—Oliver Masters
mia.
IT WAS FEBRUARY 29TH.
Leap day, and a Saturday, nonetheless.
The sun still rose despite it being the coldest day of the year, streaming through the window and hardly able to warm my face. The light appeared behind my lids, demanding my lashes to part, but I’d learned it was okay to keep them closed a little while longer to soak it all in.
“You feel that?” Ollie asked into my hair. Warm hands attempted to blanket the chill as they ran up my arm and down my side.
“mmhmm,” I hummed, speaking of something else entirely.
“The sun is out, love. You slept through the entire night to wake up to a new day. One we don’t deserve,” his lips brushed across my shoulder, “What will you do with it?”
I flipped in his arms, my eyes disobedient to the sun but caving to his voice. Ollie intertwined his legs with mine with his eyes still closed. His dimple deepened beside his all-knowing grin. I wanted to crawl inside his brain and roll around in whatever place he imagined for us. Leaning away from him, I stretched my arm under the mattress to grab my camera. A rush of cold air came between us, and I snapped a picture, capturing his essence in a black and white polaroid that held more emotion than anything in color could portray. He was all shades of beautiful.
It was February 29th. Leap day.
Ollie, Zeke, and I sat around our table during breakfast.
Zeke’s hair was curlier, bouncier, than usual. His brown eyes glowed from across the table. The rare and saintly moments caught in Zeke’s smile could light the darkest night. Ollie grinned right back at him, chewing the breakfast in his mouth and sent him a wink. Peace washed over the three of us.
Two and a half more months and we would all finally be set free.
Ollie would accomplish what Tommy couldn’t, and rescue Zeke from this place.
I want to hear you play, Zeke signed to me.
“I’ll play for you,” I smiled.
Zeke had come so far since I’d first arrived. I remembered the times he’d only stare from across the table as I’d blurted every thought crossing my mind—mostly about Ollie and how he managed to piss me off, but it had been only because I couldn’t grasp the fireworks and symphonies colliding inside me whenever Ollie was near. Zeke had been a part of every step of our journey, becoming the silent rock holding our two pieces together.
It was time for Zeke to write his own love story.
Ollie leaned over the table and took another bite before dropping his fork and breaking off into a wordless conversation with Zeke. Ethan stood alert at his post against the wall with his hands clasped firmly to his belt. His face was expressionless but wholly healed from the altercation weeks ago. Ever since we had found out about Maddie’s condition, Ethan kept a close eye on her, watching her every move.
Coincidently, nothing more happened with the prankster.
My gaze moved over to Jake, who now sat at a different table with Liam, Tyler, Jude, and Bria. Liam and Jake indulged in small talk inside their bubble, and my heart fluttered at the smile expanding across Jake’s thin lips. Jude’s hand clutched firmly to Tyler’s beneath the table as Tyler and Bria joked about something I was too far away to hear.
It was small, the glare Bria shot over to me, and if Ollie never told me what had happened between the two of them in our room, I would have missed it.
I was back and forth on whether or not I should confront her about the advance she made at Ollie.Trust me; I wanted to punish her. All I needed was two minutes alone with her.
Then, my eyes landed on Maddie. She and Gwen sat alone eating in silence in the middle of the mess hall between my table and Bria’s. Maddie shook her bangs from her eyes before she took a bite, nodding as Gwen waved her hands animatedly in the air. Maddie’s eyes fixed on the tray before her, tuning the girl out, I’m sure.
Ollie had no idea the dirt Ethan and I had dug up on Maddie.
At this point, I had no reason to hide it from him any longer other than the shame for invading my friends privacy—Jake’s, Bria’s, and Tyler’s. Though, I was desperate.
And desperation made for bad decisions.
It was February 29th.
Leap day.
The keys of the piano felt like ice against my fingers as they danced with the notes to Ollie’s current favorite,Firestone.
