Olly, Olly

Chapter 9. iPod light in the darkness.

Lily pulled into the driveway, I parked on the street along the front of their home. The house was dark and quiet. It was out of the norm, from what I remember this house was always busy. The front door was like a revolving door with family and friends coming and going. The kitchen was the busiest of the whole house, somehow, everyone ended up there, especially as kids, the growling of our stomachs would eventually win over whatever activity we were wrapped up in. Mrs. Cartagena feeding all the neighborhood rugrat's didn't help to keep us away either.

Walking towards the house brought with a rush of childhood memories; the driveway where the guys spent many hours playing basketball. Amy's bedroom window above the garage where I would peak out and get a glance at Ollie whenever I could, as Amy looked at the guys Oliver brought home to ball with. I remember when we would have sleepovers, Amy and I would sneak out the window and would lay on the garage roof at night staring up at the stars. The Halloween that the guys snuck up onto the garage and scarred us while we were getting ready for a costume party that one of the guys from school was throwing. I remembered one of the girls spotted someone looking through the curtain and instantly screamed. The scream was so gut-wrenching that it could have been used in one of those tacky horror films. She made us all jump. The funny part was they weren't even wearing costumes. They ended up jumping in the window when they heard Mr. Cartagena, calling out and the sound of his crashing feet on the old wooden planks as he quickly ran up the stairs after he heard the scream. Ollie and Chris both threw themselves quickly into position to blend into our scene. Oliver threw himself right next to me on Amy's bed as I sat up against the wall. He laid on the bed with his head propped up against the wall as his legs hung off the bed. I remember he turned to look up at me for a moment and smiled as Amy tried to explain to Mr. Cartagena, that it was just us goofing around. Mr. Cartagena wasn't too happy with us giving his wife a good scare, especially making him run up the stairs so fast to make sure we were all ok. He warned us to take it down a couple notches. His exiting words were of how much he hated Halloween.

I remember feeling so nervous, being so close to Ollie, when he suddenly pushed himself up with his hands to adjust himself to the sitting position, aligning himself to where I sat up against the wall. Both of our hands were at our sides on the bed and as he had adjusted to sit up his hand happened to land next to mine unintentionally and our hands faintly touched. His pinky laid on top of mine as he continued to move to adjust himself up. I remember feeling his fingers slightly close as my pinky finger locked with his for a moment. I felt a gush of butterflies release in my stomach at that instant. Neither of us moved our hands for whatever reason, and for a split moment the nervousness receded and warmth took over especially when he turned and smiled at me again, causing me to unintentionally blush and sheepishly smile. Chris suddenly forcefully pulled on his other hand- pulling Ollie off the bed, which gave a slight tug at my pinky finger as we released. I remember I couldn't take my eyes off him until he was out of the room and out of view.

We ran into them later that night at the Halloween party. He was dressed in a couple's costume with Jasmine. They were dressed as bandits, of course, she had to be a sexy version of a bandit, she needed the attention. I still remember the feeling I got in the pit of my stomach when I saw him. He was dressed in a black and white striped fitted long sleeve with black pants. He wore black gloves, a black skull cap beanie, and a black robbers mask over his eyes. By the time we had arrived, the place had been pretty packed with people, but I managed to spot him in a split second amongst the sea of costumes. I was there with Johnny- he was a junior in school as was Oliver at this time. I remember Johnny being really funny and I really had a lot of fun being with him- but I couldn't help stealing a glance in Ollie's direction when possible.

***

It was very quiet as we walked in the house, as I imagined it to be from the outward appearance. We walked through the hallway and Mr. Cartagena was on the kitchen table drinking a mug of coffee. He was shocked that I walked in behind Lily. Mrs. Cartagena, was in the kitchen making herself something to eat. She offered us and I politely thanked her but declined.