FireFlies Chapter 1 Part 5!

Ollie didn't want to go to soccer practice. She had a nervous feeling in her stomach, wrapping around itself and squeezing so hard, Ollie pressed down on it during Gym to make the pain stop. She didn't know where it was coming from; but it had to go away.

She put her Gym clothes into her locker, packing her stuff. She knew her father would pick up and would be able to answer her. She dialed his number, waiting at the front steps of the school.

"Hey, kiddo." His voice was lower, hoarser than usual.

Ollie pinched the bridge of her nose. "Dad, can you come pick me up?" she asked quietly, watching intently as other kids—sophomores and freshmen, to be exact—walked out of the school.

"I thought you had practice—"

"I-It got cancelled," she interjected quickly.

"Alright. I'll be there in a few." He hung up, and Ollie stuffed her cell phone into her jeans pocket.

Her eyes darted to the field; on the left side, the football players were doing drills. On the right side, the soccer players were shooting to the net. She saw Delia, tying her beautiful, blonde hair into a ponytail. Then she saw Matt, making his way over to her, his eyes scanning her skin-thin body.

I knew it, Ollie thought to herself. Bastards.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"I was thinking of ordering some pizza," Nick said as he and Ollie walked into the kitchen together. They both simultaneously dropped their belongings onto the countertop.

Ollie shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Nick grimaced at her. It was hard to admit, but Ollie had changed dramatically over the course of the school year. Her hair had grown out, and instead of the natural, divine curls—which she inherited from her father—she straightened it. Her eyes went well in contrast to the black outline of eyeliner on her eye. But yet, whenever Nick looked at her, he always saw the little girl she was . . . three years old, catching fireflies in glass jars and showing them proudly to Selena and Nick on the way home.

"Dad, did you even hear what I said?" Ollie snapped tartly.

Nick blinked, not realizing she had spoken to him. "Sorry, hon. Say that again?"

Ollie sighed in frustration, taking out a bottle of water from the refrigerator. "I asked why Mom wasn't coming."

Oh. Mom. Selena.

He scratched the back of his head, eyeing the clock on the wall. 3:02 PM. She was probably running errands before her meeting. He gulped, licking his pink lips together. "She told me she had a meeting."

Ollie nodded. "Well, I'm gonna go do my homework. Make sure, that when you order, you don't forget the pepperoni on my half of it." She beamed, grabbing her backpack, and ran upstairs.

"Yeah . . . don't forget."

___________________

Selena was seventeen when she got pregnant with Ollie. Her and Nick were stupid; they thought they had fallen in love together, so they thought they were ready to make love. Their first time was innocent, sensual, and loving. After it was over, Selena cuddled her body close to his, and whispered in his ear: "Will you one day regret this day?"

Nick looked over at the horizon line of the meadow they were lying at, one hand around Selenas shoulder, the other underneath his head. "I'll remember until forever and a day."

They lay there, silent, naked, with nothing but a blanket from Nick's car covering their skin. It was around nine o'clock at night, when the moon was twinkling above them, and all you could hear was the hoots of owls, the chirps of crickets.

Nick felt something crawl on his hand. He looked down at it, lifting it up to his eyes.

Selena watched, mesmerized, as a firefly crawled on his palm. He smiled down at her, his eyes golden from the reflection of the bugs light. "When its light goes out," he whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine, "I'll stop loving you"