In any other situation, I would have bolted out of there. Not that Olivia was my biggest bully. She made fun of me whenever she was with her boyfriend and friends, but to be honest, most of the time she would leave me alone, and if we passed each other in the hallway, she would just ignore me. Still, she was Hunter's girlfriend, or used to be. Had she spoken that way to me last week, I wouldn't have tested my luck. However, not only she was no longer that jerk's girlfriend, she was also having a night you wouldn't wish upon your worst enemy. Besides, I could tell that her words were not meant to be an argument, but something quite different.
Between gasps and tearful sniffles, Olivia seemed to be pouring her heart out, so all I did was watch her.
She opened her arms wide. “Look at me, Parker! Now I'm the pig! My dress is ruined, my reputation is shattered, and I don't even have any friends anymore! OH! Wait! Add this to your revenge too...” She laughed as she cried, burying her hands in her black hair, messing it up. “I had an abortion this morning. Because Mommy and Daddy dearest couldn't bear to have a daughter who was a single mother! They ripped the child frommy womb, put me in this dress, and told me to fulfill my duty as the perfect daughter!”
My eyes widened, struggling to digest the information. “Olivia, I—”
“YOU'RE HAPPY!” She yelled and lunged at me. I thought she was going to hit me, but instead she just brought her face close to mine. "You'reso fuckinghappy, Parker. Because I always made fun of you, you fat piece of shit. I loved seeing you cowering in that hallway. But at the end of the day, you're the one who's going to have a perfect life with the perfect guy. No one ever cheated on you, no one ever lied to you, you never had to have an abortion, and I doubt you could even fit two fingers inside that fat pussy." She whispered like a hissing snake, but tears continued to fall thickly from her eyes.
“I... I'm sorry, Olivia. Really...” I murmured, and we stared at each other, too close for comfort.
At first, Olivia glared at me with some kind of hatred, as if she wanted to punch me, but then suddenly her expression softened and a cry of despair emerged from her chest, as if she was some lost child.
Before I could stop her, she clung to me in a tight hug, sobbing on my shoulder. “They were making fun of me...” she sobbed, her body shaking. “They were making fun of my baby. I wanted that baby so badly...” Something inside me broke.
I knew that the last thing I should feel for Olivia was sympathy. For years, she had made my life an absolute nightmare, going along with her boyfriend's cruelty, but... howcould any girl or woman remain indifferent to what she was telling me? “I deserve this, Parker. For everything I said to you, now I'm paying... God has punished me.”
Raising my hand, I patted her gently on the back. “No, Olivia. God doesn't punish anyone. You're just paying for the cruelty of others. Hunter, Jennifer...”
“My parents.” She gasped, trying to catch her breath and pulling away from me. Her gaze met mine and I recognized the pain in her eyes. I had the same look when my father died. "I tried to hide the pregnancy, you know? But Hunter told my parents I was already fourteen weeks along and he couldn't have his life ruined because of ‘it’... My parents dragged me to the clinic this morning and forced me to have the procedure. Then they told me to shower, pull myself together, and come to the prom. There was no one there for me, no one. No one cared about what happened, and they even made fun of me, as if my baby wasn't worth anything. But to me, it was worth something. I already loved them, you know?“
I swallowed hard. ”Is that... even legal...?“
She scoffed. ”My dad's a doctor, Parker, and Hunter's the mayor's son. Even if it's not legal, it is now."
I shifted uncomfortably at the idea that powerful people could get away with even the most heinous crimes.
Olivia burst into tears again. I watched as she staggered to the wall on my right and sank to the floor. I never thought I'd see her so vulnerable, and I didn't like it.
“What was their name?” The question came out without thinking.
She looked startled. “Who?”
“Your baby…” I explained timidly. “What name were you going to give them, I mean.”
She smiled painfully. “Bella. It was a girl.”
I sat down next to Olivia with difficulty, struggling with the mermaid shape of my dress.
“I want to die, Parker.” That admission made my eyes widened and I immediately placed a hand on hers. “I want to dieso much.”
I remembered Aunt Lizzie's words years ago, at my Papa's funeral.
“Bella is listening to you.” I said firmly, and Olivia stared at me in horror. “She's on the other side, listening you say these things and getting desperate seeing her mother suffer. Is that what you want? For her to feel guilty?” My words might sound harsh, or seem insane to some, but I hoped they would have the desired effect.
“I failed her...”
“No. Your parents failed her. Hunter failed her. But you didn't. Because if you had failed her, you wouldn't be here now, on the floor of this bathroom, all snotty in front of Piggy Parker.”
Olivia stood in silence for a few moments, her gaze lost somewhere. There were no more tears in her eyes.
“Bella can't be sad because of me,” she murmured, rubbing her chest.
“No,” I agreed. “Besides, Olivia, life is like a book. We never know what's waiting for us in the next chapter. If we give up, there's no way to know what comes next. You lost Bella, but you might have kids in the future. If you give up now, that won't happen.”
“Do you think I can be a mother?”
I smiled warmly. “You already are,” I said. “Wait for the next chapter, Olivia.”
