Beneath the Willow Tree

Chapter 23 hot-tubs and infedelity

Oliver and Melody eventually decided that the biting cold was unavoidable, and made their way back to the house to be met with Chase calling them over.

"Oh god, what does he want?" Melody asked, pressing her numb fingers to the bridge of her nose.

"I don't know." Oliver sighed.

They walked over to where he was, and he jumped up and down, "You're too slow! Come on!"

"What do you want?"

"I fixed the hot-tub," Chase said happily.

Oliver looked at Melody and gestured to Chase, "And if you look to your left you can see the Engineering student in his natural habitat."

"Wait," Melody looked at Chase, "you're an engineering student?"

"I'm taking classes that will get me into a good engineering school." Chase said rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, your family is just full of talented people, huh?" Melody asked.

"I wouldn't say talented." Oliver said.

"Oh, please, an engineer, a famous astronomer, a multi-talented person," she put her hands on her hips, "you are graduating high school a year early, plus you're taking college classes, and you are working as a trainer for a world-class racehorse farm!" Melody sighed, "You know, babe, there's a fine line between being modest and being ignorant, and right now you are walking that line on a tightrope."

"Thanks," Oliver said bluntly.

Chase rolled his eyes, "Well are you gonna check it out or not?"

"Yeah, sure." Melody said with a shrug.

Inside the large sun-room type area was a decent sized hot-tub which was bubbling and steaming, and made Melody shiver as she stepped inside. There was a large array of tools scattered about the floor to one side, but other than that the whole room was clean.

"I am going to have to come over and chill at some point." Melody said.

"Feel free." Chase replied.

"Hey," Oliver directed his attention to Chase, "weren't you and Lilith supposed to be hanging out today?"

"She had things to do, so we hung out for a while, then she left."

Oliver sighed, "She wasn't interested in hanging out again?"

"Yeah," he waved off the thought and began putting away the tools that were strewn across the floor, "it's whatever, though. If she doesn't want to, she doesn't have to."

"Wow, this is a first. I've never seen you give up on getting some." Oliver laughed.

Chase glared at his brother for a split second before turning back around, "I'm not trying to get some, she's just my friend."

"Oh-ho! That's a lie! I have seen the way you act around her, just because she's blind to that sort of thing doesn't mean I am!" Oliver pointed at his twin, "You, sir, are in love!"

"Hell no!" Chase stood up, "It would be completely stupid for me to be in love with someone who doesn't even turn a deaf ear to me!"

"What's stupid is that you can't even tell her that you like her! If you really mean that little to her it wouldn't make a difference now would it?"

Chase hesitated just long enough for Melody to step between them, "Both of you are stupid, okay? If Chase is too pussy to ask out a girl, he doesn't deserve her anyway. And you have no room to talk," she pointed at Oliver, "You could barely ask me for a pencil the first day we met and I am the only girlfriend you've ever had, so give him some credit!"

Both boys rolled their eyes and Melody realised just how striking the resemblance between them was, the only difference being Oliver's white hair and pierced lip, while Chase had natural brown hair and no imperfections or piercings anywhere.

She stood there for a minute or two, waiting on a reply that never came, so she finally shook her head, "You two argue like kids constantly, it's time to grow up." She left the sunroom and walked into the house, leaving Oliver and Chase in uncomfortable silence.

"She's right," Chase said, "we can't keep fighting all the time...its almost like..."

"Don't even say it." Oliver cut him off, "Don't even say what I know you were about to."

"Why? How do you know what I was gonna say?"

"You haven't changed a bit since 8th grade, that's how I know what you were going to say." Oliver spit out the words like poison in his mouth.

"Yeah, because I keep my promises. You were the one who changed, and I don't have a clue why, either, but no one likes it."

"I didn't change, I grew up." Oliver turned around to walk away, but stopped at the door, "Its time you stopped living in the past, and do the same."

He walked away and into the house, leaving Chase alone. Chase turned everything off and packed everything away, before returning to his room quietly.