The Void Between Stars: Book 4 Of The Orion Series

Welcome To My Life

Luckily the rest of the week went smoothly. A majority of it was spent playing video games with my brother and sister. Occasionally I would play music for them. At one point we stopped at a pet store, because Amy the Fish was quickly outgrowing her small bowl. I got a little bit too excited, and ended up with a really nice fish tank with pretty blue-purple rocks for the bottom. I was told that goldfish actually can become depressed if left solitaire, so I bought another one (John insisted on naming it John. I was fine with that.). I even got them a castle for their tank.

I ended up not doing anything with Jake or Ben, instead devoting my time to my siblings. Tristan never tried to reach out to me, and I was trying my best to just forget him. I had apologized profusely to Olivia, as did she. Even so, she admitted she wouldn't feel comfortable being around my siblings. She was respectful about it, but even so I apologized profusely for Amy's behavior.

When the week was over, I was very sad to say goodbye to John and Amy. John, to my slight surprise, seemed equally upset. I ruffled his hair as he was out the door.

"Not like we'll never talk again," I assured him. It made him grin, and his mood seemed to perk up a bit.

After that, things went back to my new normal. I hung out with Ben and Jake. Slowly my relationship with Jake warmed back up, and it was as though nothing happened between us. I think all parties involved were happy we could repair our relationship.

If I wasn't with my friends, I was with Olivia. Our relationship was proving to be...difficult. She was afraid of offending me. Often I could tell something was on her mind, and I'd have to pry it out of her. It usually would end in a squabble. After a while, I decided it wasn't worth trying to get her to tell me what was wrong, and I'd just let her blow off her steam, however long that took.

Late summer easily melted into early fall. Early fall quickly became Halloween. Halloween was spent at my house; I invited Jake, Ben, and Olivia over. We all dressed up and hung out, watching scary movies into the wee hours of the morning. It was nothing extravagant, and I felt guilty, like I was holding them back from a proper party; I kept my guilt to myself, however.

In the blink of an eye, it was nearly Thanksgiving. It was around Thanksgiving when Olivia and I finally went our separate ways. By that point, things were pretty strained between us normally. Looking back on it, I'm not even sure why we allowed the relationship to limp along. Maybe she didn't want to hurt me. Maybe I felt like I owed her something.

"Are you okay?"

Olivia and I were at our usual spot, curled up on the couch in my basement. We had been watching a movie. I blink, focusing on her. "Huh?"

Olivia frowned at me. "I said, are you alright?"

"Oh. Y-yeah, just...thinking."

"About?"

I shake my head. "Nothing, don't worry about it."

"Orion."

"Seriously, Olive, it's fine."

Olivia (or Olive as I've started to call her) reaches for the remote and pauses the movie. She then leans back, lacing her fingers between my own. "Baby...I care about you. You seem upset. Please let me know?"

I sigh, and I'm vaguely aware that I have a hundred yard stare. I try to focus on the present, but admittedly am having a hard time getting there. "It's coming up on the anniversary of when I was stalked."

"You were stalked?!"

That snaps me out of my cloud. Instead of sounding concerned, she sounded angry. I look at her. "Y-yeah."