Always Okay | (Adopted By Elizabeth Olsen)

Chapter 6

Word Count: 2352

Alexis's POV

I stepped out of the car and slammed my door shut before turning around to face the one place I was so sure about going, but now that I'm here I wanted to be anywhere but here. The turquoise house with a deep red door stood in front of me as I took a deep breath.

"Hey, we can take a few extra moments before going in, there's no need to rush," Lizzie said coming to stand next to me on the sidewalk. I shook my head before placing one foot in front of the other as I headed up the steps toward the crimson red door.

I could hear Lizzie's footsteps slowly trailing after me, but I didn't want to waste any more time here than I needed. Before she got to the porch, I quickly pressed down on the silver handle shoving the door open. Leaving the door wide open, I walked straight towards the living room where I knew all my books would be stacked up on the shelves.

Sitting down next to the shelf, I began to pull out every book. Picture books, chapter books, school books, and even the few magazines that weren't mine originally but Josh's old girlfriends had left them behind. Once I pulled all the books off the shelf, I began sorting them into two piles: those I wanted and those I didn't. That's what we came here for after all - the things I wanted.

Soon a familiar book made its way to the top of the pile as I felt the world around me slow down. Its cover was tattered and its spine was a bit torn, but it was still my favorite. I remember the day Josh gave me it like it was yesterday. It was my second birthday with him. I was a skeptically five-year-old at the time and he was still telling me that I would stay with him until my mama came back. He told me that every day and I believed him for a while. I would do anything to get my mama back. I'm not entirely sure if I was the one who told him about my birthday or if he found out by himself. However, I remember my sixth birthday vividly because it felt like a perfect day.

We woke up early and had french toast with strawberries. Then we both got ready to go out, it had been a while since I had left the house, so I was ecstatic. I remember him yelling and laughing at me to sit still as he braided my dirty blonde hair back into pigtails. We ended up spending the day at Santa Monica's Pier, eating ice cream, building sandcastles, and even racing through the cold ocean waves. That night after dinner we ate cupcakes and snuggled on the couch until he said it was time to open my present. It was this book, this perfect Winnie the Pooh book. It had a blue cover with gold lettering. I remember him wrapping me in his arms as we snuggled in his bed and he read me to sleep. That was a perfect birthday, my favorite birthday. I never had another birthday like that, that was probably the last one that we actually celebrated properly. Some years he forgot, others he was passed out drunk, but most of the time he would just acknowledge it was my birthday and move on. Every year though he let me make cupcakes, those were my favorite. It was lonely but I was glad to do something to celebrate the day.

"Hey, what's wrong? Is this too much for you? We can sit outside," A voice spoke beside me. My head shot up quickly scanning the room for any signs of danger before my eyes landed on Lizzie who was kneeling beside me.

"No, it's okay I'm fine," I said giving her a fake smile.

"No you're not, please don't lie to me you're crying," she said sitting down next to me and cautiously scooting closer to me. I brought my hand up to my face and felt that my cheeks were damp, I didn't even notice I had started crying. I guess this was a bit too much too fast, but I wasn't going to admit that she was right. We sat in silence for a bit until Lizzie spoke up while gently placing her hand on my knee, "do you want to tell me what made you so upset? You know you can tell me anything, you don't have to but you always can."