Lavender Mist

The Letter

"Would you like to come to my birthday party?"

Olivia was close to Maggie unusually long throughout that school day. It seemed like she truly wanted to be her friend, which Maggie didn't expect to ever happen. She was convinced that Olivia saw her as a strange girl, that sometimes talked to herself and that would never find her own circle of friends. However, that day, she was next to her every time Timothy wasn't around.

"Maybe...," Maggie answered, not knowing what to say. She'd never had a chance to come to someone's birthday celebration. She mostly spent her own birthdays surrounded by family, but nothing felt better than long, night conversations with Pablo, that she would have after those gatherings. She would wait for all the guests to go home and for mother to send her to bed, and then she would close the door of her room and secretly stare out the window with her friend, with talks about various topics.

"Please come!," Olivia whined and a pleading expression formed on her face. "It will be fun."

Maggie thought about it once more. She knew that the party would bring many strangers and Olivia's loyal girl friends, that followed her like puppies. Every day, Maggie would spot Olivia with new faces, so she was pretty sure that the girl had a lot of guests on her celebrations. After all, that was Olivia. She didn't have imaginary friends that replaced people made out od flesh and blood, and her thoughts were focused on learning. She was probably a perfect daughter. Yet, Maggie didn't want a perfect life, where happiness was dependent on grades and a number of people on birthday parties. She had her own safe, joyful world, which she had shaped in her head.

When she remembered Olivia's interrogating gaze, Maggie snapped out of thinking and returned to their conversation. She was curious for the reason of why Olivia invited her. Her, whom she'd barely spoke a few words with during the whole school year. Maggie nodded her head, accepting to come to the party. A lively glow flashed in Olivia's eyes and her lips stretched into a wide grin, that showed her set of straight, fully white teeth.

"I can't wait!," she said to herself, following Maggie to the exit of the school yard.

Maggie's nervousness grew in her chest, as Olivia was walking by her side, talking without stopping. She wanted to go to the theatre, but she couldn't let anyone else see her there. She questioned if Olivia would finally, at some point, turn to another direction and say how she needed to go home, or if she would follow her wherever she would go.

"When is the party?," Maggie quietly asked, trying to hide her mixed feelings with a smile.

"In two weeks," Olivia answered with excitement. "It will probably feel like two years!"

Maggie dropped a nervous chuckle and kept on walking towards the park, hoping that Olivia wouldn't go with her all the way to the theatre. The girl's words partially reached her mind, as she played with a folded paper in a pocket of her thin sweater. She was being haunted by a feeling that Olivia somehow knew what she planned on doing, where she was headed and whom she wanted to meet. She couldn't know! She didn't even know where Maggie lived, so she wasn't able to realize that the girl wasn't on her way home.

Finally, Olivia suddenly stopped in front of Maggie and made it so they almost crashed into each other. Maggie had to gently tilt her head backwards to look at her eyes, since Olivia was taller than her.

"I have to rush home," she said, not putting her lively smile away. "We'll meet again in school."

After she said that, she squeezed Maggie into an embrace. Maggie slightly flinched in surprise, because she wasn't used to hugging. However, she felt a strange sense of safety as she was wrapped in Olivia's arms, so she softly landed her chin on her shoulder and hugged her back.