Excerpt from WISH
by Alexandra Bullen
|
“Seems like you do a lot of observing,” Olivia pointed
out, tucking one thumb into the hole where the sleeve of her
sweater had worn thin, and hugging her elbows to keep warm.
The late March sun was strong and steady, but every so often
a thick breeze would send little quaking shivers up from the
base of her spine.
“I learn a lot that way,” Miles said, unscrewing the top of
his ceramic water bottle and taking a sip. “I’ve learned a lot
about you.”
For a moment Olivia leveled her eyes with his, so big and
dark that they appeared opaque. “Like what?” she asked.
“Like you’re hiding something,” he said quickly, settling
back against the wall and resting his solid arms against bent
knees. “Nobody skips town in the middle of the school year
for no reason,” he continued, narrowing his eyes into little
slits.
Olivia shrugged, crossing and uncrossing her ankles and
staring at a patch of weeds pushing up between the crooked
stone tiles.
“So what was it?” he demanded. “Messy divorce?”
Olivia shook her head and swallowed.
“Trouble with the law?” His voice was light and easy. A
glimmer of a smile was twitching its way across his lips.
She swallowed again. This was the part she hated the most.
The fact that no matter what she said, no matter how she
said it, that smile would vanish in an instant. She would feel
awkward.
He would feel like an ass. And they’d finish what
was left of their lunch in an uncomfortable silence.
“Come on,” he pleaded, as if defying her thoughts. “There
has to be some reason you moved all this way. I mean, my
mom’s firm is good, but it’s not that good. . . .” Miles waggled
his eyebrows, urging her on.
Olivia steadied her shaking hands against the table. “My
twin sister died.”
Her voice was tiny and unfamiliar. No matter how many
times she said those words, she couldn’t escape the feeling
that it was a line she was repeating from somebody else’s life.
Maybe the main character in some sappy movie that she and
Violet had seen on TV, cracking jokes about the lame acting
but secretly feeling unspeakably lucky that nothing so terrible
would ever happen to them.
“My mom grew up here,” Olivia went on, trying anything
to ease the tension of the moment. “Thought it would be good
to try something new. Or old, I guess. . . .”
Miles cleared his throat and fidgeted with the empty plastic
bag of chips.
Olivia didn’t need to look up to know that she’d been right:
His easy smile had vanished in an instant. He felt like an ass.
And they finished what was left of lunch in an uncomfortable silence.
From Wish. Copyright © 2009 by Alexandra Bullen. All rights reserved.
|
|
