All We Do ↠ Bellamy Blake

chapter eight

'If you have a sister and she dies,

do you stop saying you have one?

Or are you always a sister,

even when the other half of the equation is gone?'

Jodi Picoult

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Seven Years Ago

"I wish you had more stuff," Illyria sighed, lying on her bed opposite of Olivia's. She was lying on her stomach, her legs kicking in the air as she watched Olivia pack the few things that she owned. In all her fifteen years, Olivia had only managed to accumulate enough belongings to fill a medium sized backpack - she wasn't that sad about it though; the Ark wasn't the kind of place where you could own anything of value. Instead it was the people around you that you had to care for. "That way you'd have a bigger bag and I could try to fit myself into it," she explained, a pout on her lips.

Blinking away the tears filling her eyes, Olivia tried not to show how sad she was. "No one has enough stuff for that," she joked, "This is the Ark we're living on, remember?"

Illyria laughed, "Ah, how could I forget? It's because we're living on the Ark that we have to part."

Shaking her head, Olivia rolled her eyes, "You're so dramatic, Ria. It's not like we'll never see each other again. I'll come visit and you can come visit me too."

"Yeah but it won't be the same as sharing a room together," she argued, then sat up, suddenly impassioned by something. "Do you know who they're making me share with now you're moving out? Guess. Go on - just guess."

"Laur-"

"-Laura - wait, how'd you know?" she furrowed her eyebrows, annoyed that Olivia had ruined the huge reveal.

Olivia shrugged, sitting down on her bed now that she was done packing. "Because you hate Laura and Miss Snowbell hates you." Miss Snowbell was in charge of the Ark orphanage and had a reputation among the kids of being awful. None of them particularly liked her but as long as you stayed on her good side, you'd be okay. If only Illyria had been so lucky.

"Her last name is so deceiving," Illyria grimaced, "Snowbell makes her sound so gentle and sweet but really she's evil."

"If anyone can take her on, it's you," Olivia smiled reassuringly. She was worried that with her gone, Illyria would start hanging out with some less than favourable people. The last thing that they needed was for her to end up in the Skybox. Unlike Olivia, she hadn't really cared so much about her studies so the Ark would definitely float her upon her eighteenth. "That being said," she smirked, "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should."

Illyria swung her legs down to the floor, sitting opposite Olivia and mirroring her position. "What am I going to do without you, Via? Things won't be the same," she frowned, the humour gone from her tone. She had tears in her eyes just as Olivia had, her lip shaking slightly. Of the both of them, Olivia was more likely to cry at things but that didn't mean Ria didn't have her fair share of sobbing moments.

Sighing, Olivia stood, coming to sit next to her best friend. Before she could put her arms around her, Illyria beat her there, interlocking their arms and resting her head on her shoulder. "You won't be without me," Olivia shook her head, "I'll be back to visit so often that it'll feel like you're still sharing a room with me."