“Who is that?” I pulled my head back and looked at her.
“Oh,” she smiled all embarrassed, looking over and noticing him. She blushed a little. “That’s Brian. It’s a weird story. Come on,” she said, taking my hand in hers and squeezing it to pull me away.
It’d been the hand I used to punch. I winced, the pain coursing through me. I didn’t want to get blood on her but I didn’t want to worry her. Naturally, I’d forgotten about my hand as soon as I saw her.
“Hold on,” I said, lifting her hand up, trying to make sure she didn’t see my knuckles in the little light there was. I took the edge of my shirt and wiped my blood away. I didn’t care that my shirt would be ruined.
“Sorry, I got something on your hand.” I knew I couldn’t keep it from her for long but I wanted to at least get through introductions and figuring out what the hell we were going to do. I switched to her other side and grabbed her other hand.
We walked up to the car and Brian stood up, giving me a wave.
“Hi,” he said. “I’m Brian, Olivia’s new husband. And you must be?” He scratched his chin and teased. “Oh God, I should know this one, huh, hun?” He looked over at Olivia like they’d shared something special.
She smiled and I watched her eyes fall in that way they always did when she was amused and pleased.
I hated it.
“Avery.” I said it dull, like the thud of a hammer.
That’s how my head felt right now, like someone was hitting the inside with a mallet. I tugged on Olivia’s hand. “So, Brian, where did you come from?”
“An all-boys school,” he sighed. “I’m very repressed and horny. Olivia promised to help me out. Isn’t that right, Babe?” He’d walked over and touched the other side of her waist and took her hand.
“Excuse me?” I’d just gone from having that bomb of a conversation with my dad to this random guy I didn’t know touching my fiancé and claiming she was going to help him out with sexual favors.
I pulled her behind me. “I’m not really having that great of a night, Brian. So, you probably wanna lay off my girl before I uppercut you into your daddy’s fancy ass car.”
I guess I was still a little mad. He backed off and put his hands up. I didn’t even know this kid and he was going to talk about having sex with Olivia. Not cool. I wouldn’t even feel the pain if I punched him right now. I had so much adrenaline going through me.
“Baby, calm down,” Olivia said, placing herself in front of me. “He’s just a friend. He’s teasing you. Our parents set us up because they’re fucking stupid. It’s nothing. Okay?” She was holding my face and trying to get me to see her but I’d been glaring at him hard. “He’s going to Stanford in fall. He has a very attractive boyfriend. And he likes the piano just like I do. Hello?” She said, trying to reach me inside. “You can hear me, yea?”
I felt my body deflate at the word boyfriend. “Oh,” I said. I looked at her and everything turned okay again. She was here and touching me and I was okay. Only because of her. I kissed her nose and turned to Brian. “Sorry, it’s just, you kind of hit a nerve there and I just had a fight with my dad about the whole gay thing.”
“No worries,” Brian said. “And- that sucks… The fight. Sorry that happened. I know what that’s like. Jacob deals with that all the time. Sometimes in front of me.”
“Okay, can we like. Not be here?” Olivia asked. “Do you want to get Jacob?” She asked Brian.
“Oh,” he said, like maybe he hadn’t thought of that before. “Actually, yeah. He’d find this whole thing hilarious. Plus, he’s hungry. Aren’t you guys?”
“Yes,” Olivia said with relief.
“Starving. Feed the Avery, please.” I was just tired, even the nap didn’t help. “Maybe Jacob and I can start a club: Homophobic Parents Who Suck.”
“I think that club’s already going strong,” Brian laughed to be kind.
Even my jokes were worse than usual tonight. We filed back to the car and got in. Olivia and I took the back seat. She got in first and I slid over, not even trying to pretend like I was tough anymore. As soon as she got settled I put my head in her lap and twisted so that I could look up at her.
“I missed you,” I said. It was all I could get out. It expressed everything in that moment.
“I missed you too,” she said, looking down on me and petting my hair. “You have no idea how much.”
“It’s been four hours and I already can’t stand not being with you. Kind of pathetic but true.” I turned my face into her stomach and breathed in.
“What happened with your parents?”
“Well,” she said, kind of tense. There was something off about her that probably had to do with what she’d been through before me. “As you can see, they surprised me with guests.”
“Hey!” Brian said, staring back at us through the rearview. “No talking shit about kind Brian.”
“You’re a chauffeur now,” Olivia teased him. “Chauffeur's don’t talk.”
“I’m getting sick of these demotions,” he grumbled.
Olivia looked back down on me again. Her smile was so beautiful. I wanted to live in it.
“So, did you know Brian before?”
“Definitely not,” Olivia said. “But he’s nice.”
“He seems cool.” I sighed and reached up to touch her lips. “Not gonna lie though, I’m glad he’s gay.”
“Did you really think I’d just leave you for the next person who showed a tad bit of interest in me?” She took my hand in hers and forced it to press harder on her lips as she closed her eyes and kissed my fingers, breathing me in. “That’s ridiculous Avery.” I could see her concentrating hard on her words so that I might hear them.
“No, I didn’t think that but I could see where he would WANT to be your husband. Have you met you? You’re gorgeous, smart, talented and-” I leaned up a little and whispered. “Great in bed.”
“Hey! I heard that,” Brian called from the driver’s seat. “No lesbian sex in my backseat.”
“Brian’s not getting paid.” Olivia teased while staring down at me lovingly.
“You hear that?!” I shifted my head to look up at him. “Not only are you not getting a tip. You’re not even getting paid. That’s what you get for fake marrying my fiancé!”
“Okay, fine, I think I’ll just kick you guys out here,” he joked, jerking the car over and scaring Olivia enough that she instinctively braced herself against the door with her hand.
“Whoa,” she said.
“Just kidding. This is Jacob’s house,” Brian explained.
“Oh,” she sighed, looking down at me and flaring her eyes.
“Well, that was exciting,” I said, rolling my eyes.
We all stayed in the car, waiting for Jacob to come out and get in. When he did he looked back at us, confused. “You said you were bringing big ol’ lesbians and I get out here and see models in the back seat. Are you feeling okay?” Jacob reached over and felt Brian’s forehead while he laughed.
“Jacob Talby, meet my wife and her wife. They belong to me now but they are very very gay. It’s best to ignore them. They’re sort of my trophy’s.”
“Olivia,” she introduced herself, giving Jacob a friendly nod. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Jacob said. “Of course, Brian’s parents had to set him up with a green-eyed fox. Fucking assholes. They hate me A LOT,” he groaned. “Can we eat now? I’m starving…” He looked to Brian and they both smiled. It was cute.
We drove on and I had no idea where we were going. I didn’t care. I was with Olivia. Brian and Jacob were unexpected but I could deal with not having her all to myself as long as we got a little time later.
The whole way, I just looked up at Olivia, thinking about what I would do if I had to choose between her and my family. I don’t think my mom would be like Dad. She was more understanding. If I had to I’d choose her every time. I didn’t care if we were poor and on our own. I wouldn’t give her u
p.
We pulled into a parking lot and I could see lots of lights outside the car. Brian parked and I sat up. He’d taken us to IHOP. I hadn’t been to one of these in years. “Yay, pancakes.” I got out and joined the boys.
Olivia grabbed my hand and Brian grabbed Jacobs. This was the first and most bizarrely put together double date I’d ever been on. The thought had me laughing under my breath. The wait inside was non-existent. We were some of the only people in the restaurant.
They gave us a booth along the wall and I followed Olivia in one side, across from our new friends. The hostess set down our menus and I grabbed mine, flipping it open. I wanted everything. A burger, bacon, eggs, pancakes. I could probably eat them all and still have room.
“Babe, you’re going to have to reign me in. I want all the food. All of it.”
“If Avery wants all the food, Avery will have all the food,” she said quietly while looking through the menu herself.
“If that happens you’ll probably be seeing the food again.” I scrunched my nose and looked at the omelets.
“Avery. I like that name,” Jacob said, lowering his menu. “If Brian had properly introduced us, like he was raised to do, maybe I wouldn’t have had to find out second hand.”
“Eh, it’s okay. My dad hates it but my mom picked it. It was her mother’s maiden name. Which, I’ve always found kind of messed up but whatever. It’s not Jessica or Lindsay so I’m okay with it.”
“You’re lucky those aren’t my middle names,” Olivia said, being short.
“Holy shhhhhit! That looks expensive!” Jacob reached over and took my hand to survey it. “Is that Madyha Farooqui???” He practically pulled me across the table when he took my hand in his.
“It is,” Olivia said. She was still going through her menu and pretty much ignoring everything and everyone.
“Jesus Christ!” Jacob said. “That is some genuine bling!”
“Honey, calm down,” Brian warned. I looked over at Olivia and watched her raise her eyebrow and look up at Brian to politely thank him without words. Brian seemed semi-embarrassed.
“All I’m saying is: I like.” Jacob calmed, letting go of my hand. “I’d die for a ring like that. This one’s too cheap.” Jacob looked over at Brian and pointed at him once before crossing his arms. Jacob wasn’t wearing a ring. It made me wonder about their relationship.
“It’s not about the money,” Olivia said in that high-pitched sing-song way. She seemed so into the menu you’d think she was reading one of those epic thousand page books of hers.
“Okay, I am really starting to see why Brian’s parents wanted to set you two up,” Jacob muttered grumpily.
My thoughts were still on the ring. I wanted to ask how much it cost but I knew Olivia would get mad. Jacob would probably have told me. Maybe I could just google it now that I knew what the name was. Not that I’d know how to spell it.
“Yeah, here’s to your parent’s match-making skills,” I said raising my water glass.
“Cheers,” Olivia smiled, looking up from her menu and finally giving us all the time of day. We knocked glasses and drank.
“Did you decide?” I wanted to make a crack about it being Sophie’s Choice but she would give me that look and stop talking. I couldn’t be at odds with her right now.
“I just think I’m gonna have a salad,” she said. She seemed drained.
I frowned and moved my hand to her knee, rubbing back and forth. She was cold but my hands were always warm. I leaned in, putting my head on her shoulder. “You okay?”
“Not really,” she sighed. But she used her hand to hold my face to her shoulder. “My parents made me play.”
“Oh, yeah, about that,” Brian said. “Olivia you are really good. Like competition good. Do you do all that?”
“Um, no,” she said, keeping it short. “I haven’t done that since I was young. I had to stop. It wasn’t my choice.” I felt Olivia’s hand fall down onto mine. It rubbed my knuckles and then slowed. She was feeling the damage. Noticing it.
Perturbed, she looked down.
“Avery?” She gasped, pulling my hand up to look. “What? Did he do this?”
“What? No.” I tried to take my hand away but she held onto it, inspecting the ragged skin. “It was an accident when I was at the pool.”
“An accident?” She asked, her other hand holding over it shakily like she was scared to touch again, scared to hurt me.
“Yeah, it’s not a big deal.”
“It is a big deal,” Olivia muttered, hurt by me.
“Your parents made you perform for Brian after killing your dreams? So, nice,” Jacob joked, before darkening.
“They sound familiar,” Brian said, ignoring our little inside convo.
“Yes, they’re tops on my list too,” I jibed.
“Brian’s parents used to make him play baseball,” Jacob confessed to me.
“I was always in the outfield,” Brian sighed. “Couldn’t catch or hit a damn thing.”
“You’d be cute in those little white pants,” Olivia smiled up at him, her eyes a bit glossy and estranged. I could never tell if she was behind or trying to calculate some master plan. There was no way to know.
I chuckled and watched Jacob’s smile get practically pornographic as he looked to his love. “Down boy,” I said, patting his hand.
The waitress came by and took our orders. Olivia got her salad and I ended up getting a combo with pancakes. She was more refined than I was and I thought that was attractive. Whatever she saw in me I could only be thankful that she had been disposed to love it.
I really wished I hadn’t punched the side of the pool now. I knew Olivia would bring it up again. She couldn’t help but take care of me. I loved her for it. The guys seemed like they had a similar dynamic. They were different like we were.
“So, how did you guys meet?” Jacob asked.
“We were forced,” Olivia said, looking up at them in all seriousness. My hand was still on her leg and she was holding it there by keeping both her hands on my arm, forcing me to stay close and stay touching her. She might’ve been scared to touch my hand because of the cuts. I couldn’t be sure but I definitely liked having her close.
“That makes it sound like they threw us in a room and just left us there.” I laughed, leaning into her. “Olivia was sent to interview me for the yearbook and then we just started hanging out.”
“Hanging out. Right,” Jacob teased. “In dark closets. Half naked,” he laughed.
“Na, we saved that for the hotel room,” I said. “I requested Olivia as my roommate on our school ski trip and the rest is history. Once I saw her curled up reading a really sad novel it was all over.”
I was leaving out a lot, laughing to myself at how complicated it all really was. This way it sold as a regular old romance rather than a dramatic string of events. No one really needed to know the details except for us.
“I fell in love with her before I even knew what to do with myself,” Olivia said, staring over at me. “It was like all of a sudden I couldn’t even breathe.” After she said that she let her gaze lower down. I felt her lips on my shoulder kissing my skin and then her face touched down as she laid her head just there and relaxed.
While she was talking I forgot that anyone else was there. We’d spoken similar words to each other but her saying them like this, and after what was going on with me, it just got to me and I swallowed back emotion, trying not to make a fool of myself in front of people I didn’t know.
“I love you,” I whispered to her. I needed to tell her. If it wasn’t redundant I’d tell her every time I spoke. Words lose meaning if said often and not coupled with actions. I put my arm around her and got even closer.
I didn't even care when they brought our food. I didn’t want to let her go, even for food.
“I need you to not be so perfect so I can keep up,” I told her.
She remained quiet but I felt her arm slowly snake around my stomach as she hugged me tight
about the waist.
“Okay you two are adorable,” Brian scoffed. “How can we compete with that?” He asked Jacob.
“We can’t,” Jacob joked flatly. “Clearly their love is like biblical. And what do we have? Hot closet sex and sad notes on cheap candy bar wrappers?”
“Hey!” Brian said, wounded. “What about Palm Springs? I thought I wooed you.”
“You did,” Jacob said. “But it wasn’t like you couldn’t breathe. It wasn’t like Olivia,” he teased, raising his arm to gesture at her all bitterly.
“True,” Brain sighed, pretending to agree. Jacob smacked him hard on the arm and then Brian pulled him in and kissed him. For a moment I could see it, every bit of their love, and it was beautiful. Brian did take his breath away.
The waitress came and began setting down food but I didn’t let go of Olivia. The smell made my mouth water and I kept looking at the food then back at her. I was torn but I knew I had to eat. Ridiculous and irrational, that’s what I’d turned into.
Finally, I took my hand away and lifted my spoon, keeping my other arm around her. “You guys are freaking adorable, don’t worry,” I said.
The eggs were perfect and extra cheesy. I took a bite and chewed, looking over to see Olivia picking at her salad. The corner of my mouth turned down as I swallowed.
“Now, I wanna know how you guys met,” I said, pointing my spoon at the boys.
“Oh, it’s an excellent story,” Jacob teased, his eyes capturing mine as he shoved a large bite of pancake into his mouth. “Mr. Beautiful here thought he could win me over with cash and a saxophone solo.”
“What?!” I laughed.
“Oh yeah, he got all dressed up outside by the pool at night. Black tux. Saxophone ready. Real handsome. Real suave. But then he played so hard he forgot he was by a pool and completely fell in.”
“Oh my God,” Olivia laughed, all the life seeping back into her.
“I know. He loves this story,” Brian spoke almost bitterly.
“It’s a good story,” she teased, taking her fork to her food and eating a little.
I felt better knowing she wasn’t starving herself.
“So he fell in the pool and guess what?” Jacob paused and stared. “He couldn’t swim.”
Paper Dolls [Book Two] Page 4