Page 123 of Chasing Headlines

Chapter Thirty-Three

Olivia POV

Sunday Morning

Itightened my grip on the baked goodies I'd driven several miles to procure. An extra stop on top of the food run for the temporary male roommates I'd acquired. I swallowed and knocked on Hilda's bedroom door. Waited in my stewing, acidic whirlwind of 'I don't want her to be mad at me. But wait, why is she mad at me?' It went round and round and round again. I knocked an extra time.

“I don't want to talk to you.” Hilda's voice traveled through the door.

“But I brought coffee,” I entreated. “And a chocolate croissant. Your favorite.”

The door opened. Greedy hands snatched the peace offering from my grip. The door shut again. “Really?” I shouted and slammed the flat of my hand against the door.

It wedged open. “Fine, you can come in. But you'll listen first.”

Hot and cold washed over my skin, but I put on my game face. “Yes ma'am,” I said as I moved into her room. I sat on the end of her bed.

“There is a man in your room.”

I gasped and felt my face burn. “What do you?—”

“He is flesh and blood. A human person. He was born a helpless infant. Raised, cared for, loved by his parents. He lives, now, but will, like us all, die someday.”

A burning feeling swallowed my stomach whole. The air buzzed around me.

“He isnotjust some baseball player. Like superheroes who don’t have kryptonite. He's injured. It could be serious, Livia, if he doesn't take adequate care, and get the time he needs to recover.”

“Yes, but?—”

“Your brain leaks out of your ear every time you're around this stupid sport. You can't think of anything else! And it is getting tiresome, chica. Your whole existence revolves around nothing but baseball. And I don't get it.”

I studied my hands. How could I explain it? When my whole world fell apart, when I was so afraid . . . When my mom got tired and left us behind, Curt and I had baseball. “It's my med school, I guess.” I didn't really understand what drove her so hard to be a doctor, but I was nothing but proud of her.

“No.” She shook her head. “It isn't. Because we're taught to help people. What are you doing, Liv? What are you reallydoing?”

Tears pricked my eyes. I blinked and shoved the emotion aside.

“You chase this dream of what, scouting? Does watching other people play a sport really bring meaning to your life? They chase their dreams, while you sit on the sidelines. What, judging? Is that what really lights you up inside?”

My chest squeezed. I wouldn’t look at her.

“Your brotherplayed, Liv. He saw his dream to fruition. He helps others achieve goals similar to his. But you?” She gesturedwith her hands in some overly dramatic fashion. “You chase after your brother and father while they scream at you to do something else. Anything else. And the more they say: go be who Olivia Milline is, find your own path and your own dream. The more determined you are to just adopt their leftover shit as your life's treasure.”

The anxious churning inside me froze—from my stomach all the way to my throat.

“My parents only want me to followtheirpath. But you.” She shook her head, eyes cast down. “You haveeverythingI wish I could have. You're not on scholarship or work study. I'm mortgaging my future with loans.”

“Right.” I pressed my lips together and locked my retort inside.You lived in a house on my same block and your dad bought you anything, everything, you wanted.

“Your father wants you to choose your own career. Mine only wants me to take over his restaurants.” She paused and looked at me, those hazel eyes changed from the ones I'd known for years into a strangers’ eyes. “And here you are.”

I stood. My game face splintered, I straightened my shoulders. I didn't hide my tears, and I didn't disguise the contempt she deserved. “Yes, here I am. Pursuing a dream no one wants me to achieve. That the world out there says is next to impossible.” I pointed at the door. “Pursuing a goal no one in my family seems to understand. I thought we hadthatin common,” I sneered and picked up my bag from the floor. “I didn't realize how wrong I was.”

I spun on my heel and stormed out, throwing her door shut behind me. I left them all behind: Hilda, Coop, Antonio. I left and didn't know where I was going.

But I left before I screamed, sobbed, threw things, said something I would regret.

All of the above.