My Forever (Canary Series) (4 page)

Nate
followed her, "So, are you going to pass those exams?"

Olivia
nodded, "Yes, I believe I will pass those exams.” She turned to look at him, “That is as long as you help me study.”

He laughed at her reply.
Nate found that to be a sufficient enough answer coming from her and continued to walk with her to the kitchen.

***

They both got to the kitchen and as they reached the back doors Nate had stopped walking in mid-step. "Ladies first," he said as he looked over at her.

"Now aren't you a
true gentleman," she passed him but stopped in front of him and kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

He watched her walk into the kitchen, a bit confused by the sign of affectio
n but followed her nonetheless.

Nate
then went and got them both some cookies and milk from the silver refrigerator and sat down beside Olivia. "Do you ever get tired of studying?" Nate asked her as they were sitting at the counter that was made out of cherry wood, the same cherry wood as the beds. "I mean, you have this stuff down, you don't have anything to worry about."

She looked at him, "
Nate, all year long I have been behind and basically failing all my classes. I need to study as much as I can so that way I can get to where I once was."

He shook his head, "You were always there
Olivia you just lost sight of things. But now you are back and everyone can see that. Before that long weekend you said that you were here and had everyone fooled. But I knew that was just a show." She wondered why he would be bringing this up now. When she didn't speak he thought she was surprised. "There is more to me than meets the eyes. I might not seem like it, but I am a great guy Olivia. I can tell when people are faking. So next time you think about doing it with me, remember that I will be able to tell."

"I think it's time we get back to the library,"
Olivia said unsure of what else to say.

***

Instead of them going back to the library Nate decided to take her to the astronomy tower that was made of gray stone to look up at the night sky. They stood in silence just looking up at the stars for an hour. It was such a breath taking view she wanted to remember it forever. After a while Nate came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "What was that you were humming?"

She turned her head to l
ook at him, "I wasn't humming."

"Dear, you were and whatever it was it was beautiful. Please, don't stop. I can listen
to that melody all night long."

She looked straight ahead and kept quiet.
He turned her around so he could look into her eyes, "Olivia, are you OK? Was it something I said?"

She shook her head, "
No, it's just that I haven't done anything with music in a long time. I didn't realize that I was humming."

He wiped some hair that had blown in her face and smiled, "
Well maybe it's time you start back up. Obviously it's a passion of yours. Why quit something you love? Have you thought about pursuing a career in music?"

She didn't know what to say, so she just shook her head even though she ha
d always dreamed of becoming a singer. He laughed, "Well I believe that you can get a career as a singer."

Olivia
was shocked. No one had ever said that except for Ian and she never believed him. She always thought that he was saying that just to be nice, "Well maybe I can try that, but I'm pretty sure that I won't be able to have a label even consider signing me. If that does happen though I will remember that you were the one who said it first. So thank you ahead of time, and I will come and thank you again if it does happen."

He laughed, "It will happen believe
, me." She did believe him but was scared as to what might happen if that dream of hers came true. Olivia didn't want to turn into one of those artists who changed so much they forgot who they really were, where they came from or who their true friends were.

After that little talk
Olivia turned back in his arms and while holding her close he got an idea. "Before the school years out I think we should try some one on one football at the practice field at night. You up for it?"

Her body got really stiff and she just shook her head, "I don't think I'm ready to return to the
field just yet. I hope you understand.”

Once he realized what she meant he felt stupid, of course she isn't ready to go down there. That's where all of their worst nightmares happened. He was just thinking of what an amazing player she was and he didn't think of how that night, that place, might have affected her and her game. He just hugged her tighter to his chest and kissed her temple, "I'm sorry
, I wasn’t thinking."

"It's OK, it happens. When I'm r
eady I will let you know though." She got out of his hold and started walking away making him feel empty again. What was it about her being in his arms that made him feel happy and complete? "Can you believe we only have four more months left?" She asked as they went down the stairs.

"I try not to, I just focus on the now and not dwell on the future because you don't know what’
s going to happen."

"That's true
. Enjoy the present because it really is a gift." He smiled and took her hand into his and just held it for the rest of the walk to the library.

"I really don't
want to go back inside, do you?

"Not really
, any thoughts on where we can go? We could possibly walk around the grounds. How about we take a nice stroll down to the lake?"

She thought about where she
wanted to go as they started walking around the grounds and then remembered the cliff. "How about we go to the cliff? It's a nice night outside tonight and we will be able to see the night sky better."

Nate
nodded in agreement, "The cliff sounds great. I’ve been a fan of it myself."

She looked at him a bit shocked, "Really? I go there a lot to enjoy the evening stars, it helps me think and relax. I guess that's why one of my
favorite classes is astronomy."

"Good thing that someone still does," they reached the top of the cliff and he sat down against an old tree that had multiple carvings in the trunk, looking up at the sky and out across the schools grounds. "My mother always told me stories about the constellations as my bed
time stories when I was young."

Olivia went and sat down beside him and looked up at the wonderful sky, "So did mine, she was amazing at telling stories like those. At night I would go outside and just look up at them and dream of all the stories. Sometimes I would dream that I was up there flying through all the stars and planets. I even thought that maybe one day I could be an astronaut."

All of a sudden she started laughing and he looked at her puzzled, “What are you laughing at?”

“Well, I was thinking what a conversation would be like between an Astronomer and an Astrologist. Would it be a bloodbath?”

He started laughing and smiled at her, “I don’t know, it could be or they would probably take points from one another and make their own theories.”

Olivia turned to look at him, “But I’m sure whatever they would talk about would be amazing to listen to. I would love to be a fly on the wall during that conversation.” She turned back around
, continued to gaze up at the night sky and would giggle every so often. To him that was one of the sweetest sounds he had ever heard.

She shivered from the evening breeze and Nate put his arm around her wishing that he had a jacket to offer her. Once she stopped shivering he spoke, "
So I won't be able to study tomorrow night. We can study during lunch or free period." He caught her off guard when he said that and she thought about it for a minute and then came to a decision, "Let’s study during both, I have nothing better to do."

"Alright,"
Nate looked over at her sighing, biting his bottom lip for a moment and then realized what he was doing and released it. Olivia looked down and let out a deep heavy breath, "I kind of have detention." He said shaking his head not knowing why he felt he owed her an explanation.

"What? You have a detention? What did you do?"

He laughed, "Nothing, my friend Emily is back and well, she has detention, so I thought I would support her and voluntarily go as well." He shrugged and then thought of the situation with Emily kissing him in the hallways and Jackson giving them the detention. He wasn't sure why she kissed him all he knew was that he wished it was Olivia.

"Oh, well that was nice of you to do. I don't know if any of my friends would be willing to get detention to kee
p me company if I ever got it."

He smiled, "I would. If you ever get detention let me know and I will joi
n you, even though I don't ever see you getting one." She laughed and laid her head on his shoulder and cuddled up to him. He couldn't help himself and just held her closer.

They sat in silence for a little bit before he spoke again. "The stars are amazing no matter what's going on. They always shine brighter than anything, it's like letting us know that we too need to be bright
inside and out no matter what."

She turned to look at him and then stood up. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked with the moonlight shining down upon her. His breath was literally taken away. "Angeli," he said in a soft voice. As if she heard him she turned around and smiled down and pu
t her hand out for him to take.

"May
I have this dance?" she asked.

He stood up and took her hand and just started dancing. This moment was so perfect neither of them wanted it to end. "
Cole, I have to tell you something about my family."

He looked down at her and was wondering where this was coming from. He wanted to tell her not to worry about it but knew that with her when she wanted to open up it was best to let
her just talk. "I'm listening."

She took a deep breath to prepare for a very serious conversation, "No one knows this but I still love my mom somewhat even though she would
inflict pain on me," she turned away from his eyes not wanting to see whatever look was in them.

"
Oh Olivia, I’m so sorry to hear that. No one deserves to be treated like that,” he said with nothing but sincerity in his voice.

"Yeah, it truly is a curse. Have you
ever experienced that before? Have someone who is supposed to love you and take care of you cause you pain because they didn’t like what you did, or even did it for no reason at all?" She asked without looking up at him.

"Yeah I have once or twice when my dad got really angry at me. But mostly he would just
yell." He never told anyone about that but he figured since she was being open and honest with him he could show her the same respect.

She finally looked up to smile at him, "I don't know what got into me I just wanted you to kn
ow a little bit about my past."

"I just want honesty
Liv," he said softly as he held her close to him again.

"I want the same," she pulled away from him and held out her hand for him to shake. He just looked down at it and took it. Instead of shaking it he drew her in for a hug. "Good, honesty," she laughed. Then looked up at the moon and smiled, "Wow, the
moon is really bright tonight."

Nate
glanced up at the moon and smiled slightly before looking back at her, hoping being honest didn't mean a quick ending to whatever they had going on. He did promise her that he would be honest with her and yet that meant telling her things that he barely told anyone, or hadn't told anyone at all, and he wasn't sure how she would take it. He already has opened up more to her than anyone in the past, but he still wanted to make sure she was in his life forever.

Olivia
looked at Nate and smiled slightly. She went and lay on the ground to get a better view of the sky wondering what was to come of them. She let out a deep breath and relaxed and just enjoyed everything. "Is the view nice down there?" Nate asked as he approached her hoping that she would say what he wanted to hear.

"Yeah, pull up some ground," she patted the ground beside
s her inviting him to lie down.

He sat next to her and laid back,
leaning against one arm as he looked up, "Get along with your father?"

She laughed, "Barely, when he isn't drunk or workin
g. Get along with your mother?"

"I used to," he said now leaning fully b
ack and watching the night sky.

"Used to?
Wow, I'm sorry, what happened?" She looked up at the stars and listened closely to all the sounds.

"She died when I was eight,
so there really is nothing much to say."

"Oh H
un," she propped up on her side and took her free hand and placed it on his hand. "I'm sorry to hear that," she looked into his eyes hoping to let him know that she is there for him and knows what it's like.