A Penny For Your Tears

Six

A week, it had been a week since my last encounter with Elias and he was all I could think about. My grandparents had extended their trip for another week, so I was alone for much longer than I had anticipated. I twirled Elias'  coin between my fingers thinking about his beautiful eyes, his intimiditating demeanour and literally anything else about him. I remembered the way he touched my face, the way he wiped my tears away and the look of concern in his eyes. Was it genuine concern though? Did he really care about my well-being?

"What the fuck is wrong with you." I screamed to myself, throwing my face into my pillow. Was I so deprived of love and affection that I would allow myself to be enticed by a complete stranger? I felt ashamed, disgusted with myself.

"Oi,Oi." Aaliyah cheered from my doorway pulling me from my thoughts. I smiled, sitting up and hiding the coin in my drawer.

"Aaliyah? What are you doing here?" She plopped herself down on my bed, taking out her phone in the process.

"Olivia, I told you so many times, call me Liya not Aaliyah!" She rolled her eyes, not even moving them from her phone. I laughed slightly, her strong accent was something I was still getting accustomed to but it never failed to crack me up.

"Sorry, Liya, what are you doing here? I thought you were going out with friends?" She huffed, putting her phone away.

"I was supposed to but my stupid brother said I couldn't go. He's so annoying, telling me what to do and what not to do. He's not my dad but he acts like he is.And now all of his stupid friends are over, and they're so annoying" She complained and I smiled, I hated to admit it but I was slightly jealous. Had I had a still dad or even a brother, perhaps my story would have been different. Maybe I would have never let Luca rule over me the way he did and I wouldn't have had to run away all the way to Europe to escape him. Or maybe they would have done what I was always too afraid to do, report him to the police. Perhaps that was a stupid thought, Luca had people everywhere. Even in the police. There really was no way to truly escape him.

"I'm sure he just wants the best for you." I reassured placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. She rolled her eyes again, clearly unconvinced. "At least you have a brother that is concerned for your well being."

She smiled sadly at me, moving my hand from her shoulder. "My parents died when I was little and my brother has taken care of me ever since. I'm stuck with him." She sighed sadly but I could sense the admiration in her voice. Elias scared me, he terrified me and I wasn't sure if I could trust him. However, hearing Liya speak about him changed any and all previous opinions I had of him. She loved her brother, despite all his shortcomings.

"Liya, I'm so sorry." I wrapped my arm around her body and hugged her. We both laid back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "How did it happen, if I may ask?"

"I'm not sure, I was so young when it happened. But whenever I ask, my brother always says the same thing. An accident, but, I'm sure there's more to the story than just that. He always says he'll tell me but only when he thinks I'm ready." I frowned in confusion, when she's ready? What would that possibly mean? Perhaps it was murder and since she was so young at the time, that was the easiest way to explain it to her. However that didn't make sense, she was old enough now to know what really happened. "What's on your mind?" Liya asked, turning to face me.

"Nothing." I muttered, I was surprised at my response. It came so quickly, so automatic. The strangest part was that I wanted to tell her, the thoughts I had were normal. So why did I want to hide them? The answer was simple, Luca.

"Luca, should be here soon. I guess I'll head out now." Matteo spoke and I stared up at him from my position on Luca's bed.

"I just want to go home, am I allowed to do that?" I questioned sarcastically. Matteo was taken aback by my outburst, expecting only a meek response. I was only this bold because Luca was no where in sight, were he here I would have been cowering with fear.