Olivia (61 page)

“
I know, Dad,” I whisper.
“Choisie,” I say, unsure anyone can understand me anymore.
Choisie
. I touch the necklace that has
stayed on my neck since I got it, with the exception of one
night–Jon’s prom night. He wouldn’t choose me
now
. Neither would Dad. I give the phone back to
Finn.

“
Calm down, Liv, it’s okay,” he
says, patting my back as I fold into myself. “We’re almost there.”
I hear him end the call. “Our parents are on their way.”

“
Great,” I say weakly. “What are we
going to say?”

“
We’ll just tell them what
happened,” he says. “In an hour, they’ll find out from
someone
. It might as well be us.”

“
Jon’s never gonna forgive
me.”

“
We’ll make it right. Whatever I
can do, I’ll help. I never meant for this to happen–”

“
Camille,” I state, just
considering the consequences. “She’ll never forgive me. Maybe we
can go back and pay off the photographers. I don’t want anyone to
know, or see.”

“
Livvy, this is gold to those
assholes.
Other people
will pay for
pictures like that,” he says.

“
They can’t out-bid me.”

“
Correction. They can’t out-bid
your father. And by the time we’ve told him, it will be too
late.”

“
Do you think they’ll recognize
you?”

“
Let’s narrow this down. We’re both
wearing our caps and gowns. Our senior class isn’t that big. One
guy didn’t walk the stage today. Oh, and I’m kind of a soccer
legend here.”

“
You’re not a legend.”

“
I might be now,” he
considers.

“
The soccer star who helped Livvy
Holland–no Livvy
DeLuca
–ruin her life.
What a thing to be known for!”

“
Your life isn’t ruined,” he says,
trying to console me. “Plus, you kissed me back.”

“
I know that, Finn. I’m sorry. This
is bad.
Really
bad. People consider us to
be related.”

“
But we’re not. On multiple counts,
we’re not. One, you’re adopted. Two, we’re only ‘related’ by
marriage.”

“
You don’t think people aren’t
going to exploit that?”

“
No, they probably
will.”

The cab pulls up to Finn’s building. I pay the
driver with some of the cash I’d brought with me.

It seems like hours have passed by the time my
parents show up with Finn’s father and step-mother. Finn and I have
both taken off our gowns. We’re seated on opposite ends of a long
sofa.

“
Contessa,” Dad begins as he joins
me on the couch. “You’re making too big a deal of this. They’re
just words on a piece of paper, and they told me on my way out that
they would be delivering a corrected one to our house in two
days.”

I bury my head in his chest, letting my tears stain
his coat. As I cry, I hear Finn’s dad sharing his disapproval at
his son not getting his diploma.

“
I had to help her out of there,”
Finn explains. “There were people waiting for her... watching
her.”

“
He’s right,” I speak up. “Finn,
you should have just stayed. Then everything would be okay now.” My
friend looks down at the carpet as his cheeks turn a darker shade
of pink.

“
What do you mean, Liv?” my mom
asks, confused. The sound of an incoming text message rings
throughout the room, and I realize quickly that it’s not just from
my phone, but Finn’s, too. Mom hands me mine, but not before
glancing at the message. “What happened with Camille?”

“
I hate you both.”

My best friend’s message stings, but I don’t blame
her. I am surprised at how quickly the pictures were made public,
or maybe she saw us, too. I can’t look anyone in the eyes right
now, even though I feel Finn staring at me from across the room. My
phone alerts me again.

“
Jon wasn’t aware you were
interested in dating Finn.” Of course, she called him.

I turn the sound off and set the phone on the coffee
table, face down. Jon knows that I don’t like Finn like that. He’s
the only one that knows about the attempted kiss, how it meant
nothing to me. This one was no different.

But it didn’t
look
that
way. I have no doubt that Jon saw the way I held on to Finn’s
bottom lip. It was my way of saying ‘I want you.’ Jon knew what it
meant.

He had to know it only meant that for him.
Surely, he knows...

“
Do you want me to tell them,
Livvy?” Finn asks. Other people may have been talking, but I didn’t
hear them. I look at him and shake my head.

“
I mean,” I say to him, “it had to
be the concussion, right?” He nods his head.

“
What had to be?” Dad asks. “Are
you okay?”

“
I’m... I’m just a little
confused,” I start my explanation.

“
About?”

“
We kissed. Me and Finn. When we
were outside, behind the auditorium, I don’t know what came over
us, but we kissed. He kissed me, and I kissed him back.”

The whole room is silent. Dad looks at Finn, then
back to me. “I don’t understand,” he says.

“
She said she wasn’t feeling well,”
Finn adds. “I was looking at her bump, and it just happened.” I nod
to corroborate the story.

“
Do you like Finn like that?” my
mom asks.

“
I like Finn a lot, but no. Not
like that. I love Jon, you
know
that.”

“
And I think Livvy’s great,” my
friend adds, “but we’re, like, family.” I don’t expect him to jump
in like this, but it’s a relief to hear it.

“
It certainly could have been the
concussion,” Dad says. “I wouldn’t worry about it. No one saw
it.”

Mom glances at my phone, putting two and two
together. “I gather
someone
saw it. Was
Camille there?”

“
I’m sure she was in the audience
like the rest of you were,” I tell her, swallowing hard. “Some
photographers saw us, though.”

“
What photographers?”

“
You know, the idiots who always
seem to follow us around, Dad.”

“
The paparazzi?”

“
I guess so. Jon was running late
to graduation, I guess... and he saw, too.”

Mom covers her mouth with her hand, the worry
apparent in her eyes.

I put my head in my hands. I hear footsteps, then
the sound of a computer powering on. I look up to see Finn’s father
take a seat next to Dad, the laptop situated on the coffee table in
front of them.

Within seconds, we’re looking at photos of me and
Finn on one of the tabloid sites. Links to videos are below the
sensational article with the headline of ‘Kissing Cousins.’

Dad sighs heavily, clicking on one of the links to
launch the video player. He only watches a few seconds before
getting up and walking across the room.

“
Let me get you a drink, Jack,”
Finn’s step-mom says.

“
Thank you,” he replies from behind
me.

“
Oh, Livvy,” my mom whispers
softly, putting her arms around me. It looks so intimate in the
video... like a stolen kiss between two forbidden lovers. It looks
much worse than I thought it would.

“
This is an embarrassment, Livvy,”
Dad says.

“
I know.”

“
Jacks, it had to be the
concussion,” Mom says in my defense. “Livvy and Finn have been
friends their whole lives. They’ve just said they don’t like one
another that way. Right?”

“
Right,” Finn and I both
say.

“
And I’m sorry, honey, but I’m more
worried about what Jon and Camille think about this than what the
rest of Manhattan does. It’s a minor embarrassment, but those two
must be devastated.”

“
I’m sure Jon thought I did it on
purpose,” I tell her. “He didn’t come to my graduation. He didn’t
even answer my calls. I know he’s angry... but now... he must hate
me.”

“
And poor Camille,” Mom
adds.

“
I didn’t mean to,” I explain. “I
was just confused.”

“
Jacks, you need to make some sort
of a statement or something.”

“
What, and draw more attention to
this?”

“
Stop worrying about your
reputation for a minute and let’s think about our daughter’s,
okay?”

“
I think we should just let this
be. They can blow this up, however they want, put whatever spin
they want to on it, but what they’re reporting isn’t true. I don’t
want to give any more credibility to their article.”

“
What about Jon?” Mom
asks.

“
Livvy needs to deal with him
personally.”

“
I’m sure he won’t talk to me,” I
tell him.

“
He will,” he assures me. “When
he’s ready, he will.”

“
He leaves in three days,” I
whine.

“
I’ll step in, if I need to,” he
says. I start to cry again. He moves back to the couch and kneels
in front of me, taking me into his arms. “We’ll fix it. Don’t
worry. Let’s get you home and to bed, though. It seems like this
concussion is worse than we thought it was.”

“
What about the dinner? And the
lock-in?” I ask him, referring to our plans for the
evening.

“
I think you need some rest,” he
says. “At home.”

“
We’ll have dinner another time,”
Finn’s step-mom says. “When we all feel like
celebrating.”

“
Okay,” I say, my voice barely
above a whisper.

“
Let’s get you home,” Mom says as
she helps me to my feet. “That bump is looking pretty
bad.”

“
Thanks, Finn,” I say to him on my
way out. Even though being with him made things worse, I know it
wasn’t all his fault. I had been an active participant in what
happened. I’m not even certain who initiated it. It just seemed to
happen.

As we get closer to our house, I see people gathered
out front. At first, I think it’s the rest of my family, but
realize quickly that they’re all strangers. Most have cameras.

Dad pulls into the garage and promptly slams his
door after he gets out. I watch from the backseat of the car until
the garage door shuts my mother and I safely inside. When we get
out, I hear his voice loudly proclaiming that my accident yesterday
caused a more severe concussion than initially believed, leaving me
very unsteady and confused. He asks for privacy, and then he stops
talking. Mom and I go into the house, meeting Dad in the
kitchen.

Our house is crowded with members of my family, all
of them waiting for us to return so they can go to dinner. It’s
much quieter than it should be, and I realize they all know what
happened between me and Finn. A few of my cousins are gathered
around a computer, and I don’t have to guess what they’re looking
at. The surprised looks on their faces give them away. I look down
at the floor hurriedly, not wanting to meet their questioning
gazes.

“
Livvy needs her rest. Emi and I
are going to stay here, but the rest of you are welcome to head
over to the restaurant. They
are
expecting
us.”

“
Jacks, can we bring you something
back?” my aunt Kelly asks him.

“
Sure,” he says, squeezing his
sister’s arm. “Whatever’s good. And bring something sweet for Liv,”
he says.

“
There are lemon cupcakes next to
the toaster,” she says.

“
Thanks, Kelly,” I tell her with a
small smile.

After my family has left–they all have to push
through the intrusive gathering out front to get by–my parents help
me downstairs to the basement.

“
I’m sorry I embarrassed you,
Dad.”

“
Baby, I’m sorry for making you
feel like you did. You’re unwell. I know it was a
mistake.”

“
Still...”

“
Hush. I don’t want you to say
another word about it. I want you to lie down and get some sleep...
and just remember that you graduated today, and that I’m very proud
of you for that. That’s what we should be focusing on.
Okay?”

“
Right,” I say with a sigh. “I
graduated, and I ruined my relationship with Jon. So
proud.”

“
Livvy,” Mom says, “please just try
to get some rest, honey. Everything’s going to work out. I
promise.”

“
How do you know?” I ask
her.

“
Because I believe it’s meant to
be,” she says confidently, smiling. Dad’s expression is comforting,
too.

“
Don’t worry about a thing,
Tessa.”

They both give me big hugs before leaving me in my
room. After changing into some pajamas, I crawl into bed, believing
that my parents are right. They normally are. When I wake up, I’ll
be able to go see Jon and explain everything. He’ll forgive me
because he thinks we’re meant to be, too.

The air conditioning in the loft doesn’t seem to be
working like it should. The unexpected heat-wave in mid-August is
taking its toll on everyone, though, and with the rolling blackouts
that seem to be happening more and more often, it’s harder to
regulate the temperatures in any building.