The Lavender Butterfly

Chapter 13

The thunderous roar of the crowd. Joyous cheers. That’s what Meredith and I heard as we walked toward the auditorium. It was clear that we just missed the award ceremony. “Oh no, Stella’s going to be mad,” I said. “No worries, I’m sure she will understand,” Meredith responded. I gave her a puzzled look. “Will she?” I spoke. “Yes, she will. Now please just follow my lead.” she said firmly. “I won, I won, I won!!!” said a jubilant Chloe as she was leaping recurrently though the auditorium, hoisting a large platinum medal above her head. Stella and Evan followed behind, albeit at a much slower place. “Hi, Meredith! Look what I’ve got!!” Chloe said to Meredith joyfully. Meredith leaned over to give Chloe a high five. “That’s awesome, I knew you could do it!” she said with an intense smile on her face. Meredith looked up at a clearly disappointed Stella. “Stella, I am so sorry. A lot of things happened and I…..let’s go over here where it’s quieter.” Meredith said, as we walked over to a nearby café that was closed for the evening. We sat down at a table at the café. Stella, Even, and Chloe all looked at me inquisitively. Stella asked Meredith, “Who is sh-“Meredith interrupted her, attempting to explain herself. “Listen, Stella…” Meredith spoke, then paused. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t straight-forward about this to you before you left. Chloe’s dance competition wasn’t the prime reason why Chris and I came down to Florida with you. Sure, I’d do anything for you guys, and Chris and I did want to get away for a while, but…” Meredith hesitated again. I nervously anticipated what Meredith was about to say. How would she play this out? How could she possibly explain what happened? How would she explain Chris’s disappearance? We couldn’t tell anybody what really happened, because there isn’t a single soul in the world who would believe that story. “But what? Stella interjected. Meredith took a deep breath, then continued to speak. “Chris and I were in touch with an adoption agency down here. They told us about this wonderful 13-year-old girl who was in need of a loving family…” She looked down at me and smiled, wrapping her arm around me endearingly. “Stella, Evan, Chloe, meet Olivia, the new addition to our family.” Stella put my hands in hers and greeted me. “Hi Olivia, my name is Stella, and these are my bundles of joy, Evan and Chloe.” I looked and the three of them and played it off as if it was the first time we’d met. “Hi Stella! Meredith told me so much about you guys on the way over here. She said how wonderful Evan and Chloe are, and how you are her best friend in the whole entire world!” I said, giving Meredith a wink. Stella let out a belly laugh and said to Meredith, “Isn’t she the sweetest?” Stella reached in and gave me a nice warm hug. I turned to Chloe. “And Chloe, I’m sorry we missed your dance, but you’re going to have to show me your dance again sometime, okay?” Chloe looked at me shyly and said, “Okay, I will.” She let go of her mother and looked at me intently. “You’re really pretty.” she said sweetly. “Thank you,” I replied. I forgot how sweet this little girl is. Maybe it just stood out more now that I’m a girl just a few years older than her. I felt like I’ll be a lot closer to her now, like someone she could look up to. Evan shook my hand and raised his head slyly as he started to say something but stopped. “Does this kid know how to talk to girls?” I thought, amusingly. I awkwardly let out a muffled laugh. Maybe I just didn’t know how to talk to teenage boys either. I have to admit, I was a little nervous to meet him as well. When I was Chris, I thought we were pals, like I was someone HE could look up to. Now it looked like Evan was someone I would have to fight to keep him from falling head over heels for me. Stella turned to Meredith and asked, “So…where’s Chris?” Meredith looked at the ground and started to cry. “What’s wrong?” She continued. “It’s just….Chris was kind of iffy to the idea of adoption. One day it would sound like he was truly ready to turn to adoption as a means to start a family together, and the next……he just didn’t want anything to do with it. When it came time to meet Olivia for the first time, he just……got cold feet……and left. I haven’t seen him since.” Meredith said, sniffling, tears rolling down her face. Stella lifted Meredith by the chin and said, “Don’t you worry, he will come to his senses and realize what a wonderful family you are about to start. I know Chris, he is madly in love with you, and I know you mean the world to him. He would never do this to you.” Meredith embraced Stella and clinged to her desperately, as she completely broke down in tears. “I don’t think he’s coming back. He…..went absolutely ballistic….he said he never agreed to any of this……and that he never wanted to see me again. He’s gone, and he’s never coming back…” Looking at her, I was thinking, “Wow, she’s really good at this.” She wasn’t lying when she said she had a plan, and this one somehow seemed pretty believable. Not really painting my old self in the greatest light, but it didn’t really bother me. I was no longer Chris, so what anyone thought of me really didn’t make any difference to me anymore. Stella put both of her arms on Meredith’s shoulders and said to her assuringly, “Honey, once again, don’t you worry. I will find him, and I will shake some sense into him.” She continued, “That’s what friends are for, right?” Meredith sniffled and gave a tiny smile and said “….Right.” Both of us knowing the truth, that she would never find him. “And who knows,” Stella continued, “maybe he will come back.” Part of me wanted to tell Stella that any attempts to try to find him would be completely fruitless, but I knew I couldn’t break character. I would just have to play along for a little while longer. I just didn’t want this search for the old me to drag out. I just hoped that she would eventually forget about Chris, but I knew it wouldn’t be easy for me. “Listen, sweetie, let’s go out and get a bite to eat and celebrate my little champion’s big day with a nice dinner. Don’t worry about paying, dinner’s on me,” Stella said. “Plus, we’ve got a fun day planned for tomorrow! We’re going to spend the day on the beach and later, we’ll have some fun on the boardwalk!” Chloe was jittering with excitement. I was pretty excited about it too, honestly. I was looking forward to reintroducing myself to the three of them. But most of all, I think I just needed a day to unwind and enjoy myself after the emotional whirlwind that the past couple days had been.