I pulled up his number and called him, my eyes lifting back to the door.
It rang twice.
“Hello?”
“What do I do?” I asked, hating the slight crack in my voice as I stared angrily at the door. “Tell me.”
Greyson was quiet for a long time. “You allow yourself to be vulnerable,” he said quietly, Emily probably asleep right beside him. “You allow yourself to be uncomfortable because it’s for her. It’s all for her.”
I stared at that door for a long time, listening to my brother breathe.
“Everett?” he finally asked.
“This call never happened,” I said evenly and hung up. Maybe next time. She didn’t need me tonight. Not me. I didn’t have the ability to comfort her like Lucy or Evelyn. I would be stiff and horrible company. She would be fine tonight, I was sure of it.
I turned on my heel only to freeze when I saw Evelyn standing a few yards away in front of her bedroom door. She was wearing an oversized tee and nothing else, her arms folded across her chest, her hair up in a messy bun. She was frowning.
I pressed my lips together. “What?”
“We’re onions, Ev,” she said, gesturing towards Olivia’s door.
My face twisted, my mind working slower than it wassupposed to. “What…thefuckdid you just say to me?”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You’re a dick,” she replied and proceeded to storm into her room, shutting the door behind her.
I watched after her, my lips parting in absolute shock. “Onions?” I whispered, glancing towards Olivia’s door. After a few seconds, I shook my head and headed for Olivia’s old room. I was too tired for this.
But even as I closed my door, I couldn’t help but look at hers. I had to learn. I wanted to learn. For her.
I’d do anything for her. Anything.
7
Olivia
July 1st, 2022
Itwisted and turned in the mirror, inspecting my dress before releasing a breath and shoving my hair back. “I don’t feel great today,” I mumbled to myself. All of my wounds were now healed, except for the ‘E’ which was still mostly scabbed over, and I had stopped wearing caked on makeup, just going with light makeup because I was trying to train myself to be confident again.
I had always loved the way I looked. I didn’t flaunt it, I didn’t try and draw eyes towards myself, but I was always confident in my looks, my style.
But now? Now I had three scars on my face, which very obviously drew eyes, especially with two of those scars being exactly the same as one of the most fictitious prolific psychos ofall time.
Everyone will assume I got them on purpose. Which, I suppose, was fine, but honestly it grated against me knowing that they were assuming that.
Of course, I didn’t do it on purpose. I would never do that on purpose.
But I couldn’t stop what they thought, and I couldn’t control how they reacted.
All I could do was face it. Put on the makeup to hide them all when I went out as Abigail and embrace them as Olivia.
Even so, today felt heavy, like a weight was pulling me down.
My eyes found Lucy’s in the reflection of the mirror. Her head was lifted as she watched me carefully, still on alert since that night almost ten days ago. “What do you think?” I asked, turning to her.
She took in the white and pink floral dress that fell just below my knees. This one was more old-fashioned. It had a straight across the chest and shoulders top, the waist cinched with a big white bow on the back, and a slightly poofier styled bottom. I paired it with black booties, my hair loose, nothing special, and a little bit of mascara.
After a second, her tongue rolled out and she started panting.
