Olivia (7 page)

“
Cheer up, Livvy,” he says. “Next
year at this time, you’ll be at Yale, and this will all be a bad
memory.”

We head toward my best friend–his girlfriend–weaving
between tables. “Number one, I’m not going to Yale. Obviously,
Dad’s talking about it too much with Steven and Kayd, and Kayd’s
now made an issue of it with your dad. Number two, it won’t be a
bad memory. It won’t be anything I carry with me. Period. If making
fun of me makes them feel better about themselves, so be it.
Karma’s a bitch. I sleep well knowing that.”

I set my stuff down across from Camille as Finn
stands behind her, tousling her hair.

“
Stop, Finn!” she squeals. “You’ll
mess it up!”

“
You look fine,” he mumbles. “So,
Liv, why aren’t you going?”

“
Going where?” Camille asks me. I
shrug my shoulders, trying to replay our conversation.

“
Oh. Yale. It’s too far. Columbia’s
right here. And plus, I haven’t even been accepted to Yale. It’s a
little presumptuous to think–”

“
Whatever!” Finn argues. “You’re a
shoo-in. You got the second highest SAT score that I know
of.”

“
I didn’t even tell you my
score.”

“
Your mom is very proud of you,” he
says, signaling for me to join him in the lunch line. “You know
there are no secrets in your family.”

“
Camille, you want anything?” I ask
as I get my wallet out of my purse.

“
I’m set, thanks,” she says. “Oh,
Finny?” she asks sweetly, grabbing his wrist before he can walk
away. “Can you get me a diet soda?”

“
Yep.”

We end up in line next to Xandra and her two
friends, so I stand behind Finn, putting some distance between
myself and this girl who apparently doesn’t like me.

Finn and I compare our schedules for the rest of the
afternoon, and I’m relieved to find I have one other class with him
after lunch. It’s nice to have someone I trust with me, and Finn
and I have always been very comfortable around one another.

When we get back to the table, I check my phone for
any messages from Jon. Being back in school is more difficult than
I thought it would be. While I take time to send him messages
between classes, he hasn’t responded to any of them. I’d hoped he
would, having a schedule at Columbia that allowed for more breaks
in the day. I feel like I’m going through withdrawal.

“
So, Greece,” Camille
begins.

“
What now?!” I ask her,
exasperated. I’d gone over my version of events with her many
times.

“
Finn says you changed your story?
He says you told him everything, and I’m supposed to be your best
friend, so I should know if you and Jon
did
it
–”

“
Will you shut up!?” I whisper
loudly, frantically. “Camille, people would pay good money to hear
rumors like that, so please shut up. And that’s all it is. A rumor.
As I’ve told you and I told Finn, nothing happened. We went to
dinner. We walked on the beach. We sat by a pool. We went to our
rooms. We were awoken by my uncle. The end.”

“
We
were
awoken? A-ha! Gotcha!” Finn says, standing up in a triumphant
stance.

“
Separately
, Finn! God, do I have to spell everything
out, word for word, for you to understand?”

“
So you’re saying you did or didn’t
sleep with Jon?” I glare at him across the table, glancing only
briefly at Camille, whose eyes are wide and steady on me, waiting
for an answer.

“
Didn’t.”

“
Bullshit.”

“
This is pointless. I should have
gone home for lunch,” I tell them both, picking at my
food.

“
Oh, Livvy, I’m just messing with
you,” Camille says. “But if I was in Greece with you, Finn, you
know what I’d do?”

“
No, what?” he asks her, stealing a
bite of the apple she’d brought with her. He leans into her
closely, and as she lists the things she’d do on her fantasy date
in the Mediterranean, my thoughts drift to the one night
I’d
spent there.

When Jon graduated, my parents gave him a gift to
use however he pleased: a round-trip ticket to Europe, with
open-ended dates. Of course, my cousin Lexi and her long-time
boyfriend, Kyle, got married in England in June, so I was already
scheduled to be over there for two weeks. My parents assumed he’d
use it to come with us, and were okay with it, provided he stayed
with my cousins while I stayed with my immediate family.

My graduation gift to him hinged on whether or not
he’d choose to come to Europe while we were there.

Jon decided to fly out a week before the wedding. He
backpacked alone, visiting some landmarks in different countries
while I helped my cousin prepare for her wedding. He met up with us
the day before the ceremony, and I finally was able to give him the
gift I’d begged my parents to let me give him.

Before he told me goodnight after the rehearsal
dinner, I asked him to come outside of the hotel in which we were
staying. We walked around, holding hands and reveling in one
another’s company, even though it was misting outside. I handed him
the thick envelope and waited for his reaction.

“
Whoa, Livvy, what in the
world?”

“
I promised I’d treat you if you
made it into Columbia and got scholarships. I’m not going back on
that, and this is the closest we’ll get, geographically... anytime
in the near future, anyway.”

“
You and I are going to
Mykonos?”

“
We leave the morning after the
wedding and come back the following afternoon.”

“
Just the two of us?” he asked in
disbelief.

“
Ummm... no.”

He smiled wistfully, but continued. “It’s Mykonos,
and you’ll be there. It’s all right if your family comes, too. I
will not complain one bit–wait, do I have to stay with your dad?
Because that might be a little too close for com–”

“
Hush,” I interrupted him. “My
parents aren’t going. You get your own room. I’m staying with my
uncle, Matty. He’s our chaperone.”

“
Matty, huh?” he asked. “He’s
pretty open-minded.”

“
He’s still my dad’s brother, so I
have a feeling specific instructions will be given.”

“
I know, I’m just kidding,” he
laughed. “Or rather, I’m just
hopeful
.
Thank you, Olivia! I can’t believe it! This is... you’re the best,
baby.”

“
Well, you’re the smartest, and
most ambitious, and most–”

He stopped me with a kiss, holding my head gently in
his hands. “Shut up,” he said with a grin. “Kiss me some more
before we have to go upstairs.” We stayed outside, embracing,
barely breathing, until the mist turned into actual rain. “I don’t
want you to risk getting sick.”

“
You, either,” I’d told him. “I
need to go check on Lex anyway. Although I think she’s been the
calmest of all of us.”

He’d walked me up to my room and kissed me one last
time, this one much more tender and sensuous. “I love you.”

“
I love you.”

The wedding had been perfect, and Jon and I both
went to bed at sunset that night so we could get up early for our
flight. Matty didn’t plan so well, and seemed a little tired and a
lot
hung over by the time we boarded the
small airplane.

I took the window seat, and Jon peered over my
shoulder most of the way, watching the sunrise and the beautiful
earth below us. While Matty dozed off, his face covered with a
blanket, Jon and I couldn’t contain our excitement.

When the plane landed, there was a car waiting to
take us to the hotel I’d picked out. The location I’d chosen had
small duplex-style apartments, with two separate living quarters.
After a glass of tomato juice, Matty was starting to wake up, and
was finally beginning to really see his surroundings.

“
So what are you two doing
tonight?” he’d asked me and Jon.

“
I thought we’d all go out to
dinner, and maybe walk around Panarmos Beach. It’s supposed to be
pretty and quiet.”

“
Oh, I forgot to tell you, Little
Liv, I’ve got other plans,” Matty said. “I’d take you to check out
the bar scene, but you’re not old enough.”

“
Technically,
here
, we are–wait, you’re going out?” I asked him,
surprised.

“
Of course! We’re in Greece, honey.
There are Gods to be seen.”

Jon and I both chuckled a little. “Well, can we
still go to Panarmos? It’s about a half-hour from the hotel. We’d
have to take a car.”

“
Livvy, I’m going to let you in on
a little secret. I am entrusting you to Jon while we’re here. You
have my phone number, should you need me, day or night, but I
hadn’t planned to really be a chaperone on this trip.”

“
But that’s the only reason Dad let
you come... you promised you’d chaperone.”

“
And don’t you think I’m a better
option than Kell–”

“
Wait,” Jon interrupted. “You said
‘should you need me, day or
night
,’ didn’t
you?”

“
I did.” His smile was mischievous,
and made even more devious by the single rising brow.

“
What does that mean?” I asked
him.

“
Little Liv, you sweet, naïve
little thing. If you’d like, I’m letting you two stay together
tonight, and I can stay in a room by myself. I’ll be out late, but
I’ll be there by the time you two get up in the morning. Or
afternoon.”

Jon’s grin was huge, but I continued to stare at my
uncle, waiting for the punchline. This certainly must have been a
joke. While I waited, my stomach began to tie itself in knots,
realizing what this could mean for me and Jon.

I didn’t actually believe my uncle until we got to
the resort and Matty handed me and Jon two keys to one room, and he
took the key to another. “You’ll take good care of my Little Liv?”
he’d asked Jon. “She’s my favorite niece.”

“
Of course,” he assured him
earnestly. “And thank you.”

“
I’d appreciate your discretion,”
my uncle added. “Let’s have a pact. What happens in Mykonos, stays
in Mykonos.”

“
Deal!” Jon and I agreed in
unison.

Matty hugged me goodbye, whispering in my ear. “Is
this what you want? You can stay with me, if you’d like, but–”

“
No, thanks,” I assured him softly.
“I like this plan.”

“
I hope you packed something pretty
to wear.” When he pulled back, I could see what he was implying. In
the back of my mind, I’d hoped that my uncle would give us some
time alone–just as Jon had wished for–but I didn’t expect it to be
all night.

I blushed and smiled, simply nodding my head. “She
can be taught!” he exclaimed, picking up his bag and going directly
to the resort’s bar. “Oh, no drinking!”

“
But it’s legal here!” I’d told
him, remembering reading that when I was researching our
trip.

“
No getting drunk!” he amended his
earlier directive.

Jon gave my uncle a thumbs up before he picked up
our bags. “Shall we find our room?” My heart skipped a beat.
Our
room.

It took only a few minutes after we got into the
small apartment for Jon to start kissing me. It was nice, but I was
so nervous I couldn’t relax. We’d decided to explore the city and
have dinner on the beach before settling in to our room that
evening. We brought a bottle of champagne with us, but we never
even opened it. He thought I might need it to calm my nerves, but I
wanted to be clear-headed for everything that night, and I wanted
to remember everything the next day.

In Mykonos, Jon and I never even talked about
whether or not we would have sex. It was what we both wanted, even
though I was scared. I knew he would take care of me. I knew he’d
go slow.

He’d offered to let me shower first after dinner. I
stood under the hot water, trying to give myself a pep talk. My
stomach was still jittery, and I just wanted to settle down. I took
a few deep breaths and closed my eyes, inhaling the scent of
lavender from the shower gel the hotel provided. It began to soothe
me.

I wasn’t sure I’d heard it the first time, but the
second time Jon knocked on the door, I hesitated only a second
before answering him. I’d intentionally left the door unlocked,
just in case.

“
Come in,” I said over the sound of
the water. He opened the door, and although I couldn’t see him, I
heard the uncertainty in his voice.

“
Are you sure?”

“
Yes.”

The glass shower door was fogged up from the heat,
so we couldn’t see one another until he finally opened the door. I
put my arms across my chest and turned away from him, feeling
suddenly modest and completely exposed. He’d never seen me fully
naked before; I’d never seen him–or
any
man–before.

He stepped under the stream of water behind me. I
kept waiting to feel his hands on my body, but he spoke before he
ever touched me.

“
Olivia,” he started softly,
“please look at me.” Slowly, I turned around to face him, the water
dripping into my eyes. He took a step back and pulled one of my
arms gently away from my chest. I thought he was trying to see my
body, but he was actually trying to move me out from under the
direct stream of water.