Sorry for how long I left this on hiatus. I was busy with a couple of my other stories, but I think I'm going to go back to this one now. Enjoy!
After school that day, Olivia went home with Alex. The boyfriend du jour made Olivia particularly uncomfortable and she didn't want to be at her house today. Of course, she hadn't told Alex that. She'd just asked her if she could come over, and Alex had agreed.
"Hi, girls," Alex's mother greeted them when they came inside. "How was school?"
Olivia kicked off her shoes and Alex removed hers, arranging them neatly against the wall before smiling up at her mother. "Hi, Mommy." She made a face. "We've got homework."
Her mother smiled. "I'll get you some cookies and milk while you work on it, okay?"
Alex nodded. "Okay."
Olivia followed Alex into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Alex pulled out her math textbook, two pencils, and a few sheets of lined paper. She handed one of the pencils and piece of paper to Olivia, then tidily dated the page and wrote her name in her neatest printing.
Olivia rolled her eyes. "You don't have to be so meticulous." Then she smiled smugly, proud at having used a fifty cent word. But she didn't really mind having to do her homework first; that was Alex's parents' rule. Before they did anything else, they had to finish their homework.
Mrs. Cabot brought the girls a plate of chocolate chip cookies and two glasses of milk. "They just came out of the oven, so be careful," she warned.
"Thank you, Mommy," said Alex sweetly.
"Thanks," Olivia echoed, taking a bite anyway and burning her tongue.
Alex rolled her eyes. "Do you take anything for granted?"
Olivia shrugged, taking a sip of cool milk to soothe the fire in her mouth. "No."
Alex efficiently filled out the first twenty questions on her math worksheet, then turned to Olivia, who was still struggling with the seventh. She daintily bit into a cookie, chewed and swallowed, then crossed her arms. "Do you need some help, Liv?" she asked amiably.
Olivia growled. "I don't want to do math," she complained. "Can I copy yours?"
She started to grab the sheet, but Alex lightly slapped her hand away, yanking the paper out of her reach. "No."
Olivia whined and gave Alex her sweetest smile. "Please?"
"No," repeated Alex.
Olivia gave Alex her best puppy dog eyes. "Pretty please with a cherry on top?"
Alex relented. "Fine." She handed Olivia her homework and Olivia grinned as she copied it.
When she was done, she shoved the piece of paper in her binder and took another cookie. "Done."
"Do you want to watch a movie?"
Olivia thought about it. "What movie?"
"We got the new princess movie."
Olivia rolled her eyes. "No."
Alex raised her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. What do you want to watch?"
"Do you have Bolt?"
Alex nodded, rummaging around in her video cupboard and raising it triumphantly. "Got it!"
"Cool."
They watched the movie, and when it was over, it was nearly dinnertime.
"I should probably be getting home," said Olivia reluctantly. "My mom will be upset if I'm not back."
Alex regarded her with concern. "Why don't you spend the night? You can call her and tell her. She won't mind."
Olivia hesitated. "I'll need to get my pajamas."
"You can use some of mine," Alex offered.
"It's okay. I'll run home and be back in an hour."
Alex sighed, but reluctantly agreed. "See you in an hour."
One hour and thirty-six minutes later, an exhausted Olivia returned with a pair of pajamas and clothes for tomorrow, along with a toothbrush and a hairbrush.
Alex let her in right away, furrowing her brow in concern. "What took you so long? I was starting to worry."
Olivia shrugged and flopped down on Alex's couch, wincing as she did so.
Alex caught the look on her face. "Are you okay? What did she do to you?"
Olivia shrugged again, trying to seem nonchalant. "She spanked me."
"She shouldn't be hurting you, Liv," said Alex softly, sitting down beside Olivia and wrapping her arms around her friend.
"I'm okay," Olivia told her, but her words sounded hollow.
Alex sighed. "You could talk to my mom, Liv. She would help you."
"No," snapped Olivia. "Drop it, Alex."
Alex sighed again. "Okay, fine. My dad's making hamburgers for dinner. He wanted me to ask you if that was okay."
"It's fine," she said, but made no move to extricate herself from Alex's grasp.
"Do you want to play a game?" asked Alex.
Olivia shrugged. "What game?"
"We just got Break the Safe. Or we could play Monopoly: Here and Now. Or we could play –"
"Break the Safe is fine," said Olivia quickly.
Alex let go of her and beckoned for Olivia to follow her up to her bedroom.
They played Break the Safe and had dinner and watched another movie before bed. Then they changed into their pajamas and Alex's mother came in to say goodnight. She gave Alex a kiss on the forehead, then did the same for Olivia.
"'Night, Mommy," murmured Alex.
"Sleep tight, girls," said Mrs. Cabot, leaving the door open a crack, the way Olivia liked it. She could never sleep with the door closed, and Alex didn't mind leaving it open when Olivia was over.
When Olivia finally drifted off to sleep, she dreamed of her father for the first time in months. But in her dreams, her father had Joe's face.
Review for chapter five!