OLIVIAThis is the first time ever that I’m seeing twinkling stars. I hate it but it does not look nor feel pretty.My head hurts like I’ve been crushed by a giant truck and left on the floor to die for good. It makes me remember when Jake had hit me with his car, which led to the beginning of our contract.I lay on the cold hard ground and let the exhaustion I feel weigh my bones further down. I was at a big disadvantage. It was one weak female against four boys that are mostly likely not sober.A hiss escape my lips when I try to open my eyes. It hurt like hell and it wasn’t even where I’d been hit.With my right hand pressed to the ground I push myself up, wheezing when I stumble and fall.One of them search my pockets of my gown and pulls my hair when his hand comes up empty.“If I had any money I wouldn’t be here in the first place,” I tell him whilst trying to loosen his hold on my hair. It would be a miracle if I don’t end up bald this night.“Looks like you have a smart mouth

OLIVIAI had turned down dinner with him because it felt too much, he was doing way more than I thought it would and it bothered me. Being indebted to him for staying the house in his place was more than enough for me. Making me dinner was something too much to handle, and I don’t want to fill like I’m owing him so much. Soon I’ll think of how to leave here and start over on my own. I can’t stay with him forever, nor do I intend to. That would be mooching off him and I don’t do that. Not when it was what Jake’s father had actively accused me of doing to Jake. I need to be my own person now and not depend on others. I had only myself now. I let my back hit the door from the position on the floor. Hearing him walk away from my door when I turned down dinner hurt even when it should not. I’ve only known him a couple hours and he was walking me feel this way. My stomach hurts like hell for being empty for too long but it was a small price to pay for having a roof over my head right no

OLIVIA Of course I had to work for sweet old Rachel. I can only call her that in my head because she looks like she’ll really bite my head off if I so much as suggest her growing age. It’s obvious she takes a great care of herself from how she still looks younger than the age I estimated for her in my head. Happiness can do that you, I muse. It had this way of brightening up your day and everything that is around you. It made your heart lighter and less full with worries. Watching Mac and his family together made me appreciate the love hey so obviously shared between themselves. But it also made me wonder if my family could have been like this if we ended up together. Or would we have been one of those viscous ones that looked for how to bring each other down at any slightest turn. My bet was on the latter. A couple filled with love like Rachel and Peter would never abandon their child, ever, no matter the circumstances. I must have been something vile when they had given birth

OLIVIAThere are no words to express exactly how I feel at the moment. All I can say is that my heart does a strange flip before proceeding to beat faster than it ever has. A strange feeling carries its warmth past my heart and settles deep in my stomach. Home, my entire body screams but I don’t wait to hear the explanation it has for this peculiar reaction. I focus instead on watching the building we drive past and trying to commit it to memory. I’ve never been on this side of the city so it will need some getting used to before I can move around all on my own. There’s a park just down the street with an ice cream and pop corn stand. Mac must notice how my eyes linger there until he turns down another street which cuts it completely from my view. “We can stop by on our way back.” I turn my torso to look at him. “Really?” A short glance and a smile. “Really.” I relax into my seat. Looking forward to it much more than the aspect of shopping. I don’t wait for Mac to open the door

OLIVIA All my life I’ve never felt genuinely needed by another until now. It’s something that makes my heart explode with joy and the feeling of being important to another human being. It makes me want to go back to the past and find his sister for him, or at least find out where she is so I can assure Mac that she is fine something. An idea clicks in my heart. I’ve been thinking of ways I could repay Mac and his family for all the things they’ve done for me. This could be it. With time I can save and help them find their long lost daughter, she was the one that mattered the most to them. My heart is bent on this even though I had no idea how I was going to push through to make it happen. Mac and his parents with all their money haven’t been able to find him so what chances did I have? Maybe sheer will and the gnawing need to do this for them. I can’t imagine having a family somewhere that was looking for me and I wouldn’t know. Years ago I had believed that it was my case, that