Now What

"Only two more days" Olivia muttered wearily to herself as she hauled the padded strap of her backpack up onto her shoulder and stepped outside.

Two more days of getting up at a ridiculously early morning hour – before the sun had even woken up. Two more days of having to spend each morning with the four annoying brothers who lived across the street and dealing with their idiotic ways. Two more days of riding the bus with about sixty other kids, some of whom didn't care anything at all about personal hygiene. Two more days of being a high school freshman and all the awkwardness associated with it.

Two more days of wondering what was up with mom and dad too. They had been acting weird around each other lately and she wanted to know why. Finding out what was causing the weird was at the top of her summer to do list. That and reading every book on the required book list for sophomore year. She hoped whatever was going on between her parents was nothing serious.

Olivia turned to look at her house once more. Her mother had left the outside light on, and the house was illuminated in the still dark morning. It was a big house with lots of windows. Two trees stood tall and proud in the yard on opposite sides of the house, and as a little kid, Olivia always thought that they kinda protected it somehow. She had lived in that house with her mom and dad ever since the day she had been brought home from the hospital. It was the only home she had known and being in it always made her feel safe.

She sighed heavily before turning back toward the street and trudging towards the loud male sarcasm on the sidewalk across the street. She and the Grant brothers had waited for the same bus to pick them up since she had started kindergarten with one of them. It was already humid in the warm Georgia air and her clothes were starting to stick to her. Gross.

She quietly walked across the dark street without speaking to any of them. It was easy since they all had their backs to her anyway. It did make looking at Fitz's great butt a whole lot easier though. After a quick moment of appreciating it peacefully, she snapped out of it. The last thing she wanted was for them to catch her doing that!

Taking a deep breath, Olivia leaned against her silver mailbox, opened a book, and began to read. She was doing her best to ignore them but their constant chatter about stupid things made it impossible.

"There's no way you got to level sixteen, Luke!" Jenson said, rolling his eyes.

"Dude, you're lying." Hollis chuckled, agreeing with his younger brother.

"I am not lying!" The youngest Grant brother yelled defiantly. "I did so make it to level sixteen! And I did it with only one life."

"Shut up, Luke. No one cares about your stupid video games." Fitz said, not even looking at his little brother. "You want a challenge? Try playing a real sport against real people like we all do. Sitting on the couch and drinking Mt. Dew while pushing buttons doesn't require any real skill."

"Exactly." Jenson held up his open hand and Fitz slapped it with his. "Basketball is way more hard core than moving a computer guy from screen to screen."

"And football." Fitz added.

"And soccer." Hollis chimed in. "Get outside sometime and play a real sport, Luke."

"Shut up you guys! You think you're so big and bad because you play a school sport. Please." he scoffed. "The three of you only do it for two reasons."

"Luke is about to teach us some life lessons, guys." Jenson teased.

"This oughta be good." Hollis mocked.

"You guys play sports at school because you think dad will come to the games and tell you how ahhhmazing you are." When his brothers had nothing sarcastic to say about that, he knew he'd hit the nail on the head. He decided to press his luck and added, "and because of the girls."

Luke was well aware of what his brothers thought of his video game obsession, but he didn't care. He thought girls were mostly stupid, and he liked being alone in his room playing a game. He knew their dad had much more important things to do with his life than wonder what level he was on in whatever game he was currently playing. At least he could play great at more than one. None of his brothers could brag about that. They had all stuck with one specific sport.

"You really got us figured out, Luke." Fitz laughed.

"He's not wrong about the girls though." Hollis said, grinning.

"You would say that, Hol. You think middle school girls are great?" Fitz asked. "Wait until you're at the high school in the fall."

"It won't hurt that my older brother is one of the star players on the football team either." Hollis nodded.

"Dude, I got you. I know all of the cheerleaders too." Fitz told him. He himself wasn't interested in any of them, but he could introduce Hollis to a few of them.

"Even the one with the ginormous..."

"The two of you are disgusting." Olivia said interrupting.

Fitz whipped his head around to see Olivia glaring at him and Hollis with a book in her hand. He cursed under his breath and pulled his phone from the back pocket of his jeans, pretending to scan it for a newly received text he knew wasn't there. He didn't realize Liv had already made her way across the street and had heard his conversation with Hollis about cheerleaders. She had gotten really good at sneaking up on them.

"Whad ya say, Pope?" Hollis asked with a sneer.

Olivia pushed her glasses further up on the bridge of her nose as she turned to face them with a steely gaze. She put a hand on her hip like she'd seen her mother do with her father when she wanted to get her point across. "I said, the two of you are disgusting. You really shouldn't talk about girls like they are pieces of meat."

"You're just mad because your boobs haven't come in yet." Hollis pointed out.

"Yea, your boobs are still invisible." Luke laughed.

"Shut up, Luke and Hol." Jenson said mildly. He wasn't looking to get into it with his brother, but there was no reason for that comment to Olivia.

Finding his voice long enough to issue a stern warning for his brothers, Fitz said, "all three of you, shut up."

"You're an idiot, Hollis Grant! The girl with the ginormous..." She waved her hand madly in the air. "...probably has a higher IQ than the three of you put together."

"I doubt it. I heard that she dates the dumbest guys in high school." Hollis said.

"Probably out of pity." Olivia stated.

"I don't think so, because I've heard stories on the bus about how they are a whole lot wiser about the female body once their dates are over." Hollis chuckled.

Olivia crossed her arms in front of her mostly flat chest and scowled at him. Out of the four brothers, Hollis was the biggest pig. He was a year younger than her - in the eighth grade - and was the biggest womanizer at school. He was a good looking kid with curly sand colored hair and blue eyes. He kept his hair super short because he hated his curls. Said they were more trouble than they were worth. He was the goalie for the middle school soccer team, and he was a beast at the game. The stands were always packed at home games and scouts had already begun to visit to keep an eye on Hollis.

Her eyes moved to Jenson. He was her age and in the ninth grade too. He was a sweet guy with a big heart. He was the only brother who had brown hair and eyes. His different look combined with his big heart, set Jenson apart from the other three Grant males. He and Fitz always stood up for her against the teasing of the other two brothers.

Jenson had told her earlier in the year that he thought Olivia was the most beautiful girl in their school and asked her to the movies. Olivia had to explain to Jenson that she was flattered but thought of him as a brother. He had been crushed on the inside but said he understood. He was on the basketball team at their school. He wasn't amazing, but decent. Olivia had gone to a few games to watch him play and cheer him on. As friends do.

The youngest Grant had that adorable little kid look. Luke was a fifth grader and video game enthusiast. He had the same sandy colored hair that Hollis and Fitz had, but he wore his spiked in the front. It wasn't that he took the time to style it that way, it was usually how his hair looked after a night of sleeping on it after a shower before bedtime the night before. His brown eyes looked sweet and innocent, but Luke Grant was anything but. He teased Olivia all the time. It didn't help that he had an older brother who was a very good teacher in the art of teasing.

And then there was Fitz. For the longest time Olivia had a big crush on the oldest Grant brother. He had curly hair like Hollis, but unlike his younger brother, Fitz showed his curls off. The combination of his curls and baby blue eyes made Fitz a very good-looking guy to every girl with a pulse. He was a tenth grader and wide receiver on the high school football team. He was naturally gifted in the sport, and he'd been on the varsity team since he was a freshman.

Olivia didn't have a crush on Fitz anymore, at least that's what she told herself, but she secretly loved the conversations they sometimes had in the mornings. Conversations about books they had read, places they would like to visit when they were older, and shows they were currently binging. They wouldn't be talking about any of that this morning, however.

"You're all idiots." Olivia stated and went back to her book.

"Hey! Whad I do to you?" Jenson asked in a surprised tone.

"Sorry, Jenson. I didn't mean you." She said, offering him a small smile.

"You gonna propose to her or what, Jen?" Luke asked before dissolving into a fit of laughter.

Thankfully, the bus turned onto their street and the five of them got into a line to get on board. Naturally, the younger brothers shoved their way to the front, but when Fitz noticed Olivia was in the back, he stepped aside to let her go ahead of him.

Well, that was kinda sweet, she thought to herself. It took everything within her to suppress the huge smile that threatened to cover her face. Olivia took the first step onto the bus, turned around, looking Fitz directly in those easy to get lost in baby blues, and awkwardly said, "thanks Fitz."

He gave a light shrug, trying hard to act like it was nothing, and told her, "Ladies first."

Liv put a death grip on her book and whipped her head around so he wouldn't see the crazy big smile she couldn't hold back this time. Two days suddenly wasn't such a happy thought.

The day flew by quickly and before she knew it, Olivia was waiting once again to get back on the bus and head for home. She was lost in a conversation with a fellow classmate as they mechanically climbed up the few steps inside the bus and began searching for a seat. The two girls sat down near the back, never missing a beat with their conversation. A few minutes later, the buses pulled out of the middle school parking lot and headed to the high school to pick up those students. From there they would make their way home.

The air brakes loudly hissed when the bus was put into park. The bell at the high school would ring in a few minutes, releasing the students for the end of the day. Olivia was still happily talking to her friend, Amber about their summer plans when she felt someone pull her hair. She didn't have to turn around to know who the responsible party was in the seat behind her. "Cut it out, Luke." she said, trying to be patient with him.

"Cut it out, Luke," he said, mimicking her.

Olivia rolled her eyes dramatically and continued to tell Amber about the trip her family took every summer to a different state. This year they were going up north to see the state of Maine. She excitedly told Amber about the things her parents had explained to her about the northern state and the places they would visit there, when she felt the tug on her hair again followed by a familiar evil giggle.

"Luke Grant! If you don't stop it right this minute..."

"Whaddya gonna do about it?" Luke asked with a smirk from his seat behind her.

"You won't like it one bit, I can promise you that!" she threatened.

"Make him stop, Hollis." Jenson said from his seat across the aisle.

Hollis was in a deep and meaningful conversation of his own with Melanie Newton, the most popular and most beautiful eighth grade girl at school. He gave Melanie a wink and asked her to hang on a sec before he shot a deadly look at Jenson. "He ain't doin' nothin' wrong."

Olivia turned in her seat and narrowed her eyes at Hollis. "He's pulling my hair!"

"Big deal!" Hollis shot back. "I'm talking to Melanie."

"Fitz is gonna go ape shit." Jenson reminded him. "Better make him stop it."

"How am I supposed to make him stop doing anything?" Hollis shot back.

"Smack him. If Fitz gets on the bus and sees..."

"Sees what?" Fitz asked as he made his way down the aisle towards the back of the bus.

Out of the corner of her eye, Olivia noticed Luke sit up straight and put his hands on his lap. He was acting really weird all of a sudden. She turned around in her own seat and nervously flicked her brown eyes up at Fitz. He was staring intently at her.

The moment Olivia's eyes met Fitz's, his face...softened, and he gave her a smile. Her belly felt funny. Tingly wasn't the right word for it, but it was close.

Just as she began to smile back at him, Fitz shot an angry look over at Hollis and frowned. "Is he causing problems?"

"Nah, he's just pulling Olivia's hair. Nothing major." Hollis reported with a smile.

"Well, smack him. He doesn't need to put his hands on girls. He's..."

"Calm down, Fitz." Hollis interrupted. "He didn't hit her or nothing. He just pulled her hair."

Fitz quickly strode down the narrow aisle all the way to the back of the bus and stood directly in front of Hollis. He leaned down so they were practically nose to nose.

Olivia and Amber turned around to see what was about to happen between the Grant brothers. It seemed serious.

"He's not going to grow up to be an asshole who puts his hands on women. Do you want him to end up just like..."

"Fine!" Hollis said in an irritated tone, cutting him off quickly. His older brother could be so dramatic sometimes. Damn! He turned towards his little brother and punched him hard in the arm. "Leave Olivia alone."

He turned back towards his older brother, who had closely watched the entire thing. "Happy now?" he asked.

"Delirious." Fitz said sarcastically. He looked over at his kid brother who looked on the verge of tears and said, "only assholes harass girls, Luke. You are not ever going to be an asshole. Got it?"

Luke nodded silently and wiped his tears.

"Good. Now apologize to Liv." He said in a stern voice.

Luke's big brown eyes left his brother's face and shifted to the girl sitting in front of him. He knew he shouldn't have pulled her hair. He just wanted to know what it felt like. She always had such pretty hair. He was never gonna admit that to anyone though. Begrudgingly, Luke murmured out an apology. "I'm sorry, Olivia. I won't do it again."

Olivia nodded at him. He was learning how to be a decent guy. It was going to take a lot more than learning to stop pulling girl's hair, but it was a start. "Apology accepted. You want to shake on it?" She stuck her hand out.

Luke's face turned to horror immediately. "I'm not touching a girl. Are you crazy? Everyone knows girls have cooties."

"One day you'll think nothing in life is better than the cooties girls have." Hollis joked and ruffled his brother's hair. "Right, Fitz?"

Olivia looked up at Fitz again. He was staring at her the same way he had been earlier. Same strange little smile too. In a soft voice he nodded and softly said, "yea."

Later that night Fitz was awakened from sleep by loud voices. He blinked his eyes several times to clear out the cobwebs from his hazy mind. Listening more intently, he realized that the voices were coming from outside. Worried that his parents had gotten into another argument and were on the verge of waking up the entire neighborhood with a knock down drag out fight once again, he looked out his bedroom window to see where they were. He was probably going to have to go downstairs and get them in the house.

Surprisingly, the voices weren't coming from his yard but from the one across the street. Quietly he lifted his window a crack to figure out what all the commotion was about. Liv's dad was screaming at her mom and waving his hands wildly in front of himself. "We are leaving tonight, Naomi and you had better not try to stop us!"

"Robert, please. Be sensible." Naomi pleaded through tears.

"Sensible? Did you just tell me to be sensible?" He yelled. "I'm not the one who's been keeping secrets! Olivia and I are going to Washington D.C. to stay with my sister until I can find a job."

Fitz half listened to their conversation as his now fully alert eyes searched for Olivia. He spotted her sitting on the outside balcony of her parent's bedroom door. She was hugging herself into a little ball. He watched her sit on the concrete slab with her knees bent and pressed together, and her head down on top of her forearms as they hugged her knees. Fitz's heart broke for Liv, and he wished he could go across the street and hug her as tightly as she was hugging herself.

He was trying to come up with a way to get over there without being detected by her parents as he pulled on a t-shirt. Hoping some kind of comforting words would come to him once he reached her, he sat beside his window and pulled on a pair of tennis shoes. His now alert eyes judged how far the light from their front porch shone and where he needed to step to avoid being seen by it. His plot was interrupted when he heard Robert call his daughter's name. "Olivia! Come tell your mother goodbye now. We are leaving!"

He was riveted to his spot and kept his eyes trained on Liv. He should have been faster. He watched as she stayed perfectly still in her spot on the balcony. But then her father bellowed even louder. Fitz saw her begrudgingly get to her feet and disappear into the house and out of his sight. She emerged from the house through the front door a minute or two later and went to where her parents stood five feet apart. She was crying and Fitz could tell that she was confused about what was going on.

"Tell your mother goodbye, Olivia." Robert instructed.

Olivia hugged her mother tightly and cried even harder. Fitz watched as Naomi clung to her only child and soothed her as best she could. "You can come and visit me very soon, baby. Before school starts back if you want to."

"I don't wanna go, mom!"

"I don't want you to go either, Liv." Naomi said as she stroked her daughter's tear soaked hair out of her face.

"Come on, Olivia." Her father said, impatiently.

"I love you, momma." Olivia said between sobs, still holding her tight.

"I love you too baby. You be brave right now though and go with your father. We'll talk soon, and get all this mess straightened out, okay? I promise."

Robert went to his car, got inside, and started the engine. He watched as Naomi pulled Olivia away from her body and walked her to the passenger side of the car. "I'll see you soon, baby."

"Bye, momma." She closed the car door and put her seat belt on before her father drove away.

Fitz watched the car as it went down the street. The last thing he saw were the taillights as they turned red just before the car turned left and disappeared from sight. "What the hell was that all about?" he muttered quietly.

He sat in front of his window for a long time, hoping the car would return and all would be well even though he knew better. He was never going to see Liv again. He'd never be able to tell her how he felt about her. How he'd felt about her for a while now. He'd had countless days to tell her and just like that all of the opportunities were gone forever. Now what?