I'm throwing you a curveball with this chapter because the narrator is neither Sam nor Olivia. In fact, this is the introduction of a new character. Again, thank you for commenting! Your love is much appreciated.
Chapter Seven: I Haven't Seen You in a While
Eli
There was a conversation going on downstairs between my dad and Sam Uley, and I was hiding by the top of the staircase to pick up what I could. So much had been happening lately, and I was always out of the loop. It made me wish that I could just phase already, but that has yet to happen. I have been growing a lot lately…but I had to focus on the conversation. "Olivia" was thrown around more that once. So she was back? I listened more carefully.
"Wait so the Cullens are down part of their coven?" Dad asked. A bit of excitement seeped into his voice. Though they were supposed to be on good terms, dad could never quite hide his resentment. This was new. Maybe things didn't go quite as planned in Italy.
"Yes," Sam replied forlornly. "I feel so guilty for it. When I told Nessie and Jake, Nessie started crying and Jake was furious. It was awful. And Olivia feels just as guilty. She hasn't been herself since before all this. We've been home for a week now and she's been extremely quiet and she rarely comes out of her room." Had I heard Sam correctly? That didn't sound like the Olivia I knew at all. She was usually social and one of those girls who is every place at once. Maybe she had changed a little since we were last close, but this seemed drastic.
Olivia was only a few months younger than me, but I was always a grade ahead due to her birthday being in September. When we were in diapers, she and I, along with Jill Cameron, played together all of the time. The trio lasted until sixth grade when Olivia and Jill drifted away. And I made friends with some of the guys at school since Jill's older sister Alyssa and my younger brother Spencer were the only other kids from the pack at the time.
I still miss them from time to time, especially Olivia. But it's not like we don't hang out with eachother, because we see eachother all of the time at school or parties with the pack. Hearing about Olivia triggered a feeling inside of me, like it was my responsibility to make her feel better.
"That's rough, Sam," Dad said sympathetically, pulling me back to the present. "Maybe we can do something to help. Eli might be able to talk to her." My mouth pulled into a smile. I could see where this was going and I retreated back to my room so it would seem like I wasn't eavesdropping.
"I don't know if that will work, Paul, but it's worth a shot," I heard Sam say.
"Alright…ELI!" Dad shouted up the stairs.
"Dad wants you Eli!" Spencer called from his room immediately. Any opportunity Spencer gets to be obnoxious, he'll take it.
"I have ears, Fifth Grader," I shot back.
"Sixth Grader." But I was already on the stairs.
"Hi, Eli," Sam said when I entered the living room.
"Hey, Sam," I replied. To Dad: "You called?"
"So you know that Olivia got back a week ago," Dad started.
"Yeah. How is she doing?" I asked Sam, covering for the fact that I already knew how she was.
"Not to well. She hasn't been her self lately. And that's where you come in."
"Yeah, Eli. Do you think you could hang out with Olivia today?" Dad asked.
"Sure," I replied, completely ignoring the fact that they were using me to make her feel better. This was exactly the opportunity that I had been looking for since our group split up.
"Thank you, Eli," Sam said. "Since it's sunny and warm maybe you guys could go to the beach."
"Good idea. I'll go change into swim shorts and then I can go." I dashed back up the stairs and fished a pair of swim trunks out of my drawer, throwing my other shorts on the floor. Then I grabbed a towel from the linen closet and ran back down the stairs. Dad and Sam were still talking, but their conversation was coming to an end. I followed Sam outside and took shotgun in his old Ford Fiesta.
"Don't be offended when I say this but as Olivia's father, I am obligated to say it: Keep your hands off my daughter, okay? She's been through a lot and it's probably going to make it worse if you try anything," Sam said once he started driving.
"I wasn't planning to," I said honestly.
"Good." We were already at his house and he turned off the ignition. He told me to wait in the living room while he went upstairs to get Olivia. Meanwhile, Emily offered me some fresh baked cookies, which I couldn't refuse. We were both listening to what was going on upstairs though. I distinctly heard "No, dad," but Sam countered that by saying, "Eli's already here". She was quiet for a moment. The rest of the conversation was inaudible but a minute later Sam came down the stairs giving me thumbs up.
"Be careful with her, Eli," Emily warned. "She's been extra sensitive lately." I assured Emily that I would, but I wasn't sure if she was just exaggerating to get the point across. Finally, Olivia descended the stairs with a beach bag over her shoulder. She was wearing a t-shirt and shorts, but I could see the straps of her purple swimsuit tied behind her neck.
"Hey, Eli," she greeted me with little enthusiasm. She looked pretty terrible; her eyes were puffy and surrounded by dark circles as if she hadn't slept in weeks, and she looked like she had lost some weight. Her dark hair fell in think curtains around her face, highlighting the dark expression it held.
"Hey, Liv. It's good to see you," I replied with a smile.
"You too. Let's go." She led me outside and we started walking to the beach. It was simultaneously odd and awkward. She didn't say a single word on the way there. We dropped our stuff at a spot not too far from the ocean and just stood there for a minute, avoiding each other's eyes by looking out at the waves.
"My dad put you up to this didn't he," she said quietly.
"I'm not gunna lie to you. He did, but I would've come anyway," I replied.
"Hm." More silence.
"Do you want to swim?" I asked after a while. She shook her head. "Fine. Do you want to just talk, or something?" She shook her head again. Sam and Emily really weren't exaggerating about Olivia.
"Look, I'm just trying to make you feel better. I really have no idea what happened to you because I'm always out of the loop, but you don't have to tell me. Just talk to me or, like, smile or something." She gave me a tiny smile but it didn't reach her eyes. "That's fake and we both know it. You can't do this for much longer, Olivia. You've got the rest of your life ahead of you and if you're going to act like this, then it's really gunna suck to be you."
Finally, I got a reaction from her. Olivia's face turned red and she glared at me. "What the heck, Eli?" she shouted at me. "You think you can just waltz in here and tell me how to live my life after almost two years of not being friends anymore? Just leave me alone! Why would you ever think that you have the right to do that? Why would you think that I would listen?"
"Sorry, Liv. I just care about you, okay? No one wants to see you so depressed."
"You care about me?" she scoffed. "Where have you been these past two years, Eli?"
"Are you blaming me for pulling away? It was you and Jill who decided that you didn't want to hang out with me anymore. You were too busy being best friends with each other to still be friends with me. But I don't see Jill now. I'm the one who's here. Isn't that a reason to listen?"
"I won't talk to Jill," she whispered. That sure shut me up. And while I was in a stunned silence she picked up her bag and started walking away.
"Wait! Olivia, where are you going?" I shouted after her.
"Home. Away from you," she replied with acid. Now that hurt.
"You're parents aren't going to like that."
"At this point, I really don't care." There was nothing I could do but let her continue out of sight. That definitely didn't go as planned. Some really awful stuff must have happened to her in Italy for her to be acting like this. But it was still uncalled for. I really didn't have the heart to leave the beach, so I just sat on my towel until someone called my name.
"Eli!" It was Sam. "Obviously that didn't work," he said when he reached me.
"She kind of yelled at me," I replied.
"I'm really sorry about that. You can see now why we're so desperate. Just don't give up on her. Maybe she needs a little more time but if you give up on her, she may never go back to normal." Knowing myself, I probably wouldn't have given up on her for long, but hearing the desperation in Sam's voice told me how persistent I would need to be.
"Alright," I sighed
"Thanks, Eli. I really believe that you can get through to her…eventually." I laughed half-heartedly. It could take months for her to get back to normal. "Come on. I'll give you a ride home."
"Thanks." We walked off the beach and over to his house. For the second time today, I sat in the passenger seat of Sam's old Fiesta and he drove me home.
"Tell everyone that I say hi," Sam said before I got out of the car.
"I will. Thanks again for the ride."
"No problem." I slammed the door behind me and stepped inside to find Spencer sitting on the steps with his nose in his DS, obviously trying to look like he wasn't waiting for me to come home.
"How was your date with Olivia?" he asked, a smug smile on his face. Spencer was such a pain in the butt.
"It wasn't a date," I sighed. I really didn't have the energy for this.
"Sure it was," he replied suggestively, attempting to raise his eyebrows unsuccessfully. He looked kind of crazy when he did that.
"No, Spence, it wasn't. You obviously heard what Sam was saying to Dad and me earlier, and nothing he was talking about had anything to do with a date." I purposely left out the part about Olivia yelling at me.
"Whatever. You can say that all you want, but I'll always know the truth." He was seriously asking for me to punch him, but I couldn't do that with our Mom in such close proximity. With my eyes closed, I took one long, deep breath.
"Are you trying to annoy the crap out of me?" I asked finally.
"A little," he admitted. Decidedly done with me, he moved his focus back to his DS. The music from the video game was suddenly on full volume and he was blocking my way up the stairs. I was going to step over him, but we were interrupted when Mom called us from the kitchen.
"Eli and Spencer, I need you to set the table now or we won't have dinner." There was an audible groan, but nevertheless we walked back down the stairs and into the kitchen to grab the dinner wear. As usual, I was on plate and glass duty, and Spencer grabbed the silver wear and napkins. Once the table was set, we helped carry the dishes of food into the dining room. Dad burst through the back door just in time to start eating.
"How was patrol?" Mom asked as he kissed her forehead.
"Uneventful. It smells delicious in here," Dad replied. We sat down at the table and began serving ourselves dinner. "So, Eli, how did it go with Olivia?"
"Pretty bad," I snorted as I scooped sweet potatoes onto my plate (Mom was in a health kick).
"So Sam wasn't exaggerating," Dad sighed.
"That's what I thought, too. But she's really that bad. She didn't talk to me except to ask if Sam put me up to hanging out with her. And she wouldn't do anything so I kinda…well, not yelled at her, but told it to her like it is and she got angry and yelled at me and stormed off," I explained.
"Eli! That is no way to treat someone! You probably made it worse," Mom scolded.
"Yeah, Eli," Spencer added.
"No one asked you, fifth grader," I retorted.
"Sixth—"
"I really don't care."
"Boys," Dad reproved loudly. Neither of us wanted to face the wrath of Paul Lahote so we shut up. "You probably got through to her, though if she reacted so strongly. Even if it was only a little bit, it could make a difference."
"I hope so," I replied. Spencer dominated the conversation for the rest of dinner, and I didn't object. When we were finished eating and the table was cleared, I retreated up to my room. As I tossed a stuffed basketball through a plastic hoop I realized that as annoyed I was at Olivia, there was no way that I would give up on her…yet.
