked. Something was cooking in the kitchen and it was making my stomach growl. I didn’t realise I was hungry until I smelled it.

“Oh, I dunno. I think it’s—“

“Alex, I got it! I can’t believe I forgot bread! I’m such an airhead! Did you turn off the–” A woman shut the door and turned around. Her eyes widened, “Oh! Shit! I’m too late!”

Oliver and I looked at each other.

Alexander stood, “It’s no problem, Mel,” He said mildly going to the door. He took the bag from her hand and kissed her lightly, then turned back to us, “Oliver and Silvia, this is Melissa. My wife.”

I think my jaw may have dropped, but I was not sure if it was because Alexander was married or because of the way this girl looked. She was unbelievably gorgeous. She stood just above Alex‘s shoulder, possessed a ridiculously small waist, had ample bosoms, straight blonde hair to the middle of her back, large, round blue eyes and a heavy, pouting mouth. She looked as though he’d yanked her off the front of a bloody magazine.

“You wife?” Oliver stood up with a start, “Well…” Oliver was almost never at a loss for words, but at that moment he stammered, “Alexander! You mentioned her a thousand times, but you failed to tell me you’d married her already! Although I had a feeling,” He gave his brother a somewhat dirty look, then smiled broadly at the woman before us, “Well, come here then, Melissa!” He opened his arms, “Welcome to the family! It’s fantastic to finally meet you!”

“Oh my God! Oliver!” She looked terribly excited as she sort of tip toed over to him. She met his embrace, “I feel like I know you! You look just like Alex! Just like him! I can’t believe you’re here…or I’m here…or whatever!” She sounded like she had lost her mind. She stepped away from Oliver, “And Silvia! I’ve heard so much about you, too!”

I stood up not knowing whether I should hug her or hold out my hand, but Melissa knew exactly what she was going to do and threw her arms around me. It was an odd little clasp, warm at first, but then felt like she really didn’t want to touch me or do it at all. Her cheek was hot against mine. “Alex says such fantastic things about you! He’s always telling me how smart and funny you are,” She pulled away from me and took a moment to look me in the face. As she did her smile faded subtly, “And beautiful, too, I see.”

I had an impulse to give her a push. A great, hard push. So hard that she flipped backwards over the coffee table and crashed on to the sofa.

“Well…wow!” Was all I could sputter.

There was an awkward silence from the twins as she and I stared each other up and down. I was certain that I could kick her arse in two seconds. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d ever beaten up a snobby bitch.

“So what’s to eat?” Oliver asked to break the tension, “I worked all day and I’m starved!”

“I made meatloaf,” She was really unbelievably attractive as she spoke, moving back to Alexander like a swan across water. “I hope you both like meatloaf!”

Oliver looked at me, “Is he serious?” His eyes asked. His crooked grin said, “She’s a complete disaster!”

“I hate her,” I told him telepathically, “Tell your brother to send her packing!”

“Meatloaf?” Oliver asked, smiling, as he turned to Alexander and his new sister in law. He could always read my mind. I should have known he would be amused by my disapproval.

Melissa looked at Alex searchingly. “Oh,” She explained, “It’s like a loaf of bread, but made of meat…”

Alex saw the look on our faces, “That doesn’t sound as good as it is. It’s fantastic.”

“We know what it is, don’t we, Dickhead?” Oh, a stab! She truly was from out of town if she didn’t think we had meatloaf in the United Kingdom. I adored that man, my husband. He covered his insult quickly with a compliment, “It smells like heaven, yeah?” Oliver rubbed his hands together quickly and grinned at his new sister in law, “Is it done, Melissa?”

“Yes, it’s done,” She looked a little confused by Oliver’s remark, but was quickly won over by his charm. Oliver had that same quality as Edmond to make you feel immediately welcome and at home, “I just have to warm the bread. I would have made the bread myself, but I couldn’t find the right kind of yeast,” She spoke over her shoulder as she headed into the kitchen.

“You’re not going to find the right anything around here,” Oliver said as he followed her, “In Newtown, if you look maybe, but not here. “

We all gathered around the tiny table in Alexander’s tiny kitchen. Melissa doled out thick slices of meatloaf and mash on to each of our plates, “I hope you like it,” She said honestly. Her breasts were so large I thought they were going to go straight into Oliver's food as she leaned across him. He leaned back and stifled a laugh, “It’s Alexander’s favourite thing I cook,” She continued as she moved on to me, “Which is really nice because it’s so easy to make.”

“I'm sure it wonderful,” I mumbled, watching my husband cover his face with his hand. He shook a bit and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. He didn't dare look at me or Alex lest he burst out with a snort. He pursed his lips and got himself under control as he dug a fork into his meat.

“This is bloody fantastic!” Oliver hadn’t even swallowed yet. His eyes got wide and he covered his mouth. He made a grab for his cider, “Christ! It’s hot!”

“It is good,” I said quietly, “So when did you two get married?”

“Just before we came home,” Alexander set his knife down, reaching for his wife's hand, “Melissa wanted her mother to be at the wedding.”

I nodded. I didn’t say what I was thinking, which was that I was bothered that Oliver and I were not there and his “surprise” sucked. “I’m sure your mother would have liked to have been there as well. Tell me, how did the two of you meet?”

“Well, we met at the university…” She began.

“You’ve an architect then?” I had the feeling she had never read a book in her life.

“Uh no,” She fluttered her long, curled lashes. Her eyes were exactly the colour of deep blue sapphires and they bored into mine, a sort of dare. I wanted to thump her right in the face. Oliver looked at me sideways and hid another smile. Melissa continued, “I was there to see my sister in a play.”

“Is she an actress?”

“She wants to be.”

“What about you? Are you an actress?” I held her eye, blinking casually, “You look like an actress.”

“Me?” She laughed. It was fake, “No. I used to do some modelling, but…”

“But what? Too many blondes on the runway? Did one knock you off?” I was getting myself worked up into a right fist fight. Oliver sniggered, but Alexander looked at me as if I’d gone mental. I took a bite of meatloaf into my mouth and chewed it carefully.

“No, I didn’t like it.”

“Too much competition?

“Not really.”

“Did you attend university at all then?” I changed the discussion, refusing to take my eyes off of her. I could see her begin to squirm. I'd always had a talent for that. “The Evil Eye”, I'd been told I had more than once. It was the ability to stare at a person and actually make them feel my presence by just looking. It made most people incredibly uncomfortable and it was working like a charm on Melissa. Easy pickings. I’d dealt with bigger and nastier spoiled brats than her at Bennington. It had been awhile since I’d had an all-out bitch contest, but she was going to be a breeze. Melissa was a snack compared to some I’d faced and I’d only had to hit two of them. The others I’d simply intimidated into submission.

“For a while.” Her resolve was failing. She dropped her eyes.

“What did you read?”

She hesitated, “What do you mean?”

“Read. At university. What did you read?”

Melissa looked completely confused. “As in books?”

Oliver hid his smile behind his fork.

Alex cleared his throat, “She means what did you study.”

“Oh! I was an English Major.”

“Linguistics or just English?” I asked.

“English.”

“Then you must be a teacher. It’s about all you can do with a degree in English these days,” I flipped my fork in my hand like a baton.

“I actually didn’t finish that degree.”

I was not overwhelmed with desperate shock, “Really? Did you fail out?”

“No, I switched my major.”

I wanted to ask her if it was to basket weaving, but I held my tongue. “To what?”

“Culinary arts,” She replied.

“Did you finish that course of study then?”

“Yes,” Her suntanned face flushed. She was brassed. I had her where I wanted her, “Did you finish yours?” She snapped, suddenly looking me in the eye again.

“Oh, aye,” I had been being a cow since I first laid eyes on her, but now she had taken a poke at me and I was going to have her for supper instead of that insanely good meatloaf. Culinary degree indeed! “I have a Master’s of Science in Microbiology, a Graduate Degree in Biophotonics, in fact, and a Bachelors of Science in Accounting. I speak fluent French and English as well as Welsh, which you better learn quickly,” I put extra emphasis on ‘and English’ to mock her former major. I watched her flinch when I mentioned learning Welsh, “Currently, the team I’m spending my days with are using lasers to irradiate blood cells and recording data to find new and better ways to cure small problems we have on Earth. Little things, you know? Like cancer,” I sat back in my chair, very satisfied with myself, “What’s your work? Since you no longer model?”

She flushed deeper.

Oliver pinched my leg under the table. “So you’re a chef? I can bloody believe that! This food is absolutely fantastic!”

Alexander looked at me like he wasn’t sure if he should laugh or ask me to leave, “We met at uni in the café, Sil. Melissa had just seen her sister in a play and she was getting a cup of coffee. The lid wasn’t on properly and her drink spilled all over. I got her some serviettes and when the barista replaced her coffee we sat down and had a chat.” He looked at her softly, “It was like…kismet.”

Kismet? Was he out of his blooming mind? Alexander said kismet? Something was indeed wrong in the universe if Alexander Dickinson of all the wanton rogues who dwelled within it was using words like kismet! I thought for a second about smacking him, too. There was something not right about this girl, but I was not sure what it was yet. I couldn’t believe Alexander wasn’t on to it. I opened my mouth to say a little something about kismet, but Oliver pinched my leg again.

“That’s how it happens. Small events, yeah? I hit Silvia in the head with a ball, that’s how we met.”

“I’m really clumsy. It was embarrassing,” Melissa smiled at my husband all sugary sweet. It shot through my chest like a red hot arrow. I was going to kill her.

“Oliver wasn’t being clumsy,” I started in hotly before she could finish, “He was being careless. There’s a difference, you know? Carelessness is an oversight. You can’t help being clumsy, it’s a liability of the way one’s brain is designed. Not a good quality in a kitchen, I would imagine. Have you ever tripped and tumbled into a hot oven with a spring loaded door?”

I said this all very quickly. It was obvious that she had not understood a word from the confusion on her face. Sometimes I loved the way my accent complicated a situation.

Oliver and Alexander both laughed out loud. Alexander coughed to stop himself when he saw the look on his wife’s face. Oliver suddenly became insanely thirsty and guzzled his cider.

The room was deathly quiet as she glanced from face to face, avoiding mine completely. Finally, she spoke, “I tried to be cool and wait for him to call me,” She pretended she wasn’t ruffled. She was looking right at Oliver. I didn’t like the way she was ogling at him, either. It was something like the way a streetwalker would eye a fifty pound note, “But I couldn’t. I called him the next day and asked him out and that was it. We were in love.”

“Aw, that’s so sweet I think I’m going to – Ow!” I stopped short when Oliver pinched me again, this time harder than the other times. I slapped his shoulder just as hard. “Stop it!”

“And he accepted, obviously!” Oliver was being exceptionally kind, but I knew he would have cheered me of if I took a whack at her. He was only holding me back for the sake of his brother. “How lucky for the two of you.” He paused, as if gauging the explosiveness of the situation. “So you haven’t met Mum and Dad yet, Melissa?”

It was my turn to be quiet and let my husband take an unintentional jab. I had some more meatloaf. I hated to admit how fantastic it was, but it was the most wonderful thing that I’d ever eaten in my life. It made me want to scratch her eyes out. A chef! An honourable title, I supposed. Suddenly it seemed to me that I could hardly boil an egg.

“No, not yet,” Alexander gave his brother a knowing look.

“Well, no rush for that, yeah?” Oliver didn’t sound at all like he meant it.

“Bollocks!” I said loudly, “She’s family now! She deserves to wade in the same deep river of hell that I do when it comes to your folks! Share the pain, that’s what family’s all about!”

I watched Melissa flush yet again.

The boys stared at me with the same disbelieving smirks on their face.

“Well, it’s true!” I insisted.

“So, Big Brother,” Alexander finally broke the silence that followed, “What’s happening with you?”

Oliver took a sideways glance at me to make sure I was finished and then launched into a rundown of his daily life. I let them talk. I supposed I had said enough by then. It had been a long while since the boys had been face to face and I could see the both of them relaxing in each other's company. I hadn't seen in Oliver relax like that for a long, long while.

They were the only conversation for the remainder of the meal. I made it a point to keep my mouth shut and my eyes down. When dinner was done, I helped Alex clear the table while Oliver assisted Melissa with the dishes. After, we adjourned to the front room for wine, dessert and more chitchat.

Melissa had made tiramisu from scratch. She seemed very proud of this, although I knew from experience that tiramisu was not difficult to put together. Still, I said nothing. I had decided that there was no point and anything that would come out of my mouth could potentially lead to a court hearing. Oh, I so wanted to clock her!

“No, thank you,” I said when Alexander tried to hand me a dish, “That’ll make your arse expand exponentially, fast and for real.”

She gave me a nasty look out of the corner of her eye as she passed. I leaned forward and meant to trip her, but Oliver put his hand against my knee and shook his head.

There was a lot of wine and way too much irrelevant conversation happening that evening for my taste. I've never been a big wine drinker. It upsets my stomach and gives me a headache, so I just sat quietly and waited for the nightmare to end.

When it was all said and done Oliver and I said our goodnights with plans to meet again soon. Alexander pecked me on the lips and told me mockingly, “Thank you for behaving yourself, Silvia. You’re usually so difficult to deal with, but you were lovely tonight, Sweetie.”

“I always rise to a challenge, Darling,” I kissed him again on the lips just to brass Melissa off. I thought about patting him on the arse as well, but I didn't.

“It was so nice to meet you!” Melissa told me, pretending that she didn’t want to pull my hair out of my head for being a raving bitch, much less for kissing her man on the mouth twice, “We need to get together soon!”

“Oh, aye, that’s likely as these two are brothers! Couldn’t get out of that one if we wanted to, yeah?” I didn’t offer her a hug. “Night now!”

I walked out of the room and left my husband on his own to say a proper goodnight.

“Good Lord, Silvia, what was that display of hostility?” Oliver asked about thirty seconds later when he came out the door, “Have you lost your manners completely? You were so rude!”

“What?” I asked innocently, walking down the steps to the front door, “I hate her.”

“You just met her!” He caught up to me in the foyer and held the door for me as he drew the keys from his front pocket.

“And I can tell you right now she’s a fraud and a fake!” I turned to face him.

“And how could you surmise that in all of five seconds?” He stepped outside. The door caught him in the back and sent him forward a half step.

“Didn’t you pay one bit of attention?” I couldn't believe how daft he was. Men! So stupid! “Did you even look at her? You think she was born blonde? Her brows are dark! Did you see her finger nails? They’re like great talons with glittering gems on them. Acrylic! Her jumper was pure cashmere and her purse and shoes...”

“So?” He was clueless as to what my point might be. We walked together across the garden and out the gate to the road.

“Her purse, Oliver, and her shoes were Prada and not a knock off either! Fucking Prada!” I stood outside the passenger door of our car and watched him walk around to the driver’s side.

“Her shoes were hideous,” He agreed, but obviously had no idea what Prada was, “They looked like witches’ boots made out of some dead animal’s skin.”

“Doesn’t matter!” I tossed up my hands, “Prada, Oliver! Prada!”

“What the blooming’ hell is a Prada, Silvia?” He peered at me over the car.

“It’s very expensive designer shit is what it is! I don’t even know what a pair of Pradas would cost! More than any of us has! Alexander just got his degree! He’s going to be eating peanut butter without a spoon and she’ll be dripping in cashmere and sporting Prada!”

“Maybe she wore her best. You just met her!”

We got into the car, “And so did you!” I wasn't going to let it go, “By the look of you I would have thought you didn’t think much of her either, but it would appear now that you are as in love with her as your stupid brother! Soon there’ll be a full on incident of twincest! I can see it now! Both blinded by a set of rock hard silicone enhanced tits!”

He glanced at me sideways with his mouth hanging open. “Twincest? I can’t bloody believe you just said that! Your breasts are much larger than hers!” He paused, “My God, are you jealous?”

“Me? What do I have to be jealous of? The fact that she’s an irritating, plastic Barbie doll? Or the fact that she has just as much between her ears as one of them?” I yanked on my seat belt. “Or that she looks like what would happen if Angelina Jolie and Heidi Klum got smashed together too closely on the tube and became one person?”

“Aw, come off of it! Silvia!” He laughed out loud, “She’s attractive, she is, but not nearly as pretty as you are!”

“Now you’re a liar!”

“Am not!” He was still laughing, “Settle down! She’s not that pretty! Sure, she’s tall and she’s got all that…American stuff...going on, but she’s got an odd mouth and…wow! That accent is bloody awful!”

“You wanted to tell her to shut up as well?”

“Well, didn’t you know? She talks too much and too fast,” He was always good at imitating accents. He launched into an American accent, waving his hand in the way that she did as he spoke, “An-duh…oh, my God! An-duh it was like reeeeely just cra-zay and-duh I was like holy shit! An-duh then I was like…oh, my God, yeerrrrrr joking! Uh-no way! An-duh ya think?”

He had me laughing so hard I had to wipe tears away, “I thought you got on so well!”

“We did! But honestly! She’s a nightmare, I swear!” He pulled away from the curb. “My brother would marry a monster, wouldn’t he?”

We drove on for a few minutes before I spoke again, “I reckon I should apologize to her.”

“You should. You were a complete cow back there, Love.” He smiled and shook his head, “It was quite humorous. I haven’t seen you that angry since Serena McLaughlin and Amber Monaghan set about their skulking in the common room.”

After that party in Ebbw Vale when we were kids, Serena McLaughlin, Amber Monahan and Peggy McGhee went on a calculated crusade to break up Oliver and me. All three of them mercilessly stalked him around campus, getting in his face and being extra cutsie and ever-so-sweet. Oliver couldn’t stand Peggy so I was bothered very little when I saw her approaching him. Amber, on the other hand, had a lovely face and not only that, she was fairly clever. She was meaner than a skinny dog as well. Attractive, clever and unkind are a dangerous combination in a teenage girl and I knew that even then. Amber made me nervous. Not that I thought she’d take Ollie from me, I just knew sooner or later there’d be an ugly confrontation and I wasn’t interested in getting into trouble. Serena, on the the other hand, just made me insane. She was not particularly pretty, although not ugly, either, and I wasn’t impressed with her intelligence, but she had dedication, let me tell you. She was tenacious.

Sandra came to me on afternoon before class and told me she’d heard Amber talking about how the free period she and Serena shared with Oliver was the perfect time to “home in because Silvia’s in class and can’t watch his every move”. I went through the roof! Sandy asked me to settle down and told me that she’d been watching and Oliver was ignoring both of them, but I didn’t care. The very nerve of those bitches!

I was so angry I swore I’d kill all three. I skived off class and marched straight into the common room where they sat across from Oliver with their backs to me. Ollie was studying and didn’t notice me come in, so I began the conversation by kicking the back of Amber’s chair. What ensued was your typical altercation between teenage girls, complete with the boy telling everyone to quit squabbling and the girls ignoring him while hurling insults and threats. What was not typical, however, was when I reached out and grabbed Amber by her gorgeous blonde hair and shoved her so hard she flipped over her chair onto the table. She tried to stand, but I bitch slapped her back down.

Serena hadn’t possessed the brains to run away like she should have and gave me a push. I glanced a blow off of her shoulder, at which point she decided she didn’t want to get beaten up like her friend, and tried to run off to hide in the girl’s lavatory. Ollie insisted I let her go and got in my way, but by that point I was quite literally seeing red. I stormed past him into the toilet. Serena thought she was going to fight me and took another chance at striking me. I hit her once in the stomach, but beyond that, it only took about forty seconds before I had her head stuffed into a toilet. Ollie and Merlyn burst in and hauled me off. I still can’t believe nobody told on me.