As the noise intensified and the plane fluctuated uncontrollably, Olivia closed her eyes, and suddenly she saw Elliot in her mind. They were sitting on the beach after work drinking coffee and he was telling Olivia a story she couldn't remember. Instead, she remembered how Elliot looked at her, remembered Elliot's smiling face and the blue eyes that sparkled like the gleaming sea. For a little while the warmth filled Olivia's heart, and then everything went black.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Olivia was young, people didn't pay much attention to her. She was shy and quiet, didn't get into trouble at school, and usually spent time with her two friends. Yes, teachers sometimes asked her how was she doing, and her classmates paid attention to her worn clothes, which were often a couple of sizes too small. However, she had been able to live more or less peacefully for the first 7 years of her life, and therefore could not doubt anything when a couple of the school's older students walked over to her during a lunch.

"Hey, you," the boy greeted. Olivia looked at him questioningly with her brown eyes.

"Hello."

"You looked lonely, so we wanted to talk to you. You seem nice. Would you like to hang out with us after school?" The girl asked. Olivia looked at them in amazement and then turned her gaze to her hands.

"I have homework," she replied quietly.

"We can do them together," the boy suggested. "Your homework is pretty easy, we can help."

Olivia looked up in surprise. "Would you do that?"

The girl waved her hand. "That's what friends do, right?"

An enthusiastic smile lightened Olivia's face and she nodded.

"Do you have to ask your parents for permission?" The boy asked. Olivia bit her lip and suddenly looked nervous.

"No… I mean… My mom doesn't mind." That wasn't entirely true, because yes, Olivia's mother did care. However, she had been drunk almost every night for nearly two weeks, and during the days Olivia had been alone because her mother had slept off her hangovers. That's why she thought her mother wouldn't be bothered even if she did homework with her new friends.

"Great," the boy smiled. "I'm James, by the way."

"And I'm Jenny," the girl said.

"I'm Olivia."

"We have to go now, but see you after school at the school gate?"

"Okay," Olivia replied and waved goodbye. Then she smiled to herself and bit her bread.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They met at the school gate at 2 pm as they had agreed. An oversized backpack for the 7-year-old girl weighed on Olivia's shoulders as she arrived.

"Hi! Do you want to eat ice cream in the park?" Jenny asked. "We can do our homework there."

Olivia looked at her shoes and felt herself blush. "I don't have…" She muttered.

"What?" James asked as he lifted his bike.

"I don't have any money," Olivia's eyes filled with tears of shame.

"It doesn't matter, we can buy for you too."

"Really?" Olivia's eyes widened. Jenny nodded and they started to walk side by side. Then Jenny and James stopped, pushed their bikes into the bush, and stepped out of the way onto a small path.

"The park is in that direction," Olivia pointed her finger forward. James grinned.

"We know, but this is an much more exciting way."

Olivia hesitated, but started to follow them along the path. The grasses lining the path reached Olivia's shoulders, and the branches of the trees descending over the path scratched her cheek.

"Are you afraid of spiders?" Jenny turned to look at her. She bit her lip but then shook her head. "Good, because they like to live here."

After a while, they arrived to a small ditch with flowing brown water and a thick layer of mud at the bottom. Olivia peeked into the ditch.

"The frogs are probably living there", she noted.

Suddenly James' voice was cold and Olivia turned to look at him. "We thought you'd like it." Then he snatched the backpack from her back and emptied everything to the ground.

"Hey!" Olivia tried to get her backpack back, but Jenny grabbed her shirt.

"What have we here…" James rummaged through the items lying on the ground, and then his gaze found the red notebook with flowers on its cover Olivia had drawn.

"Don't, it's mine!" Olivia exclaimed. James opened the notebook and after scrolling through it for a moment he grinned ominously.

"Listen to this: "Today my mother couldn't get out of bed all day, so I ate cereal for dinner. I'm still hungry, but Mom needs to sleep so she can wake up in the morning. I drew a picture of her."" Then James turned the notebook, showing Jenny the picture. In the picture, Olivia's mother was lying in bed with her eyes closed. Tears of anger glittered in Olivia's eyes.

"Your mother seems to like beer more than you," James laughed. Then he continued reading: ""I got a new shirt from our neighbor today. I think it's really pretty, even though it's been used. However, Mom got mad at me and said I look like a slut on it. I don't know what it is, but I don't think it's pretty. Mom doesn't think I'm pretty because she thinks I look just like my dad. I have never met him because she hates him. Mom says Dad was a bad man. Sometimes I'm scared that I will become bad too."" Then James looked up at Olivia.

"Your mother is absolutely right, because you are ugly. Skinny and ugly. And ugly children become bad as adults." Then he threw the notebook to the ground and stepped on it. Olivia snatched herself from Jenny's grip, but she pushed her to the ground. The sand scratched her hands and knees, panic began to squeeze her chest, and tears blurred her eyes. Then she felt James grab her hair and she cried in pain. The pain forced her to look up at him.

"I'm not wondering at all why your father doesn't want to see you," James said contemptuously. "I wouldn't want to be the father of a frog like you either."

"I want to go home," Olivia begged. James grinned dangerously and let go. She stumbled up to her feet, but didn't have time to take a step when James suddenly grabbed her.

"Then go, frog", he sizzled and then shoved her forcefully into the muddy ditch. The water splashed, Olivia's mouth filled with dirty water, and when she took a frightened breath, it went into her lungs. In the midst of a furious cough, she heard James and Jenny laughing and running away, and she climbed out of the ditch and sat on the edge of the path. She stayed there for a long time after the cough calmed down, brown drops of water running down her clothes and mud stinging the wounds in her palms and knees. Hot tears ran down her cheeks, and she was frightened to go home. What would her mother say now when her clothes were ruined? Eventually, however, she began to freeze and she got up, gathered her stuff back in her backpack, and started to walk home. The shoes splashed with every step and wet clothes stuck to her skin. Other people gave her long glances, and she was ashamed more than ever before. Eventually, she arrived home and pulled the door open, hoping her mother would be asleep. However, an angry voice shattered her hopes.

"Where have you been?!"

"I… Olivia muttered."

"And where have you crawled?!"

Serena's angry voice made Olivia burst into tears again, but her mother did not relent. "Now look at your clothes. You can just hope the washing machine saves them."

"They called me a frog," Olivia sobbed. Serena frowned.

"Who did?"

"My new friends," Olivia's lip waggled as she looked up at her mother. Serena sighed.

"How many times have I told you that no one can be trusted in this world," she pushed her daughter toward the bathroom. Before Olivia closed the bathroom door, she still heard her mother say:

"Everyone will betray you eventually. Even the ones you love."