Violet's Kismet

Chapter 8: Ordinary Day

Chapter 8

Ordinary Day

The weekend was short lived and it was Monday already, time to go back to school. I awoke early, did my morning jog thing and was in a very good mood that morning. I blasted the radio as I got ready for school. I put a little more effort into my appearance than usual. I wore a nice magenta baby doll shirt with black leggings and black Michael Kors flats. I had on thick black eyeliner with black mascara and silver eye shadow. Ollie was with his dad that week, who lived in our neighborhood; so Ollie, Crys and I all walked to school together. Gerri lived on the other side of town with her mom. Ollie had a rough life. His parents had joint custody of him, so every other week he was at his dad's house. His parents didn't get along. He acted like he hated his dad, but his dad seemed to care for him very much. 

It was overcast and much rain was predicted for the week. I was in hopes that it would hold out until tonight, so I could get some laps in after school at track practice.

“So how was it at your dad's this week, Ollie?” Crys asked.

“Oh, you, know, it was okay.”

Ollie said as he looked down at the sidewalk. Crys flipped her shoulder length dirty blond hair and propped up her glasses. The three of us walked silently for a few moments.

“So, did Damian call again after I left yesterday?” Crys asked slyly with a curious grin.

“Damian, who's Damian?” Ollie interjected as if he was a parent demanding an answer.

“Oh nobody, just ...” I paused.

 “We have Spanish class together, that's all” I said hoping they would drop the subject.

“Oh, he's bad news” Ollie said convincingly. “He …” Ollie paused trying to think of a reason for me to stay away from Damian. “He doesn’t wash his hands after he goes to the bathroom … It’s gross.”

Ollie was obviously jealous of Damian. He moved in closer to me and said “Vie, you should stay away from him. If he doesn’t wash his hands, he probably doesn’t brush his teeth either, and you could get gingivitis or worse.”

“Yeah, I'll be sure to stay away from him, Ollie, he sounds like really bad news.” I said over exaggerating my words. “Untill I at least get a better health plan.” Ollie seemed pleased as he was blind to the obvious sarcasm in my response.

“Good” he said, as if he had done some good deed and he was proud of himself for it.

“So Ollie, Uhm” Crys said, digging for something to say to strike up a new conversation.

“That's a nice shirt” and she smiled batting her eyes. And I love your hair the fo-hawk looks good on you! ...”

Ollie was so smitten by the compliments that he went on to give Crys all the details of his morning routine. Crys listened intensely as if there was going to be a test later or something.

We got to school, Ollie and I had homeroom, and then we all got together for lunch. Gerri was on the track team with me. That's how we got to know each other last year. Gerri was Brazilian and a little short at 5'3”. She was medium boned. Despite her shortness, she was usually the fastest runner on the track team. 

We often ran together at practice. Gerri won many track meets. She lived by Ollie's mom in the same low income apartments. Gerri dreamed of being in the Olympics someday, it was really inspiring. Gerri was the kind of girl you'd want to have around to stick up for you. She was fearless quick with her wit and goofy, whereas Crys was more of the timid, shy type.