The Lavender Butterfly

Chapter 43

“Hey,” a voice softly chimed behind me. I looked up and saw Lauren’s face staring back at me. “Hey,” I replied. “You two enjoying watching the waves?” she said. “Yeah, we’ve just been sitting here talking, not sure how much longer Olivia’s going to be here. Just trying to embrace the moment while she is still here,” Allie said warmly. “I hear you,” Lauren replied as she sat down in the sand next to me. “Hey Olivia, I never got a chance to say this to you earlier, but I just want to let you know that I’m really happy for you that you are finally going home. You’re pretty cool, and fun to be around. We’re all going to miss you around the house. I’m sure you’re going to be happy with Meredith. I would have dreamed to be adopted into a family as kind as your mom sounds like,” Lauren said to me. “Well, there’s still time for you, right?” I replied. Lauren nodded her head no. “No, it’s too late for me. I turn eighteen next March, and well, once that happens, I’m out the door and on my own,” she said to me. I sighed. “I’m sorry that I asked, I didn’t mean to upset you,” I said delicately. Lauren said, “No, don’t worry, Olivia. I’m not upset about it at all. Plus, who would want to adopt a seventeen-year-old girl with dyed black hair and piercings all over? I’m pretty much unadoptable, but at this point, I’ll be just fine. I have a job, I’ll be going back to school in the fall, and planning to get into college next year. I can take care of myself……. I’m a big girl, right?” she said playfully. Lauren, Allie and I laughed together. “You sure are,” Allie said. After our laughter subsided, we just sat there in silence just watching the waves crash ashore. “I can see why you two have been just sitting here for the past hour. This is really peaceful,” Lauren said. Allie looked at her and said, “Yeah, it’s peaceful until a seagull poops on you!” Lauren laughed in response. I looked up uncomfortably. “Has that ever happened to you, Allie?” I asked her. “Well, no, thankfully. But with all the seagulls around, I’m sure it does happen from time to time,” she said as I chuckled. “Not to change the subject, but are you guys hungry? It’s almost 1:30, and Molly and Amaya will be expecting us for lunch soon,” Lauren reminded us. “Speaking of which, how are Amaya and Molly doing in there?” I replied. “Same as always, I’m sure Amaya is still playing games endlessly in there. She’s probably tiring Molly out. But hey, let’s not keep them waiting,” Lauren said. We all got up and walked back toward the pizza place. We walked in and looked around, but Molly and Amaya were nowhere in sight. “I’m sure they are just finishing up,” Lauren said as we found a table and sat down. “I hope Molly had fun somehow, it looked like Amaya was driving her nuts in there,” Lauren said. Not long after we had sat down, Molly and Amaya came in through the door with bags full of toys and stuffed animals. “You guys!” Amaya exclaimed, jumping out of pure giddiness. “Look at all this cool stuff I won!!!” She started to lay out each item on the table, while she was shaking excitedly. As she emptied out her last bag, she reached in one last time and said, “And last, but not least……Olivia, I want you to have this and bring this home with you. This bear reminded me of you!” She handed me a stuffed teddy bear. The bear was wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the Chicago Cubs logo. “You said you like the Cubs, right?” she said. “I love the Cubs! Thank you, Amaya, you are so sweet!” I said as I leaned over to give her a big hug. I looked up at Molly, who had her hand on her heart as she looked at us with pure adoration. She quickly moved her hand from her heart down to her stomach as she said, “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving!” Lauren smiled and said, “Something about chasing a child around an arcade can build up an appetite, right?” “Yes,” Molly mouthed as she clenched her fist in frustration. Allie and I laughed. We walked up and ordered our pizzas and sat back down. “Pineapple on pizza again? Blech! You guys make me sick!” Amaya joked as she looked at the pizza that Allie and I were sharing. “Oh, can it, Amaya,” Allie said playfully. After we ate our pizza, Molly asked what we should do next. “Okay, so what’s next, captain?” Molly said while she looked at Amaya. “Rides,” Amaya said as she was finishing her last slice of pizza. “Let’s go on the roller coaster next!” Amaya said, jumping out of the chair to go that instant. No sooner than when Amaya jumped out of that chair, Molly’s phone rang. “Hello?“ she answered. “Oh, hey, good to hear from you!” Molly said as she gave me an awkward smile. “Yes, hold on a second,” she said. “Girls, why don’t you head out to the roller coaster, I’ll meet you out there,” she continued, before she resumed her phone conversation. “That sounds good, let’s go!” Allie said cheerfully. I looked back at Molly as we walked toward the restaurant exit. “Why did she smile at me?” I thought to myself as we left the restaurant. I didn’t really give it much thought, however, because as we made our way out to the roller coaster on the boardwalk, I was reminded of the last time I was on this roller coaster. I instantly thought of Evan. Every reminder gave me a sense of longing, but this time I thought of Evan, the thoughts of Evan came with the realization that if things went as I hoped, I would soon be home, and I would be with him once again. I longed to feel his embrace. I longed to see him smile. I longed to feel his lips on mine. “Hey, Olivia?” Allie asked. I had realized that I had drifted into a daydream, and I found that we were in the front of the line for the roller coaster. “We’re up next,” she said. “I’m sitting next to you for sure, Olivia,” Allie continued. “Yeah,” I said, caught off guard a bit. I looked at Allie and gave her a smile. The four of us boarded the roller coaster cars. Allie and I up front, Lauren and Amaya in the car behind us. As we climbed up the first hill, I clinged on to Allie. We all screamed for joy after the first drop and as we rounded the turn and up and down until the final drop at the end. Before I knew it, I was clenching onto Allie’s hand. “You were scared, weren’t you?” Allie said to me with a smile. “No, I wa—yeah….I was a little scared,” I said hesitantly. “But it was still a lot of fun,” I said. Allie smiled at me and said, “Yeah, I’m having lots of fun too, Olivia, I…..just never want it to end.” I started to tear up a little, as I gave her a big hug. “Neither do I,” I whispered in her ear, both of us welling up with tears. As we walked away from the roller coaster, we made our way to the other rides. We spent the next couple hours playing carnival games and going on rides. We were having the time of our lives. Later that afternoon, as we approached the tilt-a-whirl ride, Allie noticed a man running a caricature booth. “Olivia, we should totally get our pictures drawn,” she said to me curiously. “Yeah, let’s go, that sound like lots of fun!” I said. “We’ll catch up with you guys later!” Allie hollered at Lauren and Amaya. We ran to the caricature booth excitedly. “Well, hello girls! What can I do for you today?” The caricature artist said to us. “I want a caricature of both of us,” Allie said to the man. “Ah, you must be best friends,” the man said as we took our seats on the other side of his easel. “Yes we are,” both Allie and I said in unison as we looked at each other and laughed. The man started to draw on his easel as he began to make small talk with us. “So, what kind of things do you like, any hobbies?” the man said to me. “I like baseball, and drawing,” I said to the man. “Cool, and what about you?” He said to Allie. “Well, I guess I like soccer, and music,” she replied. “What kind of music to you listen to?” he said back to Allie. “Well, I like rock mostly. I like a lot of the oldies, like grunge. I really like Nirvana and Pearl Jam,” she said. I was dumbfounded. “Oldies?” I thought to myself. I was about to call her out on it, but then I remembered that I was thirteen, and I was actually a year younger than her. Still, it really set me back thinking about how the music I listened to when I was a young boy is now considered “oldies.” This would have made me feel really old before, but as a thirteen year-old girl, it didn’t seem to bother me much anymore. “So, do you girls like mopeds?” the man asked us. “Mopeds? Why would you ask—” I said, before the man interrupted me. “Yeah, you look like the kind of girls that would like mopeds,” the man said, as he was drawing intently. After a few minutes he turned the easel. “Here you go, girls!” the man exclaimed. The caricature portrayed Allie and I both riding on a moped, helmets on both of our heads, long blonde hair poking out of Allie’s helmet, and my trademark brown curls poking out of my helmet. Our facial features were exaggerated, and Allie’s braces really stood out. Both of us erupted in laughter. “That’s really funny, I like it!” Allie said to the man. “Me too!” I echoed as I was handing the man some money for a tip. “Thank you, young ladies. You girls have a great rest of your day!” the man said to us. As we walked away, I examined the picture and looked at Allie. “He did a really nice job with you,” I said to her. “Yeah, I know! I’m really glad we did this; I love the picture!” Allie replied. I took another look at the picture. “Allie, I want you to have this. Just so……you have something to remember me by,” I said to her warmly. Allie started to tear up, “Thank you Olivia,” she said, her voice cracking. She embraced me, hugging me tightly, her tears running down the back of my shirt. As I was hugging Allie, I noticed something off in the distance on the other side of the boardwalk. I felt instantly drawn to it. I slowly walked away from Allie as I squinted to get a better look. Allie gave me a puzzled look. “Olivia…. what are you looking at?”