Part 7
The girls regrouped in the student lounge the following morning. Annie had reached out to the staffing agency and received a response with all of the agencies applicants. They were currently sitting around her computer scrolling through the files.
“Recognize anybody?,” Chloe asked taking a glance to Olivia on her right.
She let out a deep breath, “No…no, thank god,”
“All of these people are confirmed to be working the event. If they’re not on this list, they won’t be there.” Annie finished.
Could this possibly be over? Olivia thought to herself. It had only been 5 days but they’ve felt like they’ve gone on forever.
“Ok,” she said, “S-so then I guess we’re good?” Olivia replied shakily. “But you can never be too cautious,” she quickly added.
“Liv we will all keep an eye out okay? But for now, I think you’ve earned some peace of mind.”
Chloe was right. This did give her the peace of mind she was searching for.
-
That night Olivia slept soundly. No lump in her throat, no pit in her stomach. Just peace and comfort.
-
Over breakfast Olivia was quite energetic, gabbing with her moms over what they were going to wear to the reunion and planning a shopping day in preparation.
Later on, the three lounged around in luxury at Cheryl’s secret designer shop a few miles outside of Riverdale. Toni laughed as Olivia and Cheryl leisurely sipped champagne and talked about the family’s “aesthetic” for the party.
Like mother like daughter, Toni thought. Although she definitely saw some of herself in Olivia too. She was tough and passionate. Always standing up for everyone and never backing down without a fight.
Olivia was just floating on air and filled with relief, the weight that’d been crushing her finally lifted. She was able to enjoy the time with her Moms again and shopping was the best way to do it.
Toni chose a black gown with a corseted bustier and mesh long sleeves. The skirt was slim fitting and accentuated her hips. Cheryl chose something similar to match, a red strapless corseted waist but with a flowing tulle skirt.
Olivia, trying to balance the two, chose a simple maroon satin gown with a slit up the right side of the skirt. She was so excited to get all dressed up and let loose.
The family finished their day with a late lunch at their favorite restaurant near by with plans of having a light dinner later on.
“So baby,” Toni said after swallowing her sip of wine, “How was school this week, you seemed a little distracted.”
“Yeah, what was that?” Cheryl chimed in, “Didn’t I catch you sleeping the the shower the other day?”
“What?” Toni responded in surprise.
Olivia cringed at the memory.
“It was nothing Ma, just cold and tired so I sat down for a minute to try and warm up,” she concluded not being able to think of any other reasonable explanation.
“Ok, well what about the other day at dinner? You girls were acting so weird at the table and when you left you were shaking.” Toni added in.
She couldn’t possibly tell her moms that she had truly believed her nightmare may come true. Theres no way they would let it go. They’d think she’s crazy and probably try to sent her The Sisters of Quiet Mercy like all the Mothers in Riverdale seemed to like to do to fix their children.
Olivia tried as best she could not to get defensive.
“What’s with the third degree? It was nothing, just silly teenage drama.” She laughed out lightly.
Her Moms shared a look before Cheryl spoke up.
“We just want to know that you’re okay sweetie, you haven’t been acting quite like yourself,” she tried to grab her hand reassuringly.
“I promise,” Olivia began looking at Cheryl and then turning to Toni, “everything is just fine.”
She finished trying to convince herself as much as her Moms.
Thankfully they were interrupted by Cheryl’s phone.
“Ronnie wants to borrow some more linens for the party tomorrow. Will you be able to bring it by their house later Liv? I know you’re going to meet the girls,”
“No problem.” She smiled softly.
-
Later that night Olivia fulfilled her promise and brought the box of linens over to Aunt Ronnie’s.
“Oh thank you! You’re a doll!” Veronica let out with a sigh of relief. “I wasn’t expecting such a large turnout! I had to pick up more staff!”
“Wow,” Olivia barely choked out. The sound of blood rushing filled her ears.
After awkwardly ending the conversation, Olivia ran upstairs to confront Annie and Chloe who were setting up their movie night.
“Did you know!?” Olivia whisper-shouted as she burst through the door.
The two girls on the bed jumped up with a start.
“Woah!”
“Jesus Liv!”
“Did. You. Know.” She repeated slowly and sternly. The air was tense.
Annie opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water, never good under pressure, before Chloe finally cut in.
“Yes, okay?! We knew. I told her not to tell you. I didn’t want to worry you anymore. Olivia this is getting crazy!”
The room went silent.
“You think I’m crazy?” Olivia whispered eyes watering.
“That’s not what she meant,” Annie tuned in to try and defuse the situation but Olivia skated right past it.
“You do, don’t you!? Both of you!” She knew she was getting defensive but the lump in her throat had come back and it was beginning to choke her.
“Were only worried about you,”
Olivia tried to level her emotion.
“You know what? Just give me the agencies contact information I’ll just call them in the morn-“
“Olivia. No. We’re not doing this again.” Chloe cut in firmly.
Olivia paused again. Taken a back by the way she was being spoken to by her supposed best friend. She was struggling to breath so she grabbed onto her throat trying to swallow the blockage.
“So what? You’re really just going to put everyone at risk?”
“No one is at risk! You’ll see tomorrow okay, I promise! Why don’t you just sit down-“
“Like hell I’m gonna let everyone I care about go up in flames,” she sneered taking one last look at her supposed friends before storming right back out of the house and all the way home.