"For what in your life do you feel most grateful?"
Olivia sits on the pavement beside me underneath tall evergreen trees providing a cooling shade in the heat of the afternoon.
We keep our eyes on the cars that drive by only because we can't hold each other's gaze without laughing, stuttering or blushing.
I picked her up from school and even though she was a little surprised I could tell that she expected it.
"The answer would a thousand times be my grandfather. My grandfather. My grandfather. My grandfather. Everything he's done. Everything he is and even in his anger. He gets angry a lot but I just know that it's always coming from a place of love and not abuse."
"He seems like a wonderful man. I met him once but it still makes me want to have a grandfather. "
Her brown eyes glimmer when they meet mine, catching me staring straight at her.
"You know he's started this new thing at home where we'll be eating supper for breakfast, lunch for lunch and breakfast for supper."
She giggles, looking at me with disbelief.
"I promise I'm not lying. We're having cornflakes tonight. Apparently this will spice up his life."
We both are carried away by the laughter that bursts out of us.
"I'm sure there's never a dull moment at home with him."
I smile, dimples prominent.
"Yeah. There's only extreme moments. We're either extremely happy or extremely angry or extremely sad. "
She laughs and when it dies down I'm the one who catches her looking at me.
She's got this look of admiration in her eyes and the sweetest smile on her face. She's looking at me like I'm…
Like I'm….
Someone who's got no idea how amazing they are and it warms my heart.
She takes me in,her eyes going over every detail and I just let her look at me.Feeling vulnerable even in this sweet moment.
It's one thing to love, it's another thing to be loved.
"Your turn."
She blinks and that look is gone. She blushes looking away again.
" I'm most grateful for my primary school teacher Mrs O' Farrell who gave me the love of reading, writing and poetry. She was the best teacher in the world! The very best!"
Her eyes meet mine aglow with passion. "And the best part was that I wasn't the only one who thought that. Even the kids who normally wouldn't pay attention in class enjoyed her classes. She was the only teacher at the time who remembered my name."
"Teachers didn't know your name?"
She scoffs, anger flashing in her eyes for a moment.
"Not just teachers—classmates and many other people. I guess I'm that memorable."
A silence.
"Even now Lisa. B, who's been in my class every year since highschool started, asked me what my name was today."
"I don't even know who Lisa.B is."
Olivia looks at me, eyes scrutinizing.
"You know who Lisa.B is"she states.
"Fine, I know her," I admit.
Olivia sighs.
"I don't know how many times I had to tell teachers who'd been teaching me for years that 'My name is Olivia ', 'My name is Olivia' . I said it so much I got sick of my name."
KAMU SEDANG MEMBACA
36 Questions to Fall in Love...in 36 days!
Romansa" Olivia, I liked you from the moment you hiccuped your way into my life. It's funny really but it's the truth. I also wasted a lot of time and this is me trying to fix things. I'm asking you to give me 36 days to show my love for you and for you to...
